Author Archives: Bob Burridge

About Bob Burridge

I've taught Science, Bible, Math, Computer Programming and served 25 years as Pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Pinellas Park, Florida. I'm now Executive Director of the ministry of the Genevan Institute for Reformed Studies

God’s Word as a Means of Grace

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God’s Word as a Means of Grace

by Bob Burridge ©2011
(watch the video)
(Westminster Shorter Catechism Questions 89-90)

God has communicated with us by giving us a Bible. One way he has promised to administer his grace to us is though our use of that special collection of books.

The Apostle Paul reminded Timothy about the importance of knowing what God says to us in those books. In 2 Timothy 3:15-17 he wrote, “and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

This means that the wisdom we find in the Bible, God’s own word, is profitable for us because it teaches us what is true, it reproves us when we do things that are wrong, it corrects us about what we should believe and practice, and it trains us in how to live so that we please the God who made and saved us.

Psalm 19:7-8 is very similar when it explains the great value of God’s word, “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;”

2 Peter 1:19 warns us not to ignore God’s prophetic word in the Scriptures. Peter had seen the Lord in all his glory with his own eyes, yet he wrote concerning that written word, “… we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;”

Westminster Shorter Catechism question 89 asks, “How is the Word made effectual to salvation?” It answers, “The Spirit of God maketh the reading, but especially the preaching, of the Word, an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort, through faith, unto salvation.”

We need to read God’s word.

Bibles have never been as available to us in the way they are today. In God’s providence we can read them in our own language, and have them with us all the time. Printed copies come in almost every form and size. They range from the ones in the dollar stores to the expensive leather-bound editions. We can even load them onto our computers, tablets, and smart phones. No era of history has had this kind of access to God’s written word.

There are many good translations of the Bible available too. Some are better than others, because they are more faithful to the original text. Some of the versions people read with great confidence are the King James, the New King James, English Standard, New International, and the New American Standard. These are translated by people who respect the Bible as God’s word, therefore they avoided changing the wording to make it fit better with their own ideas.

Having God’s word, and using it effectively are two very different things. Almost anything we need to do is best accomplished if we have a workable plan, and stay with it. The Bible is a big book filled with a lot of information. A hap-hazard approach where we dabble in Scripture now and then is of limited value.

We each have 24 hours of every day to budget so that we keep our priorities straight. We need to schedule our reading and studying of God’s word as carefully as we do the other things that demand our time. What we do with our time reveals what we really think is important. If we regularly read the sports or comics pages, or keep up with the news, hunt for coupons, and watch movies or regular TV shows, but we have no regular times to study our Bibles, something is seriously wrong.

There are many ways to go about daily Bible study. It can be as simple as just reading it through thoughtfully. One good plan is to read one chapter of the Old Testament, a Psalm, and one chapter of the New Testament each day. A chapter is usually shorter than most articles in a daily newspaper. There are several good reading plans available which have been organized by Pastors and Bible Teachers. Your church officers will probably be able to direct you to a plan they recommend.

Some keep a journal of God’s promises, or of lessons they learn in their reading. Some make outlines of the Bible books as they study. They could be detailed outlines, or just brief summaries of paragraphs or chapters. Others use simple underlining or highlighting methods and make notes in the margins. There is nothing wrong with making notes in the margins of your Bibles. Most of the earliest discovered copies of God’s word have marginal notations in them.

I like to read entire books of the Bible all the way through as I would read a good novel. That is the best way to get the flow of the author’s thoughts. A good goal is to read through all the books of the Bible every year.

Psalm 1 begins with a contrasts between the blessed man and those who are ungodly. It says in verses one and two, “Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.”

Another good practice is to memorize verses that summarize God’s teachings. Psalm 119:11 “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.”

It is also very important that families read the Bible together, every day when possible. In our home we always ended our evening meal with the reading of a portion of the Scriptures, and a time of prayer.

God has given us a mandate: every believer should be daily, and responsibly learning God’s word. The Berean believers were commended as good examples for us to follow. In Acts 17:11 it says of them, “These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.”

What if a father came home from being off at war defending his family’s lives and freedom, and he had written letters home to encourage them and remind them of his love. What if when he returned he found that his wife and children had never read his letters? Maybe they read a sentence or two here and there, but never really read one all the way through? They explained that they meant to read them but they were too busy and never got around to it. How tragic that would be. Yet are we guilty of the same thing regarding God’s word to us in the Bible?

God our Father has told us what we ought to know. What he put in his letters to us must be important, or it would not be there. If we are only familiar with a few favorite portions of the Bible, we live as if God gave us a lot of unimportant material we can safely ignore.

We should attend to God’s word preached.

We should listen attentively to the teaching of God’s word every Sunday as we gather for worship on the Lord’s Day. This is the primary way God tells us to hear and to learn his word. In 1 Corinthians 1:21 the Apostle Paul wrote, “… it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.”

In Jeremiah 3:15 God attached his blessing to the work of pastors in teaching his word, It says, “And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.”

It is the duty of these trained, examined, and ordained Elders and Pastors to make sure the word is effectively taught to the people in the congregation. They need to plan so their sermons cover all the topics in the Bible. They are obligated to be certain of the meanings of the texts they present. They are to show how what God says applies to our lives practically. They should avoid the temptation of becoming entertainers or spiritual celebrities.

Regular and attentive congregational worship is crucial for every Christian. To bypass God’s commanded first avenue for learning his word is a rebellious and irresponsible rejection of what we are told to do in the Bible. There is no excuse for not being in worship regularly except those times when in God’s providence someone is prevented from being able to be there.

When Israel returned to Jerusalem after her long captivity and exile, Ezra gathered the people to listen to the preaching of God’s word. The people showed great respect for what God had to say. Nehemiah 8:5, “And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up.”

In the captivity few Jews had learned the Hebrew language, so Ezra and the other Elders explained what it said. Nehemiah 8:8, “So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading.”

The individual Christian’s duty in worship is to listen attentively. The answer to the Westminster Larger Catechism’s question 160 says, “It is required of those that hear the word preached, that they attend upon it with diligence, preparation, and prayer; examine: What they hear by the scriptures; receive the truth with faith, love, meekness, and readiness of mind, as the word of God; meditate, and confer of it; hide it in their hearts, and bring forth the fruit of it in their lives.”

God’s word has great benefit for us.

By God’s promise and design, the reading of his word convinces us of its own truth. We need no proofs from the meager investigations of historians to confirm its certainty. Too often the findings of archeologists have been overturned as more findings correct earlier conclusions. The Bible stands upon its own authority as God’s word. It is the test of whatever else we know, rather than being tested by our fallible and always incomplete knowledge.

By the attending work of God the Holy Spirit the inspired word converts us who are born sinners, builds us up in holiness, and comforts our often troubled hearts. It is the means by which God works in us to strengthen our trust in the work of our Savior which is our only and sure hope of eternal salvation. We should not think of the reading and hearing of the Scriptures as works that earn us God’s blessing. They are works produced in us by his grace, not by our own natural efforts. When we engage this important duty, God fulfills his covenant promises to bless us as his rescued children.

We need to approach God’s word humbly,
submissively, trustingly, and prayerfully.

The Bible is God’s word. It is not merely good literature. Though many people read it as they would the writings of Caesar, Shakespeare, Bunyan or Luther, it is not like the writings of any human, even of any great human. It is a book that lets us see behind what our senses can see, hear, taste, smell, or touch. It shows us spiritual realities directly from the mouth of God.

We should pray for the Holy Spirit to guide and enable us as we study God’s Word. The prayer of Psalm 119:18 is a good model for us to use whenever we open our Bibles. It says, “Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your law.”

Never let the word of God become neglected or pushed aside in your schedule. Make time for it every day. Make sure you are present and alert in worship every Sunday. Take advantage of good opportunities to study and read God’s word with others so that you can be mutually encouraged in this important means of God’s grace.

(The Bible quotations in this lesson are from the New King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.)

Index of Lessons in the Westminster Shorter Catechism

The Tragedy of the Superficial Church

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Lesson 32: Romans 9:1-5

The Tragedy of the Superficial Church

by Bob Burridge ©2011

While I was pastoring a church here in Florida, I took a sad phone. Unfortunately it was not all that unusual. A woman was looking for help from a church. She asked how our denomination (the PCA) differed from other Presbyterian denominations. I wasn’t sure at that point if she was concerned about certain issues, or if she just saw different designations in the phone book.

At first I gave her a rather simple answer. I explained that we have great respect for the Bible’s authority and teachings. I told her that we hold to the conviction that it is God’s word filled with encouragement and help for the lost through the work of Christ. We try to follow what God tells us there about what we should believe, and how we ought to worship and live. Then I added that by grace alone God forgives things we have done in the past, and makes us his children by his unfailing love and infinite power made possible by only one thing, the death of Jesus as our Savior.

She said she didn’t care about any of that. All she wanted to know was did we have a large budget and active committees. She said she wanted a church to care for her financially, particularly for a family member’s psychological care.

When I explained about pastoral care, the biblical counseling we offer, and the importance of a church family, she politely said that was not what she needed, and that she would keep looking. That ended the call. She was not interested in what the Bible had to say. She wanted material benefits. That is what she thought the church was all about. She reflected a tragic fact about what is often seen as “Christianity” today. The biblical concept of the church is to a large degree lost.

Confusion about how God deals with his people has existed in every era of human history since the fall in Eden. We see this sad distortion of God’s promises in the days of Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus, and the Apostles. It is tragically there today. Many churches which call themselves “Christian” simply are not according to how God himself defines it in his written word.

Four Kinds of Confusion


There are basically four major ways in which what is commonly called the church often becomes confused about itself. The same ancient errors Paul was addressing among the four sects of Jews in his era, are reflected in the world today. This is the focus of the section of Romans we now come to in this series of studies, chapters 9-11.

The first group is like the ancient sect called the Saducees.
Today, most of the large denominations believe the Bible is a flawed book. They say that we can find encouraging ideas in the Scriptures anyway. They see Jesus as just a great teacher, leader, and example of love, but not as God who took on human flesh to pay the price of sin for his people. They believe that social action and community involvement make up the real gospel. They see our belief in salvation as nothing more than bigotry and superstition. To them the most evil doctrines are those that teach that God holds us accountable for our sins, and that trust in Jesus Christ is necessary for salvation.

This is classic religious liberalism and post-modernism. They worship a god who is not much more than an undefinable cosmic force. They put their faith in the physical sciences, psychology, sociology, and politics, yet throw in enough mysticism to keep the congregations feeling they have spiritual help.

I remember talking with a young man studying for the ministry in one of the large main-line denominations. He said he did not believe there was a real God, but he would talk about God to his congregation because most people need that kind of belief to face their struggles.

These humanistic churches believe that man is the center of all values and concerns, not God. They empty religion of any real truth and spiritual life. Yet for some reason they like to call themselves “Christians.” They confuse the watching world, and desecrate the honorable name of the Savior.

A second group today is like the Pharisees.
They believe that man determines his own future by his choices and decisions. They see God as a beggar for our souls, pleading to make his work on the cross successful. They emotionally sing about the Holy Spirit, but to be consistent they ought to be singing about their own permission which is really why they believe God blesses some and not others. To them grace is a good word, but its meaning has been lost, because it goes against what they would rather believe about themselves and about God.

They are moralists, mystics, religious humanists believing that man dictates to his Creator. Yet they claim they are the true Christians. They confuse the watching world with a message that makes them feel in charge of their eternal future.

Today many openly reject most of what is revealed in the Old Testament by saying it was just for the Jews. That makes it easier for them to deny the plain meaning of the New Testament texts that go against their theology. They ignore the fact that Jesus, the Apostles, and the New Testament writers all quoted the Old Testament as God’s support for their teachings. To them it is as if God regretted his first attempts to reveal himself, so he instituted a new body of believers. They see the New Testament as one more attempt by God to succeed with lost mankind.

Some recent fundamentalist groups have gone way beyond the fundamentals. Like the Pharisees they make up long lists of sins, even longer than what God reveals in the Bible. Personal decisions and abstinence from a list of things forbidden replace the fruit of the Holy Spirit as evidences of regeneration. They have lost the idea of true religion as James describes it. Instead of hearts transformed by grace into being humble servants submitting to God’s revealed principles and provisions, they live for emotional mysticism set in motion by man’s own choices and material self-denials. They do not believe in a God who is the Sovereign Lord over all.

The third group is like the ancient cult of the Essenes.
They are the isolationists who will not submit to the church authority God himself places over them. They look to independent Bible studies, radio or TV preachers, and books for their spiritual guidance. They see membership in a local church as optional, or even hypocritical. They quickly and ignorantly dismiss biblical church order as mere “denominationalism”. They are left to disobey the many commands in the New Testament which require believers to respect and submit to Elders ordained to shepherd God’s church (Hebrews 13:17).

