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Well, if you have a confession 
of faith, you can turn to chapter 10. If you don't have one, you 
can't turn there. So you might need to get one. 
The blue basket of truth is up atop the fridge. We're in chapter 
10 of effectual calling. You'll remember last time we 
looked at of free will. And we noted that that chapter 
nine of free will is something of a helpful transitional chapter 
that bridges the content of the first eight with the content 
of the latter portion of the confession in that The first 
eight chapters bring forth the doctrine of God, His decree and 
covenant, and the champion of the covenant, Christ. So encapsulating 
the God and the champion of the covenant of grace, chapter 9 
speaks to something of the fact of where man is found with respect 
to the covenant of grace and the various states that man finds 
himself relative to that. So it bridges, if you will, chapter 
8, the work of Christ to chapters 10 through 13 more immediately, 
but also through to 20, and the application of the benefits won 
for us by the perfection of the work of that mediator in chapter 
8. And so chapter 10 begins that 
section of the benefits of redemption, the benefits won for us by Christ, 
and the application of those benefits to the elect. So I'll read Chapter 10 is on 
effectual calling, paragraphs 1 through 4, and then we'll have 
a look primarily at the stuff of paragraphs 1 and 2, but we'll 
make a brief note of the paragraphs 3 and 4 as well. Those whom God 
hath predestinated unto life, he is pleased in his appointed 
and accepted time effectually to call, by his word and spirit, 
out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, 
to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ, enlightening their minds 
spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God, taking away 
their heart of stone and giving unto them an heart of flesh, 
renewing their wills, and by his almighty power, determining 
them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus 
Christ, yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by 
His grace. This effectual call is of God's 
free and special grace alone, not from anything at all foreseen 
in man, nor from any power or agency in the creature co-working 
with His special grace, the creature being wholly passive therein, 
being dead in sins and trespasses, until being quickened and renewed 
by the Holy Spirit, He is thereby enabled to answer this call and 
to embrace the grace offered and conveyed in it, and that 
by no less power than that which raised up Christ from the dead. 
Elect infants dying in infancy are regenerated and saved by 
Christ through the Spirit, who worketh when and where and how 
he pleaseth. So also are all other elect persons 
who are incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the 
Word. Others not elected, although they may be called by the ministry 
of the word, and may have some common operations of the spirit, 
yet not being effectually drawn by the Father, they neither will 
nor can truly come to Christ, and therefore cannot be saved. 
Much less can men that receive not the Christian religion be 
saved, be they never so diligent to frame their lives according 
to the light of nature and the law of that religion they do 
profess. Amen. Well, we're gonna spend 
most of our time in paragraphs one and two, where we have, first, 
a definition of effectual calling, and secondly, the power involved 
in effectual calling. There are so many clauses in 
just paragraph one that should bring to our minds a number of 
blessed passages that we rehearse as Christians when We reflect 
upon our own salvation when we reflect upon the God of that 
salvation and the grace of that salvation, knowing that it's 
not we who saved ourselves, but it is God alone who saved us. If you'll remember that quote 
from C.H. Spurgeon, last Lord's Day where 
he talks about the fact that when the angels sang glory to 
God in the highest as they're witnessing the nativity of Christ, 
Spurgeon notes that the angels were no Arminians, they sang 
glory to God in the highest. And he goes on to say something 
like the angels saw that it is God first, God last, God midst, 
and God without end in the salvation of sinners. they put the crown 
holy and alone upon the head of him who saves without a helper, 
Jesus Christ. And we have here in paragraphs 
one and two the blessed reality of effectual calling that this 
blessing of the covenant of grace, this blessing of the new covenant, 
the covenant of grace ratified by Jesus Christ, this blessing 
of the new covenant comes to sinners dead in their trespasses 
and sins. It finds elect sinners dead in 
trespasses and sins, wholly unable, wholly disabled by sin in all 
the faculties of soul and body. It finds them there and by the 
power, that same power which raised Christ from the dead, 
that same divine power that was present at the creation when 
God called all things into existence, that same power is the power 
that brings dead sinners to life by virtue of the perfection of 
Jesus Christ. And so it's a blessed chapter 
to rehearse and to study because it's a study of God finding us 
dead in sin and raising us to life in Christ. So the first 
thing we want to note, if we have a look at paragraph one, 
the definition of effectual calling, you'll notice the beneficiaries 
of effectual calling. And we see it here, those whom 
God hath predestinated unto life. So God, the blessed and great 
benefactor, blesses those who are predestinated unto life with 
effectual calling. Now this ought to bring to our 
minds the order of salvation, and perhaps a particular text 
you can turn to is Romans chapter eight. wonderful chapter that 
some have called that golden chain of redemption or salvation. Those whom God hath predestined 
unto life, he effectually calls, there's this inviolable chain 
of redemption that God brings about that reaches 
back into eternity and connects back to the very decree of God. 
