Loving God’s Word, not Preserving Systems

One area of confusion or concern with adopting a Confession of Faith, or of the project of systematic theology in general can be the temptation to “preserve a system” as opposed to loving and receiving God’s Word.

In recent conversation about our Confession of Faith, it was suggested to me that “Y’all have to interpret that passage that way, or else your whole system of Calvinism falls down.” I appreciate the candor of a statement like that, and I know that it’s possible to become “protective” of a system of doctrine (whatever that system is). The Pharisees certainly experienced the criticism of Jesus on several accounts for how that could “strain at a gnat and swallow a camel.”

Matthew 23:23–24 (ESV) — “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

The project of theology certainly can go off the rails and become an academic end in itself, but we must not think of it like that in its nature. We are simply attempting to understand what the Bible teaches on any particular subject.

Psalm 19:7–11 (ESV)

• (7) The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
• (8) the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
• (9) the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.
• (10) More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
• (11) Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

Scripture Interpreting Scripture

We must strive to see the forest AND the trees. We need to see the emphasis and overall meta-narrative of scripture, but we also must reckon with and obey the individual commands. We definitely don’t want to practice “Waffle House Theology” where you pour all of the different scriptures into the waffle iron, and then cut off whatever doesn’t fit into your system.

Trinity Confession of Faith 1.9

The infallible rule for the interpretation of Scripture is Scripture itself; therefore, when there is a question about the true and full intention of any Scripture (there is one, not many), it must be clarified by other passages that speak more clearly. (TCOF 1.9)

Last week, we covered a lot of the Confession of Faith dealing with our soteriology, our doctrine of Salvation. These issues have been discussed much throughout church history, and had a particularly robust amount of discussion in the Protestant Reformation of the 16th Century, which is reflected in our historic Confession of faith.

As Daniel mentioned on Sunday, tonight’s sections from the Confession have been added by our own Trinity Fellowship Churches pastors.

When we made the decision to use an historic Confession as our starting point, we knew early on that there were certain issues which we felt would need more attention.

There are a few reasons that we thought more needed to be said. One such reason is our own historical and moral context today. There are simply large questions about the nature of man under dispute and attack that were simply accepted in the 16th century.

The Imago Dei and our Contemporary Context (Chapter 5)

It is difficult to overstate the impact that our current dominant cultural, secular, darwinist worldview is having on certain aspects of western civilization, steadily creeping in on the church.

Darwinist and secular humanist philosophies have been tearing away at our understanding and awareness of God for over a hundred years, but the cultural crisis of our day seems to be much centered on losing our sense of the true nature of human beings.

There are extremely detrimental effects to this erosion of a biblical understanding of man.

• Abortion
• Euthanasia
• the sexual revolution
• the tearing down of marriage and the family
• the current confusion over gender and LGBTQ+ issues
• slavery and human trafficking

One of the key elements of any Worldview is the question of the nature of man.

What is a worldview?

Christianity isn’t merely a moral code, a social identity, a collection of religious traditions and practices, or a set of theological propositions—although it includes all of those things. No, Christianity is far more significant and wide-ranging in its depth and scope. Christianity is nothing less than a comprehensive, all-encompassing worldview.

• James Anderson, Why I Should Believe Christianity, p. 32

A worldview is an all-encompassing perspective on ourselves and everything else that exists, especially those things that matter most to us and have the greatest influence on our lives.

Our worldviews represent our most fundamental beliefs and assumptions about the universe we inhabit. They also incorporate and express our deepest values: what we see as the highest good, what standards we use to judge between right and wrong, what we value most in life and in other people, and what pursuits we consider most worthy. In sum, our worldviews reflect how we would answer the ‘big questions’ of human existence: the fundamental questions we ask about life, the universe, and everything.

• James Anderson, Why I Should Believe Christianity, p. 33.

Worldview questions

from James Sire in The Universe Next Door (pp. 17-18).

1. What is prime reality—the really real?
2. What is the nature of external reality, that is, the world around us?
3. What is a human being?
4. What happens to a person at death?
5. Why is it possible to know anything at all?
6. How do we know what is right and wrong?
7. What is the meaning of human history?

There are shorter lists of questions as well. This comes from a Christian school, Veritas Academy.

https://www.veritasacademy.com/headmasters-blog/your-worldview-why-it-matters-3-questions-to-determine-worldview

1. Is there a higher power in the Universe?
2. Where did our world come from?
3. What is the purpose of man?

TCOF Chapter 5. Man

1. God created man, male and female, by special acts of divine creation. Man alone of all creation is in the image and likeness of God. Man was given dominion over all of creation and commanded to fill the earth. Though the fall distorts the image of God in man, it is not eradicated. In Christ, the image is progressively restored and his people shall become more fully conformed to the divine design.
2. Male and female are divinely-ordered sexes, designed and assigned by God for complementary roles. Both men and women are created in the image of God, equal in dignity and worth. Adam was created by God from the dust of the earth. Eve was created by God from Adam’s rib, as a helper suitable to Adam. The Sovereign Lord of history creates each person male or female, and inherent in his design are good purposes for each person.
3. Jesus Christ, as the God-man, united both full humanity and full deity in his person. In him, humanity reached its fullest expression, and through his Spirit all of his people are empowered to live for his glory. At his resurrection, he received a glorified body, the firstfruits of the resurrection. Upon his return, his people will likewise receive glorified bodies, and they shall enjoy his presence with glorified bodies and souls made perfect forever.

What questions are answered about the nature of human beings?