When they do come together to form churches, they use the methods of democratic-socialism. They water down the biblical offices to make them mere servants of the majority.

While saying they have “no creed but the Bible”, they have many man-made dogmas about the end times, what they consider worldliness, how to dress, and the arts, none of which are supported by a study of the Bible alone. Instead of being the salt of the earth, they fail to become involved in the world around them. They leave the movie industry to Hollywood, government to Washington, schools to the state, and TV to the Gallup polls.They form a closed culture, and just pull back ignoring the world as much as they can.

They are like the Essenes of Jesus time who went off into monastic desert camps. They are isolated cells calling people to come in, but then avoiding their duty to the world. Yet many see these extreme separatists as being Christians. They confuse the watching world about what Christianity is really about.

A fourth group is like the ancient Zealots.
Some have become violent revolutionaries. They become impatient with God’s timing and take the law into their own hands. They disobey police and defy the courts in illegal public demonstrations. They show anger and hatred but little mercy, no real humble repentance or trust in God’s grace. Some even set off bombs to kill unbelievers. They desecrate God’s holy law.

They justify breaking good laws because they want to protest bad ones. They will not represent the fruit of the Spirit toward those they perceive as the enemy. They will not even love their neighbor if the neighbor’s needs might inconvenience them. They judge others without biblical authority and reduce the glory of Christ’s kingdom to mere material victories limited to this fleeting world of our present age.

Yet these too are represented by the media and others as being “Christians”. They confuse the watching world and desecrate the honorable name of the Savior.

Many churches today are like those of the Jewish nation in the time of the first century.
Jesus contended with the popular preachers and the successful synagogues of his day. The Apostles were condemned, beaten, jailed and put to death by those who claimed to be the chosen people of God.

There are Super-Churches, growing in leaps and bounds. Tragically, many of them abandon God’s ways, trading them for what appeals to the values of those who will increase their numbers and budgets. They have the means to provide the programs and fun activities so many prefer over the true teachings of the word of God. They quote many portions of the Bible, but use them in ways that compromise their true message. They strongly appeal to expectations rather than to real spiritual needs. They are not super in honor or obedience when compared with God’s word. They are super in only one way, they are Super-ficial.

What is the True Church?


This next section of Paul’s letter to the Romans (chapters 9-11) deals with this problem directly. What is the true church? What is wrong with what most people think of as the church? What can we do to redeem the name of Christ from the disgrace of those who distort his church? What importance is the church to be in the lives of individual Christians and their families in very real daily struggles?

In Paul’s time Israel had fallen into a spiritually diseased condition. Though the Sadducees, the Pharisees, the Essenes, and the Zealots had all twisted God’s truth in serious ways, there were also those who still hoped in a suffering Messiah who would redeem men from sin. They understood the message of the Bible as it was intended. They were scattered throughout the Jewish world, and were not very popular. It was these faithful Jews who were rapidly becoming Christians forming the early church.

The rest of the Jews strongly criticized Paul as he corrected their distorted views. Paul was originally a Pharisee,
a Jew by birth, and a rabbi by training. When he discovered that Jesus was the promised Messiah of the Old Testament, the large majority of the Jews thought he had rejected all that God had said before. This was far from the truth.

He was rejecting the artificial teachings of a superficial church. He rejected their twisting of the law and prophets which led to their cultish ideas and ways. He had discovered by God’s grace, the fulfillment of the ancient promises in Christ. Real Judaism had been lost by the majority. Paul had found it again. More accurately, it had laid hold of Paul by the work of God’s marvelous grace.

In the first 5 chapters of Romans Paul showed that according to Scripture all were lost, and in need of redemption, Gentiles and Jews alike. He explained how the human race had fallen when Adam, who represented them, sinned.

He then showed that the only hope of being restored to fellowship with God was that the promised Messiah had come as a perfect Redeemer, that he died representing those God promised to bless, that in their place he satisfied all that God’s justice demanded. He found that aside from these ancient promise, there was no other way to be made right with God.

In chapters 6 through 8 Paul explained how Jesus Christ gives victory in the believer’s continuing struggle with sin. It is not by the works of the priests and the keeping of the law, but by spiritual transformation of the soul by grace. Real spiritual change produces repentance, a true faith, and a desire to live in God’s ways.

This did not mean that Paul was now an enemy of the Jews. Far from it. He was calling them away from their corruptions back to the original promises. He wanted an end to the confusing sects and their distorted denominationalism. He wanted them to understand his passion for them to become Christians, followers of the promised Messiah.

Paul was struggling with a sincere and deep grief in his heart over their condition. He was about to tell them something very hard for them to accept. Their distorted ways were bringing down the condemnation of God. They were confusing the world about what God’s Covenant was all about. Soon God was going to end their national privilege.

Paul’s Sorrow for the State of the Church

Romans 9:1, “I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit,”

He begins this section of the book with a series of affirmations. The Jews needed to hear the truth. They needed to understand that there was something they had been missing, something good, something that could re-unite them around the gospel promise of a gracious covenant.

Paul wanted them to know how personal his compassion for them was.

Romans 9:2-3, “that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh,”

Paul uses the Greek word anathema (αναθεμα) which is here translated “accursed”. Literally it means something separated from something. The most common use in the Bible is of something condemned and rejected as offensive.

Paul is not saying that he really expected to redeem them by his becoming accursed by Christ. The original grammar here sets up an hypothetical condition: If it was possible for him to give up the greatest blessings God gave him, he would do it for the Jews, because of his deep concern for them as God’s covenant people.

Words should not be pressed beyond their obvious intended use. It would be foolish to think that Paul actually considered such an exchange to be possible. The plain meaning is sufficient when taken for just what it says and no more.

God’s blessings had been corrupted by the covenant people

Romans 9:4-5, “who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.”

Israel had been entrusted with great national privileges and blessings, but she had not honored God with them. She had perverted them and confused them. Israel was set up by God to display his glory to the rest of the nations. She was to preserve the promises and covenant to prepare the world for the coming of Messiah. However, by the time Messiah came she had for the most part corrupted what God entrusted to her. [We will look into the specifics of these blessings in our next studies.]

The same is sadly true of many who call themselves the Christians today. They promote a different gospel and a different God. They hold forth beliefs, agendas, and values other than what is revealed in Scripture by God. Yet this is what the media, educators, our neighbors, and the world at large think of as Christianity. This is tragic! The message is so confused.

What did Paul do in this situation? The masses of Jews had totally distorted the message and the worship of God. Did he get depressed and give up? Did he learn to live comfortably with the unbelief of the Saducees? Did he give-in to the Pharisee’s man made rules and dogmas that implied man’s ability to manipulate God? Did he withdraw like the Essenes to create a little community wrapped up only in itself? Did he turn to revolution and join up with the Zealots?

There is a better way. He told the truth with great compassion and persistence. That is what we need to do too. We need to work on reforming God’s church. It is not enough to guard our own worship, feed our own family spiritually, make correct statements about morality and spiritual birth. We must represent the transforming work of Christ with true compassion to the lost, to our neighbors, families, co-workers, and to others who are part of the family of the Redeemed at large.

If God calls his people his “family”, there must be similarities with our earthly families. We manage our homes to protect against things that will do harm to our loved ones . We do not defend germs that might creep in. We try to keep things clean and healthy. We guide chidren as they grow up, rather than let them take dangerous or foolish chances. We do not allow guests to bring illegal things into our homes. Similarly we should love the church so much that we do our best to guard against wrong beliefs about the Bible, or having teachers who have a poor understanding of God’s word and ways. We should not tolerate clearly sinful behaviors that go uncorrected.

The church is Christ’s family. It is to be organized and run for the benefit of the children he loves. It is to preserve the dignity of God, and the principles he teaches us as the Father of our spiritual family.

The True Church in Romans 9-11

In these next studies in Romans 9 through 11 we will see a view of the church which is very different from the one that most see today, perhaps different from what we ourselves expect to find.

Our goal and duty is to come to God’s word ready to be taught, ready to abandon every idea not found in his written testimony. We should be ready to faithfully trust in, and to boldly obey what ever we find in our Bibles, ready to improve our understanding of the wonderful message we have for the world.

Our job is to lead others to the shelter of the faithful church of Christ. That is where God promises to administer true peace and comfort to his children.

Our own little children do not need candy for food, lies to built their dreams upon, or pain killers instead of doctors to make them feel healthy when symptoms come. Neither do people need churches with entertainment instead of worship, false but comfortable doctrines, or promises that cater to their feelings only. They do not need churches considered to be good simply because they have big budgets and big committees. They need a gospel with a big Savior and a church that humbly trusts in him.

We do not help hurting sinners with promise God has never made. They need the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. We cruelly deceive the lost struggling soul if we offer deadly pacifying substitutes. People may want to be entertained, but they need the blessings of the Covenant of Grace.

Let us make Christ’s church what God wants a church to be. We are commissioned to diligently call others to join us in a restored worship of Christ as a faithful and thankful family of God, upholding one another in the promises which cannot fail.

(The Bible quotations in this lesson are from the New King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.)

Back to the Index of Studies In Paul’s Letter to the Romans

The Means of Grace

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The Means of Grace

by Bob Burridge ©2011
(Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 88)
(watch the video)

Did you have a good breakfast this morning? They say it helps you to be more alert if you have had a good healthy night of sleep, and something nourishing to eat in the mornings.

When I was in elementary school back in the 1950s the Birds Eye company sponsored a promotional offer with the schools. We had to keep track of our breakfasts every day for what I think was about two weeks. We had to have orange juice (Birds Eye brand was obviously recommended), and along with that there was a list of good breakfast menus to use. We turned in a report signed by our Moms certifying that we had one of their recommended breakfasts every day. Birds Eye supplied rewards which I believe were little metal buttons with pins on the back, and a certificate. The school benefitted because they knew that a good diet to start the day made for more attentive students.

God made us so that we need a minimum daily amount of certain basic nutrients. Doctors, commercials, and cereal boxes tell us that our diet should include a certain daily amount of vitamins, proteins, calories, fiber, minerals, liquids, and such things.

What if few pills could be made to satisfy your intake need for the whole day? They would supply a daily dosage carefully measured to meet all your personal needs by a doctor. You just had to wash the pills down with a sufficient amount of water two or three times a day. You would not have to eat a single meal ever again.

How long would it be before you started to crave some tasty foods? Before long you would be remembering the joy of a good burger or pizza. Maybe you would long for a hot refreshing cup of coffee, or a warm breakfast roll. There would be haunting visions of hoagies piled high with the quality coldcuts, cheeses and all the other things that make it a favorite food. God enabled the body to taste, savor textures, and appreciate good aromas. We were created to enjoy eating, not just to be nourished.

What about our daily spiritual nourishment?


God has provided the means by which we receive what we need for our spiritual health. The answer to question 88 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism is, “The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption are, his ordinances, especially the Word, sacraments, and prayer; all which are made effectual to the elect for salvation.”

These provisions are often called the “Means of Grace.” They are the means God uses as channels for his grace to be poured out upon his children. They are not the cause of God’s grace, nor are they things we do to qualify for God’s care. Grace is always an undeserved and unmerited gift of the Creator to those he redeems through the Savior. It was the work of Jesus Christ in his life and death that merits our blessings. In those who are given this spiritual life, he stirs the proper use of these means by which he has ordained to dispense life, spiritual strength, comfort, and hope.

We see a brief summary of the early Christian church in Acts 2:40-47. This section shows what followed Peter’s sermon when the Holy Spirit came in a special way on the Day of Pentecost.

Acts 2:40-47, And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

Notice the means God used in blessing his people in those early days of the Post-Resurrection church. The word of God was spoken, the Sacrament of Baptism was administered, the people formed a mutually helpful community of believers, and they prayed. The standards of the Dutch churches add church discipline to the means of grace which we list as three in the Westminster Standards. If we take that dicipline both as the work of the Elders in dealing with matters of sin, and as the continuing work of the body of Christ to be encouraging and admonishing one another daily, we can see how God uses this as another channel through which he builds up his children and directs his church toward purity. It is all worked in us by his unfailing grace.

The next set of questions in the Shorter Catechism deal with God’s Word (89-90), the Sacraments (91-97), and Prayer (98-99). The questions that follow are a detailed study of each part of what we call “The Lord’s Prayer.” In the lessons about the Lord’s Prayer the issue of discipline and care for one another in the church is touched upon. We will cover the details of these sections in our continuing studies of the Westminster Shorter Catechism.

