One of the more interesting aspects of this section is that all of major verses that people quote will appear as citations. These come from all over the Bible. The Old Testament citations come primarily from the prophets, while the whole New Testament is cited. I have broken this section on the Son into three parts for easier consumption. Here is part one.
Of God The Son
11. Lord's DayQuestion 29. Why is the Son of God "Jesus" called a Savior?
Answer: Because He saves us, and delivers us, from our sins; (Matthew1:21, Hebrews 7:24-25) and likewise, because we ought not to seek, neither can we find, salvation in any other. (Acts 4:12, John 15:4-5; 1 Timothy 2:5; Isaiah43:11; 1 John 5:11)
Question 30. Do such then believe in Jesus the only Savior, who seek their salvation and welfare of saints, of themselves, or anywhere else?
Answer: They do not; for though they boast of him in words, yet in deeds they deny Jesus the only deliverer and Savior; (1 Corinthians 1:13,30-31; Galatians 5:4) for one of these two things must be true, that either Jesus is not a complete Savior; or that they, who by a true faith receive this Savior, must find all things in him necessary to their salvation. (Hebrews 12:2,Isaiah 9:6, Colossians 1:19-20, 2:10; 1 John 1:7; John 1:16)
Sola Christus. In addition, we see true faith again. All of the components of the Reformed tradition will be brought out over the next week.
12. Lord's DayQuestion 31. Why is he called "Christ", that is anointed?
Answer: Because he is ordained of God the Father, and anointed with the Holy Ghost, (Psalms 45:8, Hebrews 1:9, Isaiah 61:1, Luke 4:18) to be our chief Prophet and Teacher, (Deuteronomy 18:15, Acts 3:22, 7:37; Isaiah 55:4) who has fully revealed to us the secret counsel and will of God concerning our redemption; (John 1:18, 15:15) and to be our only High Priest, (Psalms 110:4) who by the one sacrifice of his body, has redeemed us, (Hebrews 10:12, 14,9:12, 14, 28) and makes continual intercession with the Father for us; (Romans 8:34,Hebrews 9:24; 1 John 2:1; Romans 5:9-10) and also to be our eternal King, who governs us by his word and Spirit, and who defends and preserves us in that salvation, he has purchased for us. (Psalms 2:6, Zechariah 9:9, Matthew 21:5, Luke1:33, Matthew 28:18, John 10:28, Revelation 12:10-11)
Question 32. But why art thou called a Christian? (Acts 11:26)
Answer: Because I am a member of Christ by faith, (1 Corinthians 6:15) and thus am partaker of his anointing; (1 John 2:27, Acts 2:17) that so I may confess his name, (Matthew 10:32, Romans 10:10, Mark 8:38) and present myself a living sacrifice of thankfulness to him: (Romans 12:1; 1 Peter 2:5, 9; Revelation5:8, 10, 1:6) and also that with a free and good conscience I may fight against sin and Satan in this life (1 Peter 2:11; Romans 6:12-13; Galatians 5:16-17, Ephesians6:11; 1 Timothy 1:18-19) and afterwards I reign with him eternally, over all creatures. (2 Timothy 2:12; Matthew 24:34)
If you missed it, question 31 spells out the three offices of Christ: Prophet, Priest and King. This is important because the expectations of the Jews for the messiah were different. Mostly, they wanted a king with military might to out the Romans. But also, they did not expect a prophet, priest and king all in one person. They had encountered all of the above in their past, but never all in the same person.
Question 32 is about sola fide, but also about Christian Living. The accusations concerning reformed and practical application abound, so there it was, the first section on Christian living. The Reformed believe that if you get the doctrine right, the Christian living flows obviously from it. It really isn't that hard to find practical application. But getting the doctrine correct is fundamentally essential. Remember, Paul always answers questions about Christian living by first reviewing the doctrine. Perhaps, Paul is right about this.
13. Lord's DayQuestion 33. Why is Christ called the "only begotten Son" of God, since we are also the children of God?
Answer: Because Christ alone is the eternal and natural Son of God; (John 1:1-3, 14, 18; Hebrews 1:1-2; John 3:16; 1 John 4:9; Romans 8:32) but we are children adopted of God, by grace, for his sake. (Romans 8:15-17; John 1:12,Galatians 4:6, Ephesians 1:5-6)
Question 34. Wherefore calls thou him "our Lord"?
Answer: Because he hath redeemed us, both soul and body, from all our sins, not with silver or gold, but with his precious blood, and has delivered us from all the power of the devil; and thus has made us his own property. (1 Peter 1:18-19, 2:9; 1 Corinthians 6:20, 7:23; 1 Timothy 2:6; John20:28)
We were due the Trinitarian statement, but this is more than that. The idea of adoption is going to be huge, particularly for we Gentiles. In this particular context, however, the role of adoption is linked to propitiation and imputation concerning salvation.
As we move through the next two sections, keep this first section on the Son in mind.
--Troll--
No comments:
Post a Comment