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1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 1: Of the Holy Scriptures - Commentary
Simon Wartanian | 26,929 views | 35,236 words | 3:04:25 hours | 04 March 2015 20:52
The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Reformed Baptist Chapter 1 Holy Scriptures Bible Canon Inspiration Authority Inerrancy Infallibility Apocrypha Old Testament New Testament Canon Sufficiency Sola Scriptura
...ordinate to the Scriptures? In this chapter, we will explore the Bible’s view of the Word of God. The paragraphs in which I deal with parts of the Scripture’s doctrine are not necessarily in a logical order, therefore, here are the topics in a somewhat more logical order:

  1. Necessity of Scripture (paragraph 1)
  2. Scripture As Self-Revelation (paragraph 1)
  3. Canon of the Old Testament (paragraph 4)
  4. Canon of the New Testament (paragraph 3)
  5. Inspiration of Scripture (paragraph 2)
  6. Inerrancy and Infallibility of Scripture (paragraph 1)
  7. Authority of Scripture (paragraph 4)
  8. Sufficiency of Scripture (paragraph 6)
  9. Sola Scriptura (paragraph 1, 10)
  10. Authentication of Scripture (paragraph 5)
  11. Perspicuity of Scripture  (paragraph 7)
  12. Interpretation of Scripture (paragraph 9)

This chapter is in many ways based upon the truths in 2 Timothy 3:16. All the particular subjects which are treated are part of a unified whole doctrine about God’s Word.

§1 The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule

  1. The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience 1, although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable 2; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and his will which is necessary unto salvation. 3 Therefore it pleased the Lord at sundry times and in divers manners to reveal himself, and to declare that his will unto his church 4; and afterward for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan, and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing; which maketh the Holy Scriptures to be most necessary 5, those former ways of God’s revealing his will unto his people being now ceased. 6
    1. Isa. 8:20; Luke 16:29; Eph. 2:20; 2 Tim. 3:15-17[1]
    2. Ps. 19:1-3; Rom. 1:19-21, 32; 2:12a, 14-15
    3. Ps. 19:1-3 with vv. 7-11; Rom. 1:19-21; 2:12a, 14-15 with 1:16-17; and 3:21
    4. Heb. 1:1-2a
    5. Prov. 22:19-21; Luke 1:1-4; 2 Peter 1:12-15; 3:1; Deut. 17:18ff; 31:9ff, 19ff; 1 Cor. 15:1; 2 Thess. 2:1-2, 15; 3:17; Rom. 1:8-15; Gal. 4:20; 6:11; 1 Tim. 3:14ff; Rev. 1:9, 19; 2:1 etc.; Rom. 15:4; 2 Peter 1:19-21
    6. Heb. 1:1-2a; Acts 1:21-22; 1 Cor. 9:1; 15:7-8; Eph. 2:20

Holy Scripture, which is defined to be the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, is “sufficient, certain, and infallible”. This means that Scripture is enough; true and sure; and cannot err. What is the scope of this sufficiency, certainty, and infallibility? The Confession says that Scripture is the only infallible “rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience”. Holy Scripture is given as a measuring line and a standard. It is a standard of standards. There are other standards and rules besides the Bible, but the Bible alone is the “sufficient, certain, and infallible rule”. The Bible is the norm and rule to test everything else by.

Paragraph 1 then moves to speak about the insufficiency of general revelation for salvation. The “light of nature, and the works of creation and providence” demonstrate that there is a powerful God Who is the Creator of everything. Yet this knowledge is not sufficient to save. Although it is sufficient to leave men inexcusable. This is basically Paul’s argument in Romans 1:18-32. Men know the God Who exists because of the c...

1689 Second Baptist Confession of Faith Highlighted
Simon Wartanian | 22,114 views | 17,012 words | 1:29:18 hours | 16 November 2014 22:30
1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Creed Calvinist Reformed Baptist
... Habakkuk   Zephaniah   Haggai   Zechariah   Malachi   

        All of which are given by the Inspiration of God, to be the rule of faith and life. 1