in Romans 8 beginning at verse 28. And we know that all things 
work together for good to those who love God, to those who are 
the called according to His purpose. So we'll just pause there for 
a moment and notice the language of our chapter this morning, 
the called. Now, there is another type of 
calling that the confession brings out in paragraph four, that the 
Bible of course brings out also within its pages, and we'll get 
there in a moment, but this called according to his purpose is effectual 
calling. So, who are called according 
to his purpose. Now notice, for whom he foreknew, 
he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, that 
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom 
he predestined, these he also called. Whom he called, these 
he also justified, and whom he justified, these he also glorified." 
So there we have that blessed golden chain of salvation, the 
golden chain of redemption. There is again this inviolable 
linked chain between the predestination of God unto glorification by 
God in the last. So we have this language though 
of our confession in verse 30, So all whom God has predestinated 
unto life, according to the good pleasure of His will, in due 
time, as the confession says, in His appointed and accepted 
time, he brings forth ineffectual calling to life in Jesus Christ. So those who are the beneficiaries 
of effectual calling are those whom God hath predestinated unto 
life. And this ought to bring us back 
to a particular chapter and paragraph. If you turn back to chapter three, 
remember when we come to each chapter, We ought not to consider 
that chapter just in a vacuum all its own. There is a blessed 
interconnectedness to the chapters in the Confession, those that 
follow, those that precede, etc. we have in chapter 10 the fact 
that the confessionalists are drawing from doctrines previously 
explicated in chapters that preceded. So notice in chapter 3, paragraph 
6, As God hath appointed the elect unto glory, so he hath, 
by the eternal and most free purpose of his will, foreordained 
all the means thereunto. Wherefore, they who are elected, 
being fallen in Adam, are redeemed by Christ, are effectually called 
unto faith in Christ. And you'll see there that it 
goes on to read with regards to all of those inviolable links 
that follow in the blessed chain of redemption. So those whom 
God has predestinated unto life, he is pleased in his appointed 
and accepted time effectually to call. So we must note that 
all those predestinated, all of that same blessed and innumerable 
body of elect sinners are also those who are effectually called. 
In other words, there is no one lost between predestination and 
effectual calling. All those predestinated unto 
life are in due time, God's due time, effectually called. So 
the beneficiaries of effectually calling are those predestinated 
unto that very calling. Notice, secondly, that this predestination 
unto effectual calling is not some sort of blind, fated reality. The language is wonderful here. 
Those whom God hath predestinated unto life, he is pleased in his 
appointed and accepted time effectually to call. This is, yes, the language 
of sovereignty, whatever the Lord pleases, he does. But it 
also carries the language of the fact that God is most loving, 
most gracious, most merciful. And again, if we can draw a connection 
back to the second chapter, you can turn there with me. Because, 
again, this predestination unto a subsequent reality wrought 
in time is not some sort of blind, faded reality. Notice the language 
in... In paragraph 1 of chapter 2 of 
God and of the Holy Trinity, if we move down a little bit, 
sort of maybe halfway through the paragraph as we see it here, 
we see that God is every way infinite, most holy, most wise, 
most free, most absolute. working all things according 
to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will for his 
own glory." Now notice, and this most qualifies all of these other 
words that follow. Most loving, most gracious, most 
merciful. And so when we think about this 
language in chapter 10 of effectual calling, that God is pleased 
to effectually call, we ought to see that reality, that God 
is most loving, most gracious, and most merciful. And this language 
comes from the very text of scripture. You can turn with me to the book 
of Ephesians for a moment, that wonderful opening portion as 
Paul is speaking about God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
who exercises perfect redemption by amazing grace through triune 
glory, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As we work through the 
language of that, we find this language of good pleasure, the 
good pleasure of God. Notice in Notice beginning at 
verse 3 of Ephesians 1, in love, having predestined us 
to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself according to 
the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of His glorious 
grace by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. And notice as 
well in verse 9, having made known to us the mystery of His 
will according to His good pleasure. This captures not just sovereignty, 
but the very character of God, the very perfection of God, that 
language to be preferred, those perfections where He is most 
loving, most gracious, and most merciful. And then we have this 
reality of the sovereign decree and providence of God in the 
languages. These wonderful clauses mount 
one on top of the other. The language continues. He is 
pleased in, notice, his appointed and accepted time, effectually, 
to call. It's not in our appointed and 
accepted time. As we read through the confessional 
language here, built upon, of course, the biblical languages, 
we read through the language here, we'll see negatively that 
it doesn't have anything to do with the power or agency of men. It has everything to do with 
the power and the agency of God, and it has everything to do with 
God's appointed and accepted time. So this ought to draw our 
minds back into eternity past, to use that language, and the 
decree of God, his election and predestination, where he has 
decreed that at a particular point In time, his elect sinners 
are brought forth from deadness to life. It's a wonderful thing. 
