CONFESSIONALISM: RECOUNTING THE BENEFITS CHRIST WON FOR CHRISTIANS

In 2016, three events occurred that positively altered my experience of Vietnam. Only one of those incidents is significant in terms of the present discussion. I took the dogs for their second walk of the day. I think they believe the world will end if we don’t get that last walk in before the sun sets. As I “rounded first base"—we reached the end of the block—the most glorious thought I may have ever had crossed my mind. As I paused so the dogs could sniff and mark their territory, the question ticker-taped across my brain-housing group: What specifically happened at the cross for my benefit some 2,000 years ago? Several familiar advantages came to mind. God heaped upon Christ Vietnam and everything related it--the pain, the losses, and the sadness all died there. God exchanged my infidelity for Christ's righteousness.  

Out of “left field,” the question’s answer was clear. Jesus’ cross-work had a positive and lasting effect on the trauma created by the battlefield. This asset applies to anyone who has gone through past tribulations. Jesus carried more than my sin to Calvary. He took my entire war with Him to the cross. As a universal experience and all the painful particulars, Vietnam vanished instantly, along with all the what-ifs. God nailed the whole shebang to that cursed tree on my behalf. For the first time in almost five decades, Vietnam's tyrannical torment ceased. From that day forward, when anyone asks me how I’m doing, I can say honestly, “I’m doing well.” I had not said those words in the same breath for fifty years. Holy Cow, Harry Carey! That’s what the Lord has done for me. Hardly anything compares to that one benefit Christ won for me, or anyone else who has trusted in the life and death work of Christ.

Unfortunately, these doctrines have become a four-letter word in the contemporary Church. “We want less of Jesus and more of heaven’s goodies!” is too often her cry. “Don’t give us orthodox doctrine! It divides!” But in making such statements, the Church of Jesus Christ has cut her throat, stunting her growth. She willingly hemorrhages truth, transfusing to herself insignificance and irrelevance. She prefers personal peace and affluence instead. She has camouflaged herself to resemble the surrounding, God-hating culture at an alarming rate. “If you want to grow your church,” the Christian guru’s equivalent of Madison Avenue tells us, “don’t speak about sin.” But she has little to say when the Church banishes sin from her consciousness. Television news never speaks of sin, even though they dance around it constantly. Adultery or having an affair is not evil, it merely creates problems. Premarital sex is constantly Hollywood approved. Driving 85 in a 65 MPH zone is not wrong unless you get stopped. Nothing is immoral about hating someone, even in your heart. Sin is never politically correct. 

The following biblical doctrines became foundational during the Reformation. If preached and taught today, they will stanch her bleeding and restore the Church to health. It is equally valid that if you are a First Responder, combat veteran, abused female or child, or the spouse of any of these, the Bible’s God is very much involved in your pain. He did not stay in heaven observing your misery, but He came and wallowed in your refuse. But neither could your distress occur apart from His will, as we have seen. Jesus has become our faithful High Priest, shedding His blood and tasting death for His people. The Father’s love for His Son is infinitely greater than your love for your sin or your spouse or child. The Father did not spare His unique Son but instead crushed Jesus on behalf of all who believe in Him alone for redemption from God's coming wrath. Jesus knows the pain of separation from His Father, but always with His people in mind. 

Below, I want to delve into the benefits Christ Jesus secured for all who will believe in Him alone. What I mean by benefits is that Jesus obeyed His Father in all things and merited or earned divine justice for His people—He earned these rewards for everyone who believes. The Father, therefore, out of pure justice, rewarded the Son with a people who could never be taken from Him (Jn. 6:39-40, 44-45; 17:2-3, 6, 9-12, 16, 21-24). These people and these alone have received a new nature, and although they sin daily, their minds serve God, delighting in His rules/law, yet struggle with fleshly lusts until death (Rom. 7:25).

The list below provides an abbreviated list of the benefits Christ won for all who trust in Him alone, as mentioned in the Heidelberg Catechism of 1563. It pains me to keep this list to just a few advantages Christ provides for trusting in Him, but se la guerre (that's war). It is crucial that we never separate Christ from His benefits. There are no benefits apart from Christ.