  1. The books commonly called Apocrypha, not being of divine Inspiration, are no part of the canon or rule of the Scripture, and, therefore, are of no authority to the church of God, nor to be any otherwise approved or made use of than other human writings. 1
    1. Luke 24:27, 44; Rom. 3:2
  1. The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or church, 1 but wholly upon God (who is truth itself), the author thereof; therefore it is to be received because it is the Word of God. 2
    1. 2 Tim. 3:15; 1 John 5:9; Rom. 1:2; 3:2; Acts 2:16; 4:25; Matt. 13:35; Rom. 9:17; Gal. 3:8; Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor. 10:11; Matt. 22:32; Luke 16:17; Matt. 22:41ff; John 10:35; Gal. 3:16; Acts 1:16; 2:24ff; 13:34-35; John 19:34-36, 24; Luke 22:37; Matt. 26:54; John 13:18; 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Peter 1:19-21; Matt. 5:17-18; 4:1-11
    2.  Luke 15:27-31; Gal. 1:8-9; Eph. 2:2
  1. We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the church of God to an high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scriptures; 1 and the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, and the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole (which is to live all glory to God), the full discovery it makes of the only way of man’s salvation, and many other incomparable excellencies, and entire perfections thereof, are arguments whereby it doth abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God; 2 yet notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth, and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts. 3
    1. 2 Tim. 3:14-15
    2. Jer. 23:28-29; Luke 16:27-31; John 6:63; 1 Peter 1:23-25; Heb. 4:2-13; Deut. 31:11-13; John 20:31; Gal. 1:8-9; Mark 16:15-16
    3. Matt. 16:17; 1 Cor. 2:14ff; John 3:3; 1 Cor. 2:4-5; 1 Thess. 1:5-6; 1 John 2:20-21, with v 27
  1. The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down or necessarily contained in the Holy Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelation of the Spirit, or traditions of men. 1 Nevertheless, we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the Word, 2 and that there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and government of the church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the Word, which are always to be observed. 3
    1. 2 Tim. 3:15-17; Deut. 4:2; Acts 20:20, 27; Ps. 19:7; 119:6, 9, 104, 128
    2. John 6:45; 1 Cor. 2:9-14
    3. 1 Cor. 14:26, 40
  1. All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, 1 nor alike clear unto all; 2 yet those things which are necessary to be known, believed and observed for salvation, are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of ordinary means, may attain to a sufficient understanding of them. 3
    1. 2 P...
Acts 7:51, 'You always resist the Holy Spirit'
Simon Wartanian | 7,702 views | 1,097 words | 0:05:36 hours | 03 April 2014 14:01
Resistible Grace Irresistible Grace Calvinism John Gill Matthew Henry ESV Study Bible Acts 7:51
...g>Matthew Henry about the phrase “You do always resist the Holy Ghost”:[4]

They, like their fathers, were not only not influenced by the methods God took to reform them, but they were enraged and incensed against them: You do always resist the Holy Ghost. 1. They resisted the Holy Ghost speaking to them by the prophets, whom they opposed and contradicted, hated and ridiculed; this seems especially meant here, by the following explication, Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? In persecuting and silencing those that spoke by the Inspiration of the Holy Ghost they resisted the Holy Ghost. Their fathers resisted the Holy Ghost in the prophets that God raised up to them, and so did they in Christ's apostles and ministers, who spoke by the same Spirit, and had greater measures of his gifts than the prophets of the Old Testament had, and yet were more resisted. 2. They resisted the Holy Ghost striving with them by their own consciences, and would not comply with the convictions and dictates of them. God's Spirit strove with them as with the old world, but in vain; they resisted him, took part with their corruptions against their convictions, and rebelled against the light. There is that in our sinful hearts that always resists the Holy Ghost, a flesh that lusts against the Spirit, and wars against his motions; but in the hearts of God's elect, when the fulness of time comes, this resistance is overcomer and overpowered, and after a struggle the throne of Christ is set up in the soul, and every thought that had exalted itself against it is brought into captivity to it, 2Cor 10:4; 2Cor 10:5. That grace therefore which effects this change might more fitly be called victorious grace than irresistible.

 

This content is taken from this document

[1] C.f. John Gill, The Cause of God and Truth, section 33. See “Resources.”

[2] ESV Study Bible, 2008 (Crossway). Taken from the Online Version at www.esvbible.org

[4] Matthew Henry, Whole Bible Commentary on Acts 7:51-53. http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/matthew-henry-complete/acts/7.html

...
1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 7: Of God's Covenant - Commentary
Simon Wartanian | 37,085 views | 65,864 words | 5:42:00 hours | 04 March 2015 21:27
The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Reformed Baptist Chapter 7 God's Covenant 1689 Federalism Westminster Federalism Presbyterian Covenant Theology Covenant Of Works Covenant Of Redemption Covenant Of Grace Nohaic Covenant Abrahamic Covenant Mosaic Covenant Old Covenant Davidic Covenant New Covenant
... already in the time of Joshua, but through disobedience, they lost some parts of the land in the time of the Judges. But in the time of Solomon, all the promises were completely fulfilled to the natural seed. The Scripture says that the covenant community descended from Abraham was “as many as the sand by the sea” or as much as the stars (Deut. 1:10). There is a kingdom firmly established in the fear of the LORD and wisdom. This is the fulfillment of the promises made to the natural seed of Abraham. In summary, three things may be observed from this text:

