Martin Luther on prayer: “As it is the business of tailors to make clothes and of cobblers to mend shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray” (quoted by Donald S. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, 68).
WCF. III. Of God’s Eternal Decree – 7-8. Q & A
Blogging through and answering the questions from G. I. Williamson’s The Westminster Confession of Faith for Study Classes for personal review and comprehension.
WCF. III. Of God’s Eternal Decree – 7-8.
1. Precisely what has God determined to do with respect to the reprobate?
With respect to the reprobate, God has sovereignly determined to withhold his grace from some men, and this God does according to his perfect counsel.
2. Why has God passed by these particular persons?
God passes by the reprobate according to his good pleasure (see Romans 9:18 and Ephesians 1:5).
3. Why do they receive damnation?
The reason the reprobate receive damnation is wholly within God. i.e., the reason is known by the triune God – “God elects or passes by as, and because, it pleases him” (38). The reprobate are not passed over by God because of their sin; that cannot be the reason because “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23). However, the reprobate receive damnation because they have been left in their sin, which in the end brings upon them God’s perfect and holy wrath.
4. How has this doctrine been abused?
This doctrine has been abused by those who say, “If God passes over the reprobate, then that means it is God’s fault they receive punishment.” G. I. Williamson says, “This [the abuse just mentioned] is diabolical for the simple reason that God’s withholding of grace does not make the sinner guilty and liable to punishment; it merely leaves him in that condition. “The wrath of God abideth (i.e., remains) on him” (John 3:36)” (39).
5. Why has this doctrine been refused?
This doctrine is refused by those who say, “If God does this, then God is arbitrary, unfair/unjust, and unkind.
6. Is God “arbitrary” in his actions?
Yes. God is arbitrary, however, God is not unjust. Romans 9:18 – “Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.”
7. Is it wrong for God to be “arbitrary” in his actions?
No. He is God. God’s decree determines what will be, and their is nothing higher than the will of the triune God. In his answers to the questions at the back of the book, G. I. Williamson says, “He has absolute right to do as he will with creatures he has made, especially in view of their sin” (275).
8. What text in Scripture shows that reprobation (God’s withholding of grace, and passing by) does not make a sinner guilty and liable to punishment?
John 3:36 – “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
“God’s sovereign discrimination concerns those who are already under his wrath and curse. His discrimination concerns who shall not be left in that condition” (275). This is declared by the Prophet Habakkuk: “O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy” (Habakkuk 3:2). This fact, that “in wrath remember mercy”, is at back of the salvation of every Christian.
9. Should this doctrine be taught? Why? How?
Yes, Yes, three times I say, Yes. It should be taught to counter false presumption. It should be taught in a manner that spurs on diligence to our faithful-and-loving triune God; it should be taught in a manner that engenders humility before our merciful triune God.
God’s Decree
“His decree determines what shall be done…. For there is nothing higher than his will.”
Quotation from William Perkins, The Works of That Famous and Worthy Minister of Christ in the University of Cambridge, Mr. William Perkins (1:723), quoted by Joel R. Beeke & Mark Jones in A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life (117).
Predestination
“It is impossible to understand predestination without realizing that God’s decrees flow from the inner life of the triune God” (Joel R. Beeke & Mark Jones, A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life, 120).
The Love of Christ
“Christ woos and wins His bride in an ever-deepening relationship” (Joel R. Beeke & Mark Jones, A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life, 109).
J. Gresham Machen
It was a glorious Lord’s Day. This afternoon I finished reading (first edition) Ned B. Stonehouse’s J. Gresham Machen: A Biographical Memoir.
Machen (1881-1937) taught at Princeton Theological Seminary for over twenty years, was a world-class New Testament scholar, and was instrumental in the founding of Westminster Theological Seminary and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Machen was a stalwart defender of the faith, and combated Modernism within the Presbyterian Church throughout his life. This book was an excellent and edifying read.
The German-Reformation
Below are a loose collection of thoughts, some talking points (largely dependent/derived from J. W. Nevin’s History and Genius of the Heidelberg Catechism) from a short, high-overview talk that I gave about the German-Reformation at our church’s annual Reformation Celebration.
- The Reformation was not something that flared up overnight; it had been developing within the Roman Catholic Church for some time, e.g., Wycliffe – “the Morning Star of the Reformation” – was born nearly two-hundred years before Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses on the door at Wittenberg. Nevin calls the Middle Ages the “womb” of the Reformation; he says that the Church, by God’s Spirit, gave birth to the Reformation.
- Because the Reformation was something birthed in the Church by God’s Spirit, Nevin says, “[Luther and the other Reformers] did not make the Reformation. The Reformation made them.”
- Because the Reformation was something that God’ Spirit was birthing within the church, we cannot say the Reformation was bound only to Germany (although German was the “proper cradle of the Reformation”). This was a movement that occurred across the board, i.e., in France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, England, Scotland, etc.
- The “Reformed Church” found its initial distinction through opposition to Roman Catholicism in France; there it first known as the “Catholic Church Reformed” – in time it became a “technical term”, a form of nomenclature that distinguished it from both Lutheranism and Romanism.
- “The Reformed Church was the national Protestantism of Switzerland, France, Netherlands, Scotland and England, and eventually the German Palatinate (South-Western Germany).”
- The Catechism of the Palatinate (aka – Heidelberg Catechism) was chiefly written by Zacharius Ursinus, who was trained at Wittenberg by Luther’s successor (Melanchthon).
- Heidelberg Catechism was “eagerly accepted by other Reformed Synods”, e.g., Synod of Dort included the Catechism as one of the Three Forms of Unity, and even now its acceptance and use are widespread.
Prayer
“Prayer is in one sense an expression of a Christian’s unbroken relationship with the Father” (Donald S. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, 67).
Doctrine + Exhortation
Thus saith C. H. Spurgeon: “Doctrine without exhortation makes men all brain, no heart; exhortation without doctrine makes the heart full, leaves the brain empty. Both together make a man.”
Baptizing Babies
“One reason why we persist in baptizing babies – helpless, dependent, sinful, little things that babies are – because each of us, at any age, is helpless, dependent, in need of God doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves” (William H. Willimon & Stanley Hauerwas, Lord, Teach Us: The Lord’s Prayer and the Christian Life, 28).
Amen, indeed.