These means are to help us satisfy our spiritual nutritional requirements. Like our physical nutritional needs, there is far more than just a fast fix mechanically applied to get us through without giving it much of our attention. We are created and redeemed to enjoy the exercise of these Means of Grace.

When we feel deeply troubled we cannot simply take a quick spiritual prescription and expect the problem to be gone in the morning. Just grabbing a Bible verse, or saying a fast prayer, or a quick weekly visit to church on Sunday morning is not the way God made us to live.

Our fast modern life style centers around things like fast food, instant dinners, disposable utensils, and one-day surgery. We might come to think we can satisfy our spiritual needs with the same kind of simple-to-serve, easy-to-use, instant cure-all.

Man was made to be in fellowship with God, not just to be aware of him. The Bible could have been written as a simple devotional guide with a list of prayers and christian social activities to check off each day. But it was not designed that way. It was written to show us who God really is, and who we really are. It was written to show us how to have a living relationship with God to glorify him an all we do, and to enjoy him forever.

Satisfying Christian living is never achieved by some easy formula. So then, what do we do when the “life” has gone out of our walk with Jesus? If we seemto be lacking spirituial power, and our Christian daily walk seems bland? What can we do?

Properly Making Use of the Means of Grace

As we make our way through the last part of the Shorter Catechism we will expand upon each one of the important means God provides. By way of introduction it serves as a good challenge to consider them first generally, and to make sure we are engaging in them regularly for our spiritual health.

1. We need a daily time for reading the Scriptures.
Acts 17:11 the believers in Berea were, “… more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.”

We need a plan that will get us into the Bible every day. It helps to have a set time and place, and to schedule your reading and study so that it takes you through the whole Word of God.

Considering our remaining imperfections in this life before our future glorification, we will not be able to accomplish this on our own. The spirit may be willing, but the flesh is weak and given to excuses, procrastination, and neglect.

To begin with, it is crucial that you are a born again child of God. The Bible will have no real value to those without Christ. You must come in faith admitting to yourself and to God that you are an undeserving sinner. You must be sure that you place your only hope of being made right with God through full trust in Jesus, as the Messiah, that he died to remove your moral guilt. Until you are “born again” you will not rightly understand what is so special about the Bible.

1 Corinthians 2:14, “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

2 Corinthians 3:15-16, “But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.”

If we remain spiritually dead we cannot rightly understand spiritual truth. Jesus told Nicodemus that unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3)

Even after we become believers we will sometimes struggle with Bible study. We need to depend on the Holy Spirit when we read the Scriptures. Jesus told the disciples that He would send the Spirit for that purpose. In John 16:7 he said, “… It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.”

Jesus was about to finish the promised work of the cross. He was about to pay the penalty of sin for His people. When this work of atonement was finished, it was to be applied to the hearts of individuals by the Holy Spirit. If Jesus did not go away, then God’s justice would not be met. If there was no atonement made, then the Spirit would have nothing to apply in the conversion of God’s people.

They Holy Spirit is what brings conviction to our heart. Jesus went on to say in John 16:8, “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” Without the Holy Spirit, there is no personal sense of our own need, of the provision of the cross, or of the defeat of Satan at the cross.

The Holy Spirit is what leads us to learn truth. In the 13th verse of that same chapter Jesus said, “… when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; …” God’s truth for us is in the Bible, but it cannot be rightly appreciated or known without the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

We need to call for the Holy Spirit in prayer when we read or hear Scripture. Bible reading is not just a reading exercise. It is a spiritual matter. Without the attending guidance and instruction of the Holy Spirit, we will miss the special value of the word of God.

Psalm 119:18 provides us with a good prayer to direct to God as we settle down to do our daily Bible reading. There the Psalmist prays, “Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your law.”

We often prepare ourselves in outward ways when we sit down to read something. We take time to be sure we are comfortable, have enough light, and maybe have a snack or favorite drink while we make our way through our reading material. When you read God’s word, don’t forget to also prepare in prayer for the Holy Spirit to minister to you. Set your heart in full readiness expecting the instruction God the Holy Spirit. Prepare to have your eyes opened to behold wondrous things from God’s word.

2. We need a daily time of prayer.
The Bible itself is the best textbook on Prayer.

Matthew 6:6, “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”

Psalm 5:3, “My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up.”

What can we do to enliven our daily time of prayer and praise?

The same things can be said as for our Bible reading. Our private worship must be made effective by the Holy Spirit.
First, you need to be sure you are a redeemed child of God. Prayer and praise is a mockery and blasphemy if offered to a god of your own imagination. If you are not made right with the God of Scripture through faith in Christ, your prayer time will not have the power of the Holy Spirit. Your time alone with God will not be like walking with your own Heavenly Father.

Believers also need to depend upon the Holy Spirit during prayer. If your prayer time seems like just an empty exercise, then pray for you prayer time. Ask God to bless it to you. Call upon Him to be specially present with you and for His Holy Spirit to enliven your time with Him.

If you cling mechanically to prayer guides, lists, or formulas, but fail to make sure that your mind and heart are fully focused on the Person of our Heavenly Father, then the most important element is missing. Without consciously clinging by faith to the Triune God, Father, Son and Spirit you cling to nothing that can comfort you at all.

I once watched as a child absent mindedly let go of her mother’s hand in a crowd. The little girl was watching something that kept her mind off what she was doing. She fidgetted and in doing so she moved a little way from her mother but hadn’t noticed. While keeping her eye on what ever had attracted her attention, she reached out again to hug her mother’s leg. but it wasn’t her mother’s! The substitute leg was very similar and wore a dress something like the color of mommy’s, and the girl didn’t notice the difference. The other adult didn’t realize the mistake. She smiled gently, probably flattered thinking the little girl was just showing affection. As the girl got more and more fidgetty, something was wrong. Mom wasn’t comforting or correcting her as she was used to. Not suspecting what she would find the little girl glanced up, and saw an impostor. She didn’t just say, “oh, sorry. Have you seen my mother?” Instead she let out a horrifying scream and cut loose with tears that got everyone’s attention in the room. A confused, and somewhat disappointed stranger and a slightly embarrassed mother quickly got the child back to the right person. As suddenly as it all started, the tears ended with a long close motherly hug.

There is nothing as comforting as our own parent. No substitute, no matter how competent will do. There is also no substitute for the presence of the Living God for our comfort and security. As we come to him in prayer we must be sure we come to the right Person. If we have a wrong concept of God because we have not paid close attention to the teaching of his word, we come to no God at all. If we discover we are clinging to other hopes in our lives, to the false promises of a corrupted religion, we will find no satisfaction for our souls. We need to cry out to the true God to rescue us and to be near to us. This is one of the great promises of prayer.

That little girl may not have done what Emily Post would recommend for proper social conduct, but she settled the issue most efficiently. She cried out most urgently. She did not just hope that mom would happen by. She screamed with all she was worth and mom came immediately.

How seriously do we seek for the blessing of the Holy Spirit in our walk with God? Are we like the parable our Lord told in Luke 11:5-10? Do we come, even at midnight? Do we knock again and again without giving up? Do we make our hunger for His blessing known to the Lord again and again and again until He answers?

Enoch is a good example of one whose walk with God was personal. It tells us in Genesis 5:24 that he “walked with God.” His walk with God was not just ritual or a bland spiritual prescription. His walk did not begin with what he was doing, but with the One he was doing it with.

What if you need to grow in your prayer life and present spiritual weakness and can do no more than to call out to God for the blessing of His Spirit? Then so be it. Many examples in the Bible show us that you are in good company. Several of the Psalms center upon a crying out for God in times of broken-hearted need.

3. We need to partake of the Sacraments.
How can we improve our receiving of the Sacraments? Those truly redeemed in Christ need to understand what the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper mean. They need to appreciate the infallible promises God attaches to them, and come with confidence in those promises. We will examine these more closely when we come to that section of our study.

4. We need the regular ministry of the body of Christ
God placed the members of His church into intimate fellowship so that their various personalities and talents would meet one anothers needs and serve the cause of Christ. We encourage one another to do what God prescribes for us, and with the attitude that should attend those activities. We also need to lovingly and humbly correct one another when we disobey the ways God has told us to live.

Hebrews 10:25, “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another …”

When we gather for worship, Bible study, fellowship, or Christian service our coming needs to be in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is his presence among us that makes our fellowship special. Not only is he there to seal us into the one true body of Christ, he is also there to create mutual encouragement and edification.

Philippians 2:1-2 “Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.”

The power of the Holy Spirit is what makes God’s means effective.

To carry out what God calls us to do, and to be what he calls us to be, we need to rely completely upon the promises and power of our Redeemer.

Without the personal ministry of the Holy Spirit, our Bible reading may seem dead. Our personal prayer and worship time may seem empty. Our christian fellowship may seem shallow and unrewarding. Our corporate worship and partaking of the Sacraments may seem dull and routine. The promise of God is that there is something supernatural that ought not to be overlooked in the use of these Means of Grace.

The psalmist cried out in Psalm 42:2, “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. …” In verse 8 of that Psalm God promises his blessing, “The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, And in the night His song shall be with me — A prayer to the God of my life.” Remember what the psalmist began with? “My soul thirsts for God …”

What is the hope promised to those who beg for and call out to God in prayer? Isaiah 40:31 says, “But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.”

(The Bible quotations in this lesson are from the New King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.)

Index of Lessons in the Westminster Shorter Catechism

No Worthy Enemy

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Lesson 31: Romans 8:31-39

No Worthy Enemy

by Bob Burridge ©2011

We often become separated from the things we come to rely upon here in this world. I remember one day — and its indelibly imprinted on my mind forever — when I got the message that my house had been destroyed by a tornado. I almost lost, in that same moment, my wife, my greatest treasure in all this earth. That morning when I left for a meeting all was well. In a single moment, less than a minute I’m told, the structure that my family counted upon for protection was irretrievably twisted and crumpled. Just as quickly people lose their jobs, their investments, even their loved ones.

We know that we can be separated from anything in this world at any time. In the Book of Job we see a man who learned that lesson most tragically. Someone experiences losses like that somewhere every day.

We can only find true comfort in our losses when we learn to value what we have as first belonging to God, and then only ours as a management opportunity for the true owner’s glory. We who trust in Christ are not our own either. We belong to our Savior who gave himself to redeem us.

In the last study we saw God’s promise in the golden chain of Romans 8:29-30. There are those our Creator has foreknown as his own by eternal grace. He predestined them all to become conformed to the character of Christ. These are the ones he calls by his Holy Spirit, and justifies. All those he justifies he will also, most certainly, glorify.

While we struggle through daily challenges, personal lapses into sin, and occasional tragic losses, we are quite aware that there are things, forces, actions, and people that at times separate us from the things we think of as our own.

When we suffer losses, and know that we are not as holy as we ought to be, it is a common worry that somehow we will be cut off from the care and promises of our God. But this cannot be. There can be nothing, no enemy, able to destroy or to nullify the work of God to redeem his eternally loved children.

Paul shows us how illogical it is to imagine this loss.

Romans 8:31, “What then shall we say to these things?
If God is for us, who can be against us?”

First he shows us the main point he is trying to make. Since God is for us — no one, no force, no enemy, can be successful against us.

Then the Apostle shows us why such supposed enemies would stand no chance.

Romans 8:32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

God demonstrated his love by sending the Son to die for those he has determined to redeem. He did that while they were yet sinners (5:8). Once the price is paid and they have become his own children, how much more would we expect him to care for them. Why would he send his son to die to give them life, then not also provide for the life he gives them in the Savior?

When people buy complex things like cars, copy machines, or computers they expect good support from the manufacturer to keep them in working condition, at least for the first few years of use. It would not be much of a company if it left its customers to figure things out and fix them on their own. God, the perfect supplier, always guarantees his workmanship. Those he redeems, he supplies with all they need as he advances them toward glory.

No one could lack what is needed to complete what God has begun in him. It is plainly impossible. Jesus Christ paid the infinitely huge price to redeem his beloved ones through his suffering to remove their guilt. Certainly his continuing care would not be withheld.

No accusation can stand up against those redeemed.

Romans 8:33, “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.”

Since God is our judge, and has already declared us to be forgiven in Christ, who in all the universe could charge us with any remaining crime against God? There is no remaining guilt to condemn us.

See the list of evidences Paul gives to prove his case:
1. We are God’s elect.
This is what he had just explained in the previous verses. If we are known beforehand as his own children, loved by grace for all eternity, and predestined to be made more and more like Christ, then our security is a forgone conclusion. All true believers are as surely glorified, as the mind of God is sure.