Benefits of the Life, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension Work of Christ

A.     Acceptance by God

• Original righteousness in Eden was not only a conformity of our nature with the law of God but also divine acceptance and approval. This was lost in Adam's sin (Gen. 3)

• A Christian is acceptable to God because of Christ, the Mediator (Rom. 15:7).

• The believer is acceptable by the imputation of the merit and righteousness of Christ (Gen. 15:1-6; Gal. 3:6-9).

B.     Baptism

• In Christ’s death, we become the partakers of all the benefits of his death (Eph. 1:3ff), just as if we had died with Him in His death (Rom. 6. 

• We also died to sin when God united us to Christ. 

• The Holy Spirit kills the lusts/desires of our flesh by our union with Jesus' death (Rom. 6:2. Those desires die slowly each day.

• In union with Jesus, God has raised us to a new life. In this life it is merely a taste of what will be in the new heavens and new earth (Rev. 21:1ff)

• The Holy Spirit binds us to the death of the old sinful desires (man) in our baptism.

• Jesus, being rich, was made poor at his birth, and being poor his entire life, was made rich again at His ascension to the Father's right hand (Phil. 2:. 

• In Jesus, we become rich (Eph. 1:3ff; 2 Cor. 8:9)

C.     Christ’s Blood Shed for Us

• Through Christ's blood, he (the Christian) has the forgiveness of sins (Eph. 1:7). 

• By faith, the believer slowly fixes his eye on the blood. 

• By the Spirit, the believer daily realizes the forgiveness Jesus' blood proclaims and the blessedness of which that forgiveness is the source.

• Our status is locked up in the finished blood work of Christ.

• Through it, we are brought near and kept near to God. For thus it is written, ‘Now in Christ Jesus, you who were far off are made near by the blood of Christ’ (Eph. 2:13). 

• This sacrifice enabled us to draw near ‘with a true heart and in full assurance of faith,’ keeping us in faith.

• Through Jesus' blood, the Christian possesses eternal life. 

• Christ's blood is his security and the foundation of his claim to eternal life.

• Worry fades away into the blood of Christ, for He covered all your sins.

• Jesus's blood covers the person as with a garment in the presence of God (Job 29:14; Isa. 59:17; Zech. 3:4; Rev. 3:4).

D.     Christ’s Death on Our Behalf

• Christ, by his death, has obtained the cancellation of our sin (Heb. 9:22).

• The Holy Spirit indwells us (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19; Jas. 4:5).

• Only the elect who will believe in Jesus by faith, have the effectiveness of Jesus' death applied to them by the Spirit and the merit of Christ’s death, & do obtain righteousness and life (Jn. 16:7; Col. 2:10; 1 Cor. 1:30).

• He receives us into God’s favor (Gen. 6:8; Gal. 1:10).

• At the Lord's Supper, we are never encouraged to look to our performance, instead we remember what Christ has done on our behalf. The Supper is a testimony of God's faithfulness to us.

E.     Christ Obeyed the Law for Us 

• His perfect obedience was placed into our account, and God only sees us as righteous.

F.    Death Defeated

• Jesus defeated death in us (2 Tim. 1:10).

• He first overcame it himself in His resurrection (Heb. 2:14; Rev. 1:18).

• He fulfilled what was predicted: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death where is your sting? O grave where is your victory.” (Hos. 16:14; 1 Cor. 15:55; Isa. 42:21; Rom. 8:3-4; Rom. 3:21-31; Isa. 42:6-7; 1 Thess. 1:10).

• His death became the mediator to deliver us and overcome death entirely (Rom. 6:2-5).

G.     Eternal Life

• Our death is not a satisfaction (The price Jesus paid as compensation) for our sin, but only a dying to sins each day and entering into eternal life.

• Christ, possessed of supreme and divine majesty, intercedes for all the elect, and He applies to us his sacrifice, that the Father, by and for His sake, may bestow upon us eternal life (Jn. 3:16).

• It is an abolishing of the remains of sin. 

• Death is our passage into eternal life. It is the transition of the faithful to eternal life, is affected by temporal death. (We are faithful only because the Holy Spirit has conformed us to the image of Christ each day.The Bible is about God's faithfulness to His people, not their faithfulness to Him.)

