Showing posts with label Westminster Shorter Catechism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Westminster Shorter Catechism. Show all posts

Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery? Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 20

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Thank God for the encouraging reminders at the Westminster Shorter Catechism class at my church last evening. It was the first time I attended the Class together with my sister-in-Christ, Grace Lim. Pastor JJ was lecturing on question 20:

Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 20: Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?

Answer: God having, out of his mere good pleasure, - from all eternity, - elected some to everlasting life, - did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer.

Pastor JJ reminded us that God has established a covenant of grace with His people. He is a covenant keeping God and He will not break His covenant/promise/contract with us. Despites our sins and failures, God remains unchanging! Nothing can separate us from the love of God.

Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 20 : Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?

 Answer: God having, out of his mere good pleasure, - from all eternity, - elected some to everlasting life [1], - did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeember.[2]

Proofs
[1] Ephesians 1:4 "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: "

[2] Romans 3:20–22
20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
Galatians 3:21–22
21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.


Comments from Pastor JJ
This question teaches us about God’s provision for the salvation of fallen men. Under the first covenant, eternal life was offered on the basis of personal, perfect and perpetual obedience to the Law of God, but the entrance of sin makes it impossible for the natural man to obey any of God’s Law perfectly.

It would appear that man was then destined to perish in their sin and misery, except for the fact that as God did ordain the Fall, He also did elect some that they should not perish but have everlasting life. Note that this election is made out of God’s “mere good pleasure, from all eternity” or in other words, unconditionally. The Arminian teaching that election is based on God’s fore-knowing that a person will repent when the Gospel is preached has no basis in the Scripture, makes a mockery of the meaning of election, and denies the absolute sovereignty of God.

In order to effect the redemption of the elect, a second covenant, known in our Confession as the Covenant of Grace, was effected between the Persons of the Godhead, with Christ as the mediator of the Covenant and the representative of the elect. (This covenant was made in eternity past, even before the Covenant of Works was made with Adam; and it is frequently called the Covenant of Redemption, though the phraseology is usually applied by those who are supralapsarians and who would subsume the Covenant of Works under it.)

The first covenant was made with Adam, the second covenant was made with Christ as the second Adam (1 Cor 15:22, 45). Under this covenant, God “freely offereth unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ; requiring of them faith in Him, that they may be saved [Mk 16:15–16; Jn 3:16; Rom 10:6, 9; Gal 3:11], and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto eternal life His Holy Spirit, to make them willing, and able to believe [Ezk 36:26–27; Jn 6:44–45]” (WCF 7.3).

It should be noted that according to biblical chronology, the Covenant of Grace begun to be implemented in Genesis 3:15 and is displayed both in the Old and the New Testaments, though there were subordinate covenants that manifest the eternal covenant, e.g., the Adamic Covenant (Gen 3:15); the Noahic (Gen 9); the Abrahamic (Gen 12, 15, 17); the Mosaic (Ex 19–20); the Davidic (2 Sam 7:12–16); and the New Covenant (Jer 31:31–34; Heb 8:10–12; 10:16–17; Mt 26:28, etc.). In all these subordinate covenants the object of faith is always Christ (see Acts 4:12; Gal 3:17), and carries the same theme “You shall be my people, I shall be your God.” (see Genesis 3:15; Genesis 9:9, 11; Genesis 17:7; Exodus 6:7; 2 Samuel 7:24; Jeremiah 31:33; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Revelation 21:3). This means that believers, throughout the ages, were saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus. The Jews under the Mosaic economy were not saved by obedience to the Law or by the sacrifices (as some old Dispensationalists teach). The sacrificial system pointed to the Messiah, who was the real object of faith to the Jews of old.

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What is the meaning of life ? - What is the chief end of man? Westminster Shorter Catechism

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What is the meaning of life? Have you ever ask yourself this question or heard people asking this question?

Does our life really has a meaning?

God tells us in the Bible that we are made in the image of God. We are created for a purpose.

The following helps us to understand what is the meaning of our lives - what is the chief end of man.

