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1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 29: Of Baptism - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 44,861 views | 45,510 words | 3:58:30 hours | 06 March 2015 23:14

...st as “confessing with the mouth” is in Rom 10:10; and there also as here this outward manifestation, once mentioned as the proper fruit of faith, is not repeated in what follows (Rom 10:11).’^[7] Using this passage to teach that baptism is necessary for salvation, is to go beyond what the passage is saying and to treat a text of dubious origin as canonical.

John 3:5

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom Of God.

This passage, when read for the first time, seems to give the idea that what the Lord Jesus is speaking about is water baptism, but that cannot be for several reasons. The most obvious is that Christian baptism was not yet instituted. There was no baptism in the Name of the Father, Son, and Spirit yet, therefore, it is very strange for the Lord Jesus to be talking to Nicodemus about something which has not yet been instituted. Nicodemus, “a ruler of the Jews” (John 3:1), comes to the Lord Jesus in the night to inquire about Him and His signs and he acknowledges that God is with the Lord Jesus (John 3:2). But, the Lord Jesus’ response is strange. He said to Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom Of God” (John 3:3). Then Nicodemus asks about how one is born again (John 3:4) and the new get the answer in the passage under consideration. The way that one is born again or born from above, is by water and the Spirit. What is meant by this? This is an allusion to an Old Testament prophecy about the New Covenant. In Ezekiel 36, we read:

Ezek. 36:25-27 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

This was the background of the Lord’s answer. He was not speaking of something which did not yet exist. Rather, He was speaking about the promise of the Old Testament about regeneration and the new birth. This new birth will be accomplished by the work of God. They will be born of/out of spiritual water of cleansing. It is most obvious that water is a sign of cleansing even in the case of baptism (cf. Acts 22:16, see also above). We will be cleansed from our sins and our idolatry when the Lord sprinkles spiritual water upon us (this is no text for the mode of baptism!). But we will also be born from and out of His Spirit. He will be the Agent Who does this work of regeneration in us and He will be given by God to us so that we may walk in His paths. His work will consist in the elect of God being born again, and being born from above, born from the Spirit. Therefore, what the Lord Jesus is saying is that anyone who is not regenerated will neither enter nor see the Kingdom Of God. Nicodemus does not understand these things and the Lord Jesus points out that he, as a teacher of Israel, should have understood these things (John 3:9-11). In essence, what the Lord Jesus said to Nicodemus is, “How is it, you, as a teacher of Israel, don’t know your Old Testament well enough?” He should have known of these things, but he did not, because these things are spiritual and Nicodemus was natural (Col. 2:14). As the discussion moves forward, the Lord Jesus poin...

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 14: Of Saving Faith - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 32,151 views | 21,954 words | 1:58:30 hours | 05 March 2015 18:34

The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Reformed Baptist Chapter 14 Chapter Fourteen Saving Faith True Faith Temporal Faith Historical Faith Nature Of Faith Ground Of Faith Elements Of Faith Blessings Of Faith Gift Of Faith Pisteuo Pistis Greek Word Study Expressions For Faith

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John 3:2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

They knew and Nicodemus acknowledged the truth that the Son of God came from God and that God was with Him. Does this mean that Nicodemus was saved? No, I don’t think so because faith does not merely consist in acknowledging the truth. It is more than that. This is even more evident when the Lord Jesus counters this statement with “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom Of God” (John 3:3). He then goes on to explain that the serpent that was lifted in the wilderness pointed to Him and that salvation is by believing in Him (John 3:14-18). Those who attain up to this element of faith, show interest in salvation and the things of Christ as did Nicodemus. A. H. Strong observes that “Those in whom this awakening of the sensibilities is unaccompanied by the fundamental decision of the will, which constitutes the next element of faith, may seem to themselves, and for a time may appear to others, to have accepted Christ.”^[22] But they are they who are sown among the rocky ground, without root in them (Matt. 13:20-21). This is the highest level that temporary and false believers can attain. Psalm 106:12-13 describes very well those sown among the rocky ground: “Then they believed his words; they sang his praise. 13 But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel.” In John 8, we have John telling us that as a result of Christ’s preaching about Him being the Light of the World, “many believed in him” (John 8:30). Here, the pisteuo eis construction is used which is used of true faith. But the context clearly shows that it is not true faith (see also John 2:23-24). He sets the condition to test their faith: “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples” (John 8:31). I believe that this passage is familiar to most of us, so I will not go in detail about it. They quickly reject our Lord’s statements and show that they had no true faith in Him. They believe the things He said and considered them true, but they were no disciples. In fact, they are called children of their “father the devil” (John 8:44). Dr. Robert Reymond explains assent in this way:

