Question 40:
What are the benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from
justification, adoption, and sanctification?
Answer: The
benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and
sanctification, are, assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, fellowship
with Christ, joy in the Holy Spirit, increase of grace, the privilege of
prayer, and perseverance therein to the end.
Introduction
This
week’s catechism gives us quite a list of benefits. We could easily spend a number of weeks on
each one. To keep our study in a
reasonable time frame an still cover each benefit, I have chosen more of a
topical/textual method of study rather than expositing complete verses in their
full context. This gives us a format of
more of an overview than a complete study.
Feel free to diverge from this brief three-day guide. You may take a benefit a day and have a
lesson everyday of the week and/or break the verses down more and expand the
context given. Conform this study to
your family’s needs.
Day 1: Romans
5:1-2, 14:17, John 15:7
We
begin in Romans 5:1 where we see the results, the benefits of our
justification. Since God has justified
us by faith through all the measures of redemption by Jesus Christ that we
discussed a few weeks ago. Because of
the redemptive work of Christ, we have peace with God. Peace is eirene
meaning a state of national tranquillity, harmony, concord, security, safety,
prosperity, felicity, the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation
through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with our earthly
lot, whatever that is. It is not
necessarily a war verses peace scenario.
It is a state of being. It is a
“peace of conscience” signifying that this peace is of our minds. In many ways, the war has just begun as we
studied throughout 1 Peter. This is why
we must wield a sword, carry a shield, and put on a helmet (Ephesians 6). The good thing about this warfare is that we
are on the right side and we are more than conquerors. (Romans 8:31,37)
Our
redemption has brought peace to us in at least three ways. First and most important is that we are at
peace with God in terms of His judgement and wrath of our sin. We have been at war with God through our sin,
rebellion, and disdain for the things of God.
Revelation 20 shows us that those whose name are not written the Book of
Life will be cast into the lake of fire where they will be tormented day and
night forever and ever. But in
Revelation 21 we see the great blessing to those whose name is written in the
Lambs Books of Life: His people, those who dwell in His tabernacle, those who
overcome, those who are called His sons.
Secondly,
we are at peace with God through reconciliation. Man has been created wit this great desire
within him to worship. We fill our lives
with many things both religious and secular in order to seek either God’s
pleasure of some satisfaction of conscience.
Of course, there is no pleasing God or any satisfaction of conscience
apart from God’s own reconciliation through Christ Jesus. Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in
heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
(Matthew 11:28-29) The writer of
Hebrews (4:1-10) speaks of a Sabbath Day of rest showing that true peace of
conscience from our righteous striving comes in the completed work of Christ
who has sat down a the right hand of the Father (Hebrews 1:3, 10:12). No longer must we strive for our own
righteousness.
Thirdly,
we have peace from the worries and concerns of this life. The scripture references are many that prove
God to be our Great Provider. We see His
as our provider of spiritual peace (Ephesians 1), emotional peace (Psalm 23),
and physical peace (Matthew 6). Only God
can supply that contentment and godliness that is our great gain (1 Timothy
6:6). Only God can provide the peace
that surpasses all understanding that will guard our hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7).
Much
can be said of the purpose, pattern, and parts of prayer, but we will limit our
discussion to the privilege of prayer.
Everyone prays, so how is it to us a privilege that others who are apart
from Christ do not partake of? Many have
said that He only hears the prayers of His children. Is God omniscient in everything except the
prayers of unbelievers? I think not. Some have said that He is only obligated to
act upon the prayers of believers. This
is not true either. God does not take
orders from corruptible men, even believers.
James speaking to believers in chapter 4 verse 3 says, “You ask and do
not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your
pleasures.” (By the way, this is the
prayer of every sinner.) The difference
is that we now have access to the promises of God through prayer that are given
through us not by God’s obligation, but by His nature. 1 John 1:9 is a prime example of the
mechanism of prayer. “If we confess our
sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.” The prayer is that we
“confess our sins.” The promise is that
He will “forgive us our sins and clean us from all unrighteousness.” His divine nature is the guarantee of it:
“He is faithful and just.”
