Jul 23
9
Baptist Catechism 89 & 90
Q. 89. What doth every sin deserve?
A. Every sin deserveth God’s wrath and curse, both in this life, and in that which is to come. (Eph.5:6; Gal. 3:10; Prov. 3:33; Ps. 11:6; Rev. 21:8)
Q. 90. What doth God require of us, that we may escape His wrath and curse, due to us for sin?
A. To escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin, God requireth of us faith in Jesus Christ, repentance unto life, with the diligent use of all the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption. (Acts 20:21; Acts 16:30,31; 17:30)
Scripture Reading: Acts 16:25-34
“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, ‘Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.’ And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ And they said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.” (Acts 16:25–34, ESV)
*****
Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.
*****
Baptist Catechism 90
Pay careful attention to the question. “What doth God require of us, that we may escape His wrath and curse, due to us for sin?”
The catechism has been preparing us for this question, hasn’t it? Through our consideration of the Ten Commandments, we have been convinced of our sin and guilt before God. And we have heard the very bad news that “every sin deserveth God’s wrath and curse, both in this life and in that which is to come.”
But here we find good news. Even the question itself brings a glimmer of hope. “What doth God require of us, that we may escape His wrath and curse, due to us for sin?” The question suggests that there is an escape — there is a way out of this terrible predicament that we find ourselves in.
So what does God require of us? What must we do to be saved? What action must we take?
Pay very careful attention to what our catechism does not say. The answer is not to try harder to keep God’s law. Nor is it go on a pilgrimage, climb this mountain, give so much money, etc. “What doth God require of us?” It is not work that God requires of us, but faith. That is what our catechism says. A: “To escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin, God requireth of us faith in Jesus Christ…”
Understand this: faith is something that we must exercise. It is something that we must do. We must place our faith in Jesus Christ. But faith, by its very nature, is not work. No, it is the receiving of a gift. It is by faith that we receive the gift of salvation. Faith trusts in another. Faith rests in another. Faith receives the work and the reward that someone else has earned for us. Just as I said this morning, faith is the open hand by which we receive the gift of salvation.
And who is the object of our faith? Who is it that we trust in?
I suppose that we might answer by saying, God. God is the object of our faith. We trust in God for our salvation. Now, there is some truth to that. It is the Triune God who has saved us — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But it is accurate to say that Jesus Christ is the object of our faith. To be saved we must trust in Jesus. Why? Because Jesus Christ is the Savior that God has provided. God is our Savior, that is very true. But he has saved us through Jesus Christ his Son. Jesus is the Mediator between God and man. Jesus is the Messiah that God has sent. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through him. So, to be saved, we cannot merely trust in God. No, we must trust in the Savior that God has provided for us.
Again, “To escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin, God requireth of us faith in Jesus Christ…” This is what the scriptures so clearly teach. I could pile up Bible verses for you, but the passage that we read from Acts 16 will do for now. That jailer was moved to ask Paul and Silas the most important question a person can ask: “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And what did they say? “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…” And the same was true for his household, and so the word of the Lord was proclaimed to them too.
To be saved from our sins we must believe in Jesus Christ. So why then does our catechism go on to mention “repentance unto life, with the diligent use of all the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption.” Does our catechism deny that wonderful doctrine that salvation comes to us through faith in Christ alone? No, instead, our catechism is faithful to teach what the scriptures teach, which is that we are saved through faith in Christ alone, but that faith, if it is true and saving will never be alone. Instead, faith that is true and saving will be accompanied by repentance and it will produce fruit. Or to use the language from the morning sermon. Faith is the open hand by which we receive the gift of salvation, but this same faith, if it is true, will also walk.
How are we saved? Through faith in Jesus Christ. Full stop.
And what does this faith involve? It always involves repentance. To trust in Jesus is to turn to him and from sin. You cannot do the one and not the other. It’s impossible!
If you are walking in the wrong direction and you wish to go in the right direction, you must turn around. And that one action of turning around involves two things. You must turn from the wrong way and then go in the right way. And so it is with faith in Christ. Turning to him involves turning away from sin. That is what repentance is. It is turning from sin. Faith in Christ will always be accompanied by repentance.
And that is why “repentance” is sometimes mentioned as one of the things that must be done in order to be saved. In Acts 16 Paul and Silas simply told the jailer, “believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…” But elsewhere in the book of Acts people are told to repent and believed. So which is it? Well, it is both. To say, “believe in Jesus” and to say, “repent and believe in Jesus” is really to say the same thing, for true saving faith will always be accompanied by repentance.