And as we pray, as we preach, as we minister, as we preach 
the gospel to our children, to our loved ones, we're to have 
great confidence in this truth. Imagine if the confidence was 
to rest, even if just in part, upon the sinner himself. That's 
the madness of loss, the madness of folly, to have, to put confidence 
in the recipient of the proclamation rather than the one who gives 
power in proclamation. And so it is appointed, it is 
given with respect to God's appointed and accepted time. He effectually 
calls according to his good pleasure and his own timing. Praise God 
that that's the case. Because if it were not, all would 
be lost. And notice there is power and 
instrumentality in in effectual calling. The language is that 
he is pleased in his appointed and accepted time, effectually 
to call. Well, actually, before we get 
to power and instrumentality, let's just pause for a moment 
at the language of effectually to call. It's the name of the 
chapter, and what does that mean? Well, effectually captures the 
language of successful in producing an intended result. So when we 
use this language of effectual, we want to carry the synonymity 
of perfect. it perfectly carries out the 
intention of something. So God effectually calls. He 
doesn't fail when he calls. He's effectually calling. And 
so he brings forth all from deadness to life that he has intended 
to bring forth from deadness to life. It is an effectual calling. If we're thinking with regards 
to the doctrines of grace, the tulip, we would be thinking of 
irresistible grace here. That the Spirit does not fail 
in bringing forth those predestinated unto life in the call. He effectually 
calls them. And then we have this power and 
instrumentality by His Word and Spirit. There's a two-fold emphasis 
here on instrumentality and power. The Spirit works with the Word 
in bringing forth those who have been predestinated unto life. We can turn to our Bibles to 
a couple places, not exhausting the places, but you can turn 
with me first to the book of James. to see what the confession is 
speaking about here. Again, the confession isn't adding 
to biblical language. It is giving us theological conclusions 
based upon the Bible. And so it has the Bible in the 
background when it is setting forth these articles and clauses. And we can see in James 1, beginning 
at verse 17, Well, verse 16, James 1, 16. Now notice, of His own will, 
He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a 
kind of first fruits of His creatures. See that language, first off, 
of the divine will, divine sovereignty 
in the matter of He brought us forth, and this 
bringing forth is effectual calling. He brings us forth from deadness 
to life. He brings us forth from darkness 
to light. He effectually calls us, and 
that effectual calling comes by the word of truth. And so 
we can see here in the confession, this effectual calling is by 
his word and spirit. We see this captured there in 
James 1.18. You can turn as well to 1 Peter. In 1 Peter 1, at verse 22, we 
have similar language. The language is different, but 
the meaning is the same. Notice in 1 Peter 1, Now notice, 
having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, 
through the word of God which lives and abides forever. So we have power and instrumentality, 
the power of God, the power of the Spirit, the power here of 
incorruptible seed through the instrumentality that is the word 
of God, which lives and abides forever. So we have this blessed 
reality that God works by his word to bring forth sinners from 
deadness to life. This is why the confession here 
at the end in paragraph four and also in chapter 20. speaks with regards to the fact 
that men cannot be saved outside of the Christian religion. Because 
it is the Christian message of a living and dying and rising 
again Christ, it is that Christian message of the gospel that must 
be proclaimed and joined by the Spirit's power if anyone is to 
be brought from deadness to life. And so we have this wonderful 
instrumentality, incorruptible seed, working with the Word of 
God, which lives and abides forever, to bring forth dead sinners to 
life in the Lord Jesus Christ. And notice there is a particular 
state in which effectual calling finds elect sinners. Notice the language continues 
here, by His Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and 
death in which they were by nature. So effectual calling finds elect 
sinners in that state. We noted that particular state 
in the previous chapter. If you just turn back to 9 for 
a moment. Notice 9.3, man by his fall into 
a state of sin hath wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual 
good accompanying salvation. So as a natural man, being altogether 
averse from that good and dead in sin is not able by his own 
strength to convert himself or to prepare himself thereunto. So we have that state, that effectual 
calling, finds elect sinners in. It is that state of sin and 
death in which they are by nature. And that is why we sing amazing 
grace and we can sing so joyfully that we are lost and then found. We are blind and then are given 
sight by divine glory, love, mercy, grace, and power. We are 
in a state of sin by nature, wholly unable to work ourselves 
unto God. And we'll get to that language 
of working unto God when we get to, to paragraph two, but that 
is the state in which effectual calling finds elect sinners. 
