SECOND LONDON BAPTIST CONFESSION OF FAITH

-As the world’s eyes look to the Middle East, we see proof of what the Bible says. No, I am not talking about end time prophecies, although I’m sure many are trying to fit these events into their plans. But I am talking about the truth about what happened to humanity—how far they truly have fallen from God’s original plan. You have terrorists gliding into a music festival and start shooting down everyone in sight. You have terrorists crossing borders, killing innocent bystanders and then driving around displaying their half-naked dead bodies. You have terrorists kidnapping families and doing who knows what to the women and children.

-Such evil. Such vile disregard for life. Such a bold display of the wickedness of the human heart. But it stems from a condition that all of humanity suffers from—SIN. If everyone has this same condition, why isn’t everybody doing these same things? Is there a cure to this dilemma? How do we look at and process such callous displays of evil? The Bible has the explanation for sin and the answer for sin. The creeds and confessions summarize what the Bible teaches about this universal problem. We’ve been using the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith as a starting point for discussion. Two weeks ago looking at the beginning of Chapter 6 we learned that although humanity was made perfect, they were tempted and deceived into falling from their position from grace, and this affected all who would follow. This is further touched upon in the final paragraphs of chapter 6, this is what it says:

Confessing the Faith: The 1689 Baptist Confession for the 21st Century (VI. The Fall of Mankind, and Sin and Its Punishment)

6:3 By God’s appointment, they [Adam and Eve] were the root and the representatives of the whole human race. Because of this, the guilt of their sin was accounted, and their corrupt nature passed on, to all their offspring who descended from them by ordinary procreation. Their descendants are now conceived in sin and are by nature children of wrath, the servants of sin, and partakers of death and all other miseries—spiritual, temporal, and eternal—unless the Lord Jesus sets them free.

6:4 All actual transgressions arise from this first corruption. By it we are thoroughly biased against, and disabled and antagonistic toward all that is good, and we are completely inclined toward all that is evil.

6:5 During this life, this corruption of nature remains in those who are regenerated. Even though it is pardoned and put to death through Christ, yet both this corruption of nature and all actions arising from it are truly and actually sin.

-Adam and Eve were created perfect and were in a covenant of obedience with God. When they willfully disobeyed, their descendants received the aftereffects of the curses placed upon them for their disobedience. When Adam and Eve sinned, they were changed—they became spiritually dead and their bodies were given over to corruption that would lead to physical death. Their nature was changed from what it was. And now that nature is passed down to all of their descendants. Everything, then, that makes a person a person was corrupted by that original act of disobedience. Paul says:

Titus 1:15 NET 2nd ed.

15 All is pure to those who are pure. But to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their minds and consciences are corrupted.

-What Paul is saying here is that for all who have been made pure in Christ, they are pure and forgiven. But to those who are unbelieving and still stuck in the sin of Adam, their minds and consciences are corrupt and defiled. How can Hamas think of doing such unspeakable evils? Because their minds and consciences are corrupt and defiled? The nature passed down from Adam and Eve is corrupt and defiled. Paul just confirmed what Jeremiah said hundreds of years beforehand:

Jeremiah 17:9 NET 2nd ed.

9 The human mind is more deceitful than anything else. It is incurably bad. Who can understand it?

-Adam and Eve’s nature was corrupted, and that corruption is passed down by the normal means of procreation. Humans are conceived in sin—not saying that the act of conception is sinful, but the corruption starts from the moment of conception. David testified:

Psalm 51:5 NET 2nd ed.

5 Look, I was guilty of sin from birth, a sinner the moment my mother conceived me.

-This corruption of nature leads to corrupt acts. When we sin, we are merely acting out of the nature that had been handed down to us. We find:

James 1:14–15 NET 2nd ed.

14 But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. 15 Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death.

-Even Jesus witnessed:

Matthew 15:19 NET 2nd ed.

19 For out of the heart come evil ideas, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.

-From the fallen heart comes fallen acts. From the defiled heart come defiled acts. “Humanity does not accidentally commit sin; humanity lives out their sinful nature. The sinful tree bears sinful fruit. And we know

Romans 3:23 NET 2nd ed.

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

-And according to the Bible, this makes us children of wrath—objects of God’s justice

Ephesians 2:3 NET 2nd ed.

