Subject: does this mean a person is unforgiven |
Bible Note: Dear King, Merit is a matter of that which is earned. What we have earned is death (Romans 6:23). Redemption is a matter of grace (Ephesians 2:8-10). Wages are what is justly deserved by the one who works; a gift is undeserved, otherwise it would be a wage (Romans 4:4-5). If the slightest amount of merit is introduced, then grace evaporates (Romans 11:6). The price of redemption was not paid to the world. "The Lord Jesus, by His perfect obedience and sacrifice of Himself, which He through the eternal Spirit once offered up unto God, hath fully satisfied the justice of God (Hebrews 9:14; 10:14; Romans 3:25-26), procured reconciliation, and purchased an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of heaven for all those whom the Father hath given unto Him (John 17:2; Hebrews 9:15)." (LBCF chapter 8, paragraph 5) Romans 10:13 is not an expression of condition (if a then b) but of inclusion -- note the context (v12). One must take care not to confuse imperatives with indicatives. "If anyone says that God has mercy upon us when, apart from his grace, we believe, will, desire, strive, labor, pray, watch, study, seek, ask, or knock, but does not confess that it is by the infusion and inspiration of the Holy Spirit within us that we have the faith, the will, or the strength to do all these things as we ought; or if anyone makes the assistance of grace depend on the humility or obedience of man and does not agree that it is a gift of grace itself that we are obedient and humble, he contradicts the Apostle who says, 'What have you that you did not receive?' (1 Corinthians 4:7), and, 'But by the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Corinthians 15:10).'" (Canon 5 of the Council of Orange) "These [good] works, as they proceed from the good root of faith, are good and acceptable in the sight of God, forasmuch as they are all sanctified by His grace. Nevertheless they are of no account towards our justification, for it is by faith in Christ that we are justified, even before we do good works; otherwise they could not be good works, any more than the fruit of a tree can be good before the tree itself is good. Therefore we do good works, but not to merit by them (for what can we merit?); nay, we are indebted to God for the good works we do, and not He to us, since it is He who worketh in us both to will and to work, for his good pleasure. Let us therefore attend to what is written: When ye shall have done all the things that are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which it was our duty to do. In the meantime we do not deny that God rewards good works, but it is through His grace that He crowns His gifts." (Belgic Confession Article 24) "...we confess that the good works which we do proceed from his Spirit, and can not be accounted to us for justification." (French Confession Article 22) See also the Heidelberg Catechism, questions 62 through 64; Savoy Declaration of Faith, chapter 16; Second Helvetic Confession, chapter 16, paragraph 4; the Thirty-Nine Articles, article 12; the Waldensian Confession, Articles 20 to 23; and the Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 16. In Him, Doc |