But there is, praise God, a state to which effectual calling places 
elect sinners. Notice the next clause, to grace 
and salvation by Jesus Christ. So out of that state of sin and 
death, and then to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ. Now, 
we ought to note, when we're reading from 1 Peter 1 there, 
he uses the language of born again. A fectual calling, if 
we're to have biblical language in the background, the language 
of Christ to Nicodemus should be in the background. Unless 
a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Effectual calling is being born 
again, is being born from above by God. Man, as paragraph two 
will say, being wholly passive therein, and God bringing them 
forth from deadness to life. So, born again, also Paul's language 
of being made alive. Paul's language of being made 
alive that he uses in the book of Ephesians, this is synonymous 
with it. It's the same language that Jesus 
uses when he says, born again. The same language that John uses, 
the same language that we just mentioned Peter uses. there's 
this wonderful variegated gem of redemption that we have in 
the Bible with these different phrases and words calculated 
to capture the richness of divine salvation by our triune God. And so we have made alive, we 
have born again, all of that language speaks with regards 
to effectual calling. And we also have similar language 
based on what we find here in the confession of conveyed or 
transferred. Notice the language here, from 
a state to a state. Out of that state of sin and 
death in which they are by nature and then to grace and salvation 
by Jesus Christ. Paul writes in Colossians that 
God has transferred us or conveyed us from the kingdom of darkness 
to the kingdom of the son of his love. And so we have that 
blessed language of divine conveyance in the background as well. The 
confession goes on, and notice what God does in effectual calling. So we have this definition of 
effectual calling that we're working with. We have this transfer 
from a state to a state. And then in this effectual calling, 
what does it look like? What is its character or what 
are its characteristics? Well, notice this wonderful clause 
here, enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand 
the things of God. So it's wonderful language that 
captures an element of effectual calling. Beforehand, we were 
without understanding. Beforehand, our minds were marked 
by darkness. As Pastor Butler has been preaching 
through the book of Ephesians, he's had many good occasion to 
call our minds to that reality in Ephesians chapter four, where 
Paul has moved from theology to to practicality, to the practical 
application. What does it look like to be 
one who has been effectually called? And the language of the 
Gentiles is that they walk in the darkness of their mind without 
understanding, lacking understanding. We're not to walk as the Gentiles 
walk in the futility of their minds. So God brings us from 
the futility of mind to minds that are enlightened. spiritually, 
savingly, and he gives us the grace, the strength, the spiritual 
wherewithal to understand the things of God. We don't understand 
the things of God because we're so smart, because we're so great, 
because we're better than our neighbors and better than those 
those horrible pagans. It doesn't rest upon our power 
and our might, it rests upon the might of God who comes to 
dead sinners, makes them spiritually alive, and by that same spirit 
that effectually calls, enlightens it in that act, and even following 
that act, illuminates our minds and makes us to understand greater 
the things of God. That same language is used of 
the disciples after having been saved. So the disciples are saved 
at the point of the resurrection appearance of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. The 11 are Christians. we read the language that Christ 
opens up their minds that they might understand the scriptures. 
So the enlightening and the illumination and the understanding of the 
things of God, that obtains at the point of effectual calling, 
but it's also ongoing in the life of sanctification, that 
God enlightens our minds. And when we come into the worship 
on the Lord's Day, we ought to be praying for that. And we do 
pray for that, that God, that the Spirit would enlighten our 
minds, that He would illuminate our minds, that we might understand 
the things of God all the more. But with respect to effectual 
calling, that is a characteristic, that is an aspect of it, that 
God enlightens our minds. We're being, you know, we have 
that renewing of mind reality. We're to operate according to 
the fact that our minds are renewed, not walking as we used to walk 
and as the Gentiles walk in the futility of their minds, but 
walking according to understanding given to us by God. Notice as 
well the language continues, and this is all language being 
drawn from the Scriptures, of course. All these clauses with 
blessed new covenant promises in the background, in the Old 
Covenant, that come to fruition with the advent of Christ, those 
sorts of things. Not that effectual calling wasn't 
operational in the old covenant, because it was, but we have this 
announcement of new covenant blessings in the old, and then 
the advent of them with the coming of Christ. But the next clause, 
we have this wonderful language that captures what it means to 
be effectually called, notice, taking away their heart of stone 
and giving unto them an heart of flesh. This is often something 
that you hear in the content of prayer as well. You know, 
praying God that you would with sinners, remove hearts of stone, 
replace them with hearts of flesh, renewing their minds to own Christ. 
