Theological term
Imputation
654 sermons · All terms
2LCF Chapter 19 - Of the Law of God
What role does the law of God play for the Christian now that Christ has come and the old covenant has been superseded? This confession-study exposition of 2LCF Chapter 19 works through seven paragraphs on the law of God, distinguishing moral universals from positive precepts, tracing the threefold division of the law (moral, ceremonial, judicial), establishing the creational and trans-covenantal abiding validity of the moral law, and demonstrating its divinely designed obsolescence in its ceremonial and judicial aspects. The three uses of the moral law — civil, pedagogical, and normative — are then applied to the Christian life, with Christ's active and passive obedience shown to be the only ground of righteousness before God.
Getting the Garden Right — Dr. Richard Barcellos | Why Genesis 1–3 Matters for Everything
Genesis 1–3 is not merely the Bible's opening chapter but the theological foundation upon which the covenant of works, the divine rest, and the entire eschatological structure of Scripture are built. Richard Barcellos surveys the argument of his book 'Getting the Garden Right,' contending that New Covenant theology and progressive covenantalism go wrong precisely where they fail to reckon with Adam's probationary status under the covenant of works and the eschatological significance of God's Sabbath rest as a state into which the obedient image-bearer was to enter. The discussion ranges from hermeneutical method — the necessity of allowing the New Testament to illuminate the Genesis narrative — to the typological continuity of the Sabbath from creation ordinance through the resurrection of Christ to the weekly Lord's Day. Listeners are pressed to take the primary sources of the Reformed tradition seriously and to see that whatever Adam failed to attain, Christ secured, bringing many sons to the glory that is better than the beginning.
The Prayer of the Man of Sorrows
Psalm 6 is read christologically as the prayer of the man of sorrows — not merely a record of David's personal penitence, but a prophetic foreshadowing of Christ's redemptive anguish as the representative of his people. The doctrine of imputation grounds this reading: what Christ bears is not his own sin but the sin of those the Father gave him, laid upon him by divine appointment. The sermon works through two major sections of the psalm — the sorrow of the psalmist in verses 1–7 and the confidence of the psalmist in verses 8–10 — calling hearers to see their sin as atoned for by the Son of God and to live in light of that imputed righteousness, pursuing holiness and resting their prayers upon the same mercies Christ secured.
2LCF Chapter 18 - Of the Assurance of Grace and Salvation
What does it mean to be assured of salvation, and is such assurance available to ordinary believers or only to a spiritual elite? Working through 2LCF Chapter 18, this lesson distinguishes true Christian assurance — an infallible certainty grounded in the blood and righteousness of Christ and the testimony of the Holy Spirit — from the carnal presumption of the unregenerate who rest on false hopes. The four paragraphs of the chapter are treated in turn: the doctrine stated, its pillars declared, the means by which it is attained, and the trials that may shake but never ultimately destroy it. Believers are urged to seek assurance through the ordinary means of grace, resting not on inward experience or extraordinary revelation but on the unchanging gospel of Christ crucified and risen.
The Ratification of the Old Covenant
Exodus 24:1–8 records the ratification of the Old Covenant at Sinai through blood sacrifice, a mediator, and the sworn fidelity of the people — all of which anticipate and are surpassed by the New Covenant inaugurated in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Old Covenant is identified not as an administration of the covenant of grace but as a covenant of works, in which Israel's standing depended upon their own obedience: 'all that the Lord has commanded we will do.' The New Covenant contrasts sharply: Christ, the true Israel of God, fulfills every covenantal obligation in the place of his people, so that the ground of the believer's standing before God is not their performance but his finished work. The sermon closes with a practical call to live at the foot of Calvary rather than at the foot of Sinai, resisting the legal temptation to ground either justification or sanctification in personal obedience.
The Mission of the Son of God
John 1:29 presents the whole mission of the incarnate Son of God in a single declaration: 'Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.' This sermon expounds the Baptist's announcement as a statement loaded with Old Covenant freight — the sacrificial system, the Day of Atonement, and the Servant Songs of Isaiah — all converging on the one unblemished Lamb who bears sin to the cross and removes it through substitutionary atonement. The scope of 'the world' is shown to exclude universalism while affirming that Christ's atoning work reaches every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. The sermon closes with a theological account of believers' baptism as the external sign of the internal grace received through union with Christ in his death and resurrection.