Westminster Shorter Catechism

Question 1: What is the chief end of man?
Answer: Man’s chief end is to glorify God,a and to enjoy Him for ever.b


a 1 Cor 10:31; Rom 11:36; b Ps 73:25-28; Rev 7:15
  • EQ 1(a) What is meant by the chief end of man?




A. The chief end of man refers firstly to the divine purpose for man’s existence and secondly to what man ought to aim at in his life and therefore that which he should seek after as his chief good and happiness.
  • EQ 1(b) What does it mean to glorify God?




A. To glorify Him does not mean to give God any additional glory since he is eternally and infinitely perfect and glorious.a What it means is to manifest God’s glory in our lives.b When we worship and acknowledge God in sincere praise and thanksgiving, we glorify him.c Similarly, when we sincerely endeavour, in our actions, at all times and in all situations, to exalt God’s name and to promote the interest of His kingdom in the world, we glorify Him.d
P. a"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Matt 5:48). b"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light" (1 Pet 2:9). c"Whoso offereth praise, glorifieth me" (Ps. 50:23a; cf. Heb 13:5). d"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor 10:31).
  • EQ 1(c) Does man glorify God only in this life?




A. No, the redeemed of the Lord will glorify Him in praises of His mercy and love for ever and ever.a Those who refuse to glorify Him in this life will glorify Him passively in His display of His infinite justice and holiness in the damnation of sinners forever and ever.b
P. a"I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore" (Ps 86:12). "Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever" (Ps 145:2). "That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ" (Eph 1:12; cf. v. 6, 14). b "Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain"(Ps 76:10). "What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory" (Rom 9:22-23).
  • EQ 1(d) Why ought the natural man glorify God in his life?




A. Because firstly, God made him;a and secondly, because he is provided for and preserved in life by God.b
P. a"Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. " (Ps 100:3); "The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil" (Prov 16:4). b"O bless our God, ye people, and make the voice of his praise to be heard: Which holdeth our soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved" (Ps 66:8-9); "For in him we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts 17:28a)
  • EQ 1(e) Why ought the Christian make it the principal aim in his life to glorify God?




A. Not only because God is his creator and provider; but because God has redeemed him with the precious blood of His only begotten son,a and because He has given him His Word to direct and His Spirit to assist him in his pilgrim journey to his eternal home.b
P. a"For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s" (1 Cor 6:20); "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, … But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Pet 1:18-19). b"Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way" (Ps 119:104); "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities" (Rom 8:26a).
  • EQ 1(f) Does the pursuit of the chief end of man mean that he may not have any secondary goals in life?




A. No, while aiming principally to glorify God in his life, it is right and proper for man to nourish and refresh his body and to be diligent in his particular calling that he may provide for himself and his family. These activities ought, however, never to detract him from his chief end of glorifying and enjoying God.
P. "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor 10:31). "And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing" (1 Thes 4:11-12).
  • EQ 1(g) What does it mean to enjoy God?




A. To enjoy God, is to rest in God and to delight in Him.
P. "Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever" (Ps 73:25-26).
EQ 1(h) How do we enjoy God in this life?
A. In this life, we enjoy God when we taste of His goodness and experience His special love for us which is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. This happens especially as we commune with Him in prayer, in the reading of His Word, in beholding His creation, and in contemplating His providence.
P. "O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him." (Ps 34:8). "And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us" (Rom 5:5).
  • EQ 1(i) How do we enjoy God hereafter?




