Watch this with your children….
by R. C. Sproul
Posts Tagged ‘Son’
Knowing God, Loving God, and the Truth
Posted: July 20, 2015 in Ancient Faith, ascension, belief, Biblical, Body of Christ, Calling, catholic, Charismatic, Christian, Church, Cross, death, Evangelism, Faith, Father, God, Holy Spirit, Holy Trinity, Hope, Jesus, life, Love, message, Messiah, orthodoxy, redemption, reign, repent, Repentance, resurrection, Sacramental, sanctification, Scriptural, Son, Teaching, WordTags: body, commandment, engage, Father, God, Holy Spirit, love, mind, Son, soul, strength, Truth
You cannot love God without first obeying the Truth and knowing Him.
“In Him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in Him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of His glory.” Ephesians 1:13-14 (NRSV)
“He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40 (NRSV)
“When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but will speak whatever He hears, and He will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because He will take what is mine and declare it to you.” John 16:13-14 (NRSV)
It is absurd to say you love God without loving the Truth. If you are not engaging your mind in your pursuit of knowing God you are not really loving God. You are not really obeying the greatest commandment.
Social Media – A Tool for Ministry
Posted: May 12, 2015 in belief, catholic, Christian, Church, Church History, Evangelical, Evangelism, Faith, God, Holy Spirit, Holy Trinity, Hope, Jesus, kerygma, Kingdom of God, letter, life, Love, message, Ministry, poetry, power, preach, Preaching, redemption, repent, Repentance, Sacramental, Scriptural, sermon, sign, story, storytelling, Teaching, Testimony, The Story, universalTags: Body of Christ, Church, death, deliverance, faith, Father, God, Gospel, Holy Spirit, hope, Jesus, love, media, Messiah, ministry, sickness, sin, social, Son, tools, web
Social Media – A Tool for Ministry
For atleast the past 10 years, I have discovered and now believe that Social Media is a powerful tool for ministry. Posting on social media sites has allowed me to be salt and light to a lost and dying world by reaching those people who may never visit a community of faith.
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” ~ Matthew 5:13-16 (ESV)
Through the use of social media many people can be touched with the Gospel. Social media is an influential tool.
Let’s take for example how I use my Twitter account. I post short Gospel messages each day with a link to The Story.
The Story is an online booklet containing content and design that was created for the believer and unbeliever, to clearly present the Gospel of Jesus. ViewTheStory.com, the online version, was setup for churches, ministires, and individuals to embed on their website. Spread The Truth ministries created the online version specifically for churches, but anyone can use it as a tool to share the Good News.
Each day I post on my Twitter feed anywhere from 8-10 little messages with links to The Story. Each day I check my dashboard at ViewTheStory.com to see how many visits and views were made to the online booklet. So far since September of 2012, there have been 3,247 all time views, and 2,988 all time unique visitors to the link sponsored by Symphony Ministries. Last month a total of 731 people visited and viewed The Story, the Good News of Jesus Christ. I am amazed at the response, and have prayed that of the three thousand people who visited The Story that many of them received salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
There are other social media or media outlets that I use to spread the Gospel message. I have learned many things in this Communication in Ministry course related to communicating the Gospel. The main thing I have learned is that when we give a clear, concise, honest, presentation of the Gospel message, it will help the listener or viewer to respond to God’s call to salvation. For that, I am very thankful.
Kerygma, Part Two…
Posted: May 12, 2015 in Ancient Faith, Biblical, Books, catholic, Christian, Church, Church History, Covenant theology, Evangelism, Faith, Hope, kerygma, life, Liturgical, Love, Ministry, Orthodox, orthodoxy, Preaching, Repentance, sanctification, Scriptural, Teaching, Testimony, The Story, universalTags: birth, Body of Christ, celebration, Christ, Church, covenant of grace, covenant of redemption, death, faith hope, Father, forgiveness, God, Holy Spirit, Holy Trinity, homily, Jesus, joy, kergyma, life, love, Messiah, ministry, peace, preach, Preaching, Proclamation, prophet, prophetic, redemption, repent, Savior, sermon, sickness, sin, Son, story, Word
The Kerygma – Part Two
The Kerygma
To review, kerygma is the Greek word κήρυγμα kérugma, translated proclamation or preaching. The Kergyma is proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ in spoken words, or even proclaimed in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. It is the proclamation of Jesus redemptive work. It is the proclamation God’s story of the history of redemption from the beginning of creation. Proclamation was usually followed by teaching and instruction in the elements of the faith, or the reading of a Creed. What Jesus did and taught in His ministry was included within the basic proclamation.
