Covenant Protestant Reformed Church
Ballymena
Rev. Angus Stewart
Lord’s Day, 29 November, 2009
“Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and
things wherewith one may edify another” (Rom. 14:19)
Morning Service – 11:00 AM Prof. Hanko
Our Faith in the Communion of Saints & the Forgiveness of Sins
Scripture Reading: I Corinthians 12
Text: Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 21
I. The Communion of the Saints
II. The Forgiveness of Sins
III. The Relation Between Them
Psalms: 122:1-6; 44:1-8; 119:169-176; 133:1-3
Evening Service – 6:00 PM Prof. Hanko
The Perfection of the New Covenant
Scripture Reading: Hebrews 8
Text: Hebrews 8:7-12
I. The Faultiness of the Old
II. The Perfection of the New
III. The Blessedness of the New
Psalms: 25:13-16; 44:9-15; 89:31-37; 105:6-9
For CDs of the sermons and DVDs of the worship services, contact Stephen Murray
If you desire a pastoral visit, please contact Rev. Stewart or the elders
CPRC Website: www.cprc.co.uk • Live Webcast: https://cprc.co.uk/live-streaming/
CPRC YouTube: www.youtube.com/cprcni
CPRC Facebook: www.facebook.com/CovenantPRC
Quotes to Consider:
John Calvin: “… none but the citizens of the Church enjoy this privilege; for, apart from the body of Christ and the fellowship of the godly, there can be no hope of reconciliation with God. Hence, in the Creed we profess to believe in ‘The Catholic Church and the forgiveness of sins;’ for God does not include among the objects of his love any but those whom he reckons among the members of his only-begotten Son, and, in like manner, does not extend to any who do not belong to his body the free imputation of righteousness. Hence it follows, that strangers who separate themselves from the Church have nothing left for them but to rot amidst their curse. Hence, also, a departure from the Church is an open renouncement of eternal salvation” (Comm. on Isa. 33:24).
Calvin’s Catechism of the Church of Geneva: “Why do you subjoin forgiveness of sins to the Church? Because no man obtains it without being previously united to the people of God, maintaining unity with the body of Christ perseveringly to the end, and thereby attesting that he is a true member of the Church. In this way you conclude that out of the Church is naught but ruin and damnation? Certainly. Those who make a departure from the body of Christ, and rend its unity by faction, are cut off from all hope of salvation during the time they remain in schism, be it however short.”
Announcements (subject to God’s will):
Everyone is invited to stay for tea after this evening’s service to say farewell to Prof. & Mrs. Hanko. We thank them for their work and fellowship in our midst.
On the back table are the Acts of Synod of the PRC. We received only a few, so please take one, read it and return it for someone else in the congregation.
Standard Bearer subscriptions are due: $25 to RFPA or £15 to Rev. Stewart.
Catechism:
Monday, 7 PM – Zoe, Amy & Lea Campbell at the manse
Tuesday, 7 PM – Jacob & Nathan at the Buchanans
Tuesday, 8 PM – Mark & Lauren at the Hamills
Wednesday, 1 PM – Beginners OT Class at the manse
Ladies Bible study meets this Tuesday at 10:30 AM at the Kennedys.
Midweek Bible study meets on Wednesday at 7:45 PM at the manse (I Peter 3:10f.).
Next Lord’s Day evening we will have a preparatory sermon with a view to partaking of the Lord’s Supper on 13 December.
The Council meets next week Monday, 7 December, at 7:30 PM at the manse.
Building Update: The electrical tracking is completed and the felt is now on the roof so that the roof tiles are ready to be laid.
Offerings: General Fund: 8/11 – £742.70, 15/11 – £394.69, 22/11 – £355.50. Donations: £20 & £8 (pamphlets), £100 (CR News), £32 (S. Wales), £5 (tapes). Gift Aid Refunds: £4,742.21.
Upcoming Lectures:
Limerick, Friday, 15 January, 7:30 PM (Prof. R. Dykstra)
Limerick, Friday, 12 February, 7:30 PM (Rev. Stewart)
Limerick, Friday, 12 March, 7:30 PM – “The Real St. Patrick” (Rev. Stewart)
Website Additions: The audio of Prof. Hanko’s sermons of the last four Lord’s Days are on-line. 3 Italian, 2 Portuguese, 1 Ukrainian, and 6 German translations were added. All 7 speeches and the Q. & A. session of the PRC Calvin Conference are now on our YouTube site, thanks to Sam Watterson of Limerick.
PRC News: Prof. Engelsma has the call to Bethel PRC (Chicago, IL).
This is part 1 of the 35th e-mail from Prof. Engelsma on justification.
Dear European Forum,
In the previous instalment, I raised the issue regarding justification of the seeming contradiction of the doctrine of justification by faith alone of James 2:14-26, particularly verses 21 and verses 24-26 (which I quoted in full in the previous instalment), and the appeal to this passage by Rome, Arminianism, and the men of the Federal (Covenant) Vision in support of the doctrine of justification by faith and good works.
In this instalment, I explain James 2 on justification and indicate how James harmonizes with Paul’s teaching on justification in Romans and Galatians. (I use the explanation that I gave of James 2 in a public speech on “Justification and Good Works” at the 2006 Winter Conference sponsored by the Holland, Michigan Protestant Reformed Church and that has been published in a booklet, “Justification: The Heart of the Gospel,” available from the CPRC.)
