November
12, 2021
#glaring_inconsistencies
#jarring_contradictions
Below
are three Questions and Answers from the Westminster Larger Catechism.
Though
they accurately state some of the wonderful truths of the gospel of Jesus
Christ, there are glaring inconsistencies and jarring contradictions in them
that repudiate the gospel of grace in Jesus Christ.
Can
you spot them?
Q.
70 What is justification?
A.
Justification is an act of God’s free grace unto sinners, in which He pardons
all their sins, accepts and accounts their persons righteous in His sight; not
for any thing wrought in them, or done by them, but only for the perfect
obedience and full satisfaction of Christ, by God imputed to them, and received
by faith alone.
Q.
71 How is justification an act of His free grace?
A.
Although Christ, by His obedience and death, did make a proper, real, and full
satisfaction to God’s justice in the behalf of them that are justified; yet
inasmuch as God accepts the satisfaction from a surety, which He might have
demanded of them, and did provide this surety, His own only Son, imputing His
righteousness to them, and requiring nothing of them for their justification
but faith, which also is His gift, their justification is to them of free
grace.
Q.
72 What is justifying faith?
A.
Justifying faith is a saving grace, wrought in the heart of a sinner by the
Spirit and word of God, whereby he, being convinced of his sin and misery, and
of the disability in himself and all other creatures to recover him out of his
lost condition, not only assents to the truth of the promise of the gospel, but
receives and rests upon Christ and His righteousness, therein held forth, for
pardon of sin, and for the accepting and accounting of his person righteous in
the sight of God for salvation.
Tell
us when you see them.
Hebrews
5
13
For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he
is a babe.
14
But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by
reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
5
Comments
==========
Sing
F Lau
Q.
70 What is justification?
A.
Justification is an act of God’s free grace unto sinners, in which He pardons
all their sins, accepts and accounts their persons righteous in His sight; not
for any thing wrought in them, or done by them, but only for the perfect
obedience and full satisfaction of Christ, by God imputed to them, and received
by faith alone.
=======
Observations:
i.
“… an act of God’s free grace unto sinners”:
-
Yes and amen; it is an act of God’s free grace unto sinners; it is NOT an act
of God’s free grace unto those who believe.
-
"justification by faith alone" is the justification of the believing
ones by their faith. Their act of believing justifies/vindicates/demonstrates
something about them
-
God justifies the ungodly: this is an act of God’s free grace unto sinners, in
their native unjustified state of sin and condemnation, in which He pardons all
their sins, accepts and accounts their persons righteous in His sight based
solely on the righteousness of Christ alone.
ii.
“not for anything wrought in them”:
-
faith is a saving grace wrought in them (i.e. in the children of God, those already
effectually called); this is rightly acknowledged in the answer to Q72;
therefore, faith is EXCLUDED from the equation of God's act of justifying a
sinner under the just condemnation of his sins.
iii.
“or done by them”:
-
faith, i.e. receiving and resting in Christ and His righteousness for salvation
is a conscious act done by the believing ones; therefore, faith is EXCLUDED
from the equation of God's act of justifying a sinner under the just
condemnation of his sins.
iv.
“… by God imputed to them…”:
-
the legal imputation of Christ’s righteousness for all the elect had taken
place at the cross; at the cross the double imputations – all the sins of
Christ’s people (those chosen by God and given to Christ to redeem) were
imputed to Christ, and the righteousness of Christ was imputed to all His
people.
-
At God’s appointed and accepted time, Christ’s righteousness is vitally applied
to each elect personally at their effectual calling out of their native state
of sin and death to that of grace and salvation in Jesus Christ.
v.
There are distinct facets of justification taught in the Scriptures:
-
The justification of the elect was purposed and decreed by the Father in
eternity, commonly termed as the eternal justification;
-
The justification of the same people was LEGALLY accomplished and secured at
the cross;
-
The justification of the same people was VITALLY applied to each elect
personally at their effectual calling out of their native state of sin and
death in Adam to that of grace and salvation in Jesus Christ;
-
The justification of the same people is EXPERIENCED through their faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ. This is justification by faith. Faith that receives and
rests in Jesus Christ certifies the justified state (by God free grace) of the
believing ones, THAT IS, “the just shall live by faith.”
The
Old School Baptists uniformly believe:
"The
reason why any are justified IS NOT because they have faith; but the reason why
they have faith IS because they are justified." THAT IS, "the just
shall live by faith."
-
Abraham was a classic example.
-
The just DON'T live by ceremonial laws of the old covenant.
-
The just shall live by faith, i.e. by receiving and resting in Jesus Christ and
His righteousness alone.
There is an unbridgeable gulf between the Old School Baptists and the Protestants reformers and their offspring on this point.
Q.
71 How is justification an act of His free grace?
A.
Although Christ, by His obedience and death, did make a proper, real, and full
satisfaction to God’s justice in the behalf of them that are justified; yet
inasmuch as God accepts the satisfaction from a surety, which He might have
demanded of them, and did provide this surety, His own only Son, imputing His
righteousness to them, and requiring nothing of them for their justification
but faith, which also is His gift, their justification is to them of free
grace.
