← Back to sermon library

okay our next question is on Free Will so how do we explain that differently than the Armenians I don't know who wants to take that one on but go ahead yeah so I just will start with an anecdote I think when I was becoming reformed uh I used to not think that we believed in a free will and someone said after I talked to them about Romans 9 uh well what about Free Will and I laid it into him pretty good and uh I realize now that I didn't know as much as I should have uh especially when it comes to really the doctrine of man I know there's a lot of subjects we like to study the doctrine of God eschatology salvation but perhaps the doctrine of man kind of gets pushed to the side a little bit and so as I understand it with the nature of the debate in the 17th century it doesn't really have anything to do so much with that we have a free will uh but whether or not man in his state of sin can be inclined toward that which is spiritually good and so we believe we have a free will our confession talks about that in chapter n of the confession um we believe that God has endowed us and given us that will it's one of the faculties of the Soul uh with the intellect and the intellect and the will work when we when we make Cho when we choose when we make decisions and so uh I've heard it said that as the intellect knows so the will goes and so we could say that the will is that desire that inclination for that which is good uh which flows out of our knowing that which is good and the free aspect refers to the fact that we're not coerced our confession also says God uh doesn't offer violence uh in chapter three of the decree and so we are we are free from coercion free from compulsion so we do believe we have have a free will and and we were made and inclined toward that which is good uh but the problem is that Adam sinned and so now that will is only inclined toward that which is sinful and and and that's why we need it to be changed and so Psalm 110 does say that the Lord makes them willing in the day of his power and so and so we praise the Lord that he does regenerate our hearts and uh changes our will uh towards that which is good uh but we definitely believe that we do have a free will and God has made us with that will so no no debate there but really over um what can man do in a state of sin yeah I think I would add to that too there is Free Will it's just where is man in terms of a cre as a creature before God so usually we make a four-fold distinction with reference to man man prior to the fall so what Adam had in terms of Free Will and then you have man after the fall what we have as a result of Adam's sin uh affecting his posterity um and then you have man in a state of grace and then man in a state of Glory so the will of man is free but man on the Continuum needs to be located so that we know what it is he's capable of choosing so as Mike said in that state of sin the carnal mind is enmity against God it's not subject to the law of God nor indeed can be uh Jesus says no one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him so so obviously the will is bound and so we need to be freed we need to be liberated and that's the grace of God that gives us the the ability then to will in the right direction to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ so free will is right it's true it's biblical but it needs to be qualified in terms of where man is relative to his own sin and his place before God yeah so in evangelism and preaching even though we know Sinners are all depraved M and but we know we depend on the grace of God that that's right will listen and and will come right I think there's a good sort of at least an illustration of that at the grave site of Lazarus when Jesus issues the command come forth he has the power to enable compliance with that command so when we call Sinners to believe and repent we're not appealing to their free will we're appealing to God's free Grace trusting hoping and praying that he will open their ears and their hearts to receive the truth and then come to the Lord Jesus Christ okay yeah next question is what does it mean to repent and believe and guess a focus on this question was on the repentance what does it mean to repent what does that look like go ahead so repentance and belief obviously are two words that are found in scripture and there are many different kind of um ways it's described in the scriptures but especially in the New Testament uh the word itself for repentance is used as a change of mind a lot of people look at the change in one's life and sees the fruit of repentance but actual repentance is actually a change of mind um our confession in chapter 15 describes it as a sorrow over sin so we have this changing of Mind concerning sin and so it is this recognition that we're sinful and so there's a change of mind concerning that uh faith on the other hand then is believing and resting and accepting and looking uh to something else looking to someone it really is an act really of the can we say it's an act of the the whole soul uh in knowledge uh with the intellect and the will um that God gives it as a gift but it's believing being spiritually persuaded um on the by the Lord or by the Lord Jesus Christ and concerning the Lord Jesus Christ of who he is and what he has done so the principal Act of Salvation is Faith but faith and repentance do go hand in hand and certainly even in the scriptures we sometimes just see repent and be baptized uh it's not necessarily the the writers aren't necessarily making a theological claim there but really the whole Act of conversion is implied in repent and be baptized um and certainly there are other places in Acts where there's repent and believe or just believe but believe is that principal act but we turn from our Idols to the true and living God yeah and then in the writings the Apostle Paul he often underscored that it's justification by faith alone apart from the works of the law so I think it's important with repentance not to turn it into a work and say you know you need to clean up your act and then come to the Lord Jesus Christ so yeah these are two sides of the same coin they're absolutely connected but justification is by faith alone in Christ alone again when I say that people say well you don't believe in Repentance yes because true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ it's faith alone that brings justification but that faith is never alone it is accompanied by all other saving Graces recently I found a quote by uh David Dixon in his commentary on the uh Westminster C uh Westminster Confession he says because faith is one thing and repentance uh especially so called is another thing and it is evident likewise that faith is the cause of repentance so I don't know that everybody would be on board with that but I think it is a good A good help a good distinction so you don't have true repentance without faith and real faith has repentance but again the emphasis in scripture is Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in the book of Acts the terminology is used synonymously and interchangeably the passage that Mike mentioned earlier repent and be baptized um um in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins dropping down just a little bit further we see now all who believed were together so you see those in instances of those emphases repent and then those people are called Believers so faith and repentance are connected uh the emphasis on justification is by God's grace through faith alone um and so I would just say you know one of the problems that we face the church obviously antinomianism which isn't against the law mindset or no law but neon nomianism is an issue as well we call that legalism sometimes so if we make an appeal to a sinner that he needs to clean up his act before he comes to Jesus that I think is a wrong emphasis so you know if you repent you stop doing this then you can go to heaven I that's that's that's not the proper way that we see the gospel preached so you know making making sure that we uphold faith and repentance but leaving the emphasis in terms of you know coming to Jesus Believing on him and of course repentance will be joined alongside of that and to add that to that I mean Acts chapter 10 uh when the the salvation of Cornelius is being reported uh it is repentance is called a gift and God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life so it is not a work it is a gift and certainly that what precedes repentance is regeneration as well and I do believe uh in that saving act uh regeneration repentance Faith justification adoption the beginning of sanctification all of those happen I do believe all at once yeah yeah we speak with them in a logical order but it's not a chronological order yeah that's right not like we're regenerated one day or the one year and then Sav Justified later yeah good okay next question is should churches observe holy days so why do Reformed Baptist Churches not observe holy days um holidays like Good Friday Christmas Day prayer Day Thanksgiving and there you could put a whole list there uh W with a church service on that day go start yeah well we do observe a holy day it's every Sunday we call it the Lord's day or the Christian Sabbath our confession has I think a very fine chapter on that in chapter 22 which is of relig religious worship in the Sabbath day but recognize that chapter 22 follows chapter 21 and chapter 21 deals with Christian Liberty and Liberty of conscience and so when these men wrote the confession they had different I don't want to say targets different uh opponents perhaps would be a better word that they had to answer and guard against on the one hand you had the Civil State um if the Civil state was Roman Catholic or if was Anglican then there would be certain things thrust on worshippers by the state but also they had religious tyranny on the other hand Roman Catholics anglicanism so in our confession it says God Alone is Lord of the conscience and hath left it free from the doctrines and Commandments of men which are in anything contrary to his word or not contained in it so the argument's pretty simple God never commanded us to have a good Friday service he never commanded us to have a Christmas service he never commanded those holy days of obligation he has however commanded Lord's Day worship with the people of God in the house of God so it's a liberty of conscience issue and it it is it does do disservice to people when we present as law preferences or things that have arrived or sort of evolved in the life of the church and just kind of anecdotally um as people have come into our churches at least recognized in in my church um they has have an issue with the Lord's day and the Sabbath and the fourth Commandment but they're they're always curious to know why we don't have a good Friday or a Christmas Eve because they do have you know good intentions they want you know people typically come during those times of year and they want some sort of evangelism but you know it's good to then teach them about the importance of the Lord's day and what that means and the blessing that that is and and one thing I have often joked about with with my people is I've said uh we will have perhaps an Evangelistic service when the evening service is just as well as attended as the morning service because I think it was Sinclair Ferguson who said thatth the word of God is measured by the evening service and the attendance that is there not So Much by um whether you come on Christmas or whether you come to Good Friday um and I've joked with the people I've said I think that will be when pigs fly and I do hope Pig do fly so that more people come in the evening and and and and appreciate the full Lord's day yeah and as far as a Good Friday service in particular we we are commanded to remember the Lord's death at the Lord's Supper which again depending on what church you're in it could be weekly it could be you know monthly so in terms of a specific time out of the year that we're called to reflect upon the death of our savior it's not good Friday and then of course course every Sunday would be an an Easter Sunday a Resurrection Sunday I mean when the people of God you know walk into the house of God there is that tacit confession that he is risen he is Lord we're here to worship the living and true God Father Son and Holy Spirit and that's not to say that during those times of year we don't on the Lord's Day focus on some of those subjects like typically I do a Christmas or Advent series or whatnot but it's always on the Lord's day and As We Gather for worship on that day that's usually when we can meditate on