Repentance unto Life

Tags

Covenant theology, Grace, Holy Spirit, Life, Obedience, Repentance, Scripture, Westminster Larger Catechism, Word of God

Westminster Larger Catechism in modern English question number seventy-six:

Q. 76. What is repentance unto life?

A. Repentance unto life is a saving grace worked in the heart of a sinner by the Spirit and the Word of God; by which, from a sight and sense, not only of the danger, but also of the filthiness and odiousness of his sins, and upon the apprehension of God’s mercy in Christ to those that are penitent, he so grieves for and hates his sins that he turns from them all to God, purposing and constantly endeavoring to walk with Him in all the ways of new obedience.

 

Sanctification to Holiness

Tags

Christ, Covenant theology, God, Grace, Holy Spirit, Life, Repentance, Sanctification, Westminster Larger Catechism

Westminster Larger Catechism in modern English question number seventy-five:

Q. 75. What is sanctification?

A. Sanctification is a work of God’s grace, by which those whom God has, before the foundation of the world, chosen to be holy, are, in time and through the powerful operation of His Spirit applying the death and resurrection of Christ to them, renewed in their whole person after the image of God. This is accomplished by their having the seeds of repentance unto life and all other saving graces put into their hearts and those graces so stirred up, increased, and strengthened, so that they more and more die unto sin and rise unto newness of life.

Adoption into Christ

Tags

Adoption, Christ, Covenant theology, God the Father, Grace, Holy Spirit, Liberty in Christ, Westminster Larger Catechism

Westminster Larger Catechism in modern English question number seventy-four:

Q. 74. What is adoption?

A. Adoption is an act of God’s free grace, in and for His only Son Jesus Christ, by which all those that are justified are received into the number of His children, have His name put upon them, the Spirit of His Son given to them, are put under His fatherly care and administrations, admitted to all the liberties and privileges of the sons of God, and made heirs of the promises and fellow-heirs with Christ in glory.

Faith and the Sinner

Tags

Christ, God, Good Works, Grace, Imputation, Justification, Righteousness, Sinner, Westminster Larger Catechism

Westminster Larger Catechism in modern English question number seventy-three:

Q. 73. How does faith justify a sinner in the sight of God?

A. Faith justifies a sinner in the sight of God, not because of those other graces which always accompany it, or because of the good works that are the fruits of it, nor as if the grace of faith, or any act of it, were imputed to him for his justification, but only as an instrument by which he receives and applies Christ and His righteousness. 

Justifying Faith

Tags

Faith, Gospel, Grace, Holy Spirit, Justification, Righteousness, Salvation, Sin, Westminster Larger Catechism

The Westminster Larger Catechism in modern English question number seventy-two:

Q. 72. What is justifying faith?

A. Justifying faith is a saving grace worked in the heart of a sinner by the Spirit and the Word of God, by which that person, being convinced both of his sin and misery and of the inability of himself and of all other creatures to recover him out of his lost condition, not only assents to the truth of the promise of the gospel, but receives and rests upon Christ and His righteousness, as held forth in that promise, for pardon of sin and for the accepting and accounting of himself as righteous in the sight of God for salvation. 

An Act of God’s Grace

Tags

Christ, Covenant theology, Grace, Imputation, Justification, Obedience, Righteousness, Surety, Westminster Larger Catechism

Westminster Larger Catechism in modern English question number seventy one:

Q. 71. How is justification an act of God’s free grace?

A. Although Christ, by His obedience and death, made a proper, real, and full satisfaction to God’s justice in the behalf of those that are justified—yet, inasmuch as God accepts the satisfaction from a surety (which he might have demanded of them), and did provide this surety, His own only Son, imputing His righteousness to them and requiring nothing from them for their justification except faith (which also is His gift), their justification is to them of free grace. 

Justification

Tags

Christ, Faith, Imputation, Justification, Pardon, Righteousness, Sinner, Westminster Larger Catechism

The Westminster Larger Catechism in modern English question number seventy:

Q. 70. What is justification?

A. Justification is an act of God’s free grace towards sinners. In justification, He pardons all their sins, accepting and accounting them righteous in His sight, not for anything done in them or by them, but only because of the perfect obedience and full satisfaction of Christ, which is imputed to them by God and received by faith alone. 

Communion in Grace

Tags

Adoption, Christ, Christian, Communion, Grace, Justification, Sanctification, Union with Christ, Westminster Larger Catechism

The Westminster Larger Catechism in modern English question number sixty-nine:

Q. 69. What is the communion in grace which the members of the invisible church have with Christ?

A. The communion in grace which the members of the invisible church have with Christ is their partaking of the power of His mediation in their justification, adoption, sanctification, and whatever else in this life manifests their union with Him.

Who are Effectually Called?

Tags

Christ, Effectual Calling, Elect, Election, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Unbelief, Westminster Larger Catechism, Word of God

The Westminster Larger Catechism in modern English question number sixty-eight:

Q. 68. Are only the elect effectually called?

A. All the elect, and only the elect, are effectually called. Although others may be, and often are, outwardly called by the ministry of the Word and have some common operations of the Spirit, yet because of their willful neglect and contempt of the grace offered to them, they are justly left in their unbelief and never truly come to Jesus Christ.

Effectual Calling

Tags

Conversion, Effectual Calling, Faith, Gospel, Grace of God, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Power of God, Westminster Larger Catechism

Westminster Larger Catechism in modern English question number sixty-seven:

Q. 67. What is effectual calling?

A. Effectual calling is the work of God’s almighty power and grace, by which (from His free and special love to His elect—not from anything in them moving Him to it) He does, in His ordained time, invite and draw them to Jesus Christ by His Word and Spirit, thus savingly enlightening their minds and renewing and powerfully determining their wills so that they (although in themselves they are dead in sin) are made willing and able to freely answer His call and accept and embrace the grace offered and conveyed in it.