1. Where did we come from?
   • “Special acts of divine creation”
     • Genesis 1:26 (ESV) — Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
   • “created by God from the dust of the earth…created by God from Adam’s rib”
     • Genesis 2:7 (ESV) — then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
     • Genesis 2:21–22 (ESV) — So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.
2. Are human beings different from the rest of creation?
   • “Man alone of all creation is in the image and likeness of God.”
     • Genesis 1:26 (ESV) — Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”
3. Why are we here? What is our purpose?
   • “Man was given dominion over all of creation and commanded to fill the earth.”
     • Genesis 1:26 (ESV) — … And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
   • through his Spirit all of his people are empowered to live for his glory.
     • Romans 8:3–4 (ESV) — For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
   • Quest. 1. What is the chief end of man?
     Answ. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever. (Westminster Shorter Catechism, Q1)
     • 1 Corinthians 10:31 (ESV) — So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
4. What is our biggest problem?
   • the fall distorts the image of God
   • See Chapter 7 “The Fall of Man, Sin, and Its Punishment”
     • Romans 3:23 (ESV) — for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
     • Romans 5:12 (ESV) — Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
   • “Certain new theologians dispute original sin, which is the only part of Christian theology which can really be proved.”
     • Gilbert K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy. (New York: John Lane Company, 1909), 24.
5. Are male and female (and masculine and feminine) man-made constructs?
   • God created man, male and female
     • Genesis 1:27 (ESV) — So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
   • Male and female are divinely-ordered sexes,
   • The Sovereign Lord of history creates each person male or female, and inherent in his design are good purposes for each person.
     • Psalm 139:13–15 (ESV) — For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
6. How are the sexes designed to relate to one another?
   • Male and female are divinely-ordered sexes, designed and assigned by God for complementary roles.
     • Genesis 2:18 (ESV) — Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
   • Both men and women are created in the image of God, equal in dignity and worth.
     • Genesis 1:27 (ESV) — So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
   • Adam was created by God from the dust of the earth. Eve was created by God from Adam’s rib, as a helper suitable to Adam.
     • Genesis 2:22 (ESV) — And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.
7. What is the solution to our problem?
   • Jesus Christ, as the God-man, united both full humanity and full deity in his person. In him, humanity reached its fullest expression,
     • Matthew 1:23 (ESV) — “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
     • Luke 1:35 (ESV) — And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.
   • Though the fall distorts the image of God in man, it is not eradicated. In Christ, the image is progressively restored and his people shall become more fully conformed to the divine design.
     • Romans 8:3–4 (ESV) — For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
8. Where are we headed?
   • At his resurrection, he received a glorified body, the firstfruits of the resurrection. Upon his return, his people will likewise receive glorified bodies, and they shall enjoy his presence with glorified bodies and souls made perfect forever.
     • Romans 8:23 (ESV) — And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
     • 1 Corinthians 15:20–23 (ESV) — But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

The Empowering Spirit in the Life of the Believer (Chapter 10)

We’ve spent the last six weeks in our sermon series in 1 Corinthians discussing Spiritual Gifts. This chapter in the confession speaks more broadly to the work of the Holy Spirit.

Unlike Chapter 5, this chapter was not written specifically to address a modern problem. Instead it is written because no historical confessions had a chapter specifically about the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

10. The Empowering Holy Spirit

1. It pleased God in his eternal purpose to choose and ordain the Holy Spirit to be the life-giver and sustainer of the redeemed. He is the Spirit of regeneration, convicting sinners of their rebellion against God, granting them new life, and baptizing them into the Body of Christ. He is the Spirit of adoption, the guarantor of the promised redemption, and the seal of redemption unto God. He is the comforter, keeping his people in perfect peace and sanctifying them in all seasons unto the truth. He is the Spirit of love, securing the disciples in the love of the Father poured out upon them. He is the Spirit of freedom and fellowship. He is the Spirit of holiness.
2. The Holy Spirit of God, the third person in the Holy Trinity, being very and eternal God, the fullness of the love between the Father and the Son, of one substance and co-equal with him who made the world, who upholds and governs all things he has made, did, when the fullness of time was come, conceive the Lord Jesus in the womb of the Virgin Mary. He empowered the Son throughout his earthly ministry, working to fulfill all of the purposes of the Godhead in the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ.
3. Near the conclusion of his earthly ministry, the Lord Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit upon his disciples that he might lead them into all truth, empower them for witness, and sanctify them in the truth. He is the Spirit of unity within the church of Christ. He is, indeed, the Spirit of Christ.
4. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples in fulfillment of the promises of God under the Old Testament. He unites all persons who believe in Christ, from every nation, into the Church. He works still in the world to convict, regenerate, and sanctify sinners, granting them new life and faith so that they might believe in Jesus Christ.
5. He is the Spirit of the New Covenant, enlivening and empowering all the elect to know the Lord, to bear his fruits, and to serve one another in the church for mutual edification. He blows where he wishes, both enlivening the elect through the proclamation of the gospel and empowering them for service according to the sovereign purposes of the triune God.
6. The gifts of the Spirit are given freely by God for the good of his people. He gives gifts according to his good purposes and calls his disciples to earnestly desire these gifts. Both the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit are granted to each Christian, testifying to the love, goodness, and almighty power of our God in transforming his people into his likeness. These gifts are to be earnestly desired in order that the church might be edified. They were granted to the church until the Lord shall return.
7. All the gifts of the Spirit listed in the New Testament are available for the church today and should be earnestly desired and exercised for the edification of the church and the advance of the gospel.

Scriptures

Ezekiel 36:25–27 (ESV) — I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

Ephesians 1:13–14 (ESV) — In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

John 15:26 (ESV) — “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.

Romans 5:5 (ESV) — and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Titus 3:5 (ESV) — he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

Romans 8:9–11 (ESV) — You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

2 Corinthians 3:5–6 (ESV) — Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

1 Thessalonians 1:5–6 (ESV) — because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit,