The Necessity of Works in Salvation: Once Saved, Always Persevering

“Unqualified obedience is required from us: not to furnish title to Heaven–that is found alone in the merits of Christ; not to fit us for Heaven–that is supplied alone by the supernatural work of the Spirit in the heart; but that God may be owned and honoured by us as we journey thither, that we may prove and manifest the sufficiency of His grace, that we may furnish evidences we are HIS children, that we may be preserved from those things which would otherwise destroy us–only in the path of obedience can we avoid those foes which are seeking to slay us… The path of obedience must be trod if ever you are to reach heaven.” – A.W. Pink, An Exposition of Hebrews, p.697

How the Servant of Christ Ought to Perform His Ministry…

Here are seven points according to the Westminster Directory for the Public Worship of God, as to how the servant of Christ ought to perform his ministry:

1. Painfully, not doing the work of the Lord negligently.

2. Plainly, that the meanest may understand; delivering the truth not in the enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect; abstaining also from an unprofitable use of unknown tongues, strange phrases, and cadences of sounds and words; sparingly citing sentences of ecclesiastical or other human writers, ancient or modern, be they never so elegant.

3. Faithfully, looking at the honour of Christ, the conversion, edification, and salvation of the people, not at his own gain or glory; keeping nothing back which may promote those holy ends, giving to every one his own portion, and bearing indifferent respect unto all, without neglecting the meanest, or sparing the greatest, in their sins.

4. Wisely, framing all his doctrines, exhortations, and especially his reproofs, in such a manner as may be most likely to prevail; shewing all due respect to each man’s person and place, and not mixing his own passion or bitterness.

5. Gravely, as becometh the word of God; shunning all such gesture, voice, and expressions, as may occasion the corruptions of men to despise him and his ministry.

6. With loving affection, that the people may see all coming from his godly zeal, and hearty desire to do them good. And,

7. As taught of God, and persuaded in his own heart, that all that he teacheth is the truth of Christ; and walking before his flock, as an example to them in it; earnestly, both in private and publick, recommending his labours to the blessing of God, and watchfully looking to himself, and the flock whereof the Lord hath made him overseer: So shall the doctrine of truth be preserved uncorrupt, many souls converted and built up, and himself receive manifold comforts of his labours even in this life, and afterward the crown of glory laid up for him in the world to come.

Can’t Wait to Go To Heaven

Q.What shall be done to the righteous at the day of judgment?

A. At the day of judgment, the righteous, being caught up to Christ in the clouds, shall be set on his right hand, and there openly acknowledged and acquitted, shall join with him in the judging of reprobate angels and men, and shall be received into heaven, where they shall be fully and forever freed from all sin and misery; filled with inconceivable joys, made perfectly holy and happy both in body and soul, in the company of innumerable saints and holy angels, but especially in the immediate vision and fruition of God the Father, of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, to all eternity. And this is the perfect and full communion, which the members of the invisible church shall enjoy with Christ in glory, at the resurrection and day of judgment. – Westminster Larger Catechism, Q. 90

Passionate Life vs. Proper Theology

It is not uncommon to hear passionate living being contrasted with proper understanding. On the one side is a passionate life for Christ, full of zeal and love, spent doing the work of God, versus a life of orthodox theology, or proper understanding of God as revealed in scripture. Oftentimes, the latter is downplayed and even set against proper living as if it were its enemy. An example that one might hear is that of a man passionately praying and helping out his neighbors, loving everyone around him, living a “passionate life” while not having the deepest understanding of theology versus another man who sits in his study all day, isolated from the world reading his Bible, studying esoteric doctrines that really have no impact on life. The former does the true kingdom work, while the latter studies his Greek and Hebrew, doing no real work for the kingdom. Of course, consideration ought to be taken as to why such a reaction is occurring against theology, there being a degree of truth to it, but such a comparison, in my opinion, is based on a very serious presupposition that is absolutely wrong.

Just to be fair, there are some who do say the above without meaning that the two are in contrast. However, it is safe to say, that many actually do hold that orthodoxy (correct teaching) is an enemy of orthopraxy (correct practice). The fact of the matter is that the two are inseparably bound. Correct teaching, if properly accepted and truly believed, will necessarily lead to correct practice. Conversely, false teaching, if accepted and believed, will always lead to false living.