It is necessary to have clearly in mind what the explanation of James 2 on justification is in the theology of the enemies of justification by faith alone. According to Rome, the Arminians, and the present-day movement that calls itself the Federal (Covenant) Vision, James teaches that justification, as an act of God by which the sinner becomes righteous, is very really by the good works of the sinner, so that the righteousness of the sinner is partly his own obedience to the law of God. According to these defenders of justification by faith and works, God takes the sinner’s works into account in the act of justifying him. When James says, in verse 24, with appeal to the good work of Abraham in offering up Isaac and to the good work of Rahab in protecting Israel’s spies, “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only,” he is referring to and describing the verdict of God the judge upon the guilty sinner forgiving his sins and recognizing the sinner’s conformity to the law of God, upon which salvation and eternal life depend.
On this explanation of James 2, our righteousness with God, that is, our legal standing before God the judge as fully satisfying the demand of His law, is partly Christ’s obedience on our behalf and partly our own obedience, admittedly with the help of grace. Our justification today in our own consciousness and finally publicly in the Day of Judgment depends partly on Christ’s death for us and partly on our own good works, admittedly performed with the help of the Spirit of Christ. In the justifying act of God by which we become righteous, our own works enter in. They enter in decisively. They are nothing less than part of the basis of the verdict upon which depends the invitation to enter into the everlasting kingdom of Christ and to enjoy the bliss of salvation. The judge’s holy eye falls on our works, not as sins to be pardoned, but as deeds that must be acceptable to God, to make us worthy of His blessing. The sinner strolls into the courtroom of God the judge, now and on the world’s last day, with his own good works in his hands—his worship of God, his prayers, his singing of the Psalms, his love of his wife and family, his help of the needy—pleading these works—works done, admittedly, only with the help of grace, but his own works nonetheless—as deeds upon which his eternal destiny depends.
Let everyone tempted by this erroneous explanation of James 2 be clear as to the implication for himself. To say nothing of the present doubt, whether he has in fact done enough, or performed adequately, to satisfy the demands of the perfect law of God (even with the help of grace) and thus merit (if eternal life depends at all upon our own works, we “merit” eternal life, regardless that present-day advocates of justification by works try to deceive Reformed and Presbyterian people by loudly rejecting “merit”) eternal life, one who adopts the explanation of James 2 that I have just outlined must die with this terrifying thought in his soul: my eternal destiny rests upon something I have done; my works must decide whether I enjoy heaven or perish in hell.
Let him consider also what this explanation of James 2 implies concerning Christ and His work. To the obedience of the incarnate Son of God must be added the obedience of the sinner, of himself, for the all-important righteousness that is the basis of salvation. Thus, gross insult is given to Christ, indeed to God, who, when He saw that there was no righteous man, Himself became the righteousness of His own in the Son of His love.
According to those who explain James 2 in this way, James 2 harmonizes with Paul in Romans 3:28 and in the entire book of Galatians thus, that although both James and Paul are speaking of justification in exactly the same sense, namely, as the act of God rendering the guilty sinner righteous before Him with the righteousness that is is ground of eternal life and glory, James and Paul have different works in view. The works excluded from justification by Paul in Romans 3:28 and in Galatians 2:16 are only a certain kind of works—Jewish, ceremonial works—or, as the men of the Federal (Covenant) Vision today add, works done with the intention of meriting. James, on the other hand, refers to genuine good works, that is, good works done out of a true faith in Christ and with the help of grace.
According to the enemies of justification by faith alone, therefore, James 2 teaches justification as the act of God rendering the guilty sinner righteous in His tribunal with the righteousness that makes him worthy of eternal life by faith and by the sinner’s own good works, done with the help of divine grace.
This explanation of James is erroneous. The theology based on this erroneous explanation is heretical. It is the denial of the gospel of grace, and damning of everyone who believes and practices it.
Whatever James teaches in chapter 2 about justification is and must be in harmony with the teaching of Romans and Galatians. The Spirit of inspiration cannot contradict Himself in God’s revelation of Himself and of the way of salvation. But Romans and Galatians are certainly teaching justification as the legal act of God acquitting the elect, believing sinner of his guilt and reckoning to the sinner the perfect obedience of Christ. This is evident from the language itself in Romans 3 and 4 and in Galatians: “imputes,” “forgives,” “counted,” “reckoned.”
Further, importantly, Romans and Galatians are also certainly referring to all works when they deny that justification is by works. Romans and Galatians are not referring merely to certain kinds of works. This truth is fundamental in our controversy with the defenders of justification by faith and works and in our right understanding of James 2. I have demonstrated in an earlier instalment that when Paul speaks of works or deeds of the law in Romans and Galatians in the context of denying that justification is by works or deeds of the law he is referring to any and all works that are performed by the justified sinner. I only point out here that the law Paul refers to in Romans 3:28 when he writes that a man is not justified by the “deeds of the law” is not merely the ceremonial law but the law by which is “the knowledge of sin” (v. 20: “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin”). This is especially the moral law, which is in fact the rule of the holy life of the justified sinner, and written upon his heart. Nevertheless, a man is justified apart from deeds of obedience to this moral law (or any other form of law).
to be continued …