those things and consider them but as Pastor Butler said we we meditate on those things every Lord's day and and we get to celebrate the new creation and being found in Christ on that day so it is um it's important to to recognize that and appreciate what the Lord's day is and I know I've appreciated it more and more and some of those extra holidays became less and less important um as I've I've appreciate the Lord's Day yeah just we come with a lot of traditions and family traditions Church traditions and yes that's yeah we get attach to those um yeah some people say well what's it's not commanded to do these days but it's not commanded not to do them there's nothing wrong with it and it's always good to go to church um but to your point it's still binding consciences and and Liberty right well I I think that you know there are those occasional Seasons where we can gather that aren't specifically Lord's days so so in chapter 22 paragraph 5 it says toward the end and thanksgivings upon special occasions ought to be used in an holy and religious manner so it's not the argument isn't no we can't gather the church together any other time but when we obligate the worshipper to a tradition we've overstepped our boundaries as ecclesiastical officers so we enforce what scripture teaches what relative to the worship of God we call that in the reformed tradition the regulative principle of worship so we don't add things we don't take things away we seek to do what God's word says and yeah if we say we're having a Christmas service I mean you know people would say well what's wrong with that well for somebody that perhaps has come out of Roman Catholicism and you know there's a lot of bondage there it is to then bind that person's conscience in a way that that isn't conducive to the glory of God so next question should Christians engage in politics yeah I think they should well I mean if they want to there's no law in scripture that says that a Christian must engage in politics but there's no word in scripture that says that a Christian can't engage in politics either and I think that as Christians we wear several hats right I'm a father I'm a grandfather I'm a husband I'm a pastor and I'm also a citizen of this body politic as a citizen of this body politic I have the rights guaranteed to me in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to you know protest to write letters to my my members of parliament to my mlas I'm free to participate in that activity there's nothing in Scripture that would forbid me or prohibit from doing that but it's not a must if somebody in our church doesn't write letters to their MLA they're not going to come under any ecclesiastical sanction and and I think too you know the engagement in politics I'm sure you've probably been aware I've been accused of stepping over the boundary and preaching things that were very political and yeah you know my argument is it's hard not to comment on Sodom when you're standing in Sodom um but I I I do at least in my own head I have a framework by which I try to address this so that I don't fall prey one side or the other if I came to the church our Pulpit with a Maga hat on and you know a raw raw session for the Republican party in in America or the conservative party in can in Canada I think that's you know an engagement in politics that's not altogether healthy but to show that scripture speaks to the body politic to show that the scriptures do have things to say for persons who live in or near Sodom I think that's helpful and I think that it does hopefully promote or produce in the hearts of God's people a recognition that yeah the scriptures speak to our Lord's Day conduct they speak to our Monday through Saturday conduct as well and again if you're not inclined to engage in politics that's fine but if you are I don't think you should be necessarily condemned you know our confession at least the first London Confession was written specifically to distance uh the particular Baptists wanted to distance themselves from the anabaptists and of course anabaptists it's hard to nail that down it was quite the it wasn't a monolithic sort of a thing but one thing that tended to be symptomatic of anabaptism was pacifism and you know no engagement in politics so in our confession the the second London probably the first London too I'm going to assume here um has a good chapter on the civil magistrate and it says that you know Christians can serve in that particular capacity so yeah it is lawful for Christians to accept and execute the office of a magistrate when called there unto in the management whereof as they ought especially to maintain Justice and peace according to the wholesome laws of each kingdom and Commonwealth so for that end they may lawfully now under the New Testament wage war upon just and necessary occasions so you know there's a lot of politics right there there's a lot of Engagement in politics and I would just say lastly it's not the church as church that is to govern the Nations it is the civil government ordained by Christ under Christ over men that's supposed to maintain that Justice and Order and those sorts of things so the church has never been given the sword to go out and clean up the streets of chillak the church preaches the gospel she has the keys to the kingdom of Jesus Christ but she doesn't have the Civil you know the sword that the Civil state wields in the coercive power of the state to enforce you know Justice and maintain those sorts of things so there is an overlap State and church function both under Christ but the state isn't the church and the church isn't the State and I think we need to keep those things clearly separated not separated you know they they use that separation of church and state today means that the church can can't say abortion sin or abortion is wrong that's not what I mean by separation of church and state I mean that the state does State functions Church does church functions and we are not to take the sword from them and they're not to take the gospel from us or the supper and start to engage in those activities I mean the co thing that we went through over the last couple of years I think was a perfect illustration of overreach on the part of the Civil State wherein she thought she had the right to to to suspend religious worship that's not a right given to the uh to the Civil state so you know in that instance we must obey God rather than men yeah and even as we consider where politics comes from the word polus is City how do we live and function in society and the Bible does speak to that I know a pastor's main task is to preach Christ and him crucified but if we preach the whole Council of God we pretty quickly when we get to Genesis 4 have to deal with some city building and then you know there is Romans 13 and then there is the whole book of Deuteronomy which deals with some justice and ethics but especially I think the Covenant Charter is found in Genesis 9 where we have that no way Covenant that is a covenant that God made with all of creation really for three purposes for mankind namely for family for Enterprise and for justice and so uh it really does kind of give us the the principles by which a good functioning Society just Society uh should be built upon is is the government punishing the guilty and protecting the innocent uh are families being protected by uh the government punishing the guilty and protecting the innocent are they allowing for Enterprise and so those are the principles at least that I use when it comes to how I think through um what I look for and someone I'm voting for and if I'm just going to be honest with you they don't have to be Christian in my mind and I I I've used the um the illustration when I was preaching through Genesis uh you get to Genesis 19 lot's at the gate and lot doesn't always make the best decisions but we would no doubt recognize that he is a Believer but you get to aimc in in Genesis chapter 20 he does recognize that one should not have another man's wife so you know I joked with the people I would vote for a PC more than I would lot uh but the point I'm trying to make is that you know the Bible does speak to how we function as individual Christians uh in society and how we should how we should function as individual Christians and there's really nothing distinctly Christian about that it's how God made the world and and how we should um operate in this world yeah and I would add with with preaching the gospel we that's the primary emphasis for the church but we do preach the law as well so if I preach a sermon against abortion I think the typical respon resp say well that's political no it's ethics it's God's law you are not supposed to murder people so the same Bible that tells us believe on the Lord Jesus Christ tells us you shall not murder and so there is a place where as Ministers of the Gospel we preach the law understanding the three-fold use of the law one is civil it restrains the lawlessness and wickedness of man second is pedagogical it is to show Sinners their need for Jesus and then thirdly normative the the people of God need to think how the law functions and how it's supposed to function in their lives as the people of God so you know I I Just Disagree if somebody says oh that's preaching politics If You Preach you know that the Civil State should not steal no that's not politics that's the ten commandments so you know I think our theology in the reformed world has a place for proclamation of the law and you know the reasons we would do that so it's not you know I know those are political issues but abortion isn't a political issue it's the un unlik uh unlawful taking of an innocent life and the Bible speaks to that very clearly yeah I we pray for the end of abortion and we want Godly Prime Ministers and leaders and just when it comes to engagement I'm thinking of like nominating good candidates in in the parties whichever party it is locally right and so the people do those that's a good thing it's God works means and doing the door knocking and getting the word out this candidate is there let's let's vote for him and um get him on the docket and get him voted in and up to ranks right sure yeah I mean engagement is not condemned if you're engaging to the point where you're neglecting other known duties then you got problems but yeah if if you're able to manage and you're able to function and you're able to do that without any compromise yeah there's nothing wrong with it can I just clarify too what I said about you know voting I would vote for someone who's perhaps not a Christian and and yeah I I would based upon whether or not they would be just or not with their policies and what they would do but I think as you said whim I think it you know should Christians engage in politics I do think we do need some solid levelheaded uh Christians in politics who understand that they're not bringing in the Kingdom by the politics they're engaging in but they're trying to protect and preserve Justice in the land uh in this land in which we live so yeah I think it'd be wonderful I love to vote for Christians you know if they can demonstrate that they'll do their job and protect the city well next question and we we've cover touched on this in previous questions on this ask fgbc series um this is kind of targeted to um to all ages so how can I clearly explain cedo baptism to a teenager who grew up P pedo or po so can you please provide a clear concise explanation of why we believe in K baptism and not poed in such a way that it would make sense to a PO so this discussion comes up a lot and this person struggling through just stumbling through how to explain that and ask to gear that to all ages yeah I would say the simplest you know response is what does the Bible say and you know and poed Baptist theologians have recognized this they have said there's no text in the New Testament that demands sprinkling babies it's a it's an argument based on implication good and necessary consequences as far as they're concerned and Covenant so if you're dealing with somebody that is younger I'm not going to assume they're not as bright but if they're younger and concepts are a bit more difficult you probably don't start with Covenant you probably don't start with with good and necessary consequence is you start with what does Scripture say and you know one of the clearest passages in terms of how we carry out baptism would be the Great Commission so Jesus says Go Make Disciples baptize those disciples and then teach those disciples to observe all that I've commanded you and then we go to the book of Acts and that's precisely what we see those disciples doing they go to various places