Ask FGBC #54: If My Sins Are Forgiven, What Will I Be Judged For?
If the sins of the justified are cast into the depths of the sea, what remains to be accounted for on the Day of Judgment? This question is answered by distinguishing the forensic declaration of justification by faith alone — grounded in Christ's imputed righteousness — from the logic of an earthly trial. The Day of Judgment for the righteous is not an investigation to determine status, but a public manifestation of the glory of God's mercy, confirming what Christ has already secured. The 1689 LBCF chapter 32 frames the point: that day is appointed for the manifestation of the glory of God's mercy toward the elect, not for a second or final justification.
2LCF Chapter 17 - Of the Perseverance of the Saints
The perseverance of the saints — that those whom God has elected, called, justified, and sanctified will certainly be preserved unto final glorification — is examined through the three paragraphs of 2LCF Chapter 17. The doctrine rests not on the free will or native strength of the believer, but on the immutability of God's decree of election flowing from His free and unchangeable love, the perfect merit and ongoing intercession of Christ, the abiding of the Spirit, the principle of grace implanted within, and the inviolable nature of the covenant of grace. The certainty and infallibility of perseverance is therefore as secure as God Himself. Believers are exhorted not to neglect the means of grace — public worship, the preaching of the Word, the sacraments, prayer, and private and family devotion — for it is within those ordained means that God nourishes His people in faith, repentance, love, joy, and hope.
Christ in the River Jordan
The baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 3:13–17 is not merely a biographical episode but the inaugural step of the incarnate Son of God in His mediatorial mission to fulfill all righteousness for sinners. Tracing a rich theology of water through creation, the flood, the Exodus, and Joshua's crossing of the Jordan, the sermon demonstrates that Christ enters the river as the antitypical fulfillment of every prior act of divine cleansing, conquest, and covenant ratification. The descent of the Spirit like a dove and the Father's voice of approbation publicly inaugurate the new creation and identify Jesus as the obedient second Adam, the suffering servant, and the Davidic king. The sermon closes by drawing the believer's baptism directly from this pattern: only those who are the recipients of Christ's substitutionary righteousness, indwelt by the Spirit, and adopted into sonship are candidates for baptism by full immersion.
The Confidence of the Believer
Micah 7 presents the prophet lamenting the moral and covenantal collapse of Israel — corrupt leaders, treacherous neighbors, fractured households — only to pivot on a single word: 'therefore.' Rather than despair, Micah models the posture of the godly remnant: looking to God, waiting on God, and confessing sin without self-defense. The sermon traces the chapter's three movements — lamentation (vv. 1–6), exhortation (vv. 7–13), and doxological prayer (vv. 14–20) — and presses the question of what genuine faith looks like when the church and civil society have both gone far astray. The closing doxology, 'Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity,' is held up as the ground of the believer's confidence and the fitting frame for the Lord's Supper.
2LCF Chapter 16 - Of Good Works
Good works, as defined in chapter 16 of the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, are only those things God has commanded in his holy word — not deeds devised by men from blind zeal or good intentions. They are not the ground or cause of justification, which is by faith alone through Christ alone; rather, they are the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith, flowing from hearts purified by that faith and enabled wholly by the Spirit of Christ. The confession targets both the Roman Catholic doctrine of supererogation and any merit-based soteriology, insisting that even the believer's best works, mingled with weakness and imperfection, are acceptable before God only through the mediation of Christ. Believers are therefore called to freely and cheerfully perform good works — including proper worship — not to secure salvation but as the grateful and Spirit-enabled response of those already justified by Christ's perfect obedience imputed to them.
What Is Faith? When Should I Be Baptized? & more| Ask FGBC Batch 6
This Q&A episode from a confessional Reformed Baptist church addresses twelve questions spanning baptism, faith, church membership, Scripture interpretation, seminary training, and the heresies of Federal Vision and Baxterianism. Particular attention is given to the definition of saving faith — distinguishing the objective content of the faith from the act of believing, warning against loading faith with feelings, faithfulness, or love as its ground, and insisting that faith is the empty instrument through which God-given grace lays hold of Christ alone. The episode closes with treatments of conviction of sin, catechetical instruction of children, and the importance of an educated ministry.