So you can turn with me to the book of Ezekiel. We already talked 
about the fact that Christ in his engagement with Nicodemus 
uses the language of born again and remember in that engagement 
with Nicodemus he He indicts Nicodemus a little bit by saying 
that he should have understanding with regards to these things. 
Nicodemus says, am I supposed to return to my mother's womb 
and be born again? He didn't understand the prophetic 
announcement. He was supposed to understand 
the prophetic announcement that we have in Ezekiel 36 and 37 
and its connection to what Jesus was saying with regards to someone 
needing to be born again to see the kingdom of God. In Ezekiel 
36, notice beginning at verse 24. For I will take you from 
among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring 
you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water 
on you, and you shall be clean. I will cleanse you from all your 
filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new 
heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of 
stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will 
put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes 
and you will keep my judgments and do them. If we were to have 
one passage in our minds, where the confession is drawing from, 
I would say that it's this particular passage as the language continues 
there. There are other passages in mind 
and obviously just the whole of the Bible and announcing this 
and bringing it forth and all that sort of thing, but a lot 
of this language is drawn from this promise of new covenant 
realities in Ezekiel 36. And notice the language that 
Ezekiel, well, the God here is saying The language that he uses, 
the amount of times that the words, I will, are used in this 
particular announcement, that stresses divine sovereignty, 
that it is God who makes sinners alive, that it is God who blesses 
sinners salvificly with divine and saving power. I will take 
you, I will sprinkle, I will give, I will take, I will put. All of these wonderful I will 
statements that cause us to sing with humble hearts to God, amazing 
grace, how sweet the sound. And so Ezekiel 36, and there's 
some wonderful language in 37 with regards to dry bones and 
the making alive of dead things. It's wonderful language with 
regards to effectual calling. And hopefully you can see, I 
mean we're only spending a little bit of time in the doctrine here 
this morning, but just the number of agreeing and consent of all 
parts angles that the Bible has with regards to these different 
ways in which it speaks with regards to divine power bringing 
sinners from deadness to life. It's a beautiful thing that God 
gives us. in His Word. And the language 
continues here of what it looks like, what effectual calling 
is, renewing their wills, and by His almighty power determining 
them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus 
Christ. Hopefully you also see here in 
this chapter the Trinity. We have those whom God hath predestinated, 
and then we have by his word and spirit, and then to grace 
and salvation by Jesus Christ. And then, of course, the spirit 
is implicitly mentioned here in the language of Ezekiel 36. 
It is the triune God who saves us from first to last, midst 
and throughout, without a helper. And we see that throughout the 
chapter. a Trinitarian chapter, as is, of course, the whole Confession, 
as is, of course, the whole Bible. And so it's a wonderful set of 
clauses that we have here speaking with respect to effectual calling. This language, too, it's a blessed 
thing. Our minds are spiritually and savingly renewed. And then 
this beautiful language where we were beforehand, as the confession 
says, averse to all good. We were beforehand contrary to 
all good. But God, by his almighty power 
here, determines them to that which is good. It's a wonderful 
thing, and reflecting back on our salvation as we peruse the 
diary of our memories, as Spurgeon says, because there the witnesses 
of our guilt have faithfully recorded their names, we can 
now also peruse the diary of God's dealings with us and see 
that he has changed, brought us from out of this place where 
we are averse and opposite to all good and put us in Jesus 
Christ in union with Him, determining us to that which is good. It's 
a beautiful thing that we have in the amazing grace of effectual 
calling. Well, let's move on to look then 
at the The stuff of paragraph two here, which now brings us 
to the power in effectual calling. Now we've talked about it a little 
bit already, but this amplifies the almighty power clause, the 
exclusivity of God in the matter of effectual calling. So the 
power in effectual calling. We notice here that this is where 
we sort of traffic in the language of monergism, one working. Effectual calling isn't synergistic, 
God working with man, man working with God. It is monergistic, 
it is God alone working. And we see that language of God 
alone working right at the beginning of paragraph 2. This effectual 
call is of God's free and special grace alone. So we have this 
wonderful positive statement asserting with absolute clarity 
that it is God alone who is powerful in the matter of salvation. This 
effectual call is of God's free and special grace alone. And 
we have that in the scriptures clearly. If we just think of 
one verse, there are more than one, but if we think of Ephesians 
two, verses one through 10. That is a section of divine scripture 
that speaks with great clarity to this concise phrase, that 
effectual calling is of God's free and special grace alone. 