2. God our Father is the one who has justified us.
He has declared us righteous in Christ who lived a perfect life in our place, and died an infinite death as our substitute. If the judge says we are innocent, then nothing can be charged against us. Any such accusation must be false, and have no legal foundation. However, the judge does not simply set justice aside. He satisfied justice by becoming our substitute. The penalty was paid. As the Lord said to Isaiah (43:25) “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.”

The next four reasons for our confidence before the judge, rest in the detail of the work of Christ:

3. The death of Jesus fully satisfied the demands of justice for our sins.
Any condemnation would be unjust since the debt is paid in full. The court scene at the great day of judgment will not be to weigh evidence and argue the case. The verdict is already, eternally, known. If the wages of sin is death, and death has been served out to the only one appointed and able to represent us in the eternal plan of God, then the final disposition of the case is not in question. All that is left in that last day is the revealing of the verdict and the entry to glory for all those redeemed by the Savior.

4. The resurrection of Jesus proves that the curse is removed.
The sting of death is gone. Resurrection was not simply to demonstrate the power to bring life back to the dead. It demonstrated that the penalty of death was paid in full.

5. His power and glory are displayed again in the session of Jesus.
He sat down at the Father’s right hand in his ascension. Jesus never lost his power and glory, but he laid aside the full display of them while he accomplished his mission on earth. In his session in glory, he resumed the radiance of all that he is eternally. The rituals of the Old Testament were representations of the real removing of sin. The priests made sacrifices and sprinkled blood on the altar repeatedly, but Jesus did it once for all. He fulfilled the images of the past. Then he sat down showing that the work of atonement for sin was completed. Hebrews 10:12 describes Jesus’ work saying, “But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God,”

6. The intercession of Jesus continually applies the atonement.
His righteousness is ever credited to the believer’s account. No sin remains on the books. Nothing waits for us or the church to remove it. Jesus in heaven is ever testifying to his completed work on our behalf.

It is this work of Christ that gives us confidence. It’s not any thing we do, nor any attitude we develop. Salvation is the amazing union of justice and mercy. By mercy, the Savior of God’s people met the demands of divine justice completely. The greatest dread for anyone is to face God for the consequences of his sins. If that sin is removed, its consequences paid, then nothing should make us afraid of judgment.

So who can charge us or condemn us? Why should we worry that our sins somehow remain and make us unworthy? No one can find a single fault or sin in any of God’s children that is not paid for in Christ.

Paul next shows how secure we are in our fellowship with God.

Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

The point is that no one, nothing, can cut us off from our Lord who has loved us. No power or calamity on earth can do that.

Separations are major factors in our lives. There are the separations from loved ones and friends, from our belongings when thieves take them, or from our high maintenance possessions when we can no longer afford to keep them. We may be come separated from homes and possessions that give way to fire, storms, earthquakes or mudslides. There is also the separation of soul from the body when we die. The greatest separation is of a person’s soul from God. Those loved by Christ from all eternity and by the infallible determination of God, cannot be separated from the Savior by any created thing or circumstance.

Paul lists a few examples to remind us of some causes for our outward struggles: tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or sword. These certainly disrupt our earthly lives. But they cannot disrupt our fellowship with Christ.

Persecutions come because the world hates the message we represent.


Paul quotes from Psalm 44:22 to illustrate:

Romans 8:36, “As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ “

Even in the Old Testament, the Jews were hated and persecuted for God’s sake. Yes, some were even put to death for their faith. The world was glad to see them die. It is true also of the church in this era after Christ came. The early believers were accused of all sorts of wicked things by an angry world. They cried “The Christians to the lions!” The church today is accused of closed minded bigotry and prejudice for simply holding to what the Bible says. We are called “haters of individual freedom of expression,” “hypocrites,” “old fashioned,” and many other inaccurate labels which come from the real prejudice of those intolerant of those who believe the Bible.

The world may tolerate or even love religion — as long as it doesn’t make them feel uncomfortable, as long as it doesn’t bring them face-to-face with a Sovereign Creator and their need for redemption.

Paul’s point here is to encourage us and give us understanding and patience. We horribly fool ourselves if we expect to be exempt from trials, hatred, and prejudice, or if we think that our suffering is because we are not worthy of God’s love. No one is worthy. Every blessing anyone enjoys is not because they are more sincere, more diligent, or more deserving. All blessing and peacefulness in this life is ours only as a gift of God’s mercy.

We stand in good company when we are hated for Christ’s sake, or when we struggle as imperfect humans in a world belonging to a perfectly holy God.

We are not to give up in despair.

Romans 8:37, “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”

What an amazing conclusion to draw! Not only do we endure and survive our losses and agonies. Not only do we in the end come out the victors. We are more than conquerors in Christ!

We can live above our earthly losses because we see them as part of a secret but good plan of God for our eternal benefit. We know that our sufferings strengthen us here, lift our eyes above the temporal to heaven, and prepare us for our eternal stay in glory. Instead of being discouraged by our sins, we are humbled to know they are paid for.

Pastor Gordon Girod writes, “How can I be certain that I am a child of God, and that He will never let me go? Have you ever wept for your sin? Have you ever felt deeply and agonizingly that you have failed your God? You see, it is only that man, that woman, who in the agony of their guilt before God – not once but a thousand times – have sought forgiveness, who can know with certainty that God will not allow them to be lifted from the hollow of His hand.” (Pg. 90 in The Deeper Faith)

The Paul lists the most feared powers imaginable.

Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

We can have the same confidence Paul had when he said, “I am persuaded.” God implants a faith, a confidence, in us. It is not perfectly developed in this life, but it is there none-the-less. We know God’s promise is sufficient and trustworthy. What can separate us from the love of God?

  • not death – the great separator that thrusts all men into judgment. Jesus was already judged in our place.
  • not life – all the dangers and difficulties we face in life which some see as more unwelcome than death are no threat to the one redeemed in Christ.
  • not angels – no spirit beings of any sort can harm us.
  • not principalities – all that rule in this world, or in the invisible spirit world, are unworthy of our fears.
  • not things present – the trials, and afflictions we see striking around us in this fallen world.
  • not things to come – not even the unseen troubles of tomorrow which we worry about today.
  • not powers – those with strong abilities.
  • neither height nor depth – the highest or lowest danger is nothing before the Almighty God.
  • not any created thing – this encompasses all that is! Nothing is left out.

Nothing can prevail against us: no army, demon, devil, circumstance, or temptation. God is our Shield, our Fortress, our Captain, our King — our Father.

Isaiah 43:2 says, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.”

Dr. Haldane writes, “Nothing does happen, nothing can happen, which, from eternity, He hath not appointed and foreseen, and over which He hath not complete control.” (P. 425)

The Apostle Peter assures us in 1 Peter 1:3-5, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

When we see tragedy closing in on us, when it grips our own lives, when we imagine our own sins to be so large that we wonder if God could love us at all, we are foolish to go to the counselor who helps us blame others, to our list of excuses, to our hiding place to anguish in despair and doubt. We go to the word of God with all its wonderful promises, and to the quiet place of prayer. There we remember the golden chain of assurance with which our God secures us by the promise of his own word. There we are reminded of the amazing grace by which we are kept by the hand of God.

Those who speak of the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints need to remember that it is not that some have such a good grip on God that they persevere, but that God has such a grip on all his tottering children that he will not let them go. God perseveres with us, so that we will persevere to the end.

There is nothing in all the created universe, nothing in ourselves, nothing in the angry world around us or in the invisible realm of spirits, that can nullify the work of Christ for his people.

The Psalmist wrote, in Psalm 73:26, “My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

Jesus himself said, John 10:28-29< "And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand." (The Bible quotations in this lesson are from the New King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.)

Back to the Index of Studies In Paul’s Letter to the Romans

Repentance and Godly Sorrow

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Repentance and Godly Sorrow

by Bob Burridge ©2011
(Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 87)
(watch the video)

People are often very regretful about having done something wrong, particularly when they have to pay the consequences. However, just wishing they did things differently, and regretting the results, is far from truly repenting for what they had done.

While sitting in jail, a convicted felon might be filled with regrets. He might wish he had planned and executed his crime better to avoid getting caught. He might wish he had been able to get away from the police better when they came after him. He might regret hiring the lawyer that got him convicted. When a person is sorry for his sins in this way, he is not repentant. It is nothing more than self-centered regret.

There is a godly kind of sorrow for sin.

Real repentance is not just concern about the personal consequences of mistakes we make. It centers upon the offense to God which our sins produce. 2 Corinthians 7:10 makes a contrast between these two kinds of sorrow. It says, “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.”

The world sorrows over the inconveniences caused by sin. This is a selfish kind of grief. The fact that it offends God only enters the picture in how God might punish the guilty party. When discipline in a society or home is only a matter of rewards and punishments, it trains people to weigh what they do against the cost of the personal consequences. So crime is avoided simply because it “doesn’t pay.” They figure that if they get caught and have to go to jail, it might not be worth taking the chance.

That is the attitude that makes people drive over the speed limit when the police are not around. They easily lie if they think they can get away with it, and if it helps them out in some way. They steal from their taxes, steal from God’s tithe, or shoplift things in stores. It’s why children often risk the consequences to break the rules their parents make.

There is a far greater reason to avoid doing what’s wrong.

Moral judgments should not be based upon what benefit we get from them. They should be measured by how they either please or offend God. We are not here for our own advancement. We advance so that God will be honored.

I often think of Eric Liddell, the Scottish olympic runner whose story was told in the movie Chariots of Fire. He clearly let his fans, friends, and opponents know that he was not running for his own glory. He ran for God, for his honor. In one of the race scenes another runner hands Liddell a scrap of paper. There’s a Bible verse on it: 1 Samuel 2:30, “…he who honors Me, I will honor…” Eric holds the paper tightly in his fist during the whole race.

This is why we should work hard and do our best when we scrub our floors, write our lessons or sermons, do our homework, produce our products, serve our customers, heal the sick, defend the accused, or whatever we’re expected to do here in this life. We owe all we are and have to God and to him alone. Our abilities to work, create, save, and produce are only ours because of God’s mercy.

When we do things that displease God, it ought to trouble us deeply. If we are redeemed in Christ, it ought to drive us to repentance.

Westminster Shorter Catechism question 87 asks, “What is repentance unto life?”
Answer: “Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience.”

True repentance is not natural in our fallen souls.
It is an evangelical grace.

Repentance is an ability implanted by God’s gracious work of regeneration. Along with faith in the redeeming work of Christ, and the beginning of real spiritual growth, God makes us able to see our sins for what they are, and to repent of them.

Contrary to popular thinking, the Bible does not teach that first we need to repent, then God steps in because of that to forgive us for our sins. The fallen heart cannot truly repent anymore than he can have a true faith. However, once spiritual life is implanted, repentance cannot be avoided. It is not our deep feelings about sin that save us. It is the work of Christ, and the faith in that work that begins when we are regenerated by his operation upon our hearts. The same grace that makes us believe also makes us truly remorseful to God for our sins.

This is the consistent teaching of the Apostle Paul.

Romans 2:4, “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?”

A. A. Hodge explains, “Every Christian duty is therefore a grace; for without him we can do nothing ( John 15:5). And equally every Christian grace is a duty because the grace is given to us to exercise, and it finds its true results and expression only in the duty.”

This means that if we truly repent of our sins, God is to be thanked for our repenting. However, we should not just wait around for God to overcome our moods and stubbornness. It is our duty to admit the depth of our sins and come broken before God in repentant confession. Only when we come can we discover that God has so graciously moved our hearts to do so.

It is important to know what a true biblical repentance is.

There are two main Hebrew words in the Old Testament that are translated as “repentance”, and two Greek ones in the New Testament.

The Hebrew word, nakham (נחם), is the key to understanding the word. Dr. Girdlestone explains that it means “to draw a deep breath.” It was used to express a deep feeling that makes us sigh. Sometimes it is that deep feeling we experience when we mourn or grieve in sorrow. Other times it is used for the deep compassion we have in our hearts when we see someone else suffering. The word came to be used for comforting or consoling someone. One of the things that can move us to deep sorrow is when we consider our sins against God.

The Bible sometimes uses this word in reference to what God does. Often it is translated that God repented of something he did or purposed. However, that is not a good translation of the word in that case. God never regrets what he has done or planned. He never makes inferior decisions he later finds out should have been different. He is, however, moved with deep compassion to console his people, and to grieve over their rebellion. It is better to use wording such as, “God grieved,” “God sighed,” or “God was moved with sorrow and compassion” concerning sinful actions that harm his people spiritually.