Here is a summary of the ancient kerygma:
- The Age of Fulfillment has dawned, the “latter days” foretold by the prophets.
- This has taken place through the birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah.
- By virtue of the resurrection, and His ascension into heaven, Jesus has been exalted at the right hand of God as King of Kings – the Messianic head of the new Israel.
- The Holy Spirit in the Church is the sign of Jesus’ present power and glory.
- The Messianic Age will reach its consummation in the return of Jesus.
- An appeal is made for repentance for the forgiveness of sins, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and salvation.
Jesus the Messiah, of course, was the center of this ancient kerygma. The cross, the resurrection, and His ascension to the right hand of Majesty are crucial to the kerygmatic preaching of Messiah Jesus.
Kerygmatic preaching is not a technique that can simply be learned by articulate spokespersons, it is a relationship that must be received, experienced, and thereby announced.
There are eight kerygmatic sermons given by the Apostles in Luke’s letter to Theophilus, the Acts of the Apostles. They are found in the following passages:
1) Acts 2:14-36
2) Acts 3:12-26
3) Acts 4:8-12
4) Acts 5:29-32
5) Acts 10: 34-43
6) Acts 13:16-41
7) Acts 14:15-17
8) Acts 17: 22-31
A Grief Observed and Remembered
Posted: May 9, 2015 in Books, Christian, Counsel, Faith, Hope, life, Love, Pastoral Care, poetry, Renaissance, TestimonyTags: belief, cancer, death dying, devil, disease, faith, Father, God, grief, healing, Holy Spirit, hope, illness, Jack, joy, love, sadness, sickness, sin, Son, terminal
A Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis
The short book entitled “A Grief Observed” by C.S. Lewis relates how the author joined the human race when his wife and spirited poet, Joy Gresham, died of cancer. Lewis, the Oxford professor whose Christian apologetics make it seem like he’s got an answer for everything, experienced crushing doubt for the first time during her illness and after his wife’s tragic death. A Grief Observed contains meaningful reflections on that period: “Your bid–for God or no God, for a good God or the Cosmic Sadist, for eternal life or nonentity–will not be serious if nothing much is staked on it. And you will never discover how serious it was until the stakes are raised horribly high,” Lewis writes. “Nothing will shake a man–or at any rate a man like me–out of his merely verbal thinking and his merely notional beliefs. He has to be knocked silly before he comes to his senses. Only torture will bring out the truth. Only under torture does he discover it himself.”
This is the book that inspired the film Shadowlands but it is more wrenching, more revelatory, and more real than the movie. It is a beautiful and unflinchingly honest record of how even a stalwart believer can lose all sense of meaning in the universe, and how he can gradually regain his bearings.
Although this book is non-fiction it is written like the author of so many famous books of fiction can write. Yet, from a very personal standpoint, Lewis comes to grips with the reality of terminal illness. It is always from the viewpoint of “this can’t be happening to me!” He goes through stages of denial, first of the illness itself, and second of the untimely death of his wife. Sharing his feelings with her son was very hard for Lewis. Lewis and Joy’s son Douglas became very close. The relationship started because he enjoyed reading Lewis’ classics. Douglas truly admired and respected Lewis. Lewis was always the professor and statesman, and always had that stiff upper lip of the Englishman. But when it came down to facing his feelings, Lewis was the first to really get in touch with them. His wife, Joy, helped him get through the times of unknowing before she died. Lewis and Douglas grew very fond of each other and mourned the loss of Joy together, arm in arm.