So this positive statement is, of course, calculated to ensure 
that the reader understands, based upon biblical revelation, 
that God is alone powerful in salvation, And it should be implied 
then that man is not active or powerful in the matter of salvation, 
but there is a negative clause that follows, or these negative 
clauses that follow to ensure we understand the power of God 
exclusively in the matter of salvation. Notice, not from anything 
at all foreseen in man. the idea is sort of a, not sort 
of, it's against a semi-Pelagian or Arminian understanding of 
predestination that God's grace comes to those whom God foresaw 
would believe the gospel. And so God looked through the 
tunnels of time to see in this potential universe that these 
particular people would believe the gospel at a particular time 
and so he then therefore predestinates them and brings effectual grace 
based upon that. No, the confession based upon, 
of course, the revelation of God in the scriptures asserts 
very powerfully not from anything at all foreseen in man. It is of God's free and special 
grace alone based upon his unconditional election. So we have not from 
anything at all foreseen in man, and then we have the removal 
of the power of man in the matter of salvation, because God does 
not have co-workers in the matter of salvation. It is the fact 
that he, from beginning to end, midst and throughout, saves without 
a helper. And the language here says, nor 
from any power or agency in the creature, co-working with his 
special grace, the creature being wholly passive therein. Now, 
I think you all probably have this copy of the Confession. 
There are some printed versions and some versions that you'll 
find online that don't have the clause here where we read, nor 
from any power or agency in the creature, it then skips to being 
wholly passive therein. But the 1677-88-89 properly has 
this clause in here, co-working with his special grace and then 
the creature. being wholly passive therein. 
And the thrust behind this clause, as Jim Renahan notes, is to combat 
semi-Pelagianism, yes, but maybe more specifically the idea of 
congruent grace. which is a Roman Catholic doctrine, 
that man can work himself or by some sort of initial minimal 
acts of unregenerate man, God sort of rewards those acts by 
blessing him with special grace. That would mean that man then, 
in part, is is involved in the matter of working for salvation. So the confessionalists here 
are removing that from proper Christian contemplation. Man 
is not working with God in the matter of salvation, it is God 
alone by free and special grace. who is at work in the matter 
of salvation. So the creature is wholly passive 
therein, and it punctuates this, it underscores this by bringing 
us back to the reality of the sinner before grace. Notice, 
being dead in trespasses, being dead in sins and trespasses. So of course, one who is dead, 
spiritually dead in sins and trespasses, cannot do anything. He does not have any power. nor 
any agency to be able to work in any measure for his salvation. 
He is not without power or agency, he has power and agency, but 
he is wholly averse to that which is good. He is wholly disabled 
in his sins and in his trespasses, in his state of total depravity 
and total inability He is unable to have any power or agency unto 
the meriting of special grace and unto the meriting of any 
divine favor. So the creature is wholly passive 
therein. That's the language of Christ 
in his discourse with Nicodemus. you must be born again. That 
language brings to the fore man's passivity and God's exclusive 
power and agency in the matter of salvation. It is by grace 
alone, through faith alone, in Christ Jesus alone. So the creature 
is wholly passive therein, being dead in sins and trespasses, 
and this blessed until, until being quickened and renewed by 
the Holy Spirit. That wonderful language of quickening, 
being made alive, that language of Paul in Ephesians chapter 
2. You being dead in trespasses and sins, He made alive in Christ 
Jesus by His most blessed grace. We are, elect sinners, are quickened 
from this state of deadness in sins and trespasses, we are renewed, 
we are born again by the Holy Spirit. And as we go into worship 
in 42 and a half minutes, it's a blessed thing to reflect upon 
this truth. the God of amazing grace, the 
God of effectual calling. We worship Father, Son, and Holy 
Spirit, who, according to His exclusive divine power and perfect 
agency, brought us forth from this state of deadness and sin 
and trespasses. I don't think we can never exhaust 
the the badness, the horribleness, the depth of depravity that we 
were in. However much we might peruse 
the diaries of our memories, we can never truly understand 
the filth and the wretchedness and the dirtiness, the reality 
of the deadness and sins and trespasses. and we can never 
exhaust then on the other side the contemplations of divine 
and amazing and victorious grace. But we can know that we were 
once in this state, we do know that we were once in this wretched 
state of deadness and sins and trespasses, but God in his good 
pleasure and his timing, according to his most lovingness and most 
graciousness, quickened us and renewed us by his Holy Spirit. 