Romans
5:1 establishes that we are reconciled to God the Father. This peace with God through Christ results in
access in verse2. Access is the Greek is
prosagoge meaning access, approach,
our relationship with God where we are acceptable to him and have assurance
that He is favorably disposed towards us.
The root of this word carries the meaning of being near to God, intimately
aquatinted with. (Ephesians 2:13) This is rendered to us by faith (Greek pistis = conviction, confidence, belief)
which is the channel of all our blessings that we have seen in previous
lessons. The writer of Hebrews speaks to
the confidence that we have to approach God like the priest petitioning God in
the most sacred place of the Jews: the
This
is the grace in which we stand (Greek histemi)
or are established in which leads us to John 15:7. The key to understanding this verse is the
word abide and the context of the previous verses that compare the believer as
one who is joined to Christ as a branch is connected to the main vine. Abide is meno
in the Greek meaning to remain, abide (in a place). There are two abidings at work here. The first is that we abide in Christ or that
we are connected to the vine. We dwell
were Christ is in the perfect will of Father God. Secondly, His words (rhema) or sayings abide in us (some of which follow verse 7 to obey
His commands, to bear fruit, to love God).
Once this mutual abiding is established, we will ask (aiteo) what we desire or will (thelo) and it will be done (Greek = ginomai = to come to pass, future
indicative) as we ask. Since we have
this mutual abiding and our life’s desires flow from the vine we desire only
that we are branches bearing the fruit of our salvation. Christ Himself is our example in that He
abided in the Father who in turn fulfilled Christ’s desires, but Christ’s
desire was that not My will, but Yours (Father’s) be done (Matthew 26:39).
Discuss the following with your family:
1.
Poll your family
for things that they may be worried about (finances, job security, food, bad
circumstances, death, troubled relationships, sin, unrighteousness, rebellion,
etc.) and discuss how God brings peace in all these things using scripture
references given and others as necessary.
2.
Discuss how we do
not get all that we ask for because we “ask amiss.” What does this say for “name it, claim it”
theology?
3.
In the light of
what has been said above, what is the truth of James 5:13-16? Are faith healers for real?
4.
You may want to
review the pattern of prayer with your family given in Matthew 6:5-18 and Luke
11:1-4.
Day 2: Romans
5:3-5, 1 John 5:13, 1 Peter 1:5, Proverbs 4:18
Perseverance
is what some have called “once saved, always saved” and “eternal
security.” Our salvation is wrapped up
in God’s eternal purpose in saving us: “to be the praise of His glory.” (Ephesians 1:3) Thus to make it to that end He must persevere
to the end. It is worth noting that it
is God who works to persevere and preserve us.
By the grace of God, it is not up to us to keep our salvation by a
litany of works.
1
Peter 1:5 echoes Ephesians 1:3 showing that it is God’s power that keeps our
salvation till the last time. In verses
three and four Peter links Jesus’ resurrection with God keeping us. Our hope of resurrection from corruption to
an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, and never fading is secured by
Christ Jesus’ own resurrection from the dead.
If God had the power to raise Jesus then certainly He has the power to
keep us and resurrect us. The picture
from the Greek for kept (phroureo)
shows a city that has been besieged by a military campaign. Phroureo is the term used to describe
the garrison of soldier who guard or watch over the city. God does this with His dunamis power.
As
we have noted before, the best scripture reference for perseverance of the
saints is Romans 8:28-39 where we see God’s purpose for us beginning to end
(verses 28-30). We see in verses 31-32
that if God would send His Son to die for us while we were yet enemies then how
much more will He do to keep us now that we are reconciled. We see in verses 33-34 that the God who
justifies us will not at the same time condemn us. In verses 35-37 shows us that no circumstance
can overcome God’s love for us. Finally
verses 38-39 show us that no created thing can separate us from the love of
God.
In
Romans 5:3, we see that God does not make perseverance easy. It is compounded by tribulations. The Greek for perseverance is hupomone meaning steadfastness,
constancy, endurance signifying the characteristic of a man who is not swerved
from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the
greatest trials and sufferings. In
essence, God says that I AM in such control that the worst of tribulations can
come, but you will still be Mine. This
is the reality of Job. The flip side of
this truth is that tribulation will drive away the pretender. Trials drive the believer to righteousness
and the unbeliever to unrighteousness.