Joy was very warm and caring toward him during her therapy and temporary recovery. She insisted on spending as much time with Lewis as possible. They basically did everything together. What is really touching about this story is what became of their marriage, and the reason why they married in the first place.
From the first meeting of Lewis, Joy Gresham, and her son Douglas, the beginning of their lasting friendship, through the courtship that took many years, A Grief Observed blends the two worlds or cultures of American values and those of the British. The book brings you into the heart of Lewis like no other book he had written. When you finish this book, your heart will be warmed and your mind will rest assured of the possibility of loving someone so deeply as to suffer more than the one who is sick.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is going through the illness of a loved one, especially if he or she has been diagnosed as terminal.
Sola Scriptura, What Has it Done?
Posted: April 29, 2015 in Ancient Faith, Baptist, Biblical, Calling, Charismatic, Christian, Church, Church History, Counsel, Covenant, Covenant theology, Evangelical, Evangelism, life, Liturgical, Lutheran, Methodist, Ministry, Orthodox, orthodoxy, Pentecostal, Preaching, Presbyterian, Protestant, Reformed, Renaissance, Repentance, Sacramental, sanctification, Scriptural, Teaching, universalTags: Church, Father, Holy Scriptures, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Messiah, Mysteries, Sacraments, Sacred Writings, Salvation, Scripture, Sola Scriptura, Son, Son of God, tradition, Traditional, Word
Sola Scriptura, What Has it Done?
I was thinking today about Sola Scriptura, which means Scripture Alone. This was and is the clarion call of the Protestant Reformation. It was an announcement that the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church were contrived from the human mind, and did not agree with canon of Holy Scripture. Both the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church declare that Holy Tradition existed before the canon of Scripture was finalized. The Orthodox Church says that it decided upon what we now have in our hands, known as the Bible.
From the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Church viewpoint, Sola Scriptura has been the instrument of division from the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. There have been statements issued by the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodoxy about how many thousands of Protestant denominations there are. However, it remains a fact that even from within Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy there have been divisions. There are many “Catholic” churches and “Orthodox” churches. Therefore, it is not just within Protestantism that the Church has divided. It is sad that the Church has divided and still continues to divide for one reason or another. I love the Church.
R. C. Sproul (1) makes an interesting comment on a misinterpretation of Sola Scriptura, that Roman Catholic’s and the Eastern Orthodox tend to dwell on the Anabaptist error which ended up becoming Solo Scriptura, which means basically that all a Christian needs is himself and his Bible. This is not what Sola Scriptura means. Sola Scriptura means, “Instead the Bible is our alone final authority because it alone is the Word of God. It has been attested, authenticated, by God Himself. Miracles serve as the divine imprimatur, the proof that this is a message of God.” When you get right down to it, there are innumerable volumes of “traditional” writings in the Roman Catholic Church and within Eastern Orthodoxy. Which one of all of the volumes is infallible or inerrant? Can either come up with an authoritative list of their traditional writings? I am not discounting tradition. The Apostolic faith was handed down, for St. Paul declares, “So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.” 2 Thessalonians 2:15 (ESV) We have received those traditions in Holy Scripture.
It is true that it has been a dangerous thing, the human being interpreting the Bible for himself. It is equally true, I am sure that division has been caused by misinterpretation. However, what I have seen within the Church are traditional statements regarding the Christian faith. That of the Apostles Creed, the Athanasius Creed, and the Nicene Creed – all are based upon the traditional timeless truths revealed in Holy Scripture. Most of the Church adheres to these Creeds, Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, Congregationalists, and everyone in between.
I admit Sola Scriptura has been the cause of error. The fact of the matter remains, because of Sola Scriptura, there are distinctives within each of the above “traditions” of Christianity that differ from one another. It is appalling that some would fain to do away with Christian traditions. The various Christian traditions have distinctives about holiness, the sacraments, the ordinances, the mysteries, the person and work of the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the sovereignty of God, mode of baptism, pedo or credo baptism, church government, etc. Therefore, Robert Rothwell (2) says those “of the Reformed tradition devoted their lives to the study of the entire counsel of God, it seems that all too often we do not do the same.” I am sure that our sinful human nature has got in the way dividing the Church into each and every “denomination” that has ever existed.