An example commonly utilized by those who set proper theology against passionate living is that of the Pharisees, who were the top religious leaders of their time, and yet were called “a brood of vipers” and “white washed tombs” by Christ Himself. They are pointed to as those who had the most orthodox beliefs, and because of their dedication to studying the Law alone, they did not please God they became heartless men who sought their own gain, rather than the glory of God. Then, in contrast to these men, were the disciples, mere fishermen, though they lacked the sort of theology that the pharisees had, yet they were passionate about following Christ. Hopefully, the reader can already see a problem. First, the Pharisees did not have the good theology. They were unorthodox. Just a few examples Matthew 15:6, they, “invalidated the word of God for the sake of [their] tradition.” They did not hold to everything that Scripture said, but placed tradition as a higher authority. They called Christ Beelzebul! Can one’s theology get any worse? Christ tells the other religious leaders, the Sadducees that they “are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God.” (22:29) Their theology was completely off, they had a view of God that was so far off that they were called sons of the devil. Some may point to Christ’s exhortation to “do what they say, not what they do” as His affirmation of their orthodoxy, but He was affirming the Mosaic Law that they promoted, not their theology. For they wrongly thought that they were in obedience to the Law, having a false view regarding its demands.Thus, the hypocritical Pharisees were rebuked by Christ were rebuked for false living, but this was not a result of arrogance in orthodoxy, but rather, a completely false understanding of it (as a result of their depravity). Now, I do not think it necessary to show that the disciples of Christ, post-ressurection had orthodox theology, it is, after all, their epistles from which we, who consider ourselves orthodox, derive our theology.

Conversely, it is safe to say that bad theology always leads to bad living. Not saying that bad theology always leads to hell, no doubt, most of us are likely wrong somewhere (particularly in the realm of eschatology… we can’t all be right!) but incorrect theology (to the degree of its emphasis in scripture) will necessarily lead to improper living. An example of this is the church in Thessalonica. They believed that Christ had already come and so they sold all their possessions, stopped working and thus, the entirety of their lives were changed based on this one believe. Because of bad theology, Paul had to write to correct them and exhort them, based on proper theology, to live correctly. Similarly, the book of Galatians was written to fend off the Galatians from false teaching, from a works-based righteousness. This is heresy, or to put it euphemistically, bad theology. The believers were being shaken to the point that Paul had to ask them who it was that bewitched them (Gal. 3:1). The epistles were written for the sake of exhortation or correction in terms of theological beliefs. Thus, the apostles knew their theology, and wrote to correct improper theology.

Even in the case that the “living” was “right” (by this I mean moral in the world’s eyes), if such living was motivated by bad theology it would be pointed out and corrected. A prime example would be the Judaizers who promoted a “moral” life, yet did so on the basis of incorrect theology. If the goal of Christianity was merely to produce a moral person, then the means would not be of importance, but the goal of Christianity is to convert depraved men so that they might trust in Christ for their righteousness. This may cause some to sin more that grace may increase, but clearly such men do not know their theology. If Paul’s aim was to produce men who merely lived “right” lives then he would not have preached the gospel as he did, seeing that it led some to think they could use grace as a license to sin. Paul, in Romans 6, does not turn and change his mind on his doctrine of justification by Christ’s righteousness alone, but holds to it and corrects the theology of the antinomians.

The danger then, is not proper theology, but two things:

1. A knowledge of theology without an embrace of it. There are two faiths described in the Bible, one that justifies (which will also produce fruit) and one that does not (James 2), similarly there is a godly sorrow leading to repentance and a worldly sorrow leading to death. It is not an odd thing to find, then, that there are two types of orthodoxy (not a real distinction within orthodoxy, but one made because it exists) true orthodoxy, and shallow orthodoxy. It is not enough to “know” theology. The demons believe and shudder, Satan is the greatest theologian in terms of knowledge, but an embrace of it by faith must take place. If it is not affecting every part of one’s life, then it is highly probably that somewhere along the line one’s theology is “off”. Either this, or it is not truly believed. Any man who knows he is bound to hell, who has a proper understanding of both sin, hell, grace, faith and justification will necessarily see his own hopelessness and turn to Christ. Yet a man who does not understand either the depth of his own depravity, the consequences of it, the sufficiency of Christ’s work or the doctrine of justification will not turn to Christ. True orthodoxy will lead to orthopraxy. One may object and point out that even the most orthodox believer still sins, yet if viewed carefully the occassions that believers do sin are those occasions that we suppress the truth, thinking that God “will not do good or bad.” There is always a false understanding of theology (or a suppression of true theology) when a Christian gives in to intentional sin. This occurs because of the radical depravity accompanying the fall.

2. A “passionate life” without proper theology. Paul speaks of his fellow country men who “have a zeal for God but not in accordance with knowledge.” It is very possible to be zealous for God, and yet to be ignorant of Him. There is no possible way to live a proper life without a proper understanding. Or there is no way to have orthopraxy without orthodoxy. It is imperative to have good theology. Bad theology takes glory from God, bad theology, as evidenced in the pharisees will produce a legalistic, works-based righteousness sort of mentality. At best it will make the Christian life extremely difficult, at worst it will lead many down that broad road to destruction. Without a proper doctrine of sin, a proper doctrine of man’s depravity, and of impending judgment, and of God’s free grace in Christ, it is difficult at best, and impossible at worst for sinners to come to Christ.