H.    Faith

• Our faith, like repentance (2 Tim. 2:25), is a divine gift Christ won for us (Eph. 2:8-9; Heb. 11:1; Rom. 10:17; Phil. 1:29

• Our faith is infused with greater strength in His mediation (Lk. 22:32).

I.    Forgiveness of  Sins 

• For the sake of Christ’s satisfaction (justice), God will no longer remember my sins nor the sinful nature with which I have to struggle all my life long (Isa. 43:25; Rom. 8:1; Col. 2:13). 

• Christ merited (what He earned by His obedience) this forgiveness for us without the intervention of any reward on our part (Ex. 34:7; Ps. 78:38; Lk. 7:49; 17:10). 

• Our sins are pardoned and canceled for Christ’s sake (Mt. 9:6; Mk. 2:7; Jn. 17:1-2, 6, 9; Col. 2:13-15).

J.     Fruits of  Christ at the Father’s Right Hand 

• He gathers, governs, and preserves the church (Mt. 16:18; Acts 9:31; 1 Cor. 1:2). 

• Christ glorifies the Church (Rom. 8:30) and wipes all tears from their eyes (Rev. 21:4).

• Christ places them upon his throne (1 Cor. 6:1-3; 2 Tim. 2:12; 1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:6; 5:10).

• We obtain this precious comfort (2 Cor. 1:3-7; Isa. 9:6-7; Jn. 18:36; Rev. 19:13, 16; Eph. 5:23; Heb. 2:14-15; Heb. 2:11-12).

K.     Fruits of  the priesthood of the glorified Christ

• He alone has the power of offering himself for His people.

• Christ intercedes for the elect alone otherwise all would be saved (Rom. 8:34).

• Christ gathers, governs, and preserves the church by His Word and Spirit. 

• Christ defends the church against all her enemies. 

• Christ rejects and will ultimately destroy the enemies of the church.

• Christ glorifies the church and ultimately removes all the infirmities to which it is subject Lk. 22:69; Col. 3:1; Heb. 2:17; 9:14; Jn. 10:28; 17:24).

L.     God’s children 

• We may also know if the Holy Spirit dwells in us by the testimony that he bears with our spirit that we are the children of God (Rom. 8:16). 

• We now have comfort at death, joy in afflictions, a firm purpose to persevere in faith, unutterable groans, and fervent prayers, together with a sincere profession of Christianity, are most certain evidences and lists of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:3).

• God regards us as his children out of His mere grace and mercy (Lk. 20:36; Jn. 1:12; Rom. 8:16).

• As children of God, we are handed a new wardrobe (Isa. 61:10)

• We have a uniform with “Justified” embroidered on the front to remind us of our status. This is permanently ours.

• Nothing we ever do or fail to do can cause the Father to take our family crest away.

• He also provides new food. The Father constantly feeds us by His simple means of grace. 

• Bread and wine are given to celebrate time and time again the joy of our salvation & God's faithfulness to us. 

• Christ comes and communes with us, assuring us we belong to Him. “I am faithful to My promises. I have promised to make you Mine, and you are Mine.” (Jn. 13:16ff)

• From Genesis forward, sinners are redeemed not by their own faithfulness but always by the faithfulness of a gracious God.

• The Father places us into local families. These families (churches) are for the care and protection of His precious children. Church is never where we prove ourselves to the Father. The Father never questions who belongs to Him. We are reminded of whom we belong to. We often fall into fear and doubt because of the sin that remains. We find our reminder to rest not in ourselves but in Christ. 

• We are refreshed and drink His Word week after week as the means of grace (Eph. 4:11ff).

• We are good because the Son has provided our needed status.

M.     The  Gospel 

• Scripture and experience testify that the remedy of sin and death is the Gospel freely offered to all. 

• It is effectually applied and profitable only to those who believe.

• It declares the promise of grace (Jn. 1:17).

• It reveals God's power in the work of Christ for the believer (Heb. 1:1-3).

• It provides Christ's righteousness imputed to us through faith alone (Rom. 4:1-3). 

• It tells us we can be just before God (Rom. 4:6-9; Gal. 3:6-9).

• It proclaims the imputation of Christ’s righteousness. The gospel says, “Only believe.” (Mk. 5:36).