A. Our present enjoyment of God will be perfected seeing that we will be glorified, hindered by sin no more, and admitted into heaven where we shall see Christ face to face, to rest in Him and experience a full sense of His love. Our enjoyment and delight in God will be perfect and inconceivable then.
P. "In thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore" (Ps 16:11b); "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God" (Heb 4:9).
  • EQ 1(j) Why is the glorifying of God and the enjoyment of God joined together as one chief end of man?
A. Because God has so designed man that the very means of enjoying God is to glorify Him.
P. "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God" (Ps 50:23). "For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen" (Rom 11:36).
(Taken from my Pastor JJ Lim's short commentaries on the Westminter Shorter Catechism, Pilgrim Covenant Church, Singapore) 

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Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him for ever

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Westminster Shorter Catechism

Question 1: What is the chief end of man?
Answer: Man’s chief end is to glorify God,a and to enjoy Him for ever.b


a 1 Cor 10:31; Rom 11:36; b Ps 73:25-28; Rev 7:15
  • EQ 1(a) What is meant by the chief end of man?


A. The chief end of man refers firstly to the divine purpose for man’s existence and secondly to what man ought to aim at in his life and therefore that which he should seek after as his chief good and happiness.
  • EQ 1(b) What does it mean to glorify God?


A. To glorify Him does not mean to give God any additional glory since he is eternally and infinitely perfect and glorious.a What it means is to manifest God’s glory in our lives.b When we worship and acknowledge God in sincere praise and thanksgiving, we glorify him.c Similarly, when we sincerely endeavour, in our actions, at all times and in all situations, to exalt God’s name and to promote the interest of His kingdom in the world, we glorify Him.d
P. a"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Matt 5:48). b"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light" (1 Pet 2:9). c"Whoso offereth praise, glorifieth me" (Ps. 50:23a; cf. Heb 13:5). d"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor 10:31).
  • EQ 1(c) Does man glorify God only in this life?


A. No, the redeemed of the Lord will glorify Him in praises of His mercy and love for ever and ever.a Those who refuse to glorify Him in this life will glorify Him passively in His display of His infinite justice and holiness in the damnation of sinners forever and ever.b
P. a"I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore" (Ps 86:12). "Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever" (Ps 145:2). "That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ" (Eph 1:12; cf. v. 6, 14). b "Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain"(Ps 76:10). "What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory" (Rom 9:22-23).
  • EQ 1(d) Why ought the natural man glorify God in his life?


A. Because firstly, God made him;a and secondly, because he is provided for and preserved in life by God.b
P. a"Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. " (Ps 100:3); "The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil" (Prov 16:4). b"O bless our God, ye people, and make the voice of his praise to be heard: Which holdeth our soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved" (Ps 66:8-9); "For in him we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts 17:28a)
  • EQ 1(e) Why ought the Christian make it the principal aim in his life to glorify God?


A. Not only because God is his creator and provider; but because God has redeemed him with the precious blood of His only begotten son,a and because He has given him His Word to direct and His Spirit to assist him in his pilgrim journey to his eternal home.b
P. a"For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s" (1 Cor 6:20); "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, … But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Pet 1:18-19). b"Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way" (Ps 119:104); "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities" (Rom 8:26a).
  • EQ 1(f) Does the pursuit of the chief end of man mean that he may not have any secondary goals in life?


A. No, while aiming principally to glorify God in his life, it is right and proper for man to nourish and refresh his body and to be diligent in his particular calling that he may provide for himself and his family. These activities ought, however, never to detract him from his chief end of glorifying and enjoying God.
P. "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor 10:31). "And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing" (1 Thes 4:11-12).
  • EQ 1(g) What does it mean to enjoy God?


A. To enjoy God, is to rest in God and to delight in Him.
P. "Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever" (Ps 73:25-26).
EQ 1(h) How do we enjoy God in this life?
A. In this life, we enjoy God when we taste of His goodness and experience His special love for us which is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. This happens especially as we commune with Him in prayer, in the reading of His Word, in beholding His creation, and in contemplating His providence.
P. "O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him." (Ps 34:8). "And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us" (Rom 5:5).
  • EQ 1(i) How do we enjoy God hereafter?