Good theology, in and of itself is not sufficient, but it is absolutely necessary, and if embraced, it will lead to proper practice. Someone has put it like this, “The deeper the theology, the higher the doxology.” Proper theology and an embrace of it, is everything.

He Made Him Who Knew No Sin To Be Sin

I first heard about Smeaton’s book titled, “The Apostles’ Doctrine of the Atonement” from The Shepherd’s Scrapbook, picked it up not really knowing what to expect, but at this point I think I can say that this book is one of my favorites this year. As the title suggests, Smeaton goes through all the epistles exegetically interpreting specific passages in order to show the apostles’ view of the atonement. His style of writing is clear, and what I really appreciate is how faithful Smeaton is to the text of Scripture. In reading, one does not get the uncomfortable suspicion that Smeaton may be milking a certain passage to read in a way that he wants, or that he is basing his interpretation on unwarranted presuppositions. He clearly proves what he says through thorough exegesis while countering the more popular arguments against the reformed view. The clarity of his writing and exegesis as well as the constant repetition of the basic doctrine of the atonement really do get ingrained into one’s head, and I think it is impossible to read this without being much affected by what God has done in Christ. In addition, one discovers that all this talk about the Reformers getting it wrong has no real warrant. The Reformation did not begin simply because a guilt-laden monk eisogetically interpreted scripture to get what he wanted to hear, but began though the true gospel as found in scripture. Here is an excerpt that cannot but leave the reader with a much deeper view of and greater appreciation for the atonement:

…by God’s appointment [Christ] was made sin, not in mere semblance, but in reality, not before men, but before God, on the great foundation of a federal unity between Him and His people. He was, as it were, the embodiment of sin or incorporated guilt; and we may well affirm that never was so much sin accumulated upon a single head. He was not made sin in a vague, indefinite, abstract way; but the very sins of which we are painfully conscious in the moment of our conviction–that is, our own sins of nature and life–were laid on Him, or transferred from our head to His. He bore their burden; and this rendered it possible to visit Him with the recompense due to sin, and with its necessary punishment, which would otherwise have been impossible. – George Smeaton, The Apostles’ Doctrine of the Atonement, p.226

What is Imputation?

What imputation is not:

1. Imputation does meant to judge or esteem people to be righteous “who truly and really are not so.”

2. God cannot simply declare a person to be righteous, as if the words alone could change the actual state of affairs. “God declares no man to be righteous but him who is so.”

3. Imputation is not the transmission or transfusion of the righteousness of another into them that are to be justified, that they should become perfectly and inherently righteous thereby; for it is impossible that the righteousness of one should be transfused into another, to become his subjectively and inherently.” While forgiveness does allow a person to be “not guilty” that alone is insufficient grounds for entrance into eternal life: “We must also be actually righteous.” Not only must sin be dealt with, but “all righteousness is to be fulfilled.”

What, then, is imputation?

Imputation is an act of God…–of his mere love and grace; whereby, on the consideration of the mediation of Christ, he makes an effectual grant and donation of a true, real, perfect righteousness, even that of Christ himself, unto all that do believe; and accounting it as theirs on his own gracious act, both absolves them from sin and granteth them right and title unto eternal life. – John Owen, The Doctrine of Justification by Faith

(Taken from Kelly M. Kapic, Communion with God: The Divine and the Human in the Theology of John Owen, pp. 137-138)

How To Recover From Spiritual Decay and Grow In Grace

Here is a two paragraph excerpt which pretty much summarizes Owen’s “Mediations and Discourses Concerning the Glory of Christ.” Can recovery from spiritual decay really be treated in two paragraphs (which could probably be reduced to just one)? The solution to spiritual decay is often very simple, just difficult to apply. Here it is:

A steady view of the glory of Christ, in his person, grace , and office, through faith,–or a constant, lively exercise of faith on him, according as he is revealed unto us in the Scripture,–is the only effectual way to obtain a revival from under our spiritual decays, and such supplies of grace as shall make us flourishing and fruitful even in old age. He that thus lives by faith in him shall by his spiritual thriving and growth, “Show that the Lord is upright, that he is our rock, and that there is no unrighteousness in him.” – John Owen, Meditations and Discourses Concerning the Glory of Christ, p.459

The most of our spiritual decays and barrnenness arise from an inordinate admission of other things into our minds; for these are they that weaken grace in all its operatoin. But when the mind is filled with thoughts of Christ and his glory, when the soul thereon cleaves unto him with intense affections, they will cast out, or not give admittance unto, those causes of spiritual weakness and indisposition. p.461

Objections to Believing Upon Christ

Cursed be the man that shall encourage you to come to Christ with hopes of indulgence unto any one sin whatever… your choice must be absolute, without reserves, as to love, interest, and design; –God or the world,–Christ or Belial,–holiness of sin; there is no medium, no terms of composition. – John Owen, Meditations and Discourses Concerning the Glory of Christ, p. 431

Objections: 1. “What is it that you would have us to do?–We heard the word preached, we believe it as well as we can, we do many thing willingly, and abstain from many evils diligently; what is more required of us?” (p.427) In other words, “We have done enough to be saved.”