  1. The promise, given to Abraham in Genesis 22:17, is seen as having been fulfilled here by the writer under the Inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
    • The promise was also given to Jacob (Gen. 32:12).
  2. There was peace and prosperity in the land. As was promised to be if the land obeyed the Law of the Lord (Deut. 28:1-14; Lev. 26:1-13).
  3. The whole territory which was promised to Abraham in Genesis 15:18 is described as being under Solomon’s rule.
    • Gen. 15:18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,
    • Exod. 23:31 And I will set your border from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates, for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you.
Still Promises to the Natural Descendants?

The answer is no. The New Covenant people are the recipients of Abraham’s promises because they are the ones in Christ, both Jew and Gentile (Gal. 3:29). Besides, all the promises were conditioned upon the obedience of Israel to the Abrahamic and later, Mosaic Covenant. As I tried to point out above about the connection between the Abrahamic and the Mosaic Covenants. There is no land without the Law and the Mosaic Covenant since the enjoyment of the Land was dependent upon the people’s obedience. The Mosaic Covenant is gone (Heb. 8:13; 2 Cor. 3:11-14) and the natural descendants of Abraham are not in any positive covenant with God; they are merely under the broken Covenant of Works of Adam. Therefore, they are not entitled to the promises. The promises are not made to them. I’m not here dealing with the question of whether Israel has a right to the land now called Palestine or not. The issue is a bit too political for me. I am not sure. But I am convinced that they have no entitlement on the basis of the Bible or the Abrahamic Covenant because they are still in rebellion against Christ.

Types and Shadows

We’ve already seen some shadow and type with the seed of Abraham and believers being the heirs of the promise, so I will not repeat those things again.

The Lamb

There is a great episode in Genesis 22 and a demonstration of what God would do on Calvary. Abraham is commanded by God to offer the child of the promise as a burnt offering. As they go to the place where God chose, Isaac asks the obvious question:

Gen. 22:7-8 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.

He did not bring with himself an animal for offering because Isaac was supposed to be the offering. We all know that Abraham was stopped by the angel of God from killing his son ...

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 8: Of Christ the Mediator - Commentary
Simon Wartanian | 37,147 views | 75,562 words | 6:40:27 hours | 04 March 2015 21:39
The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Exposition Reformed Baptist Chapter 8 Christ The Mediator Prophet Priest King Definite Redemption Limited Atonement Arminianism Universal Atonement Hypostatic Union Humanity Of Christ God-Man
... comes there will no longer be a possibility of salvation. God is slow to anger and longsuffering “toward you.” The object of God’s patience are the believers. I think it is perfectly clear that Peter was writing to those who professed the name of Christ. Notice the object of God’s patience, it is not the “any” or the “all”, but specifically “you”—the beloved, the believers. The ὑμᾶς (humas, you) in the verse is plural. Peter is speaking to the beloved collectively. He is not speaking to the person reading the letter, but to the congregation to whom he, under Inspiration, wrote. As the beloved are the believers, so the text is actually saying that God does not wish any of the believers/elect to perish until they should reach repentance. Rather than undermine Calvinism, this verse supports it, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

As the verse continues, we come to that “any” part. Does the audience of the verse now at once change? Does the “any” and the “all” now become any and all humans without exception? What reason do we have to think of this? We have already argued that the object of God’s patience and longsuffering are the beloved and not all men without exception. Therefore, how does it make sense to say that God is longsuffering toward the believers, but not wishing any man without exception to perish, but all without exception come to repentance? Doesn’t it seem consistent to maintain the same group throughout the verse, i.e., God’s elect (1 Pet. 1:1)? The Universal Redemptionist interpretation cuts the flow of the passage in half. In the first half, Peter is speaking about the believers, but then he switches to speak of all men without exception although the object of God’s patience are the believers, which is the basis of the fact that God is not willing that they perish and should come to repentance. The object or group under discussion is the plural “you” of the beloved believers, therefore, naturally, the “any” and “all” are to be understood as “any of you” and “all of you.” God is not willing that any of the elect should perish, but that they should come to repentance.