And notice then that there is an enabling. So men, man, dead 
in trespasses and sins, elect sinners, dead in trespasses and 
sins. Before grace came, they were 
disabled, wholly averse to good, depraved and unable, having that 
being marked by inability in all the faculties of soul and 
body. But yet this side of grace, this side of effectual calling, 
He is enabled to answer the call. He's enabled to answer this call 
and to embrace the grace offered and conveyed in it. So God makes 
us able. God makes us willing in the day 
of His power. We're made to know. We're made 
to believe. We're made to understand. the 
calling, the grace offered and conveyed in it. Whereas beforehand 
we were opposed to Christ, whereas beforehand we were opposed to 
God, whereas beforehand we found ourselves wholly enslaved and 
in bondage to sin, we now are made able to answer this blessed 
call and to embrace grace. What a blessed thing we have 
in the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is grace offered in this 
call and there is grace conveyed in this call. This final clause that we have 
here should push us beyond what we've 
so far contemplated and reflect on the the actual divine power 
that is going on when God effectually calls someone. It's no less here, 
the confession reads, it's no less than the power which raised 
up Christ from the dead. What a wonderful thing we have 
in that, that the very power that raised Christ from the dead 
is the power which raises dead sinners to life. I think that's 
something that we have when we consider baptism and when we 
Consider the language of Romans chapter 6 in our union with Christ 
in his death, burial, and resurrection. You know, the recipient of baptism 
hopefully can reflect on that, not only at the point of their 
baptism, but also as they reflect back upon that means of grace. 
and see that the very time when they were effectually called, 
that power which brought them forth was the very power which 
raised their Savior from the dead. And as Paul writes in 2 
Corinthians 4, it's also the very power that God had in the 
creation of all things. That wonderful language where 
we're brought forth to behold the face of Christ by the very 
power that God employed. at the creation of all things 
when He spoke all things into existence. This is why it's such 
a slight and it's such an insult to grace and to God to say that 
man has any part in His own salvation. It's a slight to the power of 
God. It's a slight to the exclusivity of His special grace, His free 
and special grace. It's a slight to to Father, Son, 
and Holy Spirit to say that man is a coworker in the matter of 
his salvation. Well, some blessed things there. 
Just by way of note, paragraph four really speaks, if paragraph 
one speaks concerning those whom God has predestinated unto life, 
paragraph four speaks to those whom God hath not predestinated 
unto life. There is a calling that goes 
forth that isn't effectual calling, that serves the effectual call, 
and that is the gospel call. As the word is proclaimed, as 
the gospel is proclaimed, It's proclaimed in order that the 
elect sinners might be brought forth by that word and then by 
the power of the Spirit. It's also given so that those 
who have not been predestinated unto life might be made to be 
known as the inheritors of everlasting damnation and divine judgment. 
and to proclaim that other side of the double-edged sword that 
God judges as well by the proclamation of the word, those who reject 
it. But then there's this paragraph 
3 here, and without spending too much time on it, what's in 
the background there? is primarily pastoral concerns 
at the time of the writing. Not that it isn't relevant for 
all time, but pastoral concerns at the time of the writing of 
these confessions. It's not just thrown in there 
as some sort of isolated theological proposition. detached from a 
context in this case. There was high infant mortality 
at the time of the, you know, in the 17th century, and so, 
you know, parents perhaps consumed with bad theology, some bad superstition, 
some wrong thoughts about who is saved and how they are saved, 
the Confession wants to come here and bring comfort to parents 
in the loss of their infants and comfort to parents who have 
children who are other elect persons incapable of being outwardly 
called. You know, there is this idea 
that the deaf couldn't be saved because faith comes by hearing 
and hearing by the word of God. We have the fact that, you know, 
what is it, you know, our infants are all infants that die in infancy 
damned because they didn't hear the gospel proclaimed and so 
therefore couldn't, in time, be effectually called and be 
given the gift of faith. While the Baptists here uphold 
the reality of elect infants and those unable of outwardly 
being called who are elect, that their salvation is not based 
upon something inherent like their own innocency, but is actually 
based upon the very salvation that we have, the blood and righteousness 
of Christ that avails for elect sinners. And so this paragraph 
is given as a comfort. to parents in a time where there 
was great discomfort based upon certain things, and it should 
bring comfort in our own day, because the truth is everlastingly 
true, that all those whom God hath predestinated unto life 
will be saved, and this does include infants, and it does 
include those who are unable outwardly to respond to the gospel 
call. Well, let's go into worship rejoicing 
in the God of effectual calling. rejoicing in the God of amazing 
grace, reflecting upon the fact that our salvation from beginning 
to end, midst, and throughout, is from Father, Son, and Holy 
Spirit, who saves without a helper. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, 
we thank you for your time, this time in doctrine. We rejoice 
in reflecting upon effectual calling, that you save us not 
by anything foreseen in us, not by anything that we work up, 
but you save us solely and alone by amazing and victorious grace 
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus and wrought by 
word and spirit. We do pray that we would worship 
you aright in this forthcoming hour of worship, that you would 
help us to sing your praises, that you would help us to rejoice, 
that we would attend unto the the elements of worship and that 
you would receive all honor and glory and praise in this place. 