Martin Lutheran defied Roman Catholic tradition, for example, which made people pay the church for forgiveness of sins, or pay for the reduction of their time in purgatory, etc., ad nauseam. That is why he hammered upon the cathedral doors at Wittenburg his 95 theses. The Church had to change. Now, the Church must change and keep on changing. Karl Barth said at one point, “Ecclesia semper reformanda est,” which means “the church is always to be reformed.” The same is said another way, “Ecclesia reformata semper reformanda,” which means “the reformed church (is) always to be reformed.”
John MacArthur (3) says in the book Sola Scriptura: The Protestant Position on the Bible, “The Reformation principle of sola Scriptura has to do with the sufficiency of Scripture as our supreme authority in all spiritual matters. Sola Scriptura simply means that all truth necessary for our salvation and spiritual life is taught either explicitly or implicitly in Scripture. It is not a claim that all truth of every kind is found in Scripture.”
I swam through three streams of Christianity on my journey of faith, the Reformed/Evangelical, The Sacramental/Liturgical, and The Pentecostal. Because of Sola Scriptura, there has been a convergence of these streams within me. I adhere to the Reformed tradition, the Sacramental/Liturgical, and the Pentecostal. There is a convergence of worship. Thanks be to God, I belong to the Church.
The Church of the Living God is the Church that Jesus said He would build, and He will complete the building as He has intended. The Church, His Bride will be presented to Him, pure and blameless at His coming. Build Your Church Lord, refine her, clothe her, establish her beauty in You! Maranatha, come Lord Jesus!
Resources:
(1) http://www.ligonier.org/blog/sola-scriptura-bible/
(2) http://www.ligonier.org/blog/what-does-sola-scriptura-mean/
Earth Day 2020 and Our Responsibility
Posted: April 22, 2015 in Ancient Faith, Biblical, Calling, catholic, Charismatic, Christian, Church, Counsel, Covenant, Covenant theology, Evangelical, Evangelism, life, Liturgical, Orthodox, orthodoxy, Pentecostal, Protestant, Reformed, Renaissance, Sacramental, sanctification, Teaching, universalTags: being, Christ, creation, day, Divine, drinking, earth, eating, eucharist, existing, Father, God, Holy Scriptures, Holy Spirit, Jesus, life, live, living, Messiah, move, Presence, responsibility, satisfaction, Son, Son of God, source, Word
The first part of the Nicene Creed states, “We believe in one God, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.”
Today is Earth Day, all over the world, and here in Minnesota. God has given humanity the responsibility to care for this earth. Have we done so? I don’t think we have. With the rise of technology and the knowledge of how to turn rock into steel, we have come to pollute our air and waterways.
From the orthodox Christian point of view, life is eucharistic. The word “eucharist” means thanksgiving. It is used as the definition of the Sacrament where we receive the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. But in viewing life and the creation, we must see it all as a Eucharistic celebration. The celebration is the outcome of being responsible for our earth and all of its contents.
This life we live, and this earth we live on, was a life of communion with God. When Adam and Eve sinned, we lost the earth as a means of communion with God. The earth before the fall of humanity was filled with the Divine Presence of God. Since then, and now, the earth appears void of the Divine Presence.
The Holy Scriptures tell us that in God “we live, move, and have our being.” That includes the earth! When we purposely destroy rain forests that disrupt the ecology; when we purposely shoot pollutants into the air creating holes in the O-Zone layer, we go against the sacramental meaning of our relationship to this planet. God gave humanity everything it needed to survive. God gave us fruit, vegetables, and plants to eat from. But then, after the fall, and after the great flood of Noah’s time, God allowed us to eat meat. This isn’t a plug for being vegetarian, but humanity was vegetarian in the beginning. The killing of an animal is opposed to the understanding of our relationship with the earth and all of creation that God inherently gave us.
