Jun 24
16
Baptist Catechism 24
Q. 24. Who is the Redeemer of God’s elect?
A. 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 continueth to be God and man, in two distinct natures and one person, forever. (Gal. 3:13;1 Tim. 2:5; John 1:14; 1 Tim. 3:16; Rom. 9:5; Col. 2:9)
Scripture Reading: Galatians 3:10–14
“For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.’ Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’ But the law is not of faith, rather ‘The one who does them shall live by them.’ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.” (Galatians 3:10–14, ESV)
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Introduction
You will probably remember that after a string of questions and answers having to do with the bad news concerning the sin and misery that all of humanity was plunged into by Adam’s first sin, we then encountered good news. Question 23 of our catechism asks, “Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?” The good news is this: “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.”
To redeem is to rescue. To redeem is to purchase back. To redeem is to regain the possession of a thing that was lost. And our catechism rightly teaches that God has provided a Redeemer – that is to say, a Savior – for fallen humanity. God, by his grace, out of his mere good pleasure, did not leave mankind to perish (which he would have been right to do), but determined to deliver some out of their estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation, by a Redeemer.
The obvious question is, who is this Redeemer? And that is what our catechism now asks: “Who is the Redeemer of God’s elect?”
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The Only Redeemer Of God’s Elect Is The Lord Jesus Christ
The answer that is given first identifies the Redeemer by simply naming him. “The only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ…” Who is the Redeemer? Jesus Christ is the Redeemer.
The word “only” is important. It reminds us of what the Scriptures so clearly teach. There are not many redeemers, many saviors, or many who are able to reconcile us to God. There is one only. This is what Paul says so clearly in 1 Timothy 2:5: “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus…” (1 Timothy 2:5, ESV). And Jesus himself taught this when he said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6, ESV). Jesus is the only Redeemer. There is no other besides him.
Here is an important question: Is Jesus the Redeemer of the whole world, then?
Well yes, in a sense he is. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Indeed, it is true, that “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). Jesus is the Redeemer of the world. But it is important for us to understand what the Scriptures mean by the word world. These Scriptures texts do not mean that Christ came to Redeem every person in the world without exception. This interpretation of the word “world” would flat contradict other passages of Scripture that speak of Christ laying down his life, not for all, for “many” (see Matthew 26:28), or for the “church” (see Ephesians 5:25), or for “the sheep” (see John 10:15). In fact, in John 17 Christ prays to the Father and is quite clear that his mission was to save those given to him by the Father in eternity.
When the Scriptures say that Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world it does not mean that the sins of every person without exception have been taken away. That would mean that all are saved! What it means is that Christ came to Redeem, not Jews only, but people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. In other words, God did not send one redeemer for this people group, and another redeemer for that people group, and so on. No, there is only one mediator between God and man, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Savior of the world. As Acts 4:12 says, “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Our catechism is right to say that Jesus Christ is the “only Redeemer of God’s elect.” Our catechism teaches this because this is what the scriptures teach. God sent the Son, not to save every person without exception, but to atone for the sins of many from every tongue, tribe, and nation. This is the doctrine of predestination or election which was introduced to us in the previous question. This is also the doctrine of limited atonement, or better yet, particular redemption. Who did Christ come to Redeem? Who did he come to save? What was the will of the Father for him? Was he to atone for the sins of every person who has ever lived, or ever will live? Certainly not. Christ shed his blood for many, not all (Matthew 26:18), he laid his life for the sheep (John 10:15), and for the church, who is his bride (Ephesians 5:25). Christ came to do the Father’s will for him, which was to save for all eternity those given to him by the Father before the foundation of the world (John 17).
This doctrine of predestination, or election, along with the doctrine of limited atonement, or better yet, particular redemption, is very clearly taught in the pages of Holy Scripture. And no, there is no contradiction with those passages that speak of God loving the world, or sending to the Son for all the world, provided those passages are interpreted properly.