they preach the gospel they make disciples they baptize those disciples and then those disciples are are joining churches or part of churches so those two legs of the Great Commission are being carried out they're getting converted they're being then baptized and then they're being taught as Believers what they should you know do in terms of obedience to their lord so I would say that's probably the most basic and simple answer if you know they hadn't invented all these other arguments that probably would have would have carried the day but they have you know had all the I shouldn't say invented that sounds pretty pretty cruel but um but there are these other arguments so if the young person is a bit more theologically inclined you can show how you know they connect it to Abraham and him his circumcising babies and therefore they think that baptism of babies is legit but there's a few problems with that particular View and so I think just having a good understanding of the the theology that's used to support poed baptism it doesn't take a whole lot to sort of dismantle it and again I'm speaking as a convinced Baptist and for any po Baptist that watch this I'm sorry but um so yeah what does the Bible say if they do think Beyond those texts and they ask about Covenant answer the question I mean just as you would an adult who is in tune with all of this theological you know all of the theological background I think perhaps another way to go as well is to ask what is baptism which if you were to ask aedo as far as what I'm about to say they would agree with me as it pertains to baptizing adults I think they would agree with with a lot of what is said in chapter 29 of our confession on what the baptism is or what it is it's a sign well unto the party baptized it's a sign of fellowship with Jesus in his death and Resurrection so it's a sign that one is United to Christ in his death and Resurrection it's a sign of being engrafted into him it's a sign that our sins have been forgiven and there's remission and it's also of us giving unto God through Jesus to live and walk in newness of Life a baby can't do any of those things and not only that is baptism I know sometimes we can get things wrong as far as who we baptize we're not omniscient but baptism really is an outward sign of an inward work and so there's really uh no way to to recognize that in an infant and that's why the order scripture is pretty clear as Pastor Butler said it's it's faith and then baptism it's baptism then a member of the church and and even in Hebrews Hebrews 10 um you know we draw near to God how do we draw near we certainly draw with our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience which probably highlights regeneration but then some commentators highlight our bodies washed with pure water could refer to baptism there so there is you know it's an outward sign of an inward work and so that is something that is definitely not the case when it comes to an infant but certainly is the case for those who profess and believe yeah those those key text like the acts 237 and the mark 16:16 it's like repent and be baptized it's a willful obedient act you're not being forced or coerced anything like that for sure and can I add as well as far as the household texts are concerned I mean those are pretty scant if you ask me and pretty um unclear as far as what's going on I mean Lydia isn't married um certainly some of the other texts indicate that you know they were they believed as well uh but also to recognize that in that time uh their the way in which they lived is different perhaps than North America primarily and that everybody lived together Under One Roof so you know you had the grandparents and then the kids and then their kids and everyone lived together in that ways the servants everyone was there so you know it perhaps just helps to describe the whole family rather than recognizing every individual in that way so that's important to remember especially for North America where we we leave our families and live on our own generally speaking uh but even around the world most people still all live together in sort of that CCO Roman way so that needs to be taken into account as well yeah and OB I having gone through that process myself from coming from that position to being Believers immersion only um just yeah going back to the scripture and being really honest with it what's the context what intended here and there's a lot of layers and interpretations that get stacked on it that you got to shove to the side um to get back to it of the history of the church yeah that was the early days of the church and now we're we're established so it's it's different now and there a lot of rationalization gets added you got to get past even on the Great Commission it's like they're getting the order wrong and that's people are preaching in that right teaching that oh yeah do you want to ask the circumcision one now that our minds are fresh on that or am I am I I telling you go yeah no that's that's fine yeah okay next question is baptism in the New Covenant the new circumcision that's an easy answer the answer is no it's not okay I think there are a couple places uh in Scripture that indicate that the antitype to Old Testament circumcision is the circumcision of the heart what's very interesting as well there's only one place in the Bible where circumcision and baptism are found together and that's in Colossians chapter 2 and in Colossians chapter 2 we're not talking about physical circumcision or the circumcision of the flesh uh but Paul is talking about the circumcision made without hands it's of a Heavenly quality uh it's of the heart and so there as Dr renahan says there's an asymmetrical connection between circumcision and baptism uh but the type anti-type relationship is not circumcision and baptism it's circumcision setting apart the flesh and then in the New Testament it's a setting apart of the heart it's that inward setting apart that God brings about and you see that very clearly in Romans Chapter 2 and Colossians chapter 2 now as far as the Old Testament type to baptism I think that was the Purity system and the ritual Washings there's a lot of language especially in Hebrews but even the language used in 1 Corinthians 6 uh to describe all the sins that were committed a lot of those um uh sins that are mentioned uh have reference back into Leviticus and even the washing uh of those sins has some reference as well I think you are washed we see in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and another thing to point out as well is when when John the Baptist comes on the scene and starts dunking people nobody asks him what he's doing because they've seen it before they understand they've seen the ritual they've seen the Purity system they've they know what's going on and so I do think the the Washings of the Old Testament Point ahead to baptism and circumcision points head to the circumcision of the heart so it's an asymmetrical connection but no baptism is not the the New Testament circumcision yeah I've heard the pedal Baptist using that Colossians 2 text as a proof for that uh sprinkling is in the place of the circumcision but not as an outward thing like it's I think it's the opposite you can make a better case Rec cretive baptism from that from that text Absolutely I'll just read it in verse 11 in him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hand so that's that Heavenly circumcision that inward work by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ so Christ being cut off for us is the implication there buried with him in baptism so there is baptism connected but it's connected to the circumcision made without hands not the circumcision of the flesh yeah and yeah maybe there a point point to good want to point out there there are multiple baptisms as well right you got the water but it's a symbl of that we've been immersed into Christ and his suffering and he he was immersed into suffering yeah and there is another place I think it's in Acts chapter 22 there there are a lot of passages in the Bible that can make us a little squeamish when it comes to baptism it does sound very Roman Catholic uh but I think the language does highlight the importance of baptism and signifying the outward sign of the inward work but um Paul does say in Acts chap 22 um uh as he's describing his conversion uh we do see um in verse 16 and what and why are you waiting arise and be baptized and wash away your sins calling on the name of the Lord so that's in the context as Paul's addressing the Jewish mob as he's being taken away so that needs to be taken into a count as this is the I think this is the second time he recounts his conversion narrative and so that is included for specific reason because the the Jews would have understood what washing uh what washing signifies be baptized and wash away your sins because that's what baptism signifies washing away of sins yep yeah much better picture than sprinkling CU sprinkling doesn't clean much [Music] away next question is related to the last one what is the New Covenant in the Reformed Baptist View and how does this Reformed Baptist view compare to the dispensationalist view of the New Covenant guess this could be a long answer so we should maybe not go too long but I can answer to what the what the New Covenant is uh in Reformed Baptist thought that that we would say that the Covenant of Grace is the New Covenant is the historical expression of of the Covenant of Grace and chapter 7 of our confession um paragraph 2 describes what the Covenant of Grace is and what is offered to Sinners and its salvation by Jesus Christ requiring of them faith in him that they may be saved and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto eternal life his holy spirit to make them willing and able uh to believe and so it is God's mercy towards his elect and that he offers salvation unto them which we would agree with our poed Baptist brothers and sisters but we disagree on how it's um the outworking of it how it's packed aged and so many pedal Baptists would say that the abrahamic Covenant is the Covenant of Grace and many would say the Mosaic Covenant is the Covenant of Grace um whereas we recognize that only the New Covenant is the Covenant of Grace the the abrahamic points ahead um the types and shadows of the Mosaic Point ahead uh to the New Covenant but the New Covenant um is the historical expression of the Covenant of Grace it's ratified in the blood of Christ Christ says says this is my blood of the the blood of the New Covenant uh and so that is where we see that historical outworking namely by way U of the Covenant of Grace in that New Covenant and then as far as dispensationalism is concerned it's again tough because there's been a lot of iterations of dispensationalism so it started off and the 1800s under Darby and um who's the other Scofield scoffield yeah um but arguably it's been modified shifted changed quite a bit such that you know you have Progressive dispensationalism you have you know old school dispensationalism so it's really sort of difficult to nail it down but basically dispensationalism at least historically looked at the various dispensations in the Bible as God's way of dealing with people so you had you know basically law for salvation in the old dispensation so no Reformed Baptist would ever argue that we believe that you're always saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ Our Lord um another thing that is very absolutely crucial for for dispensationalism how this touches on the on the Covenant of Grace I'm I'm not sure but I do think it's important to understand the distinction between the Jews and the Gentiles so without that you don't have dispensationalism so basically God deals with the Jews in the Old Testament basically Cuts them off because they rejected Jesus who offered himself as a king and then God turns his attention to the Gentiles so it would really be hard to maintain the Covenant of Grace sort of approach throughout you know Redemptive history and then of course once the Gentile Church phase is over that church will be raptured into heaven and then Begins the millennial Kingdom where God specifically has in mind blessings upon ethnic Israel so you know I I don't know I haven't been a dispensationalist I guess I should talk more to them but would they affirm the theological covenants Covenant of redemption Covenant of Works Covenant of Grace I'd like to think they do um but the RB or particular Baptist second London Confession approach to the Covenant of Grace is is dissimilar to what you find in dispensationalism there's you know a lot of a lot of differences there it's