===========
Observations:
i.
Christ, by His obedience and death, DID MAKE a proper, real, and full
satisfaction…:
-
This speaks of the legal justification of all those represented by Christ at
the cross JUST AS the legal condemnation came upon all represented by Adam in
the garden of Eden.
-
Romans 5:18 “Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to
condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all
men unto justification of life.”
-
If your sins had not been legally imputed by God to Christ on the cross THEN
there won’t be another sacrifice to deal with your sins.
ii.
“… and requiring nothing of them for their justification…”:
–
this is an act of free grace indeed
iii.
“… requiring… but faith…”:
-
Requiring even faith alone from an unjustified man so that he can be justified
is NO LONGER justification by God’s free grace.
-
Requiring faith from an unjustified man is a condition that must be met by the
unjustified man in order for him to be justified by God. This is like requiring
breath from a dead man in order for him to be made alive!
-
Requiring faith for justification repudiates justification as an act of God’s
free grace.
iv.
“… faith, which also is His gift…”:
-
Faith is one saving grace among the many saving graces worked by the indwelling
Spirit of God in the children of God. In that sense, it is NOT a gift of God; a
gift comes to a man from WITHOUT; a saving grace is worked WITHIN a child of
God.
-
The saving grace of faith ENABLES a child of God to believe the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ.
- A
saving grace is NOT a grace that saves; a saving grace is a fruit/an effect of
the salvation already freely bestowed by God; it is a fruit of the indwelling
Spirit in a child of God.
-
Christ himself said that believing in Him is a work. John 6: 28 ¶ Then said
they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 ¶Jesus
answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him
whom he hath sent.
v.
“… which is also His gift”: qualifying faith a God’s gift DOES NOT make
justification by faith alone an act of God’s free grace.
-
Even if faith is a gift of God, which it is not, then it is a gift to the
unjustified, and the unjustified needs to exercise that gift in the act of
believing to be justified by God!
-
The unjustified is incapable to exercising the gift of faith; EVEN SO a dead
man can’t make use of the gift of the life-giving potion in order to get life!
It's just common sense.
Q.
72 What is justifying faith?
A.
Justifying faith is a saving grace, wrought in the heart of a sinner by the
Spirit and word of God, whereby he, being convinced of his sin and misery, and
of the disability in himself and all other creatures to recover him out of his
lost condition, not only assents to the truth of the promise of the gospel, but
receives and rests upon Christ and His righteousness, therein held forth, for
pardon of sin, and for the accepting and accounting of his person righteous in
the sight of God for salvation.
============
Observations:
i.
“Justifying faith is a saving grace, wrought in the heart of a sinner …”:
-
Faith is a saving grace wrought in the heart of a CHILD OF GOD by the
indwelling Spirit given at adoption.
ii.
It’s a fruit of the Spirit worked in a child of God; it’s one of the many
saving graces worked by the indwelling Spirit. Gal 5:22
-
This saving grace worked within is drawn forth from the heart by the preaching
of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and manifests itself in receiving and resting in
Christ and His righteousness as the gospel of salvation. Eph 1:13
iii.
Faith that justifies receives and rests in Christ and His righteousness alone
for salvation.
- A
condemned man is justified freely by God based solely upon Christ and His
righteousness; THEREFORE, faith that evidences that justification receives and
rests on Christ and His righteousness.
-
Not all faith is justifying faith!
iv.
Faith that justifies a believer in Jesus Christ and God who justifies a
condemned sinner in Adam are two vastly different and distinct matters altogether.
v.
A saving grace is a fruit of the salvation already bestowed at the effectual
calling of an elect out of his native state of sin and death to that of
righteousness and life in Jesus Christ.
- To call an elect out of his native state of sin and death to that of grace and salvation in Jesus Christ, these divine activities, in their logical order and specific number must take place, i.e. justification (applied by the grace of God), regeneration, and adoption (along with the bestowing of the Spirit of adoption to dwell in the adopted); without these free and sovereign divine activities, an elect cannot be in the state of grace and salvation.
Dan
Samons
Here are a few inconsistencies that stand out to me...
EXAMPLE
ONE:
"not
for any thing wrought in them, or done by them"
VERSUS
"received
by faith alone"
REASON: Believing is an act of man based on faith wrought in them.
EXAMPLE
TWO:
"requiring
nothing of them"
VERSUS
"but
faith"
REASON: The exercise of faith is not a monergistic act of God, but a synergistic act of God and man, God supplying the capacity of faith as a fruit of the spirit in regeneration and man believing as the proper motion of the new creation. It has been well said that "God does not believe for you." Thus if God requires faith, he is requiring a synergistic act and thus salvation is synergistic, by unavoidable consequence.
EXAMPLE
THREE:
"Justifying
faith... assents to the truth... of the gospel"
REASONS:
1.
Peter had God-given faith (Matthew 16:16).
2.
Jesus affirms the sincerity and source of Peter's faith (v17).
3.
Yet Peter DID NOT assent to the truth of the gospel (21-23).
4.
It follows that the God-given faith of a justified man does NOT, of necessity,
assent to gospel truth.