But let me ask you this, are we saved by the act of believing, or are we saved by the act of repenting? Answer: we are saved by the believing. It is for this reason that the scripture will often mention faith alone. Faith, or belief in Christ, is the essential thing. But true faith does also involve repentance. Or think of it this way. If a man is living in some sin (say, the sin of drunkenness) and he turns from that sin, does his act of repentance save him? No, of course not. Not unless he turns from his sin and to Jesus. It is faith in Jesus Christ that brings us salvation, and true faith will always involve repentance. In other words, those with true faith in Christ will not continue in unrepentant sin.
Lastly, let us consider the phrase, “with the diligent use of all the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption”?
First of all, what are these “outward means”? Well, question 93 of our catechism will answer this saying, “The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption are His ordinances, especially the Word, baptism, the Lord’s Supper and prayer; all which are made effectual to the elect for salvation.”
Secondly, does our catechism teach that in order to be saved one must sit under the preaching of the word of God, be baptized, partake of the Lord’s Supper, and pray? We need to be very careful here. And really, the answer to this is not very different from what was said about repentance. It is through faith in Christ that we are saved, full stop. But true faith is always accompanied by repentance, and so repentance is sometimes commanded too. And so it is with the outward and ordinary means. We are saved by faith alone, but true and saving faith is never alone. No, it produces obedience in us. It leads to a faithful walk. In other words, those who have true faith will strive to live a life of obedience to the Lord.
And what has Christ commanded us to do as we walk with him in this world? How has God determined to mark his people off as his own in this world, and to nourish and strengthen them? They are to be baptized in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They are to devote themselves to the word of God. They are to partake of the Lord’s Supper. They are to pray.
Are we saved by sitting under the preached word, by baptism, by the Lord’s Supper, or by the act of praying? No, we are saved by faith alone. But this faith, if it is true and saving faith, is never alone. It does lead to a faithful walk. And these are the things that God has commanded us to do. The faithful will do them.
I asked you earlier if the man who repents from drunkenness is saved by his repentance. We said, no, not unless he turns to Christ. Now I might ask you, are all who sit under the preached word; are all who are baptized, are all who eat the Lord’s Supper, and are all who pray to God, saved? I hope you would say, no, not necessarily. And why is that? Because some partake of these things without faith in Christ in their hearts. So, just as repentance alone does not save, but only repentance and faith in Christ, neither do church attendance, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, or prayer save. They only function as means of grace if there is faith in Christ in the heart. Faith in Christ is the operative and essential thing.
*****
Conclusion
Let me conclude now with a positive exhortation.
Do you wish to be saved from your sins? Do you wish to be freed from God’s wrath and curse which is due to you because of sin?
One, trust in Jesus Christ. He paid for sins. He bore the wrath of God. In him, there is the forgiveness of sins and the hope of life everlasting.
Two, this faith that I have mentioned will involve repentance. You cannot continue in sin and follow after Jesus at the same time. No, to have faith in Christ means that you have him as Lord. That is how Paul puts it in Romans 10:9, saying, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9, ESV). So then, turn from your sin and turn to Jesus as Savior and Lord. You cannot have him as Savior if you will not have him as Lord. So turn from your sin now and turn to Jesus. And turn from sin always as you walk with him in this way. Will you struggle with sin as a Christian? Yes. But the Christian life is a life of repentance from beginning to end.
Three, if you have turned from your sins and to faith in Christ, then be sure to make “diligent use of all the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption”. The first of these is his word. Listen to God’s word. Read it. Hear it read and preached. The word of God is our daily bread. God nourishes us with it. The second is baptism. If you have faith in Christ, be baptized. The third is the Lord’s Supper. Christ nourishes, encourages, and refines his church through the Lord’s Supper. The fourth is prayer. Through prayer we communion with God. God works through prayer. We will say more about these in the weeks to come. For now, it will suffice to say, if you have faith in Christ, the make use of these ordinary means of grace, for God does distribute the benefits of the redemption that Christ has earned to the faithful through them.
Q. 90. What doth God require of us, that we may escape His wrath and curse, due to us for sin?
A. To escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin, God requireth of us faith in Jesus Christ, repentance unto life, with the diligent use of all the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption. (Acts 20:21; Acts 16:30,31; 17:30)