like you said I think there's a lot of differences I think many would as I understand reject some of the more theological terminology Covenant of Grace Redemption and works because it's not found in the Bible and so there certainly their literal literalistic hermeneutic plays a part in that as well um and so I think that's why they would focus in on Jeremiah 31 which we focus in on Jeremiah 31 as well but Hebrews 8:10 is very clear that it's and and the institution of the Lord's Supper is very clear that that starts with Christ's uh death and Resurrection okay next question can you forgive someone who has not apologized or asked for forgiveness yes yes now we would all like to think that if someone wronged us that they would come to us and apologize because that's how it should function and how it should happen just like if we've wronged someone we should go to them and apologize but but that doesn't always happen and I think there is a new testament text that does speak to this um and I also have an Old Testament example as well but um in in Mark 11 as Jesus is teaching on the lesson of the Fig Tree after it is withered he's just cleansed the temple uh he does say in verse 25 and when you stand praying if you have anything against anyone forgive him and so the implica implication there is you're in the middle of worship you think of somebody who something got something against you and who sinned against you and you just you need to forgive them in that moment I don't know if that means you have to be the bestest buddy with them again but uh but certainly we we ought to forgive because we have been forgiven much and I'm sure there's a myriad of sins I've not asked for forgiveness for and God has forgiven me of those and I think judges I think it's Judges 13 highlights this you know as as Israel continues in their cycle of of sod their sin their oppression and then God delivers them um we see that typically they cry out to God for deliverance but in just as Samson's about to come on the scene we see they don't do that and God raised up a deliverer anyway to save them and so like I said we should if we've sinned against someone go ask for forgiveness we should be able to own our sins and be able to say we're sorry um just like we would want other people to do that uh as well but if someone doesn't there is some sort of there is some biblical warrant for uh forgiving them if they don't do that yeah I was to say the alternative is holding on to bitterness and hatred and anger and that's that's no good either it's unhealthy and just wrong it's hard it's hard to forgive I understand that hard it's easy to hold on to those you feel better as well afterwards yeah I think that's a good illustration for the interpersonal dynamics that Christians find themselves in I would make a distinction in terms of crime if somebody rapes my wife and doesn't ask for forgiveness I need to guard against bitterness I need to guard against a vigilantism but there's a breach a serious breach and he demands or I believe you know it is demanded that he's be punished for that so I you know I would want to make sure that we we locate where we're at in terms of if I cut you off on the way into church and I don't you know repent I hope you forgive me but but if you are a criminal in society and you violate you know my person or people that I love I I don't feel that it's right to well I just forgive everybody well no I think there's consequences or there should be consequences for you know criminal activity so the the Christian insistence on forgiveness is not at odds with a demand for civic righteousness we don't suspend you know large portions of God's word because we just need to forgive I I think that has been used against Christi well you just need to forgive what what do you mean forgive they brutalized my entire family uh I do need to guard as I said against bitterness and vigilante vigilantism this is why I think you know we should have a robust civil magistrate I shouldn't want to go out and punish criminals the civil government should do that and so when you look at a society like ours where crime is rampant where prosecutions and punishments are very you know lightweight people people get vexed you know the absence of of justice and the absence of righteousness provokes people and and so within our community we forgive even if we don't repent outside of our community in terms of the Civil Arena yeah if somebody commits a crime they should be punished for that crime and I think it's perfectly consistent if the criminal is on death row and I go visit him and he says please forgive me I'll forgive you you still got pay the price that's just you know part of living in God's world so yeah and I'm thinking of some of these stories from like voice of the martyrs other places where wives have had their husbands killed brutally by Muslims or whatever and but they forgive and it said that was a witness and brought more people to Christ yeah yeah they completely instantly completely forgiving okay and why is it important for a Christian to continually confess his sins because we still commit real sins and I think first uh it doesn't change the fact that we are righteous in the sight of God our standing if you believe on Christ and you you you're Justified that that that status never changes um but we still commit real sins as we still struggle in this present evil Age and and first John I think is very instructive in this especially because one of the main issues is the the Heretics he's writing against they basically deny any sort of sin the nature of sin and the acts of sin and so you know he he does say multiple times that you make God out to be a liar you deceive yourself if you don't recognize that there is sin in this world and so then um I think one of the passages that I've quote a lot uh and and use a lot is 1 John 1:9 if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness that's that's for us sensible sinners like we've sinned we've we've violated God's law and and we are forgiven in Christ but we still struggle with sins so we need to go uh to our to our God and confess them and John does say my little children in in Chapter 2 these things I write to you so you may not sin so we strive by the grace of God not to sin but he says if you anyone sins we have an advocate and so that highlights you know the the Priestly work of Christ one a priest is one who sacrifices which Jesus did once for all time but a priest also intercedes for us and so Jesus is still interceding at the right hand of God the Father for us and we still because we still struggle with remaining sins and all of our sins are forgiven and in him but all the sins we will commit are forgiven in him but we still need to confess them uh to him and uh because um you know the Bible does tell us we need to do that in 1 john9 so what happens if we don't like it's not held against us or anything right no it's not held against us when we're justified by God's grace all our sins are forgiven and we receive the righteousness of Jesus Christ which we you know that's the Hallmark of our religion it's not our works it's not our doing it's the doing dying and rising of our Lord Jesus I I kind of parallel it to a fatherson relationship you know if my son sins against me or does something wrong I don't disown him I don't cut him out of the will not the there's a great big will for him to to to be on anyway but the relationship is a bit hurt there's a fracture you know or a husband wife husband wives they get into altercations they get into arguments sometimes the you know words get a little bit harsh well that doesn't mean they're divorced it doesn't mean that it's disolve the relationship the relationship is is hurt the relationship is not what it is when you're not talking that way so I think you know at least for us us word when we confess our sins to God it is an acknowledgment that by our sin we've basically gone astray we've we've left the one that we love we're sorry for that we ask for forgiveness for that and we want that restoration of of that fellowship and that communion it's not an earning you know as long as I you know confess all my sins I'm going to earn the pleasure and the smile of God I don't think that's the way we're supposed to look at it it's just maintenance of relationship through the means that God's ordained I mean first John is a great passage when Mike says sensible sinner I think there's a bigger way to deal with that phrase and I don't think that's what you were meaning the hyper calvinist will talk about a sensible sinner meaning somebody who's got some Preparatory work I I think he means by that we're we're mindful as God's children now when we are prone to wander and when we do leave the god that we love and so first John 1 isn't an Evangelistic Invitational text to Sinners to come to Jesus it's for us the maintenance of that relationship with our heavenly father and you see it in the Psalms as well you know if you Lord should Mark iniquities oh Lord who could stand David says but there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared so we seek that forgiveness and it then has that reflex action on us where it provokes in us or promotes in us that fear of God or that right relating to God so we receive forgiveness and that it it it impacts Us in such a way that we then hopefully March onward and and don't commit those same sorts of things but we most likely will and we have an advocate with the father even Jesus Christ the righteous so all of it is designed to locate Glory upon the Savior and if our confession of sin brings glory to Jesus then let's confess our sin just thinking about Psalm 25 this morning and it's one of the passages that I like to go to when it talks when you know we talk about forgiveness of sin and it it really you know the way the psalmist prays here is so contrary to the way that we do no maybe not you guys I I just know for me he says for your name's sake oh Lord pardon my iniquity for it is great do do we usually go to God lord you know I really tried doing the best I can in light of that could you just pardon my sin now David's argument is you have to paron it because it's great there's just so much of it it's just so bad so there's basically a request pardon my iniquity and two reasons one for your name's sake oh Lord God's name is glorified in the pardoning of my iniquity then the second reason is the greatness of the iniquity again that's not typical natural prayer for us God I want you to do something in terms of forgiving me of my sins and I want it to be For Your Glory usually it's I want my peace I want my happiness I want my joy and and usually we try to minimize our sin because we we think we're at the bargaining table see God I I have tried uh the woman whom you gave me you know we we always want to evade what is clear in our paths or clearly wrong in our path but the psalmist says I need forgiveness because it's great got a lot of sin and I just I just think that the psalmist is a lot more uh I don't want to say honest because that means we're dishonest but I think a lot more open than than we are when it comes to the freeness of God's grace I think of the subscription um or superscription in Psalm 102 a prayer of The Afflicted when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the Lord that's a great sort of parallel to Luke you know the the the importunate Widow why does Jesus tell that because men were losing heart what's the remedy against losing heart it's to pray to God Almighty so when you come to the Psalms you get a good dose of real religion Psalm 116 I again I don't you know I I I think about this because I read the Psalms I don't think I would think about this intuitively but when's the last time you went to a prayer meeting and somebody said I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and my supplications it almost sounds like he's affording a reason for his love I love God because we don't usually talk like that I love God because I mean we might in a sense because he saved me he keeps me you know all that sort of thing but here specifically I love him because he's heard because he's inclined his ear to me therefore I will call upon him as long as I live so you know we're not only justified by the just judge of all the Earth but we're adopted Sons and Daughters of our blessed God and we're in relationship with him and so I would look at the ongoing confession of sin as ongoing maintenance of that relationship not again to secure it to make sure it doesn't go away but because in relationship that's what you do if I sin against you I need to go to you if I've hurt you I need to fix that and that doesn't immediately