This passage supports the perfect work of the Son on behalf of the elect rather than undermine it (John 6:37-40). Christ will lose none for whom He died and will bring them to repentance and faith. If God were to send Christ back in Peter’s time, for example, then all of us would not have existed and thus would not have been saved and brought into communion with the Triune God. But He is patient and He delays the Son’s Parousia for the sake of the elect and them being brought into the Kingdom. This is the consistent reading of the passage. It may be illustrated thus in a table:

The Object of God’s Patience [the Lord] is patient toward you
What God Does Not Want not wishing that any should perish
The Purpose for God’s Patience but that all should reach repentance

What of the word “wishing”? Some think that this word, like “desires” in 1 Timothy 2:4, supports the “will of desire” view. God desires that all be saved, but He has a higher purpose, namely the manifestation of His wrath and grace. So goes the Calvinist “will of desire interpretation.” This idea fails for the same reason that it failed in 1 Timothy 2:4. God does whatever He pleases. If He pleased to save all people, all would have been saved. But since not all will be saved, therefore, He has not desired the salvation of all without exception. The word for wishing,...

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 17: Of The Perseverance of the Saints - Commentary
Simon Wartanian | 25,011 views | 43,749 words | 3:48:12 hours | 05 March 2015 19:18
The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Reformed Baptist Perseverance Of The Saints Preservation Of The Saints Assurance Of Salvation Eternal Security Apostasy Falling Away. Hebrews 6
... goodness of the word of God

The word “tasted” is again used here which should be contrasted with the believer who hides God’s Word in their heart (Ps. 119:11), treasures His words (Job 23:12) and as Jeremiah 15:16 says, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.” The experience of the apostates with the Word of God is merely natural and not spiritual. Even unbelievers can see that the Bible says a lot of things which even to their sinful worldview seems right and good, but that does not lead them to acknowledge the full authority and Inspiration of the Bible as the believer does. I agree with Calvin that by the Word of God here is meant primarily the goodness of the gospel message. He writes in his commentary on v. 4:

He calls it the participation of the Spirit; for he it is who distributes to every one, as he wills, all the light and knowledge which he can have; for without him no one can say that Jesus is the Lord, (1Co 12:3;) he opens for us the eyes of our minds, and reveals to us the secret things of God. He calls it a tasting of the good word of God; by which he means, that the will of God is therein revealed, not in any sort of way, but in such a way as sweetly to delight us; in short, by this title is pointed out the difference between the Law and the Gospel; for that has nothing but severity and condemnation, but this is a sweet testimony of God’s love and fatherly kindness towards us.[7]

They have heard of salvation by grace through Jesus Christ and seen it taught from the Word of God, but they still turned their back and went back to the works-religion that is called Judaism. Their “acceptance” of the gospel was momentary and not lasting, therefore, the gospel was not truly received by them. They merely accepted its truth, but did not conform and transform their lives according to that truth. They had the Scriptures even before Christ’s coming in what we know as the Old Testament, yet since Christ’s coming we have a greater revelation of God in the last days, namely, a revelation through His Son (Heb. 1:1-2), which is far superior to the previous ways of revelation by God. This “Word of God” would include, I believe obviously, fulfilled prophecies concerning Jesus much like how the apostles began on the day of Pentecost by seeing the fulfillment of the coming of the Spirit, Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. They had seen such passages applied to the Lord Jesus Christ, but with this clear knowledge in mind after a while, they abandoned the church and the Christian religion and went back to Judaism without that knowledge in mind.

Therefore, this clause describes those who among other things sit under the faithful preaching of the Word of God, see its transforming effects on people, even experience some transforming effect in their lives, see the prophecies concerning the Messiah fulfilled in Jesus and yet with this knowledge in mind, turn their back on Him.

5. Those who tasted the powers of the age to come

I believe that the word “tasted” at the beginning of v. 5 about the word of God, also applies to the powers of the age to come. This would mean that they had some experience with the powers of the age to come. But what is meant by “the age to come”? The KJV uses the word “world” instead of “age” (ESV, HCSB, ISV, NET, NKJV) as the majority of English translations do, but I believe that the idea ...