Response: It is usual for those who do some things that are externally right to think that they have done enough. These people argue with God. Many in the Bible who were not saved indignantly asked Christ what more they needed to do (John 6:28; Matt. 19:20). All the right things may be present, yet lack one spark of saving faith. True faith is known by its singularity, there is no separation between receiving Christ as Savior and as Lord. To subject oneself to Christ, is to become His totally. Unless Christ is thus received, He has not received at all.

2. Some will say that they don’t know how to believe, that they have tried, but have been unsuccessful in this work. There is no progress and no satisfaction. Thus, they give up trying thinking that they have done their part. “They have a secret despondency, which keeps them safe from attempting a real closure with Christ on the tender of the gospel.”

Response: Remember that the Disciples were fishing all night but caught nothing (Luke 5:3,4) yet once Christ exhorted them to cast their nets once more, they had success. Therefore, try again for you know not what success Christ will give you. It is not your failing attempts after Christ, but rather your giving up that will be your downfall. Those who wait upon Christ without giving up will be blessed (Prov. 8:34). Though presently you may be unaware of whether you are saved, but if you give in to despair, you will know certainly that you are not saved.

3. Some acknowledge the necessity of Christ and belief upon Him, yet they put it off until another season thinking that now is not the right time. They think that they will believe when the time is “right”.

Response: “Can any thing be more foolish, sottish, and stupid, than for men to put off the consideration of the eternal concernment of their souls for one hour, being altogether uncertain whether they shall live another or no?–to prefer present trifles before the blessedness or misery of an immortal state?” (p.429) Under this deceit, that after a little while “we will rouse ourselves” (Prov. 6:9-11), do multitudes perish. Those who, even momentarily, put off coming to Christ are clearly under the power of Satan, and “he is like enough to hold you fast unto destruction.” (p.430) The openly rebellious man who is honest with himself is safer than a “trifling promiser” who deceives himself that in due time he will take heed and follow Christ. “Redeem the time or you are lost forever.”

4. Some are afraid to come to Christ fearing that if they do come they must relinquish all their earthly pleasures and lusts. It would be a different matter if they could hold to some of their old ways, but this “total relinquishment” is too severe for them.

Response: “If you are discouraged by [such a call], we cannot help it.” (p.431) And any man who offers the gospel without telling you the cost of discipleship preaches no true gospel. “Cursed be the man that shall encourage you to come to Christ with hopes of indulgence unto any one sin whatever… your choice must be absolute, without reserves, as to love, interest, and design; –God or the world,–Christ or Belial,–holiness of sin; there is no medium, no terms of composition.” Those who think that their worldly pleasures are too much to give up show that they do not really know what true please is. In Christ alone are true pleasures and durable riches to be obtained. “A few moments in these joys are to be preferred above the longest continuance in the cursed pleasures of this world.”

5. Another objection may be that those who profess to be Christians do not seem much better than those in the world. “What good will coming to Christ do if I am already like so many Christians?”

Response: Not all who profess to be believers really are. These will bear their own burden and judgement. Yet some who have reason to be considered true believers may have unmortified sin in their flesh. God is not pleased with this, yet this is not proposed unto you. The world cannot properly discern a right judgment of believers, this is of the spiritual man alone, who is able to discern the things of God.

From Whence This Fear and Unbelief?

From whence this fear and unbelief?
Hath not the Father put to grief
His spotless Son for me?
And will the righteous Judge of men,
Condemn me for that debt of sin,
Which, Lord, was charged on Thee?

Complete atonement Thou hast made,
And to the utmost farthing paid
Whate’er Thy people owed:
Nor can His wrath on me take place,
If sheltered in Thy righteousness,
And sprinkled with Thy blood.

If Thou hast my discharge procured,
And freely in my room endured
The whole of wrath divine:
Payment God cannot twice demand,
First at my wounded Surety’s hand,
And then again at mine.

Turn then, My soul, unto thy rest;
The merits of thy great High Priest
Have bought thy liberty:
Trust in His effective blood,
Nor fear thy banishment from God,
Since Jesus died for thee.