May 18, 2003 AM
Lord's Day 4
A. Every child of God
asks, "How can I escape the misery of my sin?"
B. What must a
person say of himself if he is not interested in that question?
"RECEIVED UNTO
GOD THROUGH RIGHTEOUSNESS"
I. The Only Way is Righteousness
A. In general
1. The child of God, as he matures, comes to love the truth of Lord's Day 5.
2. The answer of Lord's Day 5 is biblical, not the dream of Ursinus and Oliveanus.
3. The answer of LD 5 discourages us from looking elsewhere than God for a way of escape.
4. The answer of LD 5 does not forget comfort, either.
B. Specifically: The way unto God is the cross—revelation of God's righteousness.
1. The cross teaches us more than God's mercy; it teaches God's righteousness.
2. How does it teach God's righteousness?
II. Righteousness is Humanly Impossible
A. This is the emphasis in LD 5: A way unto God is made for those who are otherwise hopeless
1. The answer: Justice must be completely satisfied. We must respond: That's hopeless for us.
2. The child of God must become accustomed to saying: "We are not able to make satisfaction."
B. Why not? The three memorable reasons:
1. First, because man daily increases his debt.
2. Second, because the one who satisfies God must be perfectly righteous.
3. Third, because the one who satisfies God must be truly divine
C. The child of God must pray that God gives him a genuine sense of this truth.
1. So that he does not seek his escape anywhere else
2. So that he experiences his salvation with true joy, believes the gospel with thankfulness
3. So that he gives all glory to God, with his heart aflame and overwhelming amazement.
III. Righteousness Through God's Way: Faith in Jesus Christ
A. Christ is the righteousness of God for us; faith is the means by which we receive Him as our escape
1. When guilt overwhelms.., we escape that overwhelming trouble by faith in Christ.
2. When sin overpowers.., we escape that overpowering evil by faith in Christ.
B. All other doors are shut. This one alone is open. John 10
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Creed Parallels: Lord's Day 5
Belgic Confession, Article 18
Article 18: We confess, therefore, that God did fulfill the promise, which he made to the fathers, by the mouth of his holy prophets, when he sent into the world, at the time appointed by him, his own, only-begotten and eternal Son, who took upon him the form of a servant, and became like unto man, really assuming the true human nature, with all its infirmities, sin excepted, being conceived in the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary, by the power of the Holy Ghost, without the means of man, and did not only assume human nature as to the body, but also a true human soul, that he might be a real man. For since the soul was lost as well as the body, it was necessary that he should take both upon him, to save both. Therefore we confess (in opposition to the heresy of the Anabaptists, who deny that Christ assumed human flesh of his mother) that Christ is become a partaker of the flesh and blood of the children; that he is a fruit of the loins of David after the flesh; made of the seed of David according to the flesh; a fruit of the womb of the Virgin Mary, made of a woman, a branch of David; a shoot of the root of Jesse; sprung from the tribe of Judah; descended from the Jews according to the flesh; of the seed of Abraham, since he took on him the seed of Abraham, and became like unto his brethren in all things sin excepted, so that in truth he is our Immanuel, that is to say, God with us.
Confession of Bohemia, Chapter 6
For this is very certain, that after the
fall of Adam, no man was able to set himself at liberty out of the
bondage of sin, death, and condemnation, or come to be truly reconciled unto God, but only
by that one Mediator between God and man, Christ Jesus, (through a
lively faith in him;) who alone, by his death and blood-shedding, takes from us
the image of sin and death, and puts upon us, by faith, the image of righteousness and
life.
Westminster Confession of Faith, Larger Catechism, Question and Answers 149, 152
Q149: Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God?
A 149: No man is able, either of himself, or by any grace received in this
life, perfectly to keep the commandments of God; but doth daily break
them in thought, word, and deed.
Q 152: What doth every sin deserve at the hands of God?
A152: Every sin, even the least, being against the sovereignty, goodness, and
holiness of God, and against his righteous law, deserveth his wrath and curse, both in
this life, and that which is to come; and cannot be expiated but by the blood
of Christ.
Canons of Dort, Head 2, Article 3
The death of the Son of God is the only and most perfect sacrifice and satisfaction for sin; and is of infinite worth and value...