The Darkness of Depression
Proverbs 15:13 identifies the broken spirit as a genuine human affliction, and the broader witness of Scripture — from Elijah under the broom tree to the weeping prophet Jeremiah to the Saviour himself as a man of sorrows — confirms that depression and melancholy are realities in the lives of God's people, not marks of spiritual failure. This sermon works through the reality of depression, its manifold causes (physical, psychological, circumstantial, spiritual, and diabolical), and practical strategies for those who suffer and those who come alongside sufferers. The controlling remedy throughout is the means of grace: rest, diet, exercise, prayer, Scripture, and the gathered worship of God's people — with the warning that singing songs to a heavy heart, after the manner of Job's friends, is a pastoral failure Scripture explicitly condemns.
2LCF Chapter 14 - Of Saving Faith
What is saving faith, where does it come from, and what does it rest upon? Working through Chapter 14 of the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, this study examines saving faith under three headings: its nature (divine source, instrumental means, and fortifying ordinances), its object (the consequent acts of believing the Word and the principal acts of accepting, receiving, and resting upon Christ alone), and the variety and degree of faith across believers. The confession's teaching is grounded throughout in Scripture and the broader confessional architecture, demonstrating that saving faith is a purchased grace of the covenant of grace, given and sustained by the Spirit of Christ through the Word and the appointed means of the church.
The Holy, Harmless, and Undefiled Man
Psalm 1 describes not merely the character of the generic godly man, but the Lord Jesus Christ himself — the one perfectly holy, harmless, and undefiled man whose obedience alone secures the blessedness the psalm pronounces. The hermeneutic is not moralistic prescription ('do this and live') but christological proclamation: because the blessed man of verse 1 fulfilled what verses 1–2 demand, all who trust in him receive both forgiveness of sins and the imputation of his righteousness. The sermon then moves to application in a gospel-ordered framework, showing that sanctification flows consequent to justification — the redeemed follow the Lamb not in order to obtain blessing, but because they have already received it in Christ.
2LCF Chapter 13 - Of Sanctification
Sanctification is a work of God's free grace — not of human effort — wrought in the elect by the Word and Spirit through the virtue of Christ's death and resurrection. The 1689 London Baptist Confession, Chapter 13, sets out the nature and cause of sanctification: its undeserving recipients (the effectually called and regenerated), the initial definitive act of sanctifying grace at conversion, the progressive ongoing work of the Spirit, and the instruments God employs (Word and Spirit). The confession guards this doctrine on two fronts simultaneously: against moral-improvement schemes that reduce sanctification to human effort, and against sinless perfectionism that denies remaining corruption in the believer.
The Mission and Ministry of the Church
What is the mission and ministry of the church, and how does the apostolic pattern in Acts 2 define both? This sermon works through Acts 2:22–42, showing that the church's mission is the proclamation of Christ — his life, atoning death, resurrection, and exaltation — accompanied by the killing work of God's law that convicts sinners of their guilt and drives them to the Savior. The ministry that follows is shaped by the four marks of the early church in verse 42: steadfast continuance in the apostles' doctrine, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer — the simple means by which God feeds his blood-bought people.
The Pattern for the Christian Life
Philippians 3:17 calls believers to join in following the Apostle Paul's example and to identify others in the local church who walk the same way. The sermon argues that faithful Christian examples are not found among social-media influencers but among ordinary, persevering saints whose lives are grounded in justification by faith alone, followed by sanctification, perseverance, and glorification. Paul's example is examined across four dimensions — his conversion, his life as a believer, his ministry, and his suffering — with particular attention to the courage and gospel-centrality displayed throughout Acts. The sermon's application presses the responsibility squarely on individual believers: they must actively seek out faithful examples in the congregation rather than waiting for examples to come to them.
The Third Appearance of Christ to the Disciples, Part 3
John 21:20–25 closes the fourth gospel with two interlocking concerns: the sovereign headship of Christ over His church and the divine authority of Holy Scripture. Peter's question about John's fate draws a sharp rebuke — 'What is that to you? You follow me' — which exposes the temptation to play the victim of providence rather than the contented subject of Christ's will. The passage then grounds the church's authority in the eyewitness testimony of the beloved disciple, written by the Spirit for one declared purpose: that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ and have life in His name. The sermon closes with John's doxological acknowledgment that the infinite Word made flesh exceeds all possible description, and calls every hearer to follow Christ in their appointed station rather than fixate on the lot of others.
The Christian Life of the Apostle Paul
Between justification and glorification lies the life of sanctification, and in Philippians 3:12–16 the Apostle Paul names that interim existence perseverance. Paul's honest self-assessment — 'not that I have already attained or am already perfected' — anchors both the doctrine and the practice: the believer presses on, forgets what is behind, and strains toward glory not to secure justification but as a necessary consequence of having been freely justified by God's grace. The sermon grounds perseverance in the immutability of the divine decree, the intercession of Christ, and the empowering work of the Spirit, before calling the congregation to single-minded use of the ordained means of grace.
2LCF Chapter 11 - Of Justification
Chapter 11 of the Second London Confession of Faith sets forth the biblical doctrine of justification with precision: sinners are accepted before God not by infused or inherent righteousness, nor by the imputation of faith as an act of obedience, but by the imputation of Christ's active obedience to the whole law and His passive obedience in death, received through faith alone as the instrument of justification. The confession navigates the doctrine through careful negative and positive statements, guarding both the sole ground of acceptance in Christ and the inseparable connection between justification and sanctification. Believers are called to rest their assurance entirely on Christ's active and passive obedience — cleansed in His blood and clothed in His righteousness — rather than on any covenantal faithfulness of their own.
A Psalm of Thanksgiving
Psalm 103 is a psalm of David that models the discipline of deliberate thanksgiving — speaking to one's own soul rather than merely listening to its despondency. This exposition works through three movements: the reminder to bless God (vv. 1–2), the reasons to bless God catalogued as gifts, their recipients, and their giver (vv. 3–18), and a reflection on the sovereign kingdom of God (vv. 19–22). The chief benefit heading David's list is the forgiveness of sins — the one blessing that remains constant through every external adversity — and the sermon calls hearers to fight melancholy with the specific, rehearsed goodness of God rather than merely silencing the soul's complaints.
The Sixth Commandment, Part 3
The sixth commandment, 'You shall not murder' (Deuteronomy 5:17), prohibits unlawful killing with premeditation and malice, but the Bible distinguishes murder from lawful taking of life in capital punishment, self-defense, and just war. This study works through the Old Testament legal framework for self-defense, particularly Exodus 22:2–3, alongside several narrative examples, to establish that defensive homicide is not forbidden by Scripture. The teaching of Jesus in Matthew 5:38–42 is examined carefully to show that the Sermon on the Mount addresses personal, interpersonal ethics — not a universal prohibition on self-defense — and that Jesus himself assumes people will protect themselves and others. The study concludes with a call to think with biblical clarity on these matters in an age of muddled Christian ethics.
The Signs and Wonders Following Jesus's Death
At the death of Jesus, Matthew records four signs: the tearing of the temple veil, an earthquake, split rocks, and the resurrection of Old Testament saints — phenomena unique or extended beyond what the other Synoptics report. This exposition works through Matthew 27:51–56, arguing that each sign carries distinct theological weight: the torn veil announces the abrogation of the old covenant by fulfillment and the opening of free access to God through Christ's flesh; the earthquake signals divine judgment and vindicates the Son; the resurrection of the saints demonstrates Christ's power over the grave, confirms the bodily resurrection hope, and shows the retrospective efficacy of his atoning work for old covenant believers. The sermon closes at the Lord's Supper table, where the confession of Gentile soldiers and faithful women together display that Christ's blood avails for every tribe, tongue, people, and nation.