A. Our present enjoyment of God will be perfected seeing that we will be glorified, hindered by sin no more, and admitted into heaven where we shall see Christ face to face, to rest in Him and experience a full sense of His love. Our enjoyment and delight in God will be perfect and inconceivable then.
P. "In thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore" (Ps 16:11b); "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God" (Heb 4:9).
  • EQ 1(j) Why is the glorifying of God and the enjoyment of God joined together as one chief end of man?
A. Because God has so designed man that the very means of enjoying God is to glorify Him.
P. "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God" (Ps 50:23). "For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen" (Rom 11:36).
(Taken from my Pastor JJ Lim's short commentaries on the Westminter Shorter Catechism)

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Westminster Shorter Catechism - Question 20

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Thank God for the encouraging reminders at the Westminster Shorter Catechism class at my church last evening. It was the first time I attended the Class together with my sister-in-Christ, Grace Lim. Pastor JJ was lecturing on question 20:

Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 20: Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?

Answer: God having, out of his mere good pleasure, - from all eternity, - elected some to everlasting life, - did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer.

Pastor JJ reminded us that God has established a covenant of grace with His people. He is a covenant keeping God and He will not break His covenant/promise/contract with us. Despites our sins and failures, God remains unchanging! Nothing can separate us from the love of God.

Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 20 : Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?

 Answer: God having, out of his mere good pleasure, - from all eternity, - elected some to everlasting life [1], - did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeember.[2]

Proofs
[1] Ephesians 1:4 "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: "

[2] Romans 3:20–22
20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
Galatians 3:21–22
21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.


Comments from Pastor JJ
This question teaches us about God’s provision for the salvation of fallen men. Under the first covenant, eternal life was offered on the basis of personal, perfect and perpetual obedience to the Law of God, but the entrance of sin makes it impossible for the natural man to obey any of God’s Law perfectly.

It would appear that man was then destined to perish in their sin and misery, except for the fact that as God did ordain the Fall, He also did elect some that they should not perish but have everlasting life. Note that this election is made out of God’s “mere good pleasure, from all eternity” or in other words, unconditionally. The Arminian teaching that election is based on God’s fore-knowing that a person will repent when the Gospel is preached has no basis in the Scripture, makes a mockery of the meaning of election, and denies the absolute sovereignty of God.

In order to effect the redemption of the elect, a second covenant, known in our Confession as the Covenant of Grace, was effected between the Persons of the Godhead, with Christ as the mediator of the Covenant and the representative of the elect. (This covenant was made in eternity past, even before the Covenant of Works was made with Adam; and it is frequently called the Covenant of Redemption, though the phraseology is usually applied by those who are supralapsarians and who would subsume the Covenant of Works under it.)

The first covenant was made with Adam, the second covenant was made with Christ as the second Adam (1 Cor 15:22, 45). Under this covenant, God “freely offereth unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ; requiring of them faith in Him, that they may be saved [Mk 16:15–16; Jn 3:16; Rom 10:6, 9; Gal 3:11], and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto eternal life His Holy Spirit, to make them willing, and able to believe [Ezk 36:26–27; Jn 6:44–45]” (WCF 7.3).

It should be noted that according to biblical chronology, the Covenant of Grace begun to be implemented in Genesis 3:15 and is displayed both in the Old and the New Testaments, though there were subordinate covenants that manifest the eternal covenant, e.g., the Adamic Covenant (Gen 3:15); the Noahic (Gen 9); the Abrahamic (Gen 12, 15, 17); the Mosaic (Ex 19–20); the Davidic (2 Sam 7:12–16); and the New Covenant (Jer 31:31–34; Heb 8:10–12; 10:16–17; Mt 26:28, etc.). In all these subordinate covenants the object of faith is always Christ (see Acts 4:12; Gal 3:17), and carries the same theme “You shall be my people, I shall be your God.” (see Genesis 3:15; Genesis 9:9, 11; Genesis 17:7; Exodus 6:7; 2 Samuel 7:24; Jeremiah 31:33; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Revelation 21:3). This means that believers, throughout the ages, were saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus. The Jews under the Mosaic economy were not saved by obedience to the Law or by the sacrifices (as some old Dispensationalists teach). The sacrificial system pointed to the Messiah, who was the real object of faith to the Jews of old.

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