So, our catechism is very right to name the Lord Jesus Christ as “the only Redeemer of God’s elect …”
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Who, Being The Eternal Son Of God, Became Man
After this, our catechism tells us more about who Jesus Christ (the Messiah) was and is.
Jesus Christ is the only Redeemer of God’s elect, “who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was and continueth to be God and man, in two distinct natures and one person, forever.”
Here we have the doctrine of the incarnation briefly stated. Who is Jesus Christ? He is the person of the eternal Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity.
A person is a subject who acts through nature. If I asked you, who you are, you would probably tell me your name. If I asked what you are, you would probably say I am human. You are an individual person acting through a human nature. And I am a human person acting through a human nature. What do you and I share in common? We are both human beings. What distinguishes us? Well, among other things, we are different persons.
Now I ask you, who is Jesus? He is the person of the eternal Son or Word of God. And if I were to ask you, what is Jesus? You would have to say, he is divine and human, for the person of the eternal son acts both through the divine nature and the human nature he has assumed.
When our catechism says that the eternal Son of God “became man” it does not mean that the Son was changed into man, but that he took to himself a true human nature. God cannot become anything if by “become” we mean “was changed into”, for God cannot change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So whatever we think about the incarnation, we cannot think that God was changed into a man. No, he took to himself or assumed human nature without experiencing a change in the divine nature. The key to understanding this, I think (though mystery will always remain), is to see that it was not the divine nature that assumed a human nature (and neither was it the person of the Father or Spirit) but the person of the eternal Son. All of this is beautifully and clearly stated in the Scriptures, especially in John 1, and Colossians 2.
And this doctrine of the incarnation is clearly and precisely stated by our catechism which goes on to say, “and so was and continueth to be God and man, in two distinct natures and one person, forever.” You see, the divine nature and the human nature were not mixed or confused in Christ. The divine nature was not mixed with the human nature of Christ so that he was less than God but more than man. No, Christ is truly God and truly man. And yet Christ is one person, not two. The divine nature and human nature are joined together inseparably (forever) in the person of the Son. So, Christ has two natures but he is one person. He is the person of the eternal Son of God incarnate.
The doctrine of the incarnation is mysterious, isn’t it? It is difficult to comprehend. But it is important for us to confess, for it is the teaching of Holy Scripture. May I suggest to you that one of the best ways to learn to speak about Christ, his person, and his natures, is to grow familiar with the language of our catechism. A lot more can be said about the incarnation than what is said here, but this is a good start and a sure guide. Our confession of faith (the Second London Confession) also provides a wonderful statement about the natures and person of Christ in chapter 8 paragraph 2.
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Conclusion
Let me conclude this little sermon by making a connection between the first and second parts of Baptist Catechism 24. I’ll make this connection by asking the question, why the incarnation? Why was it necessary for the Redeemer of God’s elect to be bolt God and man? The answer is rather simple. Humanity had to be redeemed by a true human. Where the first Adam failed a second Adam had to succeed. But there is a problem. All of humanity was plunged into sin and ruin by the first Adam so that none who descended from him were capable of saving themselves, let alone, the rest. None could be the Savior because all were in need of a Savior. And for this reason, the Redeemer of God’s elect had to be God himself. This is why the Son of God, who is called the eternal Word of God in John 1, took on flesh by being born of a virgin. And having come into the world, not by the seed of Adam, but by the power of God working, Christ the God-man then lived a sinless life, suffered, died the death of a sinner, rose from the dead, and ascended to the Father. This he did, not for himself only, but for all who were given to him by the Father in eternity. There is a reason that Jesus christ is the only Redeemer of god’s elect. There is simply no one else like him.
I hope you can see that our catechism has a way of stating really big and really important truths in a very succinct way.
Q. 24. Who is the Redeemer of God’s elect?
A. 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 continueth to be God and man, in two distinct natures and one person, forever. (Gal. 3:13;1 Tim. 2:5; John 1:14; 1 Tim. 3:16; Rom. 9:5; Col. 2:9)