Assent (assenus) refers to the intellectual or cognitive conviction that the knowledge one has acquired about Christ is indeed factually true and that the provisions of the gospel of Christ correspond exactly to one’s actual (not necessarily “felt”) needs. Without this element faith becomes simply mysticism, for to place one’s trust in what one has heard or read about but does not believe to be true is simply an “existential leap” into the abyss of absurdity.^[12]

While truth is essential to true faith, it is not enough. Believing that a parachute saves a man jumping from the sky is different than putting the parachute on to be saved. To believe that the parachute saves is not enough.

Trust

The last element of saving faith is that by which we have the knowledge of God’s revelation, we assent to its truths and promises, and we choose to trust it and cast ourselves upon Christ. While we, Calvinists, don’t often like to speak of faith as something we ‘chose’, the truth of the matter is, is that faith is, in fact, a choice to trust and put our confidence upon Christ. We object to the usual non-Calvinist use of this and the minimizing of the biblical ...

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 13: Of Sanctification - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 23,025 views | 16,934 words | 1:29:010 hours | 05 March 2015 18:23

The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Reformed Baptist Chapter 13 Chapter Thirteen Sanctification Holiness

...irit” (1 Pet. 1:2; cf. 2 Thess. 2:13).

The second sense in which we may speak of our sanctification is in connection to effectual calling and regeneration. Regeneration involves a real change in our nature and appetites. It is truly the start of our sanctification. It is our definitive sanctification. In fact, A. H. Strong defines sanctification as “that continuous operation of the Holy Spirit, by which the holy disposition imparted in regeneration is maintained and strengthened.”^[21] It is here that we are transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom Of God (e.g. Acts 26:18; Col. 1:13; 2 Cor. 4:4-6). It cannot be so that we have savored the sweetness of Christ and then remain with the same appetites that we had when He had not revealed Himself to us. According to Berkhof, sanctification “consists fundamentally and primarily in a divine operation in the soul, whereby the holy disposition born in regeneration is strengthened and its holy exercises are increased.”^[22] This is also the basis that we are called holy or saints. Scripture says that we are “those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Chris” (1 Cor. 1:2). To be a saint (a holy one) is not a privilege for a special class, but it is the identity of every believer in Christ. We were indeed “called to be saints” (Rom. 1:7) and such we are. There is no real sanctification without regeneration.

The third sense in which we may speak of our sanctification is in connection to our justification. Justification forms the basis for our continual sanctification. In justification, we are declared righteous, and in sanctification, we are made righteous. Berkhof explains:

Justification is the judicial basis for sanctification. God has the right to demand of us holiness of life, but because we cannot work out this holiness for ourselves, He freely works it within us through the Holy Spirit on the basis of the righteousness of Jesus Christ, which is imputed to us in justification. The very fact that it is based on justification, in which the free grace of God stands out with the greatest prominence, excludes the idea that we can ever merit anything in sanctification. The Roman Catholic idea that justification enables man to perform meritorious works is contrary to Scripture. Justification as such does not effect a change in our inner being and therefore needs sanctification as its complement. It is not sufficient that the sinner stands righteous before God; he must also be holy in his inmost life.^[23]

We may see this aspect of sanctification in Philippians 3:9-12. Paul rejoices in the “righteousness from God that depends on faith” (Phil. 3:9) and desires to become “like him in his death” and this so that he “may attain the resurrection of the dead” (Phil. 3:10-11). He does anything and everything so that he may attain “perfect[ion]...because Christ Jesus has made me his own” (Phil. 3:12). Paul’s justification forms the basis and the motivation for him seeking holiness and perfection.

Now that we’ve mentioned the ways in which we may speak of sanctification, we now turn our focus to definitive sanctification. Definitive sanctification forms a break-up with sin. It takes place at the moment of regeneration whereby we receive a new heart and a new spirit according to the promise of the New Covenant (Ezek. 36:25-27). It is at this point that we are set free from slavery to sin (e.g. Rom...

Preservation of the Saints - Scripture List

Simon Wartanian | 22,345 views | 3,263 words | 0:16:33 hours | 23 March 2014 22:28

Calvinism Election Predestination Mercy Sovereignty Verse List God Is In Control Preservation Of The Saints

...ng, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.

Acts 13:43 And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God.

Acts 14:21-22 When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom Of God.

1Cor 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

1Cor 16:13-14 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done in love.