The other biblical words often translated as “repentance” mean the change in a person caused by the deep emotions of sorrow or compassion.

Latin gave us the word “remorse” which literally means “to bite again.” The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines remorse as “a gnawing distress arising from a sense of guilt for past wrongs”

When God changes a heart in regeneration
repentance is one of its fruits:

There is an intellectual change. The Holy Spirit uses God’s word to convince us about what is true. He points out through Scripture and by our renewed conscience what is right and wrong. He shows us where we would crossed the moral line. The unsaved only see rules with penalties. The believer sees moral principles that show us what honors God, and what offends him. That is a huge difference. Instead of figuring out which things we can get away with, our deep love and gratitude to God compels us to live for his glory, rather than to indulge our own pleasures.

King David showed this more mature understanding of sin. The Holy Spirit, by the prophet Nathan, opened his heart to understand his offense against God. We see his reaction in Psalm 51.

Psalm 51:3-4, “For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight — That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.”

There is also an emotional change produced. When the nature of our sin is revealed, a believer’s heart responds with profound grief and spiritual pain to know how much he has offended his God.

When we repent as we should, God generates in us a relief and joy because of his assurance of forgiveness and comfort. This is what David meant in the same Psalm after he repented.

Psalm 51:14, “Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, The God of my salvation, And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.”

There is also a volitional change. When a redeemed soul is informed about sin and convicted by the Spirit, his desires change. He wants his fellowship with the Lord to be restored. He is not just worried about his own punishments. He knows he deserves them. He also begins to desire to make choices that honor his Creator. David shows this transformation in other verses in Psalm 51.

Psalm 51:11-12, “Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.”

Psalm 51:15, “O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.”

It is sad that many evangelical churches
teach a watered down repentance.

Some define “repentance” as if it was only a change of mind about sin, but that it does not require a change in behavior. God does not divide us up as if we were disconnected puzzle pieces. When he redeems us, he does not just inform us mentally. He renews our dead souls. We begin to live spiritually for the first time.

A. A. Hodge says that repentance unto life is, “a change of mind including evidently a change of thought, feeling and purpose corresponding to our new character as children of God.”

If our regeneration is genuine it implants life into our lost souls. That produces a change we called conversion. That will include a true repentance, a deep sorrow over our sins, an awareness of how horrible it is to violate what pleases our loving and gracious God, and a change that makes us determine to stop sinning and strive to do what is right. The regenerate child of God is able to apprehend both the horrors of sin as an offense against God, and the wonders of grace which show the mercy of redemption through the Messiah.

He understands that sin is just plain wrong, not just because it produces unpleasant results in his life and circumstances, but because God is offended.

He sees the fleeting pleasures of sin as having no appeal to him at all when considered in the light of God’s honor (Hebrews 11:25). He understands his own inner moral weakness and wants it changed. He wants to be free from sin and its bondage, rather than just from its personal consequences. He sees his condemnation as just, and only removed by the merits of Jesus Christ in his place.

When we realize that the foolish and wrong things we do cannot possibly make us truly happy or help our loved ones, when we see that God alone is the one offended most by our every sin, we can only then understand the Apostle Paul’s cry in Romans 7:24-25, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! …”

Repentance is not just about confessing and avoiding what is bad. It is about wanting to learn to be good. It is a strong desire to please God at every opportunity, in everything we do.

In Chariots of Fire Eric Liddell says, “God made me fast, and when I run, I feel His pleasure.”

The godly attitudes that grow in the heart of the repentant fill them with great pleasure to know that they do things God loves them to do. This is why we should love to live morally, to say no to sin, to turn away from temptation, to refuse to indulge our desires in wrong ways, and to give our all to Christ’s service and Kingdom.

The lost want to be free from the consequences of sin, but they care little about their offense to God. The believer will endure justly deserved consequences if he must. His joy is in the promise that he can be progressing out of his sinful ways, and becoming more and more free from offending the God he loves so dearly. He is driven to live every hour of his life for Christ — to please God.

(The Bible quotations in this lesson are from the New King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.)

Index of Lessons in the Westminster Shorter Catechism

Secured by the Golden Chain

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Lesson 30: Romans 8:29-30

Secured by the Golden Chain

by Bob Burridge ©2011

The book of Romans tells about God’s eternal plan for the salvation of his people. It shows an amazing plan that was accomplished by Christ, and is applied by the Holy Spirit. As Christians we are thankful for being forgiven and having our souls set free, but an agonizing struggle continues with the stubborn remains of sin in our lives. We live in a world full of lies, anger, and tragedy. Yet through it all, God lays out a way of life for his children, a way of Christian optimism. It is not the self-deceiving wishful thinking of the world’s optimism. It is based upon revealed reality: the unfailing and perfect promise of God.

Our last study was Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

The “good” promised is not earthly riches, freedom from disease, or safety from crime. It is not that you will never lose a loved one, or have to endure some horrible experiences. There is while we endure these things hard times, an amazing inner peace from Christ that surfaces when we most need it. Also, there is the future hope Paul had just been writing about, our inheritance in glory.

God tells us that everything works together to produce this good. Our Sovereign God uses even our sufferings, weaknesses, and failings to help us grow in Christ. This makes us spiritually stronger here, and prepares us for our place in glory. This consolation through our times of suffering is not promised to everybody. This verse only assures it to those who love God, and are called according to his purpose.

In the next two verses Paul shows how sure that promise is. Romans 8:29 and 30 describe what is often called “The Golden Chain”.

“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.”

There are five links in this chain. They show an unbreakable connection that secures us to God’s blessing eternally. This certainty is anchored on one end in the eternal love and decree of God. It is attached at the other end to the promise of glory forever. The chain can never be broken. Each link is forged from the promises of God. This makes the chain infinitely secure. It binds each of God’s children to an infallible future, eternal glorification in Christ.

The chain begins with its anchor in God’s eternal decree.

29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

It all begins in God’s foreknowledge of those he promises to glorify. The word “to foreknow” is a verb formed from the Greek root word prognosis (προγνοσις); We use it as a medical term. A prognosis tells a patient in advance how his condition will progress. However, there are different kinds of foreknowing in the Bible.

Sometimes it means simply knowing about something in advance. That can’t be what it means here. It would make no sense. God knows all things in advance. He knows all people in advance, but all people are not predestined to become like Christ. They are not all justified by Christ headed for glory in the last day. Paul did not write, “because of what God foreknew he predestined…” He wrote, “for whom he foreknew he predestined”

Besides, it would make no sense that God looked ahead to see what happens in time to decide what he should eternally purpose to happen. God knows all things eternally and unchangeably. There cannot be a time when God made up his mind based upon things that could only happen after his creation of the world.

What would God look for to decide who to predestine to Christ? Would he look ahead to see their faith? That could not be. In Acts 13:48 it says ” as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.” Therefore faith is the result of God’s appointment. It cannot be its cause. The cause cannot be based upon the result, or the result would be the cause. This would contradict Acts 13:48, and would make humans the determiners of the mind of God.

Would God look ahead to see their good works? That could not be either. Ephesians 2:10 says “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. ” Again, our works are the result of God’s preparing us before hand in Christ, not its cause.

Paul writes in 2 Timothy 1:9 that God “… saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began”

The meaning here obviously includes some kind of selection of certain ones only. God is often said to specially know his people in a way different than the way knows all others.

John 10:14 , “I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.”

1 Corinthians 8:3, “But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.”

Romans 11:2, “God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. …” This is a special reference to Israel, God’s chosen nation before the time of Christ. Here his foreknowledge is defined as that special relationship that marked them out from other nations.

Matthew 7:23, “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Certainly this verse does not mean that God was ignorant of the existence of unbelievers. It cannot mean that the all knowing God discovers that some existed he did not know about. It can only mean one thing. God has specially known some people in a way that makes them his own. Those who are not his own he does not know in this special way.

This first link in the chain means that God set his heart to know some specially as His own. He did this from the beginning, before anyone had done good or evil.

This means that God’s “foreknowing” is his loving us and choosing us by grace alone. That is how God has always expressed himself toward his people. In Jeremiah 31:3 the LORD said, “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.”

Those God has known specially beforehand he has predestined. Predestination is another of those words that people struggle with. I have heard Christians say that their church does not believe in predestination. How can that be? Here it is in our Bibles. The word appears in many other verses too. Most likely those who deny this statement of Scripture redefine the word to allow for certain assumptions they have made.

The word verse clearly means that God made a determination about the people he foreknew as his own. The purpose of this predestination is that his people would be conformed to the image of Christ.

Humans were originally created in the image of God to represent him in the world. When Adam sinned that image was badly marred in us all. Instead of subduing all things for God’s glory, humans began abusing things for their own pleasure. In this fallen condition they ignore the Creator’s glory and purpose in all things. Their power is used to advance their own agenda and interests instead of the Kingdom of God. Their morality, sense of justice, and concept of truth, are based upon standards contrary to those God has revealed to us.

God purposed that through Christ those he foreknew would be restored to being able to show God’s image to the world. Our predestination is not only to get us to heaven, or to make us believe. It is so that we might progress in holy living, shaped by the model of Jesus. In 1 Peter 1:1-2 the Apostle spoke of God’s foreknowledge and choosing with reference to how he makes them obedient. Peter addressed his letter , “… To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.”

God brings his decree into the individual’s life by a special calling.

Romans 8:30a, “Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; …”

This is the third link in the chain. All those God has foreknown as his own, and predestined to be like Christ He calls to himself so that this sanctifying change will take place in them.

There are two distinct types of calling mentioned in God’s word. One kind of calling in Scripture is not just to those predestined to life in Christ. Jesus said, “many are called but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14). The call Jesus spoke about there was the outward call that invites individuals to become believers. He makes it clear that God has not chosen all those who are invited in this way. The outward invitation saves no one, and is not the link in this golden chain. So the call here is the one by which those who are chosen beforehand are assured to also be justified.

In Romans 1-3 we saw that no fallen human can respond to the gospel call on his own. Men love to be religious, and to do things that improve their opinion of themselves. They will not admit they are offensive to God, or that their only hope to be avoid condemnation in the judgment is the death of Jesus in their place, and the grace of a sovereign God who alone can change them. As Jesus said in John 6:44, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

There is also this special call internally by the Spirit. It changes a person’s standing with God. When the Holy Spirit calls inwardly the person most gratefully comes. God in this special calling transforms the heart. He gives the person spiritual life, and the ability to know and to trust the words of God. This is “regeneration”. It is what the Bible means when it speaks of being “born again.”

When the Spirit gives us life, we can no more resist this call than a creature could resist his own creation.

The next link in the chain is justification.

Romans 8:30b. ” … whom He called, these He also justified; …”

“Justified” is a legal term. It is a declaration of innocence by a court. In this case it is the judgment of God that through Christ our debt is fully paid. This is the great theme around which Paul builds the whole book of Romans. In 1:17 he quoted Habakkuk 2:4 that “the just shall live by his faith”

God’s own holy nature makes it impossible for him to set aside guilt without its deserved punishment. That is what Jesus came to do for those God had foreknown as his own. When those called by the Spirit are justified, the work of Jesus Christ is applied to them. The righteousness of Jesus is credited to the sinner, and the sinner’s guilt is considered paid for by the Savior.

When the offense is removed, it removes the moral barrier between them and God. They are restored to fellowship with him, and are promised his blessing forever.

Then there is the final link in the chain.

Romans 8:30c, “… and whom He justified, these He also glorified.”

This is the great hope, the consolation that keeps us looking ahead while we struggle here. One day the work of God in our hearts will be completed. We who have been called to the Savior by grace will be received into eternal glory. We will be changed, in body and soul, to live in the presence of the Lord forever.

This is so certain, that Paul puts it in the past tense as if it is already a “done deal”. God who sees the end from the beginning assures us that our final blessing is assured. No believer will come short of this final blessing.

This is an unbreakable chain. Its links are more precious than gold. Who are those who are to be glorified? those same ones God has justified. Who are those God justifies? Those same ones he has called to himself. Who does God call? Those same ones he has predestined to become like his Son. Who does God predestine in this way? Those same ones foreknown by him from the beginning.

It is all by grace. Nothing of our own merit enters into it at all. There is nothing that should make us proud or secure in ourselves. The undeserved love of God has set us free through Christ. That is the plain truth of it.

Titus 3:5 says, “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit”

Have you experienced that call of God on your heart? Has his Spirit convicted you of your hopeless condition, and humbled you before your maker? Has he filled you with awe at the gracious sacrifice of Jesus Christ to redeem those totally unworthy? Has he stirred you to trust in that work of the Savior? Do you want to learn to be like him?