cause all pain to go away but it goes a long way to to repairing that relationship no that's exent I've never heard it explained that way in terms of repairing relationships that's helpful to me as well so thank you uh so this question it's a longer one but provides some context and shows the heart of the person um so title how do I handle family members friends Etc who are not believing I've explained the gospel to them but they don't care and they refuse to believe they are waiting for a Divine experience where hell is open to them and where they have a deep sense of their sin and misery they think they have to pray for a new heart use the means wait and maybe one day God will convert them they say they are dead and can't believe but they also don't care that they are headed to hell it has caused me a lot of grief and I don't know what to do anymore I don't want to strain relationships but I also deeply care about their souls I know God is in control and he does what he sees fit ultimately I need to trust as if God can save me for as if God can save me nothing is impossible is there anything I could say to them how do I deal with the grief of seeing them reject the Savior it's a great question and certainly I think one that you know pretty much every Christian can enter into I mean the theological background might be a bit different but yeah I you know keep Faithfully praying for those people as you have opportunity share the truth with them CU I do agree I think Peter's admonition to wives that are with unbelieving husbands it's through their conduct they may be one it's not through your constant badgering of them being a harpy wife doesn't you know put men into the kingdom of heaven now having said that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God so at some point getting the gospel into a person's ears is absolutely crucial um if it's the kind of a scenario where that's happened several times before there's theological differences involved in terms of the freeness of the Gospel in terms of you know the deadness of The Sinner and all those things you know another idea might be read scripture together you know let's just just read the Gospel of John together MH you know Faith does come by hearing and hearing by the word of God so so where people may be a bit standoffish for me to pop out the confession well in chapter so and so paragraph 8 it says this you can't do that with the Bible you you can't scoff at the word of God so whatever your theological background is if you're in the realm of Christianity there has to be a respect fort scripture so perhaps a person who's turned their ears you know a deaf ear to your your testimony you're citing gospel truth your good presentation of gospel truth they might be open to reading scripture and you know I would say pick a very you know powerful chapter or section you know I think of John we're going through it obviously on Sunday mornings but you know the John 6 and the the the will of Jesus where the the purpose of Jesus is to do the will of the father who sent him what is that will to save those who believe on him so you know there's certain texts that I think are calculated to hopefully you know impact Sinners so keep being faithful in prayer you know avoid the tendency maybe it's my tendency avoid the temptation to get upset irritated and just attack their theology I think that's you know but I don't think it's an attack on a theology to just show where it isn't biblical you know some of those conclusions are not from scripture and try to highlight if I'm thinking about the backdrop to that question the various conversions of persons in the New Testament you you you didn't have periods of sin and misery when you were Matthew you had Jesus say come follow me and what did he do he came and followed him so he didn't you know well I got to you know go check in for bit and see if my misery cycle is bad enough or whatever it was an immediacy you know when Paul and and and uh Barnabas say or is it Silas in Acts 16 believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved you know those are clear passages that I think do de devastate some of that imbalanced theology where it's looked at you know suspiciously if we tell Sinners to believe and repent that's what God is doing through the apostles in the book of Acts telling Sinners to believe and repent then we should go thou and do likewise so yeah I got nothing to add to that nothing in the Bible around praying for a new heart it's God gives new Hearts that's Ezekiel 36 he gives a new spirit heart of flesh but earlier in Ezekiel says it says get a new heart he's says to dead Sinners that come to life um there is God's perspective for God's side of it equ and there's our side yeah I've always thought that was a curious way to sort of present the gospel pray to the Lord for a new heart you do not see that in the book of Acts it's believe on the Lord Jesus Christ it's repent let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins it's not you know there would be perfect opportunity with that Philippian Jailer you know sir what must I do to be saved well pray the Lord for a new heart that's not the emphasis there the emphasis is look ye unto Jesus and you will be saved so some of it is a Theology of confusion that's basically been imposed upon scripture God is absolutely Sovereign man is is responsible and we need to teach both things so yeah just try to get them into scripture let's just read we can read without comment we'll just read John six good Endeavor yeah scripture and then some of their their own church fathers they follow like gral he talks about some people do have a crisis a very high experiences misery conversion other ones are really very boring that's right they in Comm they don't even know what day or month or year it was but they know they are in Christ they are believing they some have just been won over by hearing about the love of Jesus yeah yeah that shouldn't be suspicious there's different ways that we see in Scripture of various Sinners coming to saving Faith yeah and then other one is a Pilgrim's Progress OB Christian had the big U burden on his back but nobody else in the book did and if there are many characters in there and they all had different experiences um as well as in the second part when his wife comes to Faith very different yeah um so that's been encouraging to me oh good yeah so so this question now somebody gave to me I know the context um from a young lady in our church a question or how to witness to homosexual neighbors so how can we as Believers love those around us while still being strong witnesses to the truth and hope of the Gospel how to offer friendship without condoning a sinful lifestyle so context is her neighbors are expecting babies expecting with air quotes babies via ibf this is something that my generation is facing more and more we need to be equipped to navigate this well in communities universities Etc I can start with the the homosexual question I do have a bit of experience with family members um uh who are um homosexual and it's uh something that my wife and I have had to think through quite a bit uh obviously we don't agree uh with their the sins that they're committing um but we still have to recognize that they're still image bearers and Paul does say in 1 Corinthians 5 uh he says I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world or with the Covetous or extortioners or idolators since then you would need to go out of the world the implication is that we uh need to be in the world and obviously the main issue there is dealing with those who claim to be Christians but are living in such a way but he's not saying we shouldn't uh interact with tax collectors and sinners as Jesus said or did um and so you know with our family members we've had to set certain boundaries recognizing their image bearers but still talking to them and treating them like they're a human being uh still being interested in their life uh and praying for opportunity for those moments to come when we can share the gospel with them um and uh and being able to yeah yeah preach Christ and and and share the truth with them in a way um hopefully that can become organic to build rapport in many ways cuz I think a lot of homosexuals will assume Christians won't want to talk to them or interact with them and so uh maybe it puts them off guard a little bit if we're willing to interact and talk uh with them um and so yeah I do think we should interact but how we do that I think there needs to be some wisdom and so for us as we've thought through the issue there's just some boundaries that we've set that we will not cross uh I know a more famous person than I said that it's okay for a uh someone to go to a homosexual wedding we will not do that we will not do that it goes against goes against nature and it goes against the word of God and so we're not going to do that um we also probably wouldn't allow our children uh in in a home at a young age if they're just going over to play we probably wouldn't do that um anecdotally for years I was invited to a a house uh growing up and my parents always said no and they never told me why until I was older and so it made sense why uh when they were older um so we probably wouldn't do that but we're still willing to have people in our have family in our home and we're still willing to um you know if someone has someone over we're still willing to go there possibly within reason um but I still think there needs to be some sort of interaction and kindness shown and you know love is patient love is kind it does not envy it does not all those things it does not rejoice in iniquity you know but rejoices in the truth so I think there are ways to be kind and gracious without condoning the relationship and you know there isn't you know Proverbs 32 on how to interact in this way which we would like but uh I think God will give us the wisdom we need as we try to be kind and gracious and share the gospel but without condoning the the situation yeah I think that is a very good question I think it's a great question and I think what the the questioner puts in there is true as well with all the things going on this younger generation has some challenges to be sure it's openly promoted it's uh openly you know bandied about so yeah good question I would say you know as well friendship kindness you know neighborly actions you see your neighbor flat tire you can help them change the tire um and without though you know now I can preach the gospel to them I think Sinners are smarter than we sometimes give them credit for if I'm you know a dirty rotten Sinner and I'm sitting on my porch and somebody comes along I I think I'd know if they're just trying to get me in or if they actually care you know I think friendship with Sinners is a good thing in light of the First Corinthians 5 you know we'd have to fly to the moon to not be friends with Sinners and you know realizing that homosexuality is one sin among many you know the next door neighbors to your other side that are heterosexual fornicators they're in hot water too so they've got you know lots of issues so I you know on the one hand we we we don't condone homosexuality for sure we take a scriptural position but it is one sin out of many many sins and I think Paul's argument in Romans one is that the big thing is man is estranged from God yeah he doesn't glorify God he's not thankful to God so from that vantage point we see all of this you know decad uh you know depravity in society the primary issue for the heterosexual fornicator the homosexual fornicator the you know the blue collar crime the white collar crime whoever lives in your neighborhood they need to be right with Jesus so by building friendships being neighbor not having a mercenary Spirit I've got to lead five of my neighbors to Jesus cuz I got Bible study tonight and I want to tell everybody about it you know no mercenary Spirit but just loving people and then as you have opportunity like you share the truth and you know sometimes personal testimony is good yeah I I didn't fall out of the womb going to reform Baptist Sunday school we all have a past we all have sin we all have you know various things things that that are are true of us and yet we find Hope and forgiveness and blessing in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and of course if there you know people that sometimes people do want to talk too and even debate and you know why does the Bible say you know homosexuality is wrong if somebody asks that be ready to answer yeah be ready to give them a a reasoned defense for what the truth of scripture says I mean as Mike says or I think he intimated