And we pray in Christ's name, amen. Any questions from the 
two minutes and 37 seconds? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, they're they're writing 
and glory in these things in a context that we don't know 
anything of really, you know, a lot of good. children to disease and all these 
sorts of things, and yet they worried in this truth and defended 
it. It brought pastoral comfort. It's not just theology up here, 
it's theology for comfort to those who are grieving and those 
who are for class. This is the kind of theologically 
based comfort that we saw in Pastor Butler's essay on impossibility 
and sick. Yeah, right. And then the other thing that 
was in my mind listening to the explanation of the initial election 
of the school, not responding to the foreseen activity, it 
seems to me that they hold on to simplicity, hapless parents, 
and a bunch of other good stuff. Right. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Yes? 
I hope this one is short. As in elect infants dying in 
infancy, are there non-elect infants dying in infancy? The resolve in this is always 
because there's a particular lack of clarity. There's a lack 
of clarity with regards to the exact theology and answer for 
that. What we can resign ourselves 
to is the fact that the judge of all the earth does right according 
to his will and good pleasure. And I think that's where we safely 
acquiesce is in that reality. But I jam it into that one. I 
think the language there is very, very wise. There's two schools 
of thought. Some believe all infants go to 
heaven. But probably you haven't heard 
of the other school of thought. They think all infants go to 
hell. And so I think what our Baptist brothers did, using the 
language elect infants, It speaks to the truth of God's word as 
a whole. Bible doesn't say every infant 
that dies goes to heaven or every infant that dies goes to hell. 
But based on what we learn from scripture, the normal and ordinary 
way of calling the elect is through the word God. So the question 
comes, what about the infants? Or what about the people that 
are perhaps mentally handicapped that can't receive propositional 
truth? So I think they've worded it 
wisely to acknowledge that God can save in a way that is different 
than in Romans 10, 17. But it doesn't obligate God to 
save everybody. So it's going as far as scripture, 
I think, allows. And I used to struggle with this 
as a younger pastor, but I've really come to appreciate the 
wise course that they pursue. Spurgeon, for instance, dropped 
the word elect when he republished the Confession. He didn't like 
elect infants. So it became infants dying in 
infancy, which he believed every infant that died went to heaven. 
And again, that's a, you know, people have that position in 
view, but when you ask the scriptures, the scriptures are silent when 
it comes to the disposition ultimately of infants and the mentally handicapped. That works for me. I'm just saying, 
yeah, how far do we take will not the God of the universe do, 
right? That's where we go. That's it, right there. Genesis 
18. But if that's the case, then you know what? I can do whatever 
I want with God. The universe will do right by 
me if I confess faith and grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. But 
those who don't... So I'm just reminded, you guys 
talking, remind me of this verse, the wicked are estranged from 
the womb, Psalm 58.3. Yeah. God sees what we do not see. We make all kinds of judgments 
of who's good and who's not good. But personally, I find it a real 
comfort that God does not leave such an important question as 
eternal salvation up to a bunch of longheads, which is all of 
us. He's outside of time. He sees, 
he knows, and he's not going to lose a one. That's right. 
That's right. I find that really comforting. 
Yeah, very good. Man acts emotionally where it's 
brought at him, not at the emotion. Yeah, yeah, that's good. Yeah, 
exactly. We want everybody to be safe. Right. I agree entirely. Yes, sir. Just a comment. I get 
a lot of emotions and stuff around this one. But my sister passed 
away when I was still in the womb, actually. And she was a 
year old. And my grandfather had said he had some revelation 
and believed that she went to heaven. So doctrinally, you'd 
agree with this statement. But some special god told him 
that she was saved. I've heard about other people, 
too, in those churches. Yeah. Yeah, and maybe just one quick 
statement is that the Baptists differ a little bit here with 
Presbyterians and infant Paedo-Baptists at the point where Paedo-Baptists 
tied it to covenant inclusion based on believing parents primarily, 
whereas the Baptists tied it to the work of Christ and his