If so, that middle link assures you of that to which it is attached on both sides. You can be certain that God has loved you for all eternity. You would not experience those dispositions in your heart if you had not been called inwardly by the work of the Holy Spirit as the work of Jesus Christ brings new life to what was spiritually dead. It assures you that in God’s eyes you are now justified, and one day will be received into glory to live forever in the house of the Lord.

When you struggle with hard times, face tragedy and disappointments, When you falter and sin against the God you love — hang on to this golden chain. It is anchored in the ancient love of God on the one end of the chain, and is tethered on the other end to the promises of eternal glory. It assures you that what our heavenly Father brings us through works toward what is truly good. It helps you mature into the spiritual child God is making you to be, and it fits you for your place in eternal glory.

There is no suffering of this present world that can cast even a dim shadow when we stand in the light of this astounding promise. To hold on to your doubts you must assume the absurd, that God fails to justify those he predestined and called to be made like Christ. God himself rules out the possibility that anyone who is justified by his grace could fail to be ultimately glorified.

Dr. Haldane commented on this verse saying, “It is impossible to find words which could more forcibly and precisely express the indissoluble connection that subsists between all the parts of this series, or show that they are the same individuals that are spoken of throughout.”

From commencement to consummation, the promise of God stands sure. No greater consolation to the struggling believer is imaginable.

(The Bible quotations in this lesson are from the New King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.)

Back to the Index of Studies In Paul’s Letter to the Romans

The Growth of a True Faith

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The Growth of a True Faith

by Bob Burridge ©2011
(Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 86 Part 3)
(watch the video)

Not everyone who hears the gospel, and discovers what the Bible actually says, believes it. Of those who say they believe it, not everyone really trusts in it sincerely and with confidence. The problem is not found in their lack of intelligence. It cannot be blamed on those who have influenced them or raised them. It has to do with the state of their soul.

In previous studies we have seen how the guilt and effects of Adam’s sin have infected and condemned the whole human race descending naturally from him. They are unable to do what is truly good by God’s definition of it. However, their moral inability to understand and to trust in what God said in his word does not make them excusable for their rejection of what is right and true.

The Parable of the Sower and the Seed in Matthew 13

Jesus had been teaching in Galilee. Crowds followed him wanting to hear more about what he had to say. From a boat along the shore he taught another of his parables about the Kingdom. Most of the teachings of Jesus during his time on earth centered around the Kingdom of God. However, the message was not going to take effect the same way in the lives of everyone who heard is lessons. Interest in the Kingdom of God would fade away in some who seemed interested at first.

In the parable of the sower, there are four kinds of soil that receives the seed. Jesus started the Parable saying, “Behold, a sower went out to sow.”

Matthew 13:4, “… some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.”

Theses seeds fell in places on the side of the prepared fields. They landed on the path. The narrow foot paths that go through fields dividing the sections were made of packed down dirt from people walking on them. Birds would easily find these exposed seeds and eat them.

Matthew 13:5-6, “Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.”

These seeds fell in areas where there was a thin layer of soil over an underlying rocky foundation. Seeds planted here would sprout and start to grow but would not be able to put down firm roots. The growth was superficial. Without a root system there was no supply of water and other nourishments. The rock under them would get hot in the sun. The heat from below and above would dry the young plants out, and they would die.

Matthew 13:7, “And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.”

This third group of seeds fell in a place where weeds were growing rampantly. These thorns were weeds that took the nourishment away from the planted seeds. They also produced shade on the ground that blocked the sun from the seeds that fell under them. These seeds were choked by the unwanted wild growth around them.

Matthew 13:8-9, “But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

These seeds landed in soil which was rich with nutrients, and had the right consistency to support growth. These were the seeds that produced a good, healthy crop.

A few verses later, Jesus himself explained what his parable meant. He made it clear that the seed was the word of the Kingdom of God. The soil represented the hearts of those who hear that word. The growth of the seed depended upon the soil prepared for the seed.

Matthew 13:19, “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.”

Like the seed that landed on the hardened paths, the message about God’s Kingdom sometimes falls upon hardened hearts. The natural heart of every person lacks the ability to understand kingdom truths as they really are. They do not have confidence in the truth of God’s promises. They lack that saving faith which grows only in the hearts of those redeemed by Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:14 says, “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

In these hearts, the truth about God’s Kingdom and the ways it teaches us to think and to live are replaced by worldly habits and myths which are preferred by the hardened heart. The truth God reveals is distorted by spiritual blindness and confused understanding. The promises of the Kingdom are snatched away and never really take root.

Matthew 13:20, “But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.”

Someone can appear to be a true child of God for a time, even if it is only superficial. They seem to receive God’s word with joy. They endure for a while but then turn away. They might be discouraged by persecution, trials, and temptations of various kinds. Since there is no real root to what they believe, they abandon their professed convictions. In difficult times a person’s true character is revealed. Some show that their faith was not the kind implanted by grace. It was a trust in their hopes of personal benefits, not a trust in the redeeming work of a Savior who calls us into service with the family of God.

1 John 2:19 makes it clear that this happens, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.”

In Revelation 2:9 the Bible shows us where these false believers have their real church membership, “… I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.”

Matthew 13:22, “Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.”

The thorns are the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of material riches. A heart set upon self-satisfaction is not dedicated to the service of Christ as Lord of his life. A person like that is shallow, and lacks evidence of a true Saving Faith. The person who receives the word among thorns lets his personal goals and comforts crowd out his service for God’s Kingdom. With no sound foundation, the truth is choked out in his life, and becomes unimportant to him.

This is the tragedy of many who put other values above the supreme value of trusting and honoring the Creator. There are many important responsibilities God gives us, and many wonderful blessings he bestows upon his children. They all must be handled with the right outlook. Our jobs are important to provide what we and our families need, but we should be careful to keep God’s priorities as we set up our budget and advance in our careers. Our families are important too, but we do the family no good if we elevate family fun or prosperity over helping one another grow into mature Kingdom workers in all we do, declaring God’s glory and living with a true trust in all he said is right and good. When our jobs or families are valued above God’s Kingdom Principles, they become a form of idolatry and a great evil. The same is true of education, social status, sports, hobbies .. all the good things God lets us enjoy in this life.

If the Principles of God’s Kingdom become secondary, then the weeds of this world are choking it out and the person is unfruitful. The word is choked out by foolish distractions, and their lives become spiritually unfruitful. In those who live this way, there is no evidence of a true saving faith.

It’s ironic that one of the greatest reasons given for people skipping worship and church involvement is family activities. As a Pastor I’ve seen some families stop attending worship, or avoid involvement in other activities of the congregation. I’ve seen some of those families break up horribly, or pay the sad price of children who have no interest in living for the glory of God. I remember one family where members became involved in illegal activities and were arrested shortly after a pastoral visit in their homes where they said they needed Sundays for family time, so they decided they were not going to continue to come to Sunday worship. We do our family no good, if we teach them that our own enjoyment is more important than obeying the ways our Loving Lord teaches us to live as his children. If our faith is not a firm confidence that God’s ways are the best ways for us, then we do not have the kind of faith that evidences the work of grace.

Finally, Jesus explained the seed that fell on good ground.

Matthew 13:23, “But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

What made this soil good and productive? The soil was prepared for the seed. The good news of God’s Kingdom only takes root in hearts God has prepared to receive it. Only those transformed by his grace and given the quality of a true faith in God’s word, are made able to understand it, and to bear fruit in their lives to the glory of their Creator.

As we tell people the good news about being made right with the King of kings by grace, we have to remember that we cannot change the soil the seeds fall upon. We cannot prepare the hearts of those who need the gospel. That is God’s work. Our duty is to receive the word of God ourselves, and to sow the seed prayerfully where we can.

We are to live by what God says in his written word, and by putting those principles to practice in our lives above everything else. Not to do so is not just a poor choice — it’s tragic!

Knowing that success is all a matter of God’s grace, that we are not the ones who make it effective, does not mean we give up our efforts to proclaim the good news diligently. Just the opposite. Grace at work produces fruit in us. It makes us trust what God has promised, and it stirs in us a concern for the proclaiming of the Gospel of the Kingdom in Christ. Our concern should be a reason to rejoice over the evidence in us that we are prepared soil.

If we are prayerfully trying to live as God says we should, then we see evidence that a true saving faith is at work in us, growing in us, and that we can know that we are the objects of his grace.

In Philippians 1:6 Paul wrote, “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;”

A true faith is a growing faith. Our confidence matures as we are made to conform more and more into the image of Christ. More and more we humbly realize that left to our own ways we will fail. As we strive to do what is right, it is by resting in what God has done, not by hoping in our own efforts.

Dr. Charles Hodge in his commentary on the Book of Romans calls it a “lamentable mistake” that we should ever assume that God loves us for our goodness. Nothing contradicts the gospel more than for us to make God’s blessing into something we earn. Hodge explains that this unbiblical idea leads us to believe that it is up to us to cling to God, and to maintain his love by our own efforts. We do not make ourselves worthy. The soil which represents our hearts produces fruit because it is prepared by our Redeemer.

When we see a concern in our hearts, when we sincerely desire to put God first, and when we strive to tear out the choking weeds, we have evidence from God’s own word that he loves us deeply, and has caused that concern and trust. It shows that the message of God’s Kingdom has fallen on prepared soil. It should humble us and make us all the more grateful for his undeserved love.

Rather than worrying over what kind of soil your heart is made of, focus upon getting your priorities right and getting busy doing what you say you believe is right. Put the principles of God’s Kingdom in first place, and fit the rest of your life around them. Then you will be demonstrating that you received the seed on good soil, and that God is busy at work in your heart.

When you bring the word of Christ’s Kingdom to others, when you challenge them to live as God commands, when you encourage them to put their eternal trust in the finished work of Christ on the Cross, be patient for this good work of God to do the convincing and convicting.

Good seed grows when it falls upon good ground with all the right conditions. The sower does not have to make it grow. He makes sure he has the right seed, then simply casts in on the good soil. Since this is not just literal seed, and God calls us to be part of his work in prayer, we also beg him to make our hearts and those we evangelize to be good soil.

Faith always has an object. A true saving trust rests in the promises of God, and shows that it is genuine by acting confidently and boldly upon what is claimed to be believed. This is what evidences a true saving faith.

(The Bible quotations in this lesson are from the New King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.)

Index of Lessons in the Westminster Shorter Catechism

The Good End of All Things

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Lesson 29: Romans 8:28

The Good End of All Things

by Bob Burridge ©2011

When things do not go well, people often try to find comfort by looking for something good in the situation. There was an old song I remember hearing a lot when I was very little, “Look for the Silver Lining”. It was my parent’s favorite song. Optimism has always been a popular attitude. Stories of “Pollyanna” and “Little Orphan Annie” have been favorites to tell children. Even when things look gloomy, something in our human nature hates to see naked tragedy. We instinctively try to dress it up in more attractive attire.

Often the trials mount up, the hard times linger on, or catastrophe crushes the spirit. The clothing we use to dress up our calamities just doesn’t seem to fit any more. The ugly nakedness of adversity shows through. Optimism fades into doubt and pessimistic gloom. People ask in discouraged frustration, ” What good could possibly come of this?”

This is the troubled world in which we are called to live. God has not left his children to live here in false hopes or in dismal gloom.

In the last section of his letter to the Romans, Paul talked about how believers long for the glory that lies ahead for them. All our sufferings here, and all that’s in the sin laden world we live in, are eclipsed by the glories promised in which we hope. Creation itself looks to be set free from the way man abuses God’s world for self glory. We long for the day when we will inherit the promises of eternal glory. The Holy Spirit in us encourages us along as we agonize toward that day.

Paul assures us that there is
a Christian optimism for his children.

This optimism is not just self deception or wishful thinking. It is based upon an unfailing reality.

Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

What Paul teaches us here is something he says “we know …” It’s not just an empty hope that things will work out — somehow. It’s not just a selective blindness to reality. It’s a certainty that comes to our hearts by the testimony of God’s Spirit testifying in us by the written promises in God’s word. Since it is based upon the assurances of God himself it cannot fail.

This is not something new he gives us here. It’s something we already know from what God has told us. This is a reminder of what we can rely upon when times get tough. Though we groan, we know that everything is under the control of our Heavenly Father.

The good he is promising here is made clear in the context. It’s not just some theoretical “good” that has nothing to do with us personally. It is the future glory Paul has just been writing about. It’s the inheritance that all believers will receive as heirs with Christ. All our trials and disappointments fit us for our life in eternity and the perfect blessings of God.

There are benefits for us in this life too. Our Lord lets us go through tough times to make us grow in holiness, and in humble dependence upon our Heavenly Father.