Proverbs4:18
gives us this beautiful picture of grace as it increases throughout the life of
the believer. As we go through life we
encounter difficulties, but as we go we see more and more God’s wonderful grace
in sustaining us and strengthening us as believers. His purpose becomes clearer for us as a light
shining brighter and we get yet a new picture of the image of God. The light grows brighter still until the Day
we meet the One who is the Light face to face and in that moment and for all
eternity grace will remain in its fullest.
Romans
5:3-5 shows us a progression on how grace increases and sustains us through all
our lives. We start with tribulations
that lead to perseverance that we looked at above. We see this most vividly in the life of Paul
concerning the thorn in his flesh. Paul
persevered and was even stronger through it.
Remember that Paul had this unbelievable
experience of being transported to the third heaven and he realized that the
messenger of Satan was given to humble him.
This was Paul’s reaction to God’s refusal to remove the thorn, “And He
said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in
weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that
the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in
persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am
strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)
Perseverance
then produces character. The word for
character in the Greek is dokime
speaking to trials or a character that has been proven through trials. Peter is a good example of perseverance
leading to proven character. There is
such a contrast to denying Simon in the Gospels to the shepherd Peter evidenced
by his pastor’s heart in his two epistles.
Character leads to hope. Hope in
the Greek is elpis speaking to our
ultimate assurance and satisfaction of our eternal salvation. Paul said in Philippians 1:20-21, “According
to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with
all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body,
whether by life or by death. For to me,
to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
When our days are over on earth even God will have grace sufficient even
unto death. (Reference Stephen in Acts
7:54-60)
Continuing in Romans 1:5, we see that this is a hope that
does not disappoint. Disappoint is kataischuno in the Greek and is usually
translated as ashamed, but here referring to one who could be deceived by a
false hope. Our hope in Christ does not
disappoint us because of God’s love being poured out (ekcheo) in our hearts. And
it is made manifest to us by God’s Holy Spirit.
Thus, if the presence and work of the Holy Spirit is evident in our
lives then we have the assurance of God’s love.
Paul speaks of the Holy Spirit in Ephesians 1:13-14 as our guarantee of
the redemption to come.
The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is not some abstract act,
but one that is evidenced by godly works as pointed out by the Apostle John in
1John 5:13. The whole purpose of John
writing his first letter was just to point out some of these workings of the
Holy Spirit by which we can find assurance of God’s love for us. Here is a listing of godly works from a quick
revue of 1 John: walk in the light not darkness, recognize our sins and confess
them, keep His commandments, abide in Him, love our brother not hate him, no
love for the world or the things of the world, continue with the brethren,
knows the truth, acknowledges the Son instead of denying Him, practice
righteousness, have purified ourselves, absence of sin and lawlessness, will
overcome false teachers, understanding to know what is true and of Christ, and
thus know we have eternal life.
In summary, our assurance comes from a changed life that
abhors sin, desires the meat of God’s word, and carries a willing witness of
the Gospel. Notice these things which
may today count as assurances that cannot be found here or elsewhere in
scripture: went to an altar and took the pastor’s hand, prayed “the prayer,”
were baptized, joined a church, were confirmed, and that you can remember a
day, place, and time of change. In
conclusion, our assurance of God’s love comes not in a decision we made some
time ago, but comes as we overcome trials and tribulations and grow in righteousness.
Discuss
the following with your family:
1.
Show your family
how nothing can keep them from God’s love using the material above with an
emphasis on Romans 8:28-39. Note that
our keeping is wrapped up in God’s eternal election.
2.
Share with you
children trials that you have gone through and how God’s grace has increased in
your own life.
3.
Contrast the
biblical assurances of God’s love against the non-biblical ones. Where are you putting your trust? After you answer the question for yourself,
you will be prepared to ask the same of your children.