• God ought to destroy me for my faithlessness. Instead, He crushed Jesus in my place (Isa. 53).

N.     Grace

• Jesus willed to die for the elect alone, bringing into view the effectiveness of his death for them. 

• Christ sufficiently merits or earns grace and life for the elect alone.  

• The Holy Spirit applies these benefits to us when we believe so we obtain the efficacy of his merits by faith alone (Jn. 2:2; Eph. 1:2; 1 Pet. 1:2; Eph. 2:8-9).

• God graciously receives us into his favor (Gen. 6:8; Dan. 1:9; Acts 7:46; 2 Cor. 6:2).

O.     Guilt Removed

• According to the order of divine justice, the innocent ought not to suffer for the guilty. Justice demands the offender's punishment. But Christ was an innocent person. Therefore, his punishment opposes the rule of justice because he, being innocent, suffered for us, who were guilty.

• Christ saves us from the evil of guilt; “he shall save his people from their sins.” (Mt. 1:21).

• God freed us from the evil both of punishment and guilt on account of the death of Christ (Ps. 32:5; Jer. 33:8; Rom. 8:1; Heb. 9:14).

P.     Holiness

• The Spirit of God rules over our spiritual bodies, which is immortal and free from all misery, adorned with heavenly splendor, glory, activity, strength, and holiness.

• It begins our conformity with God (Rom. 6:5; 8:29; Eph. 4:24).

• Christ’s innocence and perfect holiness cover my sin, wherein it conceived me in the sight of God.

• Sanctification (holiness) is in this life imperfect (Rom. 8:13; Phil. 1:6; Heb. 2:11; 1 Cor. 1:30; Heb. 10:10). 

Q.     Holy Spirit

• The Mediator works faith in us by giving us the Holy Spirit, that we may embrace and not reject this benefit which is offered unto us because there can be no reconciliation unless each party consents: “He works in us both to will and to do.” (Phil. 2:13).

• Christ, at length, effects this promise in us by giving us his Holy Spirit and everlasting life.

• The Holy Spirit bears witness with my Spirit that I am a child of God (Rom. 8:14-15).

• Christ obtained for us the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:15; 8:23).

R.     Intercession of Christ

• Jesus prays for all the elect (Jn. 14:16-17; Rom. 8:26-27, 34, 34; Heb. 7:24).   

• By Jesus’s influence with God, He can easily reconcile us to the Father by making justification, petition, and intercession on our behalf.

• Without Christ’s guarantee, intercession finds no place, not even with men, much less with God.

• Neither can we be reconciled to God except intercession be made on our behalf (Lk. 22:32; 23:34).

S.     The Mediator

• “There is one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Tim. 2:5).

• We obtain the forgiveness of sins for the sake of the Son of God, our Mediator.

• The works and miracles of Christ establish His claims to the office of Mediator (Jn 5:36; 10:38; 7:31; Mt. 11:4, 5).

• Christ, the mediator, grants free remission of sins through faith only.

• But God, in Himself, can neither suffer nor die. It follows, therefore, that such a mediator is required who is both God and man (Jn. 1:17; Gal. 3:19; 1 Tim. 2:5-6).

• Christ appeases the anger of God (Rom. 3:25; Heb. 2:17; 1 Jn. 2:2).

• Christ intercedes and makes satisfaction for their sins (Heb. 9:15; Jn. 3:16; Eph. 2:4; 1 Jn. 4:10, 19).

• Christ ever has been the person through whom the Father creates and makes alive all things (Jn. 1:4).

T.    The  Merits of Christ

• We are justified by the merits (earnings, perfect work) of Christ by faith alone.

• Christ secures the pardon of sin (Heb. 9:14; Lk. 22:20; 1 Jn. 1:7. 

• Christ has performed the one obedient act of righteousness the many (the elect) are made righteous and their sins canceled (Rom 5:18, 19) 

• God grants us the Holy Spirit. 

• God renews in us Christ's image. (Rom. 5:9, 10; Gal. 4:6).

• Our Mediator is a perfect Savior in merit and efficacy.

U.     Preservation and Perseverance

• Christ also continually preserves me that I may neither faint nor fall from his grace (Jn. 3:16; 6:37-40).