2LCF Chapter 8 - Of Christ the Mediator, Part 4
Chapter 8 of the 1689 London Baptist Confession sets forth the person and work of Christ the Mediator, and this study works through its latter paragraphs (4–10) covering the historical description of Christ's obedience, the specific operation of His atoning work, the retrospective application of redemptive benefit to Old Covenant saints, the communication of idioms, and the effectual application of redemption to the elect. The confession grounds definite atonement, active and passive obedience, and penal substitutionary atonement in Christ's willing entrance into the state of humiliation and His perfect fulfillment of the law, establishing the foundation for the confession's later treatment of justification by faith alone. The threefold office of Christ as prophet, priest, and king is shown to be not an imposition on Scripture but its exegetical fruit, meeting precisely the threefold need of God's people for revelation, reconciliation, and kingly rule.
The 5th Commandment
The fifth commandment — 'Honor your father and your mother' (Deuteronomy 5:16) — demands far more than a recipe for happy families; it is a covenantal obligation rooted in God's own authority and binding on every generation. This study examines the command under three heads: its explanation (the Hebrew word for 'honor' connoting weightiness and reverence), its scope (extending beyond the family to all superior-inferior relationships in church, workplace, and commonwealth), and its sanction (from the rod of correction in Proverbs to the capital sentence of Deuteronomy 21). The promise appended to the command — long life and general wellbeing — is understood as a principle of divine providence, not an absolute guarantee, and the study closes with the duty of superiors to govern those beneath them in a godly and nurturing way.
The Crucifixion of Christ, Part 4
The sixth saying of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross — 'It is finished' (John 19:30) — is not a cry of defeat but a declaration of completed victory. The single Greek word tetelestai, a perfect tense verb signifying a past completed action with abiding present results, encompasses the fulfillment of all Old Testament Scripture, the completion of Christ's earthly suffering, the full accomplishment of the Father's will, and the definitive salvation of his people. The sermon works through the typological witness of the law (Passover, Day of Atonement, the bronze serpent, the sacrificial system), the prophetic witness of Isaiah and Jeremiah, and the Psalms, showing that Christ's cry from the cross brings every shadow and promise to its intended end. The application presses the finished work as the sole ground of justification, assurance, peace with God, and security against every accusation — calling both believer and unbeliever to look to Christ alone and live.
The Glorious Curse Bearer
Galatians 3:10–14 presents the law's curse as a judicial sentence of divine condemnation from which no sinner can escape by obedience, since perfect and perpetual law-keeping is universally failed. Christ, the covenant champion, redeemed his elect by becoming a curse in their place — bearing the wrath due them, answering on a mountain at a tree the curse that entered the world on a mountain at a tree. The blessing of Abraham — the imputation of Christ's righteousness received through faith alone — comes not through circumcision, ceremony, or ethnic connection to the covenant community, but through union with the crucified and risen Christ. Those outside Christ remain justly under divine condemnation; those in him are freed from the curse and heirs of all the promises of God.
The Description of Discipleship
Matthew 16:24–27 sets out the terms of Christian discipleship: self-denial, cross-bearing, and the daily following of Christ. The sermon distinguishes a superficial willingness to die for Jesus from the harder, quieter obedience of living for him — reading Scripture, praying, attending the assembly, and ordering family life under the Word. The whole argument is framed by the eschatological contrast between temporal gain and eternal loss, with the coming judgment of the Son of Man serving as the decisive motivation for prioritising Christ over wealth, comfort, and self. Justification by faith alone is never undermined; rather, the life of discipleship is presented as the necessary and inevitable fruit of genuine saving grace.
2LCF Chapter 8 - Of Christ the Mediator, Part 3
The sinlessness of Christ, the efficient and instrumental causes of the incarnation, and the hypostatic union are examined through a clause-by-clause exposition of 2LCF Chapter 8, paragraph 2, with supporting analysis of paragraphs 3 and 7. The confession's language — 'yet without sin,' 'conceived by the Holy Spirit,' 'of the seed of Abraham and David,' 'without conversion, composition, or confusion' — is unpacked against the background of patristic Christology, Chalcedonian definition, and Reformed theological precision. The ministry of the Holy Spirit throughout the entire mediatorial life of Christ is recovered as an often-neglected dimension of Christology. Incarnational and interpretive rules drawn from paragraph 7 equip hearers to handle Scripture passages that appear to diminish Christ's deity, by distinguishing what is predicated of a nature from what is predicated of the one person according to a nature.