Day 3: 1
Corinthians 1:9, Romans 5:2, 14:17
Let’s
look first at 1 Corinthians 1:9. We know
that Paul is writing this letter in strong rebuke to the church at
We
see the calling to fellowship with God’s Son in verse 9. The word in the Greek for fellowship is koinonia meaning fellowship,
association, community, communion, joint participation, intercourse,
participation. We see in this definition
the closest of relationships. This
speaks to the abiding that we saw in John 15:7.
We fellowship with the vine and all that is in Him flows to and through
us. We have looked before at 1 Peter
4:12-16 where Peter makes it clear that we will partake (koinoneo) of the sufferings of Christ. We are so intimately connected to Christ that
we are bound to suffer as He suffered, but we count it as a blessing to suffer
as the One did who died for us. There is
nothing to be ashamed of though. Christ
willing bore our shame, so it is but joy to bear His shame upon us. But to share in His sufferings is to also
share in His glory. These sufferings
result in an increase of grace and eventually death transports us to the
presence of Christ and eventually we share in a glorified body incorruptible.
Notice
that it is a call (kaleo) of God
synonymous of our call to salvation and sanctification. 1 John 1:6-7 says, “If we say that we have
fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the
light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His
Son cleanses us from all sin.” Thus, it
is impossible for the believer to be out of fellowship with Christ (impossible
without strong chastening to restore us again, Revelation 3:19, also, see
Ephesians 5:8-14). We also see in these
verses in 1 John that our fellowship with Christ is synonymous with our
fellowship with other believers. We have
the same Father over us, the same Spirit indwelling us, and we all abide in
Christ. This is why Christ and His
church are pictured in the most intimate and cohesive of relationships: a body,
a family, husband and wife.
This
fellowship is not dependent upon us to bring together and maintain, but God is
faithful to call us into fellowship and keep us there until the Day of Christ’s
return.
In
Chapter 14 of Romans, Paul is writing about the liberty that we have in
Christ. We are no longer bound to the
ceremonial practices of the Old Covenant.
All foods are now made pure and no day is to be esteemed above
another. However, if a weaker believer
by conscience is bound to certain days or foods, we are to respect him in those
things. We should not condemn, but show
love by not being a stumbling block to partake of those things in his presence
and to pursue peace and edification.
In
the midst of this discussion, Paul states in verse 17 that God in His Kingdom
purposes is not concerned with food (eating and drinking) or what goes into
man, but the things that come out of him (Matthew 15:11). The Kingdom of God is three things according
to Paul in this verse. Righteousness
which we have looked at before as a right and just standing before God, as well
as, works of righteousness which are characteristic of all believers. Peace which we looked at on Day 1 highlights
our reconciliation to God and the lack of worry over past, present, and future
circumstances. Most certainly joy
follows righteousness and peace. Joy is chara in the Greek meaning joy,
gladness, with the root meaning to rejoice exceedingly. Paul’s command to the Philippians is that we
always at all times have reason to be full of joy: “Rejoice in the Lord always.
Again I will say, rejoice!” We rejoice
in the past because God has reconciled us (Romans 5:11). We rejoice in our present circumstances
knowing that God is glorified (1 Thessalonians 1:6). And we rejoice in the blessed hope to come
(Romans 5:2).
Lastly,
this is a joy that is not present in our flesh, but is fully of the Holy
Spirit. Joy is a fruit that the Spirit
produces within us (Galatians 5:22).
Thus, we should ever rejoice in all things, at all times, whatever the
circumstances we have cause to rejoice in the One who has saved us and set us
free from the bonds of sin. Truly we can
repeat with the songwriter, “Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord
of love!”
Discuss
the following with your family:
1. Search
your heart for any relationships with believers that maybe strained. How is it effecting your fellowship with
Christ?
2. Pray
that God by His Holy Spirit would increase your joy even in the worst of
circumstances that He would be glorified all the more.
3. Rejoice
with your family by singing songs of praise to God Almighty.
Scripture:
Romans 5:1-5; 14:17; Proverbs 4:18: 1 Peter 1:5; 1 John 5:13;
1
Corinthians 1:9; John 15:7.