• Our Lord defends and preserves us under trials (Rom. 5:3-5; Gal. 6:9; Heb. 10:36).

• Christ makes our suffering work together for our good (Rom. 8:28-30).

• Christ protects us even to the end (Jn. 17:12; 10:28). 

V.     Punishment

• Those who reject Christ shall come forth to everlasting punishment (Dan. 12:2; Jn. 5:28; Rev. 3:21; 7:13; Mt. 13:43; 25:41, 46).

• God’s remission of sin does away with the punishment of sin for the elect.

• God will not punish us on account of our sins in our union with Christ (Ps. 103:10; Rom. 8:1).  

• When sin is introduced or committed, punishment follows (Gen. 3:7ff). 

• When God takes sin away in the death of Christ, punishment is at the same time removed.

W.     Redemption

• Christ has redeemed me from the power of death (Eph. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:30; Eph. 4:30; Titus 2:14) 

• Through Him, I shall come forth from death unto eternal life.

• Christ has redeemed us in respect to God (1 Cor. 2:2; Col. 2:10; Rom. 5:19: Isa.53:5, 6; Lk. 22:20; Rom. 3:24, 25; 4:7; 5:9, 10; 2 Cor. 8:9; Gal. 3:13; Eph. 1:7; 1 Jn. 1:7) 

• Christ paid to God our ransom from slavery to sin (Ex. 12).

• Christ secures our redemption (Heb. 9:12).

X.      Regeneration

• The effects of election comprehend the entire work of our salvation, including faith, justification, and regeneration.

• Christ has made satisfaction for us and regenerates us (Jn. 1:12-13; 3:3; Col. 2:13).

• The Holy Spirit renews our nature (Tit. 3:5).

• Christ rose for our regeneration (1 Pet. 1:3).  

• We are not to imagine that we can have remission (cancellation of a believer’s sin’s debt) of sins without regeneration (Col. 2:14). 

Y.     Resurrection

• Jesus’s resurrection is assuredly a sure evidence and pledge of our resurrection (1 Cor. 15:20). 

• We could not continue in death (Jn. 5:24; 6:39; Acts 24:15; 2 Cor. 5:1; Phil. 3:21).

• Christ has rendered complete and sufficient satisfaction on our behalf (Rom. 3:25b-31).

• The resurrection of Christ the Mediator was necessary for our justification.

• Jesus’s satisfaction would not have been perfect without His resurrection. 

Z.     Righteousness/Justification

• God declares and grants to us righteousness by faith in Christ (Gen. 15:6; Rom. 5:17).

• Christ is our justification (Rom. 10:4).

• Righteousness consists in the imputation (transfer) of Jesus's righteousness (Gen. 15:6  

• God has punished the sins of all who believe in Christ. He will not, therefore, punish original as well as actual sins nor sins of commission or omission in us. “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 Jn. 1:9). 

• That by the power of His Godhead, Christ might bear in His manhood the burden of God’s wrath and so obtain for and restore to us righteousness and life.

• God’s righteousness is everlasting.

• Christ is “THE LORD, OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (Jer. 28:6).

AA.    Sealing

• The Holy Spirit has sealed us for the day of salvation (Eph. 1:13-14).

BB.     Satan

• Christ delivers us from the power of the devil so that sin, death, and Satan have no control over us (Heb. 2:14; 1 Jn. 3:8).

• Christ has broken the power of the devil (Col. 1:13; 2:15; Mt. 4:1ff; 1 Jn. 3:8; 4:4; Jn. 12:31; 1 Jn. 3:8; Jude 6; Rev. 20:1-3; Lk. 10:17).

CC.     Works

• Yet our works are, nevertheless, acceptable to God in Christ the Mediator through faith (Acts 26:20; Eph. 2:10; Phil. 2:12; Titus 2:14; 3:8; Jas. 2:17-18).

• Christ gives us a sincere desire to obey God (Rom. 7:25).

• God accepts our works on the merit, satisfaction, and intercession of Christ imputed unto us by faith alone.

• Christ's satisfaction covers the believer’s imperfect works.

• Our election comprehends the entire work of our salvation, including good works (Eph. 2:10).

• Our good works are also covered in our status as righteous. It is a new experience to imperfectly obey and know the Father will accept it.