Jun 22
26
Baptist Catechism 23
Q. 23. Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?
A. 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. (Eph. 1:3,4; 2 Thess. 2:13; Rom. 5:21; Acts 13:8; Jer. 31:33)
Scripture Reading: Ephesians 1:3–10
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” (Ephesians 1:3–10, ESV)
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Introduction
The catechism has been all bad news from questions 16 through 22. In those questions and answers, we learned all about Adam’s sin and its terrible effects upon the whole of the human race. Here in question 23, we hear good news.
Again, the question: Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?
Before we go to the answer, it should be acknowledged that God would have been right to leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery. God would have done nothing wrong – he would have been perfectly right and just – to leave men and women in their sins and to give them what they deserve.
Now, for the good news.
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The Good News
The first word in the answer to our question is “God…” That is significant. If mercy and grace were to be shown to man, if salvation were to be provided, God had to take the initiative. God had to act. In other words, man in sin is in a helpless and hopeless state of being.
Next, our catechism says, “having…” “God having…” Having is past tense, notice. So we are about to learn about something that God did “before” Adam fell into sin. I say “before” knowing that that is not a completely accurate way of speaking about God’s determination to offer grace to fallen man, for God is not bound by time in the way we are. Soon, we will learn that God determined to show grace to man “in eternity”. That is the more accurate way to put it.
Back to our answer: “God, having out of His mere good pleasure…” our catechism says. The words, “out of his mere good pleasure” speak to what motivated God. What motivated God to show grace to sinful man? Was it something deserving in man? Did someone convince, or pressure God to show grace? No. God determined to show grace from within himself, “out of his mere good pleasure.” The most famous of all Bible verses, John 3:16, speaks to this when it says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, ESV). What “moved” the Father to send the Son to accomplish redemption? The perfection of his love moved him to provide a savior. In other words, it was not something outside of God that moved him, but something from within, namely, the perfection of his love.
When did God determine to show grace to fallen man? Here it is stated with precision. “From all eternity”, our catechism says. This truth that God determined to save sinners “before” Adam sinned and “from all eternity” is found in many places in the scriptures. In my mind, the clearest of these texts are the ones that contain the phrase, “before the foundation of the world”. Clearly, these texts are speaking about something that happened before the heavens, earth, and even time itself were made.
In Ephesians 1:4 we learn that God “chose [those who believe] in [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him” (Ephesians 1:4, ESV). 1 Peter 1:20 says that “[Christ] was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you…” (1 Peter 1:20, ESV). In John 17:24 we hear the prayer of Jesus to the Father, wherein he says, “I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24, ESV). Lastly, in Revelation 13:8 we hear about “the book of life of the Lamb who was slain” that was “written before the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8, ESV).
All of these texts clearly teach that God determined to show grace to sinners and to bring them to salvation through a redeemer, Christ the Lord, before the world was made, before man fell into sin, and in eternity.
What in particular did God do in eternity? Our catechism is right to say that he “elected some to everlasting life…” This is the doctrine of election or predestination which is so clearly taught in holy scripture.
Again, Ephesians 1:4 says that God “chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him” (Ephesians 1:4, ESV). Verses 5 and 6 continue, saying, “he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:5–6, ESV).
There are many other places where this doctrine is taught. In John 17 Jesus speaks of those given to him by the Father in eternity. In Colossians 3:12, those in Christ are called “chosen ones”. Romans 8:33, 9:11, 11:7, 2 Timothy 2:10, Titus 1:1, 1 Peter 1:1, and 2 Peter 1:10 all use the language of election to refer to the believer. Those who are united to Christ by faith are said to be the elect or elected by God. This is another way of saying that those who place their faith in Christ in time were first chosen by God in eternity.
And I suppose now would be a good time to remind you of what motivated God to choose, elect, or predestine some (and to leave others in their sin). It was not something deserving in the creature, but out of God’s mere good pleasure. In other words, this election was by the grace of God alone. There is no room for boasting, therefore. And this is what Paul so famously says in Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9, ESV).
So we have learned about what God did in eternity. Now we will learn about what God has done in time.
“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.”
When and with whom was this covenant of grace made? Not within God in eternity, but between God and man in time.
If we wish to be more precise (which is in fact important here) we must say that this covenant of grace was ratified when Jesus Christ lived, died, rose again and ascended to the Father. That is when the covenant of grace was made. But we must also admit that the saving power of this covenant was present in the world before Christ’s death and resurrection. Indeed, the saving power of this covenant of grace was present in the world even in the days of Adam. Shortly after Adam fell into sin a promise was made that God would provide a Savior who would, in the fulness of time, arise from the offspring of the women.
All who have ever been saved from their sins – be it Adam, Abraham, Moses, David, or any other who lived in their days – were saved by faith in the promised Messiah.
The covenant of grace is the New Covenant of which Jeremiah 31:31 spoke. The covenant of grace is the one mediated by Christ. It is the one that instituted on the night he was betrayed, saying, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And taking a cup, and having given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:26–28, ESV). It is this covenant, the New Covenant, that is the Covenant of Grace. This covenant alone provides for the forgiveness of sins through faith in Christ, the mediator of this covenant, who atoned for sins through the shedding of his blood.
We have already learned about covenants. Remember, a covenant of works was made with Adam in the garden. It is called a covenant of works because Adam had to work (or obey) to obtain the blessing of that covenant. Why then is the New Covenant called the Covenant of Grace? It is because in this covenant the work has been done for us by Christ. The only thing for us to do is to believe, and we have already heard in Ephesians 2:8 that the ability to believe is itself a gift from God.
This covenant – the Covenant of Grace – is not a covenant of works for us. It is a covenant of grace. In this covenant, God has promised to “deliver [his elect] out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation, by a Redeemer.“
Please allow me to make just a few remarks about the phrases, “to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation, by a Redeemer.”
One, notice the language of “estate” again. Man was created in an estate of innocence. When man sinned, he fell into an estate of sin and misery. But those who have faith in the promised Messiah are brought into another state of being. They are transferred into an estate of salvation.
Our confession of faith calls this estate “the state of grace”. Listen to the way 2LCF 9.4 describes this state of being. “When God converts a sinner, and translates him into the state of grace, he frees him from his natural bondage under sin, and by his grace alone enables him freely to will and to do that which is spiritually good; yet so as that by reason of his remaining corruptions, he does not perfectly, nor only will that which is good, but does also will that which is evil.”
Two, our catechism does not only talk about the estate that the elect are brought into when they believe upon Christ, but also the estate from which they are freed, namely the estate of sin and misery. Again, in the Covenant of Grace God promises to “deliver [his elect] out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation, by a Redeemer.”
Thirdly, notice that this salvation is obtained, not by works, but through faith in a Redeemer, Christ Jesus the Lord.
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Conclusion
So here is the good news. Though man fell into sin and was hopelessly lost in an estate of sin and misery, having “lost communion with God”, being “under His wrath and curse”, and being “made liable to all the miseries of this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell forever”, “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.” The Redeemer is Christ the Lord. “whoever believes in him [will] not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:16–18, ESV).