Fr. Alexander Schmemann wrote in his book entitled Holy Week: A Liturgical Explanation for the Days of Holy Week, “…world and food, once they are deprived of their initial sacramental meaning as means of communion with God; once they are not received for God’s sake, and filled with hunger and thirst for God; once, in other words, God is no longer their real “content,” can give no life, satisfy no hunger, for they have no life in themselves.” This is what has become of humanity. Nothing satisfies, so we go for more. Nothing gives life, so we think we can create it. Our hunger and thirst is not for food or that which satisfies, but it is a hunger and thirst for union and communion with God.
As we celebrate “Earth Day” today, let us look to God as our source, as our satisfaction, and the One who fills our hunger and quenches our thirst. For nothing is more important to the earth today, than our coming back to what was once sanctified; what was once transformed into a world of thanksgiving and adoration of God our Creator. Let us yearn and repent toward a more perfect eucharistic life, that is filled with God, and watch it become again a Divine and immortal life that He has given to all humanity especially to those who believe in Him.
God bless you!
Kerygma, Part One
Posted: April 16, 2015 in Ancient Faith, Biblical, Books, Calling, catholic, Charismatic, Christian, Church, Church History, Covenant, Covenant theology, Evangelical, Evangelism, Liturgical, Ministry, Orthodox, orthodoxy, Pentecostal, Preaching, Presbyterian, Protestant, Reformed, Renaissance, Repentance, Sacramental, sanctification, Scriptural, Teaching, Testimony, universalTags: belief, death, devil, faith, Father, gift, Gospel, Holy Spirit, kerygma, message, Preaching, repent, repentance, Salvation, sermon, sickness, sin, Son, Teaching
Kerygma
What is kerygma and what does it mean?
During the last seven weeks of the Communication in Ministry course I am taking, we are concentrating on preaching or delivering sermons or messages to our congregations. We are studying structuring sermons, how to select our passages and how to interpret the biblical passage. We are learning how to relate the interpretation of the biblical passage to our “audience.” We are learning all the ways and means to creating a great sermon.
This brings me to the word kerygma. Dictionary.com gives the definition of kerygma as “the preaching of the gospel of Christ, especially in the manner of the early church, and the content or message of such preaching.”
Kerygma is the Greek word κήρυγμα kérugma, translated proclamation or preaching. Kergyma is the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in spoken words, or even viewed in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. It is the proclamation of Jesus redemptive work. Proclamation was usually followed by teaching and instruction in the elements of the faith, or the reading of a Creed. What Jesus did and taught in His ministry was included within the basic proclamation. Ok, so lets break this definition down.
1. Kerygma is the preaching of the Gospel.
2. Kerygma is preaching in the manner of the early church.
3. Kerygma has to do with the content or message of what is being preached.
What is the Gospel? It is the Good News of the life, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. The Gospel includes the facts of Jesus’ incarnation as the Word. It includes the fact that Jesus is the Son of God. It includes the fact that Jesus was begotten of the Father and not a creature that the Father made. Jesus is in the Father as the Father is in Him. It includes the fact that salvation from sin, sickness, death, and the devil is only through Jesus the Messiah. It includes the fact that we are made right with God, declared righteous because of the righteousness of Jesus the Messiah. The Gospel is Good News!
2. What was the manner of preaching in the early church? The book of Acts clearly demonstrates that the early church preached the Gospel focusing on Jesus Christ; on repentance, faith, baptism and the forgiveness of sins, especially that salvation is through Jesus alone. The early church preached Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, and His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. The reason is that the Apostles were witnesses to the life, ministry, death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. The early church preached what they heard from Jesus, the Apostles, and what they witnessed – it is the Gospel.
3. What is the content or message of what was being preached by the early church? When looking into the book of Acts we see:
- All of the messages mention the doctrine of God.
- All of the messages mention Jesus the Messiah.
- Seven messages mention Jesus’ death.
- Seven messages mention His resurrection.
- Four messages declare that Jesus is now exalted in heaven at the right hand of the Father.
- Four messages mention the giving of the Holy Spirit.
- Seven message mention the forgiveness of sins.
- Five messages mention repentance.
- Three messages mention the need for faith.
- Five messages mention Scripture.