Everything works together to produce this good. Specifically here, Paul is speaking of the hard times we face in this life. The theme of this passage is enduring through the groanings and anxieties of our fallen world. Paul tells us plainly that nothing is excluded. All of life is a complex and intricate pattern displaying the plan of God. But it’s our afflictions that particularly contribute to our growth and benefit.

Paul wrote in Romans 5:3-5 “… we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

Paul suffered some type of physical problem he called his “thorn in the flesh”. Many have debated what that was. We don’t know for sure. Paul prayed repeatedly to be cured of it, but God said it was needful for him to suffer with it to keep him humble. (2 Corinthians 12:7)

It’s hard to imagine any suffering greater than what Job went through. In one sudden moment his whole life changed. He got news that invasions and disasters had wiped out all he had: his servants, his oxen, sheep and camels. A storm collapsed the house where his children were eating and all were killed. Later he was stricken with a horrible disease that caused intensely painful boils all over his body. By it Job learned a classic lesson that is basic to all human struggles. Though we may not understand tragedies as they occur, we dare not question God. Job, as far as we know, never learned about the great spiritual battle behind the scenes. But he did learn from God that there is comfort for believers as they endure great suffering.

It’s not just the afflictions. All things are orchestrated together by God in concert for good. The absolute sovereignty of God is one of the clearest, most direct teachings of Scripture. Aside from our human philosophies, assumptions, and prejudices, it is undisputed that nothing but the decree of God directs events in the course of time.

God uses even evil and our sins to promote his holy and wonderful plan. He used the ancient rebellion of Satan to display his justice against evil. He used the fall of man in Adam to show his grace in the plan of salvation. He used the wicked men who crucified Jesus to accomplish the atonement

By the goodness and power of him who brings light out of darkness, God overrules the evil of our sins and produces exactly what he had eternally intended. Even from his own children’s rebellion, he draws out benefits for those saved by grace.

Far from condoning or excusing sin, God, by means of it, exposes how deplorable it is. He shows us what is in our own hearts aside from his restraint. He shows us what we deserve if it was not for the forgiveness we have in the Savior. He reminds us how much we need to depend upon him in all things. He stirs us to prayer and vigilance all through the day. He keeps us humble in our reliance upon his mercies, presence, and power.

David learned by his own sins and sufferings. He wrote in Psalm 119:67, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word.”

God’s care is an amazing orchestration of the most minute incident into the symphony of eternal glory.

Children have a hard time seeing the wisdom of the lessons they need to learn. Homework seems like a cruel punishment. It takes up their time and it’s intended to be challenging. However, without struggling through it our brains will not learn to think logically, we will not know the lessons of history to avoid mistakes of the past, we will not know how to communicate our ideas to others, we will not have the facts we need to make good decisions and be good in our life’s callings.

No one likes to have to go through surgery, suffer the bruises of learning to walk or ride a bike, go through the agony of losing a ball game or of apologizing to someone we offended. Yet, all those things help us to grow into what we need to be.

God our Heavenly Father brings us through very trying times. It’s hard to know why we get diseases, why loved ones die, why we lose our jobs, have our homes destroyed in calamities, or are injured in accidents. It’s hard to see criminals lose in our society, and to see people lie and seem to get away with it.

God uses all these things to make us grow into what will make us stronger and more humble. He uses them to best fit us for eternity. When that day comes, when the promised inheritance is ours to enjoy fully, when we move into the house of God to dwell forever, we will see how well he has prepared us.

This good is not assured to everyone.

The good is directed to a specific group: those who love God, and are called by him.

Those outside of Christ have no such promise from God. The world must therefore either live in resigned despair, or in unfounded optimism. It must convince itself without promise, that “all things work out for the best.” For the sinner not redeemed in Christ, all things work toward his eternal damnation. That is not an easy concept for us to accept with our limited understanding and yet flawed appreciation for the larger picture of things. As difficult as it may be to comprehend, it is clearly true according to what God tells us in his word.

On the other hand, for those in Christ, there is great promise and hope. They are called “The loved of God.” Those of the world believe they love God, but the god they love is a false god. He is not the Sovereign and Holy Creator. To them, god is not offended and is not bound by his holy nature to punish sin forever. To them, the Savior is just a good teacher or example, not a substitute for what they deserve. To them, their choices and determinations control all things. They cannot accept the full kingship of the King of kings. To love a false god is to offend the True God.

The believer in Christ has the love of the True God implanted into his heart. To them God has made a solemn promise that cannot fail. All things work in one complex plan for good. To battle the temptations of this world and to escape the despair of false optimism, we must love God as enabled by the work of Jesus Christ.

The concept of “good” itself is understood differently when we see things as they really are. At each phase of his creation God looked at what he had made and said it was “good”. The light was good, the seas and dry land were good. The vegetation, appearing of the sun, moon and stars was good. The same with the animals and humans he made to populate his new world. It would be self-centered to think that he meant only that it was good for us. It was good to him primarily. That is, it exactly conformed to what pleased him as Creator.

The good promised here is both good for us as God’s children, and good in the great plan of our Heavenly Father. All things are part of a wonderful plan that displays and declares the Creator’s glory. We cannot know how it all fits together, but we know that it does. One day we may be privileged to see what is not revealed to our finite minds at this time.

God’s children are also
“the called according to his purpose”

This is not a promise to all those invited outwardly to follow Christ. It means those called inwardly by his Holy Spirit, those called from all eternity to be part of God’s family. God’s eternal decree cannot fail or fall short of all it intends to accomplish. God decrees not only the faith he gives them in this life through the work of Christ. He also decrees their glory forever in him. Paul extends this promise beyond question in the next section of this chapter of Romans (Romans 8:29-30).

The unbeliever and the believer respond very differently to calamity.

Wicked King Saul faced challenges which he answered sinfully, disobediently. He tried to wrench blessings from the hand of God by his own efforts. He suffered in this life without comfort, and died without hope.

In contrast with Saul, King David, when he faced temptation, and even when he sinned, came in humble repentance and faith in God’s promises. He found forgiveness, comfort and hope. David was able to pray in Psalm 84:11, “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly.”

In Psalm 27 he began, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?”

Psalm 73:21-28 expresses this contrast between those without hope and the believer.

Thus my heart was grieved, And I was vexed in my mind. I was so foolish and ignorant; I was like a beast before You. Nevertheless I am continually with You; You hold me by my right hand. You will guide me with Your counsel, And afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish; You have destroyed all those who desert You for harlotry. But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, That I may declare all Your works.

If the God of creation, who rules all the heavens and the earth, is our Lord in Christ, then what can be lacking for our absolute and complete security both now and forever? If God’s decree is certain and sure, and by grace we are a part of that perfect decree, then all things will work together in our lives for good.

This coordination toward good ought not to lead us to carelessness in living. It is our love for God and our call in his eternal purpose that makes us his. Our duty in the midst of all adversity, calamity, and tragedy is two-fold:

1. We are to love God with all our heart, soul, and might. We must not let the love of the things in this world distract us from our true hope, or let temptation bring our belonging to Christ into question.

2. We are to obey that eternal calling to be a part of the purpose of God all the way to glory.

Do you want more of the confidence in times of trial and comfort in seasons of adversity? Take this verse to heart — keep it in your mind often. Dwell upon its promise until it becomes a part of the way you think every moment of every day. God assures us that all things work together for good. It’s a fact. Be reminded of, and practiced in, what you know already from what God has said.

(The Bible quotations in this lesson are from the New King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.)

Back to the Index of Studies In Paul’s Letter to the Romans

Reforming Ourselves

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Reforming Ourselves

by Bob Burridge ©2011

Reformation Day is October 31st. On that day in 1517 Augustinian monk Martin Luther drew up 95 statements for scholarly debate. He had them posted on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg.

People from all over Europe were coming there to celebrate All Saints Day on November 1st. They believed they would receive special blessings by looking upon the relics, attending Mass, and by doing various kinds of penance at its reputable church. Superstition dominated the church then, and had enslaved the people with false hopes.

Luther wanted a biblical foundation for the church’s beliefs and practices. He didn’t have any interest in becoming one of history’s most influential people. But what he did on that seemingly average October morning shaped the whole course of Western civilization.

As an Augustinian Monk, Luther struggled with a sense of his own moral guilt. He could see that a perfectly Holy God could not ignore crimes against his created order. What God called “sin” had to be dealt with in some amazingly powerful way.

Luther could see from Scripture that nothing man or church could do would be enough to atone for a person’s sins. His sense of guilt led him into deep fear, self-beatings, and tears of shame and agony. His knowledge of God’s word was confused by the teachings of a popular and powerful church.

He was overwhelmed when he first saw a complete copy of the Bible. It was chained to a podium at the University of Erfurt. For ten years he avidly studied the Scriptures in search of what God actually said, instead of what the popular pastors were saying.

When he rediscovered the truth of grace in that book, he became a Reformer. Since only God’s word could be the standard for what was absolutely true, a sound and accurate knowledge of the Bible was the only way to set people free from lies, false teachers, and manipulative leaders.

The historic meaning of reformation
has been mostly lost in today’s world.

I often have people ask me why anyone would want to reform Christianity. Reforming does not mean revising or updating something. It means taking it back to its original form. It means we honestly examine the way things are, determine carefully what they should be, then try to remove the corrupted parts to restore the original.

In the days of King Josiah, a copy of God’s word was found in the rebuilding of the Temple. The reading of the long ignored word convicted the King and reformed Israel. Worship and daily life were restored to the way God said they should be.

In the days of Jesus the main religious groups had again corrupted God’s teachings. Jesus corrected their errors challenging them to return to the teachings of Scripture. He was the one promised in the writings of Moses, David, and all the Prophets. Those who listened to him returned to those ancient promises and discovered the much forgotten work of grace that changed their lives.

At the time of Martin Luther the church of Rome had again wandered far from God’s truth. New doctrines and rituals had been added which were not based upon the Bible. Luther and the other reformers worked to restore God’s Kingdom as seen on earth to it’s original form.

During the battles of the early 20th Century, Liberalism and Post-Modernism challenged us. Men such as J. Gresham Machen, Archibald Alexander Hodge, Francis A. Schaeffer, and Cornelius VanTil stood up for soundly understanding biblical truth.

Today in the 21st Century there is still a need for reformation. There’s an old Latin saying: Semper Reformanda. It means, “Ever being re-molded, re-formed.” Reformanda is a Latin Gerundive Participle from the verb, reformo. It is not as much about changing things, as it is about being changed.

It means, we should always be submitting our every belief and practice, our every love and goal, to the test of God’s word, then reshaping what we find so that it conforms to God’s truth and ways. Only what God has revealed should be our standard and foundation.

I have often heard this slogan misused, even by ministers who should know better. Some represent it as meaning, “always finding a new shape for things” – as if our duty is to be innovators.

That’s not at all what it means. As a Latin reflexive verb, it is something done to us, not something new we come up with to impose upon something else. Our duty is to be always re-shaping our beliefs and practices back into the original form given to them in Scripture.

Sadly, in our modern world, even among those who might say they are reformed believers, another Latin expression better describes their objectives: Semper Neo-formans. This Latin active verb structure means always forming something new.

Innovation is important. God calls us all to subdue his world for his glory, but it should never go beyond the boundaries set by God’s unchanging standard.

Reformation is not a change in God’s truth, or in the way he calls us to live and to worship. It is a change made in individuals, churches, families, and societies that brings them back to God’s ways.

Ignorance of the Bible lures people to unbiblical beliefs and practices. Some are unaware of how much the New Testament says about the form of worship, and how the church should be governed under the headship of Jesus Christ, and about how we each person should live in their homes, work places, and community.

The tension we see today, is the battle between two ways of looking at life: either we are re-forming our lives and beliefs to fit the form God gave us, or we are making up new forms that better fit a society in love with its own pleasure and comfort.

This principle of reformation is
a clear mandate from God in his word.

Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.” What God says, is the only true light. Jesus is called the light of the world because he is the greatest communication of eternal truth into our world from God himself. He came to correct our errors, to show us the right way to live, and to secure our only hope of forgiveness and eternal life by his life and death.

To look for other sources of light, is to end up wandering down a wrong path. Notice how clearly God directs us to use his word as our guide, our only standard, and the only form by which we should direct our practices and beliefs.

Psalm 119:9, “How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.”

John 5:39, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.”

2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Reformation is not just a matter of theoretical theology.

Biblical Reformation includes re-molding our lives as individuals, and as the family of God. It brings us back to principles that guide us through our every-day situations.

Our imperfect hearts are easily tempted by the world around us to develop wrong attitudes and behaviors. Each of us needs to be being re-formed into what God lovingly explained in his word.