3 among whom all of us also formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath even as the rest …

-And if something is not done about the sinful nature and the sinful actions that result, we remain servants of sin, partakers of death, and receivers of spiritual, temporal, and eternal miseries. And without some sort of supernatural change, we will continually fall toward evil. We are not able to follow God and His ways and His laws.

Romans 8:7 NET 2nd ed.

7 because the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so.

Colossians 1:21 NET 2nd ed.

21 And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your minds as expressed through your evil deeds,

-All of humanity is depraved in mind and spirit. And yet, we all know pagans that are some of the most generous, philanthropic people that exist. We know some unbelievers that we like more than some believers. How do we account for this? How come some unbelievers give themselves over to such heinous acts like the Hamas terrorists, while others seem likely genuinely nice people? It is merely God’s common grace that He gives, restraining some people from performing wickedness whose seed resides in their hearts.

-I think of the story of Abraham, Sarah, and Abimelech. Abraham, the believer, lied about his relationship with Sarah, saying that she was his sister. Abimelech took Sarah to be one of his wives, and he did it thinking she was free. And God came to him in a dream and said:

Genesis 20:6 NET 2nd ed.

6 Then in the dream God replied to him, “Yes, I know that you have done this with a clear conscience. That is why I have kept you from sinning against me and why I did not allow you to touch her.

-For some reasons that God only knows, He restrains some and not others. We don’t know why, but it is according to His perfect wisdom and purpose and will. But it doesn’t matter if you have an unbelieving friend who is the next Mother Teresa or you look at the Hamas terrorist, the effects of sin are the same and the consequences of sin are the same. Both the nice atheist and the wicked terrorist have sin in their lives and are separated from God and need to be reconciled to God, and that is only through Jesus Christ. And, something we need to remember, we look at the Israelis in this conflict as being victims, but the Israelis are sinful and separated from God as well. They have rejected their Messiah and they need to come to faith as well, otherwise their eternal end is going to be the same as the nice atheist and the Hamas terrorist.

-And we need to pray for all of their salvations. And we need to be the tool God uses to lead them to Christ. And when someone comes to faith in Christ, they are gloriously saved, we are made new:

2 Corinthians 5:17 NET 2nd ed.

17 So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away—look, what is new has come!

-Yet, even though we are new, that doesn’t mean that we do not still contend with sin or the affects of the fall or the nature that Adam passed down to us. The corruption is still in us, but when we come to Jesus Christ we receive the Holy Spirit, and now there’s this war inside of us between our renewed spirit empowered by the Holy Spirit versus the corrupted flesh that we still deal with. That’s why we are encouraged:

Galatians 5:16–17 NET 2nd ed.

16 But I say, live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want.

-So, because of this, we do experience what Paul described in Romans 7 where he said:

Romans 7:18–25 NET 2nd ed.

18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I want to do the good, but I cannot do it. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but I do the very evil I do not want! 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me. 21 So, I find the law that when I want to do good, evil is present with me. 22 For I delight in the law of God in my inner being. 23 But I see a different law in my members waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that is in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

-The corrupted flesh wars against the renewed spirit. Yet, when we war against ourselves, and we fail and we sin, the gospel is so important to us because we are reminded that our sins are pardoned and put to death in Jesus Christ. We Christians still need the gospel as much as anybody. If we aren’t reminded of the gospel, we will give in to despair. We will cry out WHAT A WRETCHED MAN / WOMAN I AM. WHO WILL SAVE ME FROM THIS BODY OF DEATH—THIS FLESH THAT IS CORRUPT. And Paul gives the answer, THANKS BE TO GOD THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD.

-Maybe you are trapped in sin because you don’t yet know the Savior, and so you have no recourse. You are corrupt from head to toe. But if you trust in Jesus Christ you are made alive and spiritually well. You still deal with the consequences of the Fall of man physically and emotionally and mentally in some ways, but you are made new.

-But for the Christian, I encourage you to not give up on the battle. Yes, it is war. Yes, you will fall and fail. But put on your armor and keep moving forward, trusting that the Christ who saved you back then is able to save you now and unto the day of your glorification. Don’t lose heart. And so let’s pray for encouragement in this fight...