earlier it's against nature you know in the the natural world is not sympathetic to that lifestyle if that was the lifestyle there'd be no perpetuity there'd be no you know um I was going to say seed I guess that's right there I'm just thinking it's everywhere in society like your garden hose has a male end and a female end that's right right and you know the created or God in creation made it this way yeah and he made it this way for a purpose and for a reason and whatever they tell us nowadays that you know a child really doesn't need both yeah they do they need both parents in the home they they need stability they need order they need discipline they need all the things that are afforded typically through a two parent home and what we call or think are old-fashioned Antiquated Notions of how to do Society they served us well for you know 20 centuries it seems like they there was something something good about it so so if your neighbor wants to talk sometimes they do we just assume that they're going to be you know militant and upset and we can even hit them with that you probably think I I I hate no I don't hate you that's you it's everyone's in sin whether it's Pride or arrogance or bitterness or idolatry or sexual things yeah and there's hope in the Savior yeah yeah and it's it's really person specific the approach oh yeah yeah it's not formulaic you know what Sometimes some people are very sensitive other times they're not so sensitive and you know you you change it up you you don't have a one one approach fits all you deal with people as as people yeah okay why does from Saturday to Sunday for worship go ahead you want me to go why did it shift it's to commemorate the resurrection of our Lord he arose on the first day and uh he inaugurated the new creation on the first day which the old creation does Point ahead to um so it's interesting a lot of people who kind of B at the idea that the fourth Commandment applies for the first day they'll say there's no command in the New Testament but what interesting is there was no command actually until explicit command until until Exodus as well uh but there was still it is a creation ordinance that the Sabbath you know God you know Sanctified the Sabbath day and made it holy we work six days and then we uh we rest on the 7eventh um but that all points ahead to a consummation it points ahead to something greater it points ahead to a completion and that comes in Christ Jesus uh who rests first and then uh who who worked first sorry so that we might rest and so people also don't uh forget that there are eth day sabbaths in the Old Testament you know Pentecost is an eighth day Sabbath jubilees is an eighth day Sabbath that are all pointing ahead to something far greater so um as well even in the Old Testament when the when Sinai is mentioned uh the fourth Commandment looks back to creation and the the the uh in in Exodus 20 and it also recognizes redemption in Deuteronomy chapter 5 so all those all that theology plays an important role when it comes to the New Covenant and how the fourth Commandment applies for us in the New Covenant not to mention Isaiah 56 and Isaiah 58 that speak about that especially 56 with the unic you know it looks ahead to the Unix who had come in to Acts chapter 8 which also talks about the Sabbath there as well um so it is a blessed time of rest and a blessed day that still looks ahead to a far greater consummation one thing people seem to uh try to get get us with is that but Jesus is our rest and I believe Jesus is my rest and there is a greater rest that is coming but I do think Hebrews 4:9 does very clearly say there Still Remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God and what's interesting is the word that is used for rest throughout chapter 4 is pretty much the same until you get to verse 9 and it changes to a Sabbath keeping rest and then also the writer I think Dr barcelos points this out in his getting the garden right but Hebrews 4 and he probably refers to someone else Beal probably uh when it comes to uh chapter 10 connecting it with creation sorry 410 for he who has entered his rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from his so it changes to a singular name they're referring I think to Christ it's not us it's not us Christ has worked and entered his rest just as God did from his so there is a new creation old creation connection there looking at Christ who has rest who's worked for us that we might rest in him but even as we still work in this lower world we start with rest as we still anticipate that final consummation so there is a Theology and I do think there is there is some biblical warrant in the New Testament another thing as well as Jesus does say the Sabbath was not made uh man was not made for the Sabbath the Sabbath was made for man and he could have referred to Israel there but he does tarken it back to to Creation as well so with the fact it's a creation ordinance and we're of the new creation with the 8th day sabbaths with Hebrews 4 with Jesus consummation with the fact um that you know the early church they met on the first day they met on the Lord's day all those things highlight uh why namely it's it's to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the inauguration of New Creation and I would add in terms of law um we we hold to What's called the three-fold division of the law so you've got the moral law of God revealed in the Ten Commandments you have what's called ceremonial law in the Old Testament it regulated worship Tabernacle priesthood Temple those sorts of things and then judicial law where judicial law basically governed the body politic for life in the land so the the the fourth Commandment is moral law you you need to remember the Sabbath day there is ceremonial or better positive aspects of it as well so positive law is something that God commands based on the Covenant based on a particular circumstance based on something going on it's not moral law it's not a reflection of his moral perfection but it rather is you know don't eat from the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil that's a positive law so so the fourth Commandment has the moral aspect one day out of seven you worship God but there's the positive aspect which means whatever Covenant you're in dictates what day that will be on so the moral principle meet for worship of the living and true God the positive element is Saturday Sabbath keeping in the old Covenant Sunday Sabbath keeping in the New Covenant and again I would I would Echo that 4:10 Hebrews 4:10 I think really does corroborate in the theology there in Hebrews 4 the parallel between the father and creation and the son in New Creation the son ceasing resting from his works on the day of his resurrection and then the the various passages they were in traz for a week and they they met the first day of the week according to acts 20: 7 Paul tells them to set apart money on the first day of the week 1 Corinthians 16 and then John is in the spirit on the Lord's Day in Revelation one and that use Lord's day there's only one other place in the New Testament where that convention is used it's the Lord's Supper so it's cak it's where we get the word Kirk it's something possessed by or owned specifically by the Lord the Lord owns every supper you'll ever eat but there is something that is specific about the Lord's Supper God owns every day that you have but there's something specific about the Lord's day it it is owned by him possessed by him specifically so so I don't think there's a lack of evidence in the New Testament that the church worshiped on the first day and I don't think there's a lack of evidence that it was rooted in the fourth Commandment and that that perpetuity or that Perpetual observance of a day in worship of God so moral law meet worship glorify God positive law Saturday Sabbath keeping in the old Sunday Lord's Day keeping in the new and just to highlight the moral nature of the fourth Commandment as Pastor Butler said there's a difference between moral and positive and moral transcends transcends Covenant and so we would recognize that the moral law is written written on the heart uh of man and so you do actually see this reflected even in pagans who recognize there's still a Time To Worship they don't know which time they're obviously worshiping the wrong God but you know when we consider the first four commands ments the the first commandment deals with who we worship the second how we worship the third our demeanor and approach in worship but the fourth does deal with the time of worship as well and pretty much any Pagan under the Earth recognizes there's a time a time to worship and thankfully you know we are as just regulated by the regular principle of worship and and the New Covenant as we commemorate what Christ has done on the first day so working six resting one is still binding even to people in neither the old or the New Covenant mhm I think so yeah and I think that's where our confession starts in terms of religious worship in the Sabbath day the light of nature that means general Revelation God's you know showing himself through the created order shows that there is a God who has lordship and sovereignty over all is just good and does good unto all and is therefore to be feared loved praised called upon trusted in and served with all the heart and all the soul and with all the might then it obviously says but the acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself so it acknowledges that through General Revelation man knows God is but because he's a sinner he's going to twist that and distort that and do what he wants to do versus doing what God says to do but the the light of nature I think gets a lot gets short changed I think uh and then in terms of the Sabbath day uh paragraph 7 as it is the law of nature that in general a proportion of time by God's appointment be set apart for the worship of God so by his word and a positive moral and Perpetual commandment binding all men in all ages he has particularly appointed one day in seven for a Sabbath to be kept holy unto him and then it speaks from the beginning of the world the resurrection of Jesus last day of the week from the resurrection of Christ until he comes again in glory the Lord's day or Christian Sabbath so the light of nature is a very sort of kind of a helpful Ace in the whole for us you know the previous question about talking to to homosexuals about their sin at some level they know we're right and that sounds probably bad or mean or vicious or unkind but you know what do Sinners do they try to suppress truth in unrighteousness but they can't escape the law of God written you know on their heart distorted and and and messed up as it may be because of their own sin and their own suppression of things it's nevertheless there so we kind of have somebody on our side in their heart and I think if we're we're wise and and loving we can show them that can I just say one more thing about the Lord's day a lot of people who kind of B at the fourth Commandment don't realize that it is such a delight we're not we're not trying to make it a drudgery that God doesn't make it a drudgery we make it a drudgery uh but you know I think it's Psalm 92 does say the Sabbath is meant to be a delight and it's a blessing to go to the house of the Lord and and he is he knows we're not disembodied Spirits he he understands we need rest and and the highest rest is worshiping him and and and that's the highest privilege as well is to worship him and so you know you know a lot of people work hard six days a week five days a week and in this in this time certainly six days with other things as well um but if we don't have time to read theology there is time on the Lord's day to read theology there's time to pray there's time to come and worship it is meant to be a great Delight for the people of God and and if you understand it in that way hopefully it changes your per your perspective on it because the Bible does teach it and tell us that it is it's delight and meant to be for our good yeah amen so this next question was uh asked in the previous one but I'll ask it again um so what does the day of the Lord mean when used in the Bible it's different than the Lord's Day the day of the Lord refers to the day of the Lord's visitation in judgment and so there are many days of the Lord in the Old Testament really kind of two primary ones uh but they really are typify and point ahead to the final day of judgment when God comes again so uh you see the day of the Lord certainly in Isa is it Isaiah 13 I think it's in Joel chapter 2 uh Amos 5 speaks about it and others I'm just forgetting some of them but the