Calvin on Psalm 32

John Calvin's exposition on the Psalms cannot be outclassed. One must read and absorb as he brings out the truths in the writings. One enlightening portion is his commentary on Psalm 32. Below is an excerpt:

Psalm 32:1-2
1. Blessed are they whose iniquity is forgiven, and whose transgression is covered. 2. Blessed
is the man to whom Jehovah imputeth no sin, and in whose spirit there is no guile.

Blessed are they whose iniquity is forgiven. This exclamation springs from the fervent affection of the Psalmist’s heart as well as from serious consideration. Since almost the whole world turning away their thoughts from God’s judgment, bring upon themselves a fatal forgetfulness, and intoxicate themselves with deceitful pleasures; David, as if he had been stricken with the fear of God’s wrath, that he might betake himself to Divine mercy, awakens others also to the same exercise, by declaring distinctly and loudly that those only are blessed to whom God is reconciled, so as to acknowledge those for his children whom he might justly treat as his enemies. Some are so blinded with hypocrisy and pride, and some with such gross contempt of God, that they are not at all anxious in seeking forgiveness, but all acknowledge that they need forgiveness; nor is there a man in existence whose conscience does not accuse him at God’s judgment-seat, and gall him with many stings. This confession, accordingly, that all need forgiveness, because no man is perfect, and that then only is it well with us when God pardons our sins, nature herself extorts even from wicked men. ...

It is now proper to weigh the particular force of the expressions here employed. Certainly the remission which is here treated of does not agree with satisfactions. God, in lifting off or taking away sins, and likewise in covering and not imputing them, freely pardons them. On this account the Papists, by thrusting in their satisfactions and works of supererogation as they call them, bereave themselves of this blessedness. Besides, David applies these words to complete forgiveness. The distinction, therefore, which the Papists here make between the remission of the punishment and of the fault, by which they make only half a pardon, is not at all to the purpose. Now, it is necessary to consider to whom this happiness belongs, which may be easily gathered from the circumstance of the time. When David was taught that he was blessed through the mercy of God alone, he was not an alien from the church of God; on the contrary, he had profited above many in the fear and service of God, and in holiness of life, and had exercised himself in all the duties of godliness. And even after making these advances in religion, God so exercised him, that he placed the alpha and omega of his salvation in his gratuitous reconciliation to God. Nor is it without reason that Zacharias, in his song, represents “the knowledge of salvation” as consisting in knowing “the remission of sins,” (Luke 1:77.) The more eminently that any one excels in holiness, the farther he feels himself from perfect righteousness, and the more clearly he perceives that he can trust in nothing but the mercy of God alone. Hence it appears, that those are grossly mistaken who conceive that the pardon of sin is necessary only to the beginning of righteousness. As believers are every day involved in many faults, it will profit them nothing that they have once entered the way of righteousness, unless the same grace which brought them into it accompany them to the last step of their life. Does any one object, that they are elsewhere said to be blessed “who fear the Lord,” “who walk in his ways,” “who are upright in heart,” etc., the answer is easy, namely, that as the perfect fear of the Lord, the perfect observance of his law, and perfect uprightness of heart, are nowhere to be found, all that the Scripture anywhere says, concerning blessedness, is founded upon the free favor of God, by which he reconciles us to himself.

The Five Solas part 5

Today we conclude our mini study of the fives solas of the Reformation which are still very applicable to the church in the 21st century. We have looked at sola fide, sola gratia, solus Christus and sola scriptura. But each of these has its culmination in soli Deo gloria: glory to God alone.

Purity of worship was a major theme for the Reformers and rightfully so. If we agree that salvation must be by faith alone (sola fide) and by grace alone (sola gratia) and on account of Christ's finished work alone (solus Christus) then we must render to God alone the glory due him. God's glory is displayed through all time by defeating his enemies and saving his people (Isaiah 43:6-7). The Reformers, as it should be no less today, took this very seriously and had a high view of God for we read in Romans 1:18-32:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

Sinful men can make an idol out of anything. Idols made of wood and depictions carved in stone are very foolish and dismissed today as such. But some idols are put on a pedestal and men bow their knee to them every day. Idols such as human reason, prosperity and government are routinely worshiped in the hearts of men. But anytime we substitute something else for the God of the Bible, we attempt to have him share his glory with another. For anytime we deny one of his attributes, we conceive of him as less than the sovereign Lord of all (Tabletalk, August 2009, pg. 50).

The Five Solas part 4

The issue of authority was the other great controversy during the Reformation. Besides justification by faith, the authority of Scripture came to the forefront and rightfully so. Today this is known as sola scriptura, one of the five solas.

This issue became so prominent for Martin Luther and others as the traditions of the Roman Catholic church at the time (and now) for justification were rooted in penance and merit and works. Scripture teaches none of the methods as a way to salvation, only justification by faith. Rome set these traditions as equal to Scriptural authority.

Mark 7:9 tells us that we are not to observe the traditions of men should they make us disobey Scripture. And so, Protestantism, the Reformed, holds to sola scriptura. Yes, we embrace creeds and confessions but the bible will always take precedence in any conflict especially in conflicts with traditions of men. Scripture is and always will be our highest authority.

An outstanding explication of sola scriptura can be found in the video below by Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle.

The Five Solas part 3

Moving into our third study of the "solas" we come to solus Christus. If justification comes to us by faith alone and from God’s grace alone it cannot be forgotten that it is all through the work of Christ alone. Here we see it all come together through the finished work of Christ on the cross. It is the gospel story, plain and simple.

