HC: Lords Day 32 ‘Christ the end of the law for righteousness’

Remembering the Structure of the Catechism which is none other than the pattern found in the Scripture’s; is guilt grace gratitude. You will not have a desire for the grace of God until you’ve discovered your guilt or misery.

Question 3

Whence knowest thou thy misery?

Out of the law of God.

Romans 3:20 “20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

The catechism shows that man has brought himself into an irreparable state. He deserves both temporal and eternal punishment, and God will have his justice satisfied. Satisfaction must be made by ourselves, or by another(Q12). A gleam of hope. Which the catechism goes on to open up the person of Christ, the God-man.

And upon the discovery of the grace of God in Christ, by the work of the Spirit, the believer, now delivered form all misery, is set on a path of good works. So we’ve gone from law to gospel, and now where do we go? We are back to the law. Question 32 is the first question of the third and last section ‘Of Thankfulness’

Why the law? Why back to the law? It’s a good question. The answer we are going to see is that it is of a fundementally different use, and from a different hand or from a different covenant.

Now to our question.

Its really the question that human reasoning poses. Fallen or unfallen. If Christ has already paid it all, if he has already satisfied for all my sins and righteousness, if I’m already accepted by God in him, freely and fully, then is any further satisfaction needed? Why are good works still necessary? Glad you asked says Ursinus. This is a dialogue. The reasoner poses a question, and the pastor answers.

Historic Creeds and Confessions Question 86

Question 86

Since then we are delivered from our misery, merely of grace, through Christ, without any merit of ours, why must we still do good works?

Because Christ, having redeemed and delivered us by his blood, also renews us by his Holy Spirit, after his own image; that so we may testify, by the whole of our conduct, our gratitude to God for his blessings, and that he may be praised by us; also, that every one may be assured in himself of his faith, by the fruits thereof; and that, by our godly conversation others may be gained to Christ.

R. Scott Clark - The rhetorical effect of the ordering of the phrases is to teach us to discuss good works only after reiterating the biblical, Protestant, and Reformed conviction that redemption (salvation) is by grace alone, through faith alone. To make it crystal clear, the catechism rejects any notion that we sinners have merit of any kind, condign or congruent, relative to our standing before God."

So why are good works necessary? We’ll spend our time answering this question under 3 points

Because the regenerating work and sanctifying work of the Spirit are inseparable. It demonstrates that you are, in fact, regenerate which affords great comfort to the believer.

Romans 8:30 “30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.”

1 Corinthians 6:11 “11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”

There is a new principal in the believer, by the Spirit of God. There are no believers who are justified and not washed and sanctified. To the Romans text, there are no believers who are justified who will not also be glorified. Implies Sanctification. The believer is both positionally sanctified ( God looks at you as he looks on his own Son, even now), and progressively being sanctified( by the Spirit in you, he is at work to will and to work).

Context: The indestructible nature of the love and salvation of God as a motive for both good works and perseverance.

Those whom Christ redeems he also renews by his Holy Spirit.

If the Spirit, the Lord and giver of life is in you, what is he doing?

Ursinas-

Because Christ has merited both, viz., the remission of sins and the habitation of God within us by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, now, is never inactive but is always efficacious, and so brings it to pass that those in whom he dwells are made conformable to God. ~Ursinus

Ursinus wants to get Lloyd the legalist out, and false converts to consider where they are.

There is a necessary new principal in the believer

The radical new nature is not you becoming a nice person, but of Christ in you. This principal must be pressed over and over again to us as Christians.

Justification and Sanctification cannot be separated.

Romans 6:3–4 “3 Or do you not know(common knowledge) that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

Roman six what’s the logic here having been justified having the grace of God lavished upon us in Jesus righteous life where sin abounds, much more shall grace abound. shall we sin that grace may abound? answer no. Why? How could we who have died to sin still living in it? The implied answer is we can’t we don’t

The New King James Version Chapter 6

8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

There are many who are doing all sorts of good, generous, and kind deeds from a dead heart, without any acknowledgement that it is Christ by his Spirit in them that works. Without it being from the motive of gratitude. Christians lose sight of this. Parents forget this and raise their kids merely to look like Christians without any comments or consideration of their heart.

What does God think of good works done from an unregenerate heart?

It is also affords comfort to the believer

2 Peter 1:10 “10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;”

what are these things?

2 Peter 1:5–7 “5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.”

Matthew 7:17 “17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.”

How many apple trees are going to produce oranges this year? 0. You know the tree by its fruit. What does it produce. Good fruit, good tree.

To conclude the first point, good works show forth the inseperable work of God in justification and sanctification. And afford great comfort to the believer.

2. That we might show forth our thanks to God for the blessings of redemption. There is a principal of love towards God in the new creature. Dutiful love and thanks.

Romans 6:13 “13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”

You might think, But, I just recieved the gift of righteousness. What need for further righteousness? But notice how the text says not for righteousness, but presenting…. as instruments……. to God.

Romans 12:1 “1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”

1 Peter 2:5 “5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” ,1 Peter 2:9 “9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;”

Luke 1:74–75 “74 To grant us that we, Being delivered from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear, 75 In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.”

Close to our first consideration, it is the fruit of faith.

Galatians 5:6 “6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.” ‘

Galatians 5:22 “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,”

3. It tends to the conversion of others. Others will see your good works, will see Christ in you and be converted.

Matthew 5:16 “16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

1 Peter 3:1 “1 Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives,”

Your conduct plays a roll in how God would convert sinners. Sometimes we are chastized because God is blasphemed on account of Christians. These text shows that it can win people to Christ.

Conclude

Lastly, we want to consider the way and the from whom we receive the law and pursue good works.

From whose hands do you receive the law, from the hand of Moses or the hand of Christ. The Christian receives the law from the hands of Christ, hands with holes in them that bore our sins on the cross already, the hands of one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has already ascended to the hill of the Lord.

Romans 10:3–5 “3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. 5 For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, “The man who does those things shall live by them.””

To be under the law for righteousness, is to be under its demands of exact perpetual obedience. The one who does this will live. From Adam, through Moses up until now, this is what it is to be under the law. The one who does, lives, the one who doesn’t is under the curse.

The gospel is that you do not receive the law in this way. Because Christ is the end of the law for rightesousness to those who believe. He is the goal. It all pointed to him. It terminates upon Christ.

Galatians 3:24 “24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”

If you have believed in Christ, you are not under law, but under grace. “Not under law though in terms of its claim to entire and exact obedience”. To be under grace is not for the law to be abolished, but to receive it from a different hand.

Romans 6:14–16 “14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! 16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?”

What is the standard of righteousness? The law. But its now from Christ. Live and do this says Christ, Moses says do this and live.

Perhaps thinking of it in another way will help us as we move forward in considering good works an the law. The Christian having been liberated from bondage to sin and death, now has opportunity out of love, to be conformed to the image of Jesus. To be more like Jesus. That is what the pursuit of the law is. This gives both the right motive and the right One to be looking at. When you sin and repent, even in that moment you are seeing how glorious our savior is in his perfect and spotless person. Its all about Jesus and his glory. Don’t lose sight of this as we consider the law here in more depth in the weeks ahead.

If your view or thought of the law is not to gaze at the beauty of Christ( who is the end of it), then you fundamentallyhave a non christian view of the law.

The law is not a burden, it delights us, we see in it the glory of our Lord.

It increases our longing for the beatific vision.

May it be so as we consider the commands in the days ahead.