New Testament speaks about it first uh 1 Thessalonians 5 and and 2 Peter chapter 3 but um in the Old Testament it had to do with Israel violating the old Covenant and so God was going to visit them uh in judgment and so uh the northern kingdom was dispossessed in 722 BC by Assyria that was the day of the Lord for them certainly with Amos that's what he's speaking about um and then Joel is definitely speaking about when the South uh Jerusalem the Judah is taken in 586 BC and the whole nation is then dispossessed and sent into captivity but those all typify I also think ad70 is the day of the Lord as well it's putting judgment on Israel um but first Thessalonians 5 and 2 Peter 3 do speak to that final day uh when God will come again and it'll come like he'll come like a thief in the night and um and he will judge the living and the dead on that day so the day of the Lord is the the day of the Lord's visitation uh in judgment okay this is a long question I'm TR summarize it with the title how will we see the trinity in heaven I understand that God is spirit that he is invisible that we will see his face and we will behold the lamb but will we see the three persons of the trinity in heaven or will we only see Jesus and he will reveal to us the father in the spirit in this in some way and then the person kind of like the next day sent a followup I posed a question about her interaction with the Trinity and Eternity a few days ago I would like to specify my question what kind of sensible interaction might we have with the Trinity and Eternity to come and the new heavens and new earth will it be visible or will we simply be aware cognitively or by faith of the father and the spirit without any visible manifestations of them jesus' words of whoever has seen me has seen the father come to mind from what little I know about this tough question I feel like the person answered it as they were wrestling through it it does sound that way yeah it really does well especially when you consider the fact that God is Spirit he doesn't stop being God when we get to heaven and we don't stop being man when we get to heaven and so you know there's you know we're never going to be able to exhaust the the infinite Beauty and infinite um Majesty of God and we're never going to be able to comprehend his Essence um but I think you know 1 John 3 does speak about seeing Jesus as he is and we shall be like him and I think as the the questioner says you know we've seen Jesus we've seen the father in reality everything we do is trinitarian even when we pray it's trinitarian we see this in in you know Galatians chapter 4 God sent forth his son and then um born of a woman born under the law but then also we have the spirit of adoption who's been poured out in our hearts and we cry out to God so we cry out to the father through the son and in the spirit um and certainly there are a lot of things I don't think I understand about the beatific Vision the the Blessed Vision uh I'd like to read more on that to be sure but um certainly seeing Jesus as he is uh is clear in First John 3 certainly the fact that God's not going to change uh because he cannot change uh is clear and the fact that we we will still be humans is very clear as well but we will certainly not be weighed down by sin weighed down by the the weariness of this world and we'll get to praise our God World Without End Y and seeing the Lamb it's not like we're seeing a sheep right or a physical lamb right this is Jesus the man that's right in his flesh or human nature see see the the holes in his hands Etc umh but he's yeah healed and whole and glorified yeah and it's the new heavens and new earth it's a physical place for physical people right so there's continuity but discontinuity like it's sin is gone it's restored creation yeah yeah yeah got only three more questions here [Music] so uh what does a holy walk look like in a Christian I would suggest a holy walk looks like Conformity to our Lord Jesus Christ Those whom he form knew these he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son so Christ you know I'm not the big let's just imitate Jesus or what would Jesus do but a holy walk looks like what Jesus did for 33 years and that Holy walk was not holy walk it sounds like a dance um that Holy walk was not subjective it was not um it wasn't mystical it was regulated by the law of God you know when Paul tells us to to love one another in Romans 13 you know that that can look like a lot of things well if I buy my wife flowers or if I take my husband golfing these are these are nice tokens but love according to Paul is not murdering each other it's not stealing from each other it's not Comm committing adultery with one another so so you know a holy walk I would suggest a looks like Jesus B is regulated by the the the word of God you know you you see that emphasis in the New Testament Epistles that that it's God's will that we function in a particular way and when we see that in the New Testament it's not disconnected from the Old Testament you know when Paul comes to condemn the Corinthians cuz a man had his father's wife The Book of Leviticus tells you all about that so it's a transgression of God's law would be an Unholy walk then by Grace keeping that law would be a holy walk now of course you know so a Jesus B law C good works things that you know our neighbors need things that are conducive to demonstrating that we love Jesus we love our neighbors and we try to be faithful human beings and we try to carry out those things so that men may see our good works and give glory to God so I don't think it's this nebulous subjective you know always looking miserable you know always wearing the garments or you know what I mean like the Pharisees were easy targets because they made themselves easy targets Jesus says don't be like them they stand on the street corners to pray obviously they're doing that to be congratulated by people so you know we in our holy walk could end up being pheric if we don't walk the way Jesus does and we don't walk according to the law of God and then as I said lots of Liberty there lots of you know promotion of Good Works in terms of you know within the the the household of faith we love our brothers and sisters we try to serve them outside the church we Adorn the the confession of our faith very often by the way that we live if we're jerks and we're unkind and we're Pleasant people don't want to hear us preach the gospel to them it's just kind of the way it is so a holy walk we don't have Halos we don't separate ourselves I think that's been a a push in the history of the church sort of a um withdrawal would be monasticism you know the monks go live out in the wilderness and Chase in the flesh and you'll be holy well they got their wicked wretched hearts with them so they're they they're not holy but this idea of SE separation a bad reading of 1 Corinthians chap 5 would basically end in me separating from all the dir dirty filthy Sinners around me well that's not a holy walk that's not you know what we're called to do I mean if we can separate and it's not a sin or it's not against the law I'm not saying everybody has to live in a city people are free to go move into rural areas but this idea that I got to get away from the filthy sinners I don't think that's a first Corinthians 5 approach and so I think holy walk at times we have an idea of what it is and then we impose that upon others and if they don't follow through then they're not they're not holy I also think sometimes people um make holy walk as if someone has to be a pastor or in some sort of place in the ministry or seen by everybody but the reality and they over complicate it as well the reality is it's not rocket science and the real is most of the time it's very ordinary uh in the lives that we live I think first Peter is very instructive as far as this is concerned I mean he does say in chapter one therefore G up the loins of your mind so our minds need to be operated now this head heart sort of stuff um be sober and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ as obedient children not conforming yourselves to the former lusts as in your ignorance but as he who called you is Holy you also be holy in all your conduct because it is written be holy for I am Holy and so we have been separated by God we've been given that new heart and circum our hearts have been circumcised and so we ought to resemble what it means to be a citizen of Heaven as we live in this this in the citizenship of Canada or the United States or wherever we live and really throughout the rest of the book he unpacks what that means even says in verse 11 of chapter 2 I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims so this world is not our home we're not going to usher in the the Kingdom of Heaven here uh abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul so we fight and certainly that's Paul picks that up in Galatians 5 but there is this discussion about government and how we function in society and he talks about slaves and Masters or how we apply employee employer relationships you know you know I remember the first sermon I heard one of the first sermons I heard from Pastor Butler everyone's got to B the pour the coffee someone's got to pour the coffee at McDonald's from Galatians or Colossians chapter 3 I still remember that but he highlighted that there's dignity in all that we do you know and so that's how we can walk in a way that hon it ain't going to pour itself not going to pour itself but there's dignity in all those in all those jobs um and any job that's not sinful um and that's how we can be holy and honor and glorify God the reality is we should be the best workers out there Christians should be the best workers out there uh but he talks about husbands and wives and how our relationships look there how we deal and handle suffering you know all those how pastors should Shepherd the flock those are all ways in which which we ought to honor and glorify God and and be separate and different from the world while still living in the world as pilgrims and sojourners so yeah yeah and and the other emphasis or the other a similar emphasis in Romans by the Apostle Paul that were in chapter 12 do not be conformed to this world but be transformed how by the renewing of your mind so it first begins with you know cleansing out the filth that you've stored up there for however long by putting in the word of God and I think that we need to outthink non-christians we need to be able to to think biblically consistently with good theology if we want to be Soul winners if we want to you know have a holy walk that that that that is impactful I think we we tend to think that a holy walk means I I don't go to this place I do go to that place where Paul and Peter emphasize the renewing of the mind your your mind needs help and God's word is in the business of providing that help and the idea I think is clear grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ the idea is that the more we know of God the more we fear Him and the more that we want to walk in a manner that's consistent with who he is and what he's called us to do yep being hearers of the word but also doers yeah that's right next question is what is the difference between saving and common Grace common versus true saving faith I can start with common Grace common Grace is God's non- Redemptive kindness and goodness toward all mankind and all of creation and so we see that in Jesus does say in Matthew is it Matthew 5 that the god the rain falls upon upon the just and the unjust in fact in one of the earlier questions we talked about the light of nature uh but there's also God's goodness to this world and rain falls from heaven there's fruitful seasons and full bellies Paul actually uses the light of nature in Acts 14 as a starting point to get to the gospel uh also in Acts 17 as well but specifically in Acts 14 does say there have been fruitful seasons and good gifts and things that God has provided and so um so common Grace recognizes the the non- Redemptive benefits there are things that are regulated not regulated but given to this world but also he does do some things for this world as it's fallen and namely he does restrain sin as well which I think is where First Corinthians or sorry Genesis chapter 9 uh comes in as well so God's goodness to Common Grace is God's goodness to to this world that he made uh also his restraining of sin as well well it's not as bad as it probably could be um and then also this all comes from uh the 1924 Christian reform CED uh that kind of outlines some of these things that are helpful but sometimes man an non-believer can do things that are civically