Adam, being the first man was required to keep the law but he did not and fell into sin. He and all of his descendants came under the curse of God’s wrath (Genesis 2:15-17; Romans 5:12-21). God intervened with a covenant of grace with the people of his choosing. God reckons these as righteous based on the work of Christ who came and lived a perfect, sinless life, died on the cross and rose again in three days and ascended to heaven to sit at the right hand of God. God made him to be sin who knew no sin (Corinthians 5:21). His righteousness is imputed to his children and they are reckoned as sinless. God did not, of course have to provide this covenant and yet he did so because of his great love for his people.

In the closing of his sermon, The Sufficiency of Christ Alone, John MacArthur stated, You come to Christ, you receive the forgiveness of sins. You come to Christ, you receive a new nature, a new disposition, a new heart that loves righteousness. You come to Christ and you die to the past and you rise to new life. You come to Christ and you’re delivered from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son. You come to Christ and you literally come to the truth that transcends, the truth you’ll never find anywhere except in the Word of God and even this truth you’ll never understand until the Spirit of God takes up residence and becomes your teacher, and then you know the deep things of God. It’s all in Christ. All truth, all wisdom, all knowledge, all understanding, all peace, all joy, all value, all fulfillment, all satisfaction, all purpose, all deliverance, all strength, all comfort, and all eternal hope is in Christ. To have Him is to have everything. Not to have Him is to have nothing. What a powerful proclamation. Read the whole sermon here.

"The Sower" Sermon on Mark 4:1-20

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In the Care of the Good Shephard

I'm always on the lookout for good, Reformed, devotional material and so I was happy to see that Iain Campbell has just publishhed his latest work, In the Care of the Good Shephard.

Learn more about it here.

Piper on God's Sovereignty

As we ready ourselves for worship tomorrow, let us meditate on God's sovereignty described by John Piper in this post:

The doctrine of God’s sovereignty is an anchor for the troubled soul, a hope for the praying heart, a stability for fragile faith, a confidence in pursuing the lost, a guarantee of Christ’s atonement, a high mystery to keep us humble, and a solid ground for all praise. And oh so much more. O Lord, turn this truth for the triumph of your saving and sanctifying grace.

The Five Solas part 2

As we move into our study of the next sola, "sola gratia" (grace alone), we should first take note that grace is initiated by God, not by ourselves. It is God who changes the believer’s heart and gives him the ability to believe or have faith. We have nothing to do with it and yet we want to. The Reformed faith holds fast to the fact that our salvation, every step of the way, is and can only be attributed to God. As man is dead in his sins, it is God who must work in him to bring him to saving faith. We know this from the book of Ephesians where we read in verse one, "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins" and in verses 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." So we see that salvation cannot be achieved by anything that we do, it is a gift from God.

It is a common misconception that if a man takes the first step in faith, so to speak, and prays a prayer of some kind that he is saved and a new life has begun. This is sometimes called "percentage theology’ or "percentage salvation" meaning that, even though very small, man has a part in his salvation. But this passage in Ephesians makes it clear that that is just impossible. God initiates it – it is a gift. And, left to himself in his sin, man would never choose God. Verse one above states that man is dead - dead men cannot make decisions. Hence, it is the work of God, regeneration precedes faith.

Moreover, we see how just how special and the great import of this doctrine. God chose his people before the foundations of the earth (Eph. 1:4). We should not take this lightly.

The Sacrifice Has Been Accepted

If the Lord were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have showed us all these thing. (Judges 13:23)

This is a sort of promise deduced by logic. It is an inference fairly drawn from ascertained facts. It was not likely that the Lord had revealed to Manoah and his wife that a son would be born to them and yet had it in His heart to destroy them. The wife reasoned well, and we shall do well if we follow her line of argument.

The Father has accepted the great sacrifice of Calvary and has declared Himself well pleased therewith; how can He now be pleased to kill us! Why a substitute if the sinner must still perish? The accepted sacrifice of Jesus puts an end to fear.

The Lord has shown us our election, our adoption, our union to Christ, our marriage to the Well-beloved: how can He now destroy us? The promises are loaded with blessings, which necessitate our being preserved unto eternal life. It is not possible for the Lord to cast us away and yet fulfill His covenant. The past assures us, and the future reassures us. We shall not die but live, for we have seen Jesus, and in Him we have seen the Father by the illumination of the Holy Ghost. Because of this life-giving sight we must live forever. - From Faith's Checkbook by C.H. Spurgeon

The Five Solas part 1

The Reformed faith can be defined by the well known acronym T.U.L.I.P. However, another way it can be defined is by the five "solas" which are Soli Fide, Soli Gratia, Solus Christus, Soli Scriptura and Soli Deo Gloria. Perhaps these are familiar and then again perhaps they are not. These may also be more commonly known as "by Faith Alone", "by Grace alone", "Christ alone", Scripture alone" and "Glory to God alone." These phrases were born of the Protestant Reformation and were used to define the Reformers basic beliefs. The Latin sola means "only" or "alone". Each bears its name as a testimony to the heart of the true Reformed faith and each is worth at least a brief examination.

First, a look at Sola Fide which is often called "The Heart of the Gospel" because it answers the basic question of all mankind which is, how can sinful man be justified before a perfect and righteous God? This teaching comes to us through the book of Galatians and particularly, chapter 2, verse 16, which states, "... yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law because by works of the law no one will be justified."

Contrary to others, the Protestants (Reformed) add the word alone. There is nothing we can add to attain our salvation for our works are nothing but "filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6). "Only the merit of Christ can set us right with God and we access this merit by trusting in Christ alone" (Tabletalk, August 2009, pg. 46). We should also note that we are justified first, the Lord does not wait for us to be righteous first or we would never be justified.
As each sola is tied to one another, a brief study of each is required. Next time: Sola gratia, by Grace alone.

Want more? Here’s a short video from R.C. Sproul of Ligonier Ministries on "Faith alone."