2Cor 13:5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

Gal 6:9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Phil 2:12-13 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Phil 3:12-14 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Col 1:21-23 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Heb 3:12-14 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

Heb 10:36-39 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. 37 For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; 38 but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” 39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

Heb 12:1-3 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy tha...

Irresistible Grace, Effectual Calling - Scripture List

Simon Wartanian | 13,235 views | 2,545 words | 0:13:07 hours | 23 March 2014 22:21

Calvinism Election Predestination Mercy Sovereignty Verse List God Is In Control Irresistible Grace Effectual Calling

... his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Jn 3:3-8 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom Of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Jn 5:21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.

Rom 6:3-4 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Col 2:13-15 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

2Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Titus 3:4-7 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Jas 1:18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

1Pet 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

1Jn 5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.

The work of God the Holy Spirit

Rom 8:14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Eph 1:13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Eph 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

1Cor 2:9-12 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— ...

John Owen's 17 Differences Between the Old and New Covenants

Simon Wartanian | 122 views | 2,758 words | 0:14:09 hours | 18 August 2025 22:02

Covenant Theology Old Covenant Mosaic Covenant New Covenant Covenant Of Grace Covenant Of Works

... dispensation and grant of the Holy Ghost. It is certain that God did grant the gift of the Holy Spirit under the old testament, and his operations during that season, but it is no less certain, that there was always a promise of his more signal effusion upon the confirmation and establishment of the new covenant. See in particular that great promise to this purpose, Joel 2:28-29, as applied and expounded by the apostle Peter, Acts 2:16-18. “the Comforter would not come; but if he so went away, he would send him from the Father,” John 16:7.

Difference 13

They differ in the declaration made in them of the Kingdom Of God. It is the observation of Augustine, that the very name of “the kingdom of heaven” is peculiar unto the new testament. It is true, God reigned in and over the church under the old testament; but his rule was such, and had such a relation unto secular things, especially with respect unto the land of Canaan, and the flourishing condition of the people therein, as that it had an appearance of a kingdom of this world. But now in the gospel, the nature of the Kingdom Of God, where it is, and wherein it consists, is plainly and evidently declared, unto the unspeakable consolation of believers. For whereas it is now known and experienced to be internal, spiritual, and heavenly, they have no less assured interest in it and advantage by it, in all the troubles which they may undergo in this world, than they could have in the fullest possession of all earthly enjoyments.

Difference 14

They differ in their substance and end. The old covenant was typical, shadowy, and removable, Heb. 10:1. The new covenant is substantial and permanent, as containing the body, which is Christ.

Difference 15

They differ in the extent of their administration, according unto the will of God. The first was confined unto the posterity of Abraham according to the flesh, and unto them especially in the land of Canaan, Deut. 5:3, with some few proselytes that were joined unto them, excluding all others from the participation of the benefits of it. But the administration of the new covenant is extended unto all nations under heaven; none being excluded, on the account of tongue, language, family, nation, or place of habitation. All have an equal interest in the rising Sun. The partition wall is broken down, and the gates of the new Jerusalem are set open unto all comers upon the gospel invitation. This is frequently taken notice of in the Scripture. See Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:15; John 11:51-52; 12:32; Acts 17:30; 11:18, Gal. 5:6; Eph. 2:11-16; Gen. 3:8-10; Col. 3:10-11; 1 John 2:2; Rev. 5:9.

Difference 16

They differ in their efficacy; for the old covenant “made nothing perfect,” it could effect none of the things it did represent, nor introduce that perfect or complete state which God had designed for the church.

Difference 17

They differ in their duration: for the one was to be removed, and the other to abide for ever; which must be declared on the ensuing verses.

...

... who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Rev 20:15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Repentance and faith are necessary for salvation

Mk 1:14-15 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom Of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Lk 13:3,5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

Jn 3:16-18 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Jn 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Acts 3:19-21 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.

Acts 11:18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

Acts 20:18-21 And when they came to him, he said to them: “You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, 19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; 20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house,21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Rom 10:8-10 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

Eph 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Reasons for the Cross other than the atonement

Col 2:15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

Rom 14:9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

The usage of “whoever,” and “anyone”

A common objection against a particular redemption is to quote passages in which men are invited to believe, and then infer that man must have a free will and that Christ died for all men without exception. There are many “whoever” passages: “whoever believes” (Jn. 3:16; 11:26; Rom. 9:33; 10:11; Ac. 10:43, etc.); “whoever confesses” (Lk. 12:8); “whoever receives Me” (Mk. 9:37); “whoever will...