civically good they're not doing it to honor God or glorify God or praise God but they're probably doing it for themselves but they can still pay their taxes they can still drive the speed limit and not run someone over um and so they can do those things and so that's all what God is doing by way of his common kindness towards towards the whole world and so then on the flip side Redemptive is God's saving work to save Sinners out of this world and so that only comes by way of the Gospel that comes by way of the the saving work of God in the hearts and lives of Sinners um it comes by way of the preaching of the Gospel it comes faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God and so we can recognize God's common kindness but we also recognize that man needs to be saved from his sin and so we can preach the gospel to them and I think sometimes people stumble with the terminology they say there's no such thing as common Grace and whatever you call it the fact that God has not obliterated the Earth and thrown us all into hell indicates that there's some kind of a kindness on the part of God in a benevolent way to his creatures so if the the terminology common Grace is you know that that's what I have found what do you prefer well common mercies okay whatever floats your boat to communicate that the rain falls even on the ungodly and you know such that Asaf himself almost stumbled when he looked at the prosperity of the wicked and the difficulties of the righteous you know the the issue at least in his mind was just doesn't seem fair so you know there is a sense where God and I think you know I've thought about this more over the last few years some exposure to a particular medieval Theologian that you know it it has helped me to pray more for for instance during the covid time um I want God's people the church to be blessed I do I want them to be blessed I don't want them to be oppressed or persecuted by the government but I don't want my fellow image Bearer to be oppressed or persecuted by the government as a either I I I don't begrudge a man I mean I I don't you know he's insan and he needs to repent and he needs to believe all that's true but I don't want him to have a miserable life under a wretched government because you know well he's not a Christian he doesn't deserve it well and God's world there's a lot of people who haven't deserved many of the benefits that they've been given and so I think that when we understand you know nature Grace common Grace special Grace I I don't know I just think it broadens at least it has for me my sympathy for and my my desire for the prosperity of even the non-Christian citizens here in Canada they don't deserve to be have tyrants lording things over them they don't Des deserve to be told that they can't play basketball during a a pandemic they don't deserve that and and so it it really has evoked in me I think a little bit well it's like I'm Mr sympathetic or compassionate but it's caused me to reflect that yeah I want the church protected but image Bearer qua image Bearer that means image Bearer as image Bearer he shouldn't be tyrannized by other image bearers that's just never right I think it helps us appreciate creation as well in a in a way that we don't always have to bring it under apologetics I don't know some people always want to we need to defend creation and it's good to do that we should defend creation but we also need to recognize that creation as a subject matter falls under the doctrine of God that God made this world he is the creator we are the creature and everything not him is creature and everything he has made has has been called good you know certainly sin taints that and corrupts that and and and makes it low but uh and and and and yeah just destroys things but at the same time God still still called it good and he has been very good to this world to make it he's been good to us to give us gifts and he's also been good to us to restrain evil um I'd like to think that he could restrain a little bit more but I'm not God and he is but but he does do all of those things and we can recognize that without you know forgoing the kingdom or or trying to you know compromising the kingdom I think also having those two those two two terms and understanding those Lanes you know really help us to how we interact with the world but also what the church is and what our what our task is as the church yep God is good amen God is good uh is there different types of faith for example temporary historical or saving go ahead because another one that gets often put out there is Mir uh miraculous Faith or Faith In Miracles right M faith and miracles four I got grew up being taught is those four temporary historical miraculous and saving I mean I didn't understand the nature of the question are there more than what are the different saving faith is different than a historical or a temporary faith and I think the Bible furnishes us examples of you know historical faith I think at some points along the way in John's gospel some of them seem to be tracking that Jesus did sort of cross off the list all that was necessary for messiah it seems to me at least at certain points it was probably within the last 6 months so I don't know 11-ish maybe John chap 11 somewhere in there it seemed like some of them started to kind of get it that yeah he could actually be the one that the that the prophets and Moses wrote about that didn't put them in the category of saving you know temporary Faith you have persons that make a profession they seem to be good for a while but they're fake and then the genuine saving faith is those who by Grace believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as he's uh preached in the gospel and as the confession uses the metaphorical language of of belief is receiving and resting upon him and that faith that is alone is accompanied by all other saving Graces so it's not a dead faith it worketh through love um but yeah that's qualitatively different than the temporary or the the the um historical you know somebody might be and I think there are those people you know I've read studied all the religious systems and if any of them are right it's Christianity and you know they said they have no reason to doubt that Jesus was who he said he was don't believe it in the sense of I'm going to lay my I'm going to receive him and rest upon him so yeah I think again we don't see those terms applied but I definitely think we see the concepts involved in scripture now my brain's working a little bit better chapter 14 of our confession paragraph 3 um does say this Faith although be different in degree uh degrees and may be weak or strong talking about saving faith yet it is in the least degree of it different in the kind or nature of it as is all other Saving Grace from the faith and common Grace of temporary Believers so weak faith is still saving Faith uh we can also distinguish between the Act of Faith and the object of Faith we're the ones who believe but the object of faith is Jesus Christ and so um we look to him we believe upon him we have faith in in someone faith in Jesus Christ um but one who has a temporary faith has not done that they have not looked to Christ by faith because it is different so the confession does highlight that and even a weak Faith may be many times assailed and weakened yet it gets the victory growing up in many to the attainment of a full Assurance through Christ who is both the author and finisher of our faith so paragraph three is helpful there yeah yeah like Ma has a good point in his what is Faith and he makes the comment that weak faith will not move [Music] mountains but there is one thing at least that it will do it will bring a sinner into peace with God our Salvation does not depend upon the strength of our faith saving faith is a channel not a force if you are once really committed to Christ then despite your subsequent doubts and fears you are his forever it's a good statement weak faith will not remove mountains but there is one thing at least that it will do the opposite of you know the the faith yeah like the confession says it can vary it grows it's fed it's nourished it's built up but if there is even you know mustard seeds worth and you look unto the Lord Jesus Christ that's the mustard seeds worth that you need yeah yeah yeah just you know because I finished reading pilgrims progs part two recently this characters like that weak Faith fuel faith and Halt halting and whatever but they get to the river and they cross they do so somehow the Lord is good yeah yeah and but yeah the parable of the sewer as well the seed falling and hard ground whatever it's like people can go to church hey that was a great sermon is it really impacting emotional and a week later it's gone they never come again yeah yeah yeah oh yeah okay that's it no good you got some other questions or things you want go through 351 oh that's awesome we do the we could do the uh the head headdress one now the head covering don't have to publish it no we can go I'm just kidding I do think it's a light of nature question a light of not light of nature like he does talk about like I think it's a it's an anti-ros dressing one man be men dude be dude I think it has to ultimately do with male headship in the life of a church and I think that the you know when you look at Paul's admonition in 1 Timothy 2 when he talks about women and their hair it seems moot if they're wearing hats in church worship so I I I don't and and the absence of a command in 1 Corinthians 11 to wear a hat it's you're not going to find it it's almost a Sacrament among some you know my wife now covers and we're in a holy walk so it there there's a Revival of it you see revivals of it every so often I think there is one presently where covering is you know the the the absolute Mark of submission on the part of a woman I think Paul's point and the reference to the angels is that when the angels look at a church on a Sunday it's not does sister Susie have a hat on it's is there a man in the Pulpit is there a man preaching and prophesy prophesying and preaching and and praying in the public place women aren't supposed to be in the public place preaching or teaching and then I think the hats or hair is an illustration of that point MH I don't think it is a mandate that you must cover for sure for sure and people disagree and that's fine if a woman wants to wear a hat that's fine I just I don't think there's religious significance in it it's like Paul and circumcision if you're a Jew and you want to get circumcised CU it's in in your your DNA or your blood or it's your culture go ahead but don't think there's religion in it don't think it commend you to God so I would say the same if sister Susie wants to wear a hat to church sure but you're not more that's not a more holy walk but hats were never an old Covenant thing right like un like circumcision yeah I remember what my professors pointed out the cultural aspect like certain yeah certainly with respect to the church but the implication of that is that men are being the men and women are being the women and the men are taking a their role their role as as men in the house seriously but also in the church seriously as well and he kind of pointed out various inscriptions and various um uh statues that had like men who would wear hoodies and so they look like ladies from a far off and so the implication seems to be he was saying that that in Corinth that there's a that's just extra biblical stuff and historical stuff but there seems to be that if you look from afar and you saw some feminine looking guy and he had his thing up like that then he would this isn't going to be put on posts online right we just I don't think so not anyway no you mostly have my word yeah what kind of Snippets are going to find their way but Paul does talk about nature the aspect there doesn't he doesn't even nature itself yeah like the implication is men need to be men and women need to be women and and same within the church there's an order there MH so whether you wear a doily or not that's right if you're acting like a lady yeah but some people you can wear the hats to church but still at home the the order for the home the marriage is still upside down right abolutely yeah just the presence of a hat doesn't mean that there's submission in the heart yeah so again I think the general interpretation is men are supposed to pray and preach in the public place okay awesome thank you very much thank you thank you thank you feel we didn't have to redo as much this time we just kind of went jump in and we went oh yeah we're getting to be old that pardon we're getting we're getting used to better