- None of the messages use the word Kingdom, because the Kingdom of God was brought to the earth in Jesus the Messiah.
Therefore, the content or the message preached by the early church included everything mentioned above. The church today must preach the Gospel like the early church. The early church preached the Gospel within the context of her audience, whether Jew or Gentile, or whether it was in Palestine or Athens, Rome or Crete. The kerygma was the same. They preached and taught the Gospel. The early church preached and taught the Gospel as it was given to them by the Apostles. The kerygma is the Apostolic Gospel message. The Church should be preaching the Gospel the same way the Apostles preached it: in the wisdom and power of God.
St. Paul gives an example of the kerygma:
“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared also to me.” 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 (ESV)
In conclusion, based upon the Four Gospels and Acts, there are seven elements to the ancient kerygma of the Church:
1. God loves you and seeks after you.
2. Sin will destroy you.
3. Jesus Christ died to save you.
4. Repent and believe the Gospel.
5. Be Baptized – receive the Holy Spirit.
6. Abide in Christ and His Body the Church.
7. Go make disciples.
Lastly, there are four elements (Acts 2:42) to living the Christian life revolving around the kerygma:
1. The Apostles’ Teaching – The Church steadfastly went on in the study of ancient Scripture and the sacred teachings of the Faith given them by the Apostles.
2. The Fellowship – They were daily interacting within Christ’s Body the Church, frequently gathering for worship, and other gatherings as the Body of Christ.
3. The Breaking of the Bread – This is another way of saying that they faithfully received Holy Communion, the Lord’s Supper, or the Eucharist and, by extension, all the Sacraments.
4. The Prayers – Using forms of prayers, in both the personal and community contexts.
The Westminster Creed
Posted: April 13, 2015 in Ancient Faith, Biblical, Calling, catholic, Charismatic, Christian, Church, Church History, Covenant, Covenant theology, Evangelical, Evangelism, John Calvin, Liturgical, Ministry, Orthodox, orthodoxy, Preaching, Presbyterian, Protestant, Reformed, Renaissance, Repentance, Sacramental, sanctification, Scriptural, Teaching, universalTags: belief, creed, faith, Father, forgiveness, God, Godhead, Holy Spirit, Holy Trinity, hope, Jesus Christ, love, mercy, misery, pleasure, remission of sins, sin, Son, Westminster
The Westminster Creed
I believe man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever;
I believe God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being,
wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth;
I believe there is but one true and living God;
that there are three persons in the Godhead:
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost;
and that these three are one God,
the same in substance, equal in power and glory;
I believe God has foreordained whatever comes to pass;
that God made all things of nothing,
by the word of His power, in the space of six days, and all very good;
and that God preserves and governs all His creatures and all their actions.
I believe our first parents, though created in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness,
sinned against God, by eating the forbidden fruit;
and that their fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery;
I believe God determined, out of His mere good pleasure,
to deliver His elect out of the estate of sin and misery,
and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer;
I believe the only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ,
Who, being the eternal Son of God, became man,
and so was, and continues to be,
God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, forever;
I believe Christ, as our Redeemer,
executes the office of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king.
I believe Christ as our Redeemer underwent the miseries of this life,
the wrath of God, the cursed death of the cross, and burial;
He rose again from the dead on the third day, ascended up into heaven,
sits at the right hand of God, the Father,
and is coming to judge the world at the last day.
I believe we are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ,
by the effectual application of it to us by his Holy Spirit;
I believe God requires of us faith in Jesus Christ,
and repentance unto life to escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin;
I believe by His free grace we are effectually called, justified, and sanctified,
and gathered into the visible church, out of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation;
I believe that we also are given in this life such accompanying benefits
as assurance of God’s love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost,
increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end;
that at death, we are made perfect in holiness, and immediately pass into glory;
and our bodies, being still united in Christ, rest in their graves, till the resurrection;
and at the resurrection, we shall be raised up in glory,
we shall openly be acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment,
and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity.
~ adapted from the 17th century Westminster Shorter Catechism
In The Hands of the Refiner 