1. We need to reform how we treat others with whom we come in contact. The attitude of the lost is to see others only as ways of making themselves feel good, or of accomplishing their temporal goals. The fallen nature tends to take advantage of others as long as it can get away with it.

To the lost, reputation becomes something that helps a person feed his self-centered life. They may act in a kind way toward others, and avoid obvious lies because they know it is harder to get what they want from others if people are offended by them or can’t trust them. What they see as “good deeds” are often driven by these very wrong motives. People try to act in a good way so they can get “points with God,” “respect in the community,” or “advantages in business.”

I once knew a couple who seemed very friendly. They had people over for dinner, went up to others in the worship service to greet them, and came to every church service. After some time we found out they were really there to network for their business. They were recruiting sales representatives to help sell their home care products. Once they went through their list of prospects in our church, they moved on to another congregation. They impressed many of us with their friendly attitude, until we chose not to join their pyramid scheme.

The lost might reach out to help others in need, but they do it to avoid facing a troubled conscience, or to fuel self-pride and gain postition in the community.

When self is the reason we do good things, God is no longer at the center or our thoughts and motives. Certainly we want good things in our lives. We should want to help others, and to be able to provide for those facing real needs, but these actions should proceed out of us as service to God, not as fruits of self-serving covetousness and greed.

When we are re-formed into what God’s word says we should be, we have a higher purpose. We pray and work hard while resting in the power of Christ to overcome our self-centered attitudes and behaviors.

Galatians 5:19-21 describes the works of the flesh, the things that issue from imperfect hearts. They are listed as, “adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like …”

In their place, we should be cultivating the fruit of the Holy Spirit who works within us. That is what we see described in the next two verses of Galatians 5, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”

For those redeemed by grace, honoring God should be first in their lives. It becomes their motive for being good, and for doing good to others.

We are obligated to show these evidences of the Holy Spirit at work in our hearts. This effects how we take part in conversations, and how we respond to rudeness. Hebrews 10:24 says, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, That’s our mission, our responsibility in life.”

It is easy to walk away, to ignore those who make you uncomfortable, or to strike back at them, but God calls you to be light. He tells you to shine in the darkness, not to hide the light away. Lights are designed to shine in all those dark places. It is this standard that should shape our lives as we strive by the power of Christ to be truly reformed believers.

2. We need to be reformed in how we worship and fellowship with God. We all benefit from getting together on Sundays to sing, to pray, and to hear God’s word. However, worship is not primarily for our benefit. We come together as a congregation to honor God, the one who brought you through the week just completed, and who promises to guide and comfort you during the week ahead.

Biblical worship should be centered upon our Redeemer, not upon ourselves. We should not worship to feel entertained, but to be challenged to appreciate, love, and honor our Redeemer.

3. Being personally reformed effects how we handle our regular responsibilities. Marriage and family relationships and all our duties are not always carried out the way God says they should be. They must be reformed to again take the shape of what God says they should be according to his word.

Our work, studies, family relationships, and occupations are not just to get more things for our own pleasure. God says we are to work as his servants in are we are called to do. We should keep his glory first as we manage our time, resources, and opportunities. A reformed worker is diligent and careful to do his best in all he does. It is Kingdom work, done as citizens of God’s Kingdom as it is displayed here on earth.

In all things we need to be re-shaping our attitudes and behaviors so that they conform to what God says they should be. We do them to show our love and devotion to our Creator above every other goal and motive.

4. We also need to be reforming our private lives. Your alone time, when it is just you and God, needs to be shaped by the mold of God’s word. All your thoughts, secret wishes, opinions, likes, and dislikes, should be constantly re-modeled into what the Bible says they should be.

What do you secretly dream about and hope for? Would it please those around you if they knew? Would it please God? No one else can know what goes on inside your own mind, but God not only knows, he cares.

Reformation is not limited to the great accomplishments of large movements in the course of history. It is not found only in theses posted in public places to challenge the church to examine its doctrines and practices. It is about families making biblical principles the rule in their homes and relationships. It is about people doing their daily chores aware that they are advancing Christ’s Kingdom. It is about believers and their churches restoring God’s word as the foundation of their lives. It is about you bringing every thought captive to Christ, making your moment-by-moment choices in ways that show God’s word as your most respected and treasured guide. It is about showing God that you really love him supremely — above everything else.

When you take time to sit down each day to read your Bible and you pray, look for guidance there about how your life can be different, more honoring to the God you love. Be always being reformed.

(Note: The Bible quotations in this article are from the New King James Bible unless otherwise noted.)

A Practical Kind of Faith

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A Practical Kind of Faith

by Bob Burridge ©2011
(Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 86 Part 2)
(watch the video)

Faith in the most general sense of the word itself is a trust we put in something. The kind of faith that delivers us from sin and restores our fellowship with our Creator is special. It is a certainty God puts into our hearts when we are restored to fellowship with him. The barrier of our guilt is removed because Jesus Christ paid our debt of sin, and clothes us with his perfect righteousness.

This restoration opens our minds to see things as they really are. This true saving faith has God’s revealed truth as its object, and his promises as the rest for our souls. There ought to be practical outworkings of it in our lives and attitudes.

Faith that does not lead us to act upon that in which we say we fully trust, is a rather empty concept. Either we trust in God’s word or we don’t. We may have in immature understanding of what the Scriptures say, but once we know what God has said, we either trust it or dismiss it. There is a practical side of a true saving faith that continues to work in our lives after being adopted into the family of God.

Hebrews 11 is a good place to start in appreciating
that continuing work of Saving Faith.

Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Hebrews 11 is about the practical side of what faith does, rather than defining what faith is. It is a chapter about the heroes of the faith God implants into our hearts. They are individuals who in spite of their backgrounds, trusted what God made known to them, and acted upon it faithfully.

Sadly these words that begin the chapter have been misused to promote and to support a very unbiblical concept of faith. This verse gives us a helpful introduction to an important chapter of God’s word. If we misinterpret it, we confuse all that follows. This verse shows what a true faith accomplishes in us. It is a practical definition, rather than a strict explaining of the meaning of the word.

The verse begins with the word “Now.” This connects back to the previous chapter. There, in 10:38, the writer quotes from the prophet Habakkuk. The prophet had learned that instead of questioning God when troublesome things occur, we should live by faithfully trusting in his promises.

The verse quoted is Habakkuk 2:4, “Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith.” There the word translated “faith” is the Hebrew word emunah (אמוּנה). It is usually taken as meaning, “to be firm, faithful.” The upright, instead of being proud and trusting in himself or in his own judgment, trusts in God and in his promises without wavering from them.

This genuine kind of faith is also what James had in mind in his epistle. In James 1:22 it warns us, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

Then in the next chapter, James 2:17-19 says, “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe — and tremble!”

When someone says he has faith in God, but lives as if his Creator was just a factual part of his life, he does no better than the demons. Simply trusting something to be true is not what saving faith means. Those who have a true kind of faith, show by their lives that it is genuinely produced by God. God never gives true faith to a person without also making changes in his heart and life.

The text tells us that true faith gives a foundation for our hope. It says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, … .” Faith is not just things we hope will happen. It is not a mere wish, fantasy, or dream. It is the “confident reality” of things hoped for. The NASB translates it, “… the assurance of things hoped for …”

The Greek word that modifies the things hoped for in the originally inspired text is hupostasis (ὑποστασις). It is a compound word. “Hupo-” (ὑπο) is that which lies under something as it’s foundation. the word “stasis” (στασις) is that which exists, or stands upon it. Faith is that well supported hope God gives us in his word. True faith gives us confidence in the reality of the things God promises. It applies God’s words personally in our hearts. It goes beyond reciting theoretical creeds.

This confidence is a work of the Holy Spirit in the believer. Faith is listed among the elements that make up the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22.

1 Corinthians 12:3 shows that this inner trust comes only from the Spirit. It says, “Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.”

This verse is not just talking about saying the words “Jesus is Lord”. It means that no one can actually mean that they trust in Jesus as their Lord, unless the Spirit enables them by applying the finished work of Christ to them.

Jesus explained that this coming in faith is exclusively a work of God. In John 6:44-45 he said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.”

Faith is not just a blind trust. It is always faith in something in particular. The only proper thing for true faith to trust upon is the word of God. That is why in bringing the gospel to somebody we should not just ask them to have faith in whatever it is they believe God is. We need to make sure they are trusting in God’s promises in Christ as revealed to us in Scripture. We always need to explain to people what the Bible says. They are to trust in what the gospel says, not just in some vague concept of God.

Romans 10:13-17, “For ‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!’ But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed our report?’ So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

When the Holy Spirit implants this saving faith in someone’s soul, he will believe whatever he knows God has said. Our duty is to point people to that truth. If they truly believe God and take him at his word, they will not only trust in the promises about salvation, they will trust all the moral principles and truths they know are revealed in the Bible.

There’s another practical outworking
of true faith in Hebrews 11:1.

Faith is, “… the evidence of things not seen.”

There are things we are not able to take into the science lab, things we cannot see, touch, or measure. Spiritual realities are just as real as physical ones. They are not seen with our five senses, or measured with scientific instruments. God testifies in his word. That becomes confident certainty to us.

This is not saying that faith is in itself evidence of unseeable things. We live in an age of religious existentialism and nihilism. Those are fancy words for complicated philosophies. They reflect some very popular opinions which are promoted in movies, music, books, and in our public schools. They teach that just deciding that something is true is all the reality we can know. Having faith in your faith is meaningless nonsense. The Bible does not teach that here or anywhere.

The word for “evidence” here is elenchos (ελεγχος). It means evidence in the negative sense of correcting wrong impressions or understandings of something. It is often translated as “reproof” or “conviction of sin or wrongdoing.” When truth is brought to the light, wrong things are exposed for what they are.

This text in Hebrews 11 teaches that what God says becomes our firm conviction when the Holy Spirit gives us a true faith, confidence that what God says is right, and that anything contrary to it is wrong. This living inner testimony from God is better evidence that scientific measurements. It gives us an inner assurance that God’s written promises can be counted upon and live by.

Saving faith is that convincing proof that makes our hearts accept and trust God’s word simply because we know God said it. It exposes errors and myths about things that come from the vain imaginations of lost hearts.

Faith in what God says brings comfort and confidence which are available nowhere else. Upon divine authority believers take action based upon what God tells them is best. They organize their lives around his advice. They begin to realize the rich spiritual blessings that come to us by grace alone.

Jesus said in John 7:38, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

Principally, faith is the accepting, receiving, and resting upon Christ alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life by virtue of the covenant of grace (WCF 14:2).

This true faith produces a confidence and certainty that makes us thankfully obey God. We obey with more confidence than what any human reasoning could ever give us.

People are often quick to take human advice and risk all they have by resting upon it. Some make risky investments in the stock market because of a tip or hunch. Some take unproven medicines because of desperation and some partial research findings. People trust their lives to surgeons, pilots, bridge inspectors, restaurant cooks, and to thousands of other drivers when they take their cars out on the interstates. They trust TV infomercials, ads on coupons, the advice of friends who are no wiser than we are, and celebrities who not only act and sing, but tell us who to vote for, what soap to buy, and what foreign policy we should support for America’s future.

Even the best of human advice cannot compare with the confidence we should have in the words of God himself. If he made us and rules the entire universe, it makes no sense for anyone to hesitate to take his advice about the lessons of Scripture that effect our daily lives. He teaches us about responsibly managing our finances, about how his Sabbath Day should be honored, about how we should worship, about sexual morality and the preservation of our families and marriages.

The faith that comes to us by grace in Christ directs us to the one perfectly sure and secure foundation of truth — the word of God. We are fools not to fully entrust all we have and do to that perfect counsel.

Keeping these principles in mind, take a fresh look at Hebrews 11. Notice that each of the heroes of the faith did not simply have a blind or undefined ability to hope all things work out in the end. They did not have a leap-in-the-dark attitude which convinced them that God will do what they wanted him to do. They had a trust, a full confidence, in something specific that God had said. They believed his promises and spoken assurances. Beyond that, they showed the sincerity of their faith by acting upon what God said to them. They each did something in response to the promises of God. Their faith did not stand in a vacuum. It was such a firm trust that they could put their lives on the line knowing that if God said it, it was true and reliable.

This is the fruit our faith should have too. We do things God’s way, trust in his promises, act confidently in all we set out to do, because we are following the instructions and assurances of our Creator, the one who redeemed us undeserving sinners, and adopted us to become his beloved children forever.

(The Bible quotations in this lesson are from the New King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.)

Index of Lessons in the Westminster Shorter Catechism