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 22: Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day - Commentary
Simon Wartanian | 33,270 views | 73,377 words | 6:24:05 hours | 06 March 2015 19:29
The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Reformed Baptist Chapter 22 Christian Sabbath Sabbath The Lord's Day Fourth Commandment Day Of Worship Day Of Rest Sunday Religious Worship Church
...-4, though the ideas are heavily depended upon the Psalms, obviously. The same is the case in Revelation 11:16-18 in response to the coming of the end and the final judgment. Crampton writes:

Dr. Coppes maintains that the songs found in the book of Revelation (e.g., chapters 4, 5, 7, 11) support the use of more than the 150 Psalms in formal worship. After all, we in the New Testament church have, through our Mediator Jesus Christ, already entered into Heavenly worship (Hebrews 2:12, 13; 9:24; 10:19-22; 12:22). He writes, “the Biblical standard for song in worship is faithfulness to what has been revealed and not Inspiration.... Wherefore, the regulative principle does not obviate the use of uninspired songs in worship whether private or public.” As long as an uninspired hymn is Biblically correct and appropriate for worship, it should be allowed in the public worship of God.[33]

If singing non-Psalms in heaven is good, so likewise we on the earth can sing non-Psalms which are theologically faithful to God’s revelation and are proper responses to His work in and for us.

Finally, the use of “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” in Ephesians 5:19 (and also Col. 3:16) excludes Exclusive Psalmody. Here we must inquire what those three categories denote. Exclusive Psalmodists argue that these are three categories or types of Psalms and these titles were used in the LXX for the Psalms. Therefore, they maintain, the meaning still is that we should sing only the 150 Psalms. But is this the case? Stephen Pribble, who has written a careful response to Exclusive Psalmody, argues:

The fact that these words are used in a Greek translation of the Old Testament in reference to the Psalms does not prove that they invariably refer to the Psalms and cannot refer to anything else, or that Paul’s use of them in either context requires them to refer to the Psalter.[32]

Likewise, in a footnote, he reminds us that while the LXX was the Bible of the Apostles in the Greek, it was nonetheless a translation and not the original infallible and inspired Hebrew. Furthermore, the LXX had a

tendency toward free paraphrase, note that it adds titles for the following Psalms where none exist at all in the Hebrew (all English numbering): 33, 43, 71, 91, 93, 94, 96, 97, 99, 104, 105, 107, 114, 116, 117, 118, 119, 135, 136, 137, 146, 147 and 148. It omits “of David” where the Hebrew has it in the titles of Psalms 122, 124, 131 and 133; and “of Solomon” where the Hebrew has it in the title for Psalm 127. It adds “of David” where the Hebrew does not have it in the titles of Psalms 33, 43, 67, 91, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 104, and 137.[32]

Therefore, should our exegesis of Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16 really be resting upon a free translation? I am not denying the use of LXX to understand what the Apostles meant and from where they borrowed their words. But I am questioning whether Paul is making such a connection here. Furthermore, these three words are also found outside of the Psalter. Pribble writes:

It must be noted that the LXX does not limit its usage of the terms psalmois, humnois and odais to the musical selections collected in the book of Psalms. Habakkuk’s psalm is called an ode (Hab. 3:1, 19); likewise, the songs of Moses (Ex. 15:1, Deut. 31:19, 21, 22, 30, 32:44), Deborah and Barak (Jdg. 5:12), David (2 Sam. 22:1) and Solomon (1 Kgs. 4:32). Isaiah 42:10 exhorts us to sing a new humnon. In Amos 5:23 God wishes to be rid of Israe...

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 26: Of the Church - Commentary
Simon Wartanian | 28,143 views | 38,282 words | 3:19:22 hours | 06 March 2015 23:00
The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Reformed Baptist Chapter 26 Church Church Government Elders Deacons Members Universal Church Local Church Congregationalism Polity
...cerning how they reached the decision: “it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden” (Acts 15:28). Is there still a body of apostles and which is also guided in a special way by the Holy Spirit? Is there a council or a synod whose decision could be said to be the Holy Spirit’s? Therefore, seeing the place of the Jerusalem church in God’s purpose and the presence of the apostles there, it seems that this is an exception to the rule which we have observed. Therefore, we agree with Dagg when says, “No ecclesiastical council can justly claim this synod at Jerusalem as a precedent for its action, unless it can also claim to act by Inspiration, and send forth its decrees with the authority of the Holy Ghost.”[49]

But what about elders from different churches meeting together to decide a matter? There doesn’t seem to be evidence of this in the New Testament. Even in Acts 15, the elders who were with the apostles (Acts 15:2, 4, 6, 22, 23) were the elders of the Jerusalem church. They were not a combination of elders from various churches. As Dagg observes, “There is not the slightest intimation that delegates went from the other churches, which were now numerous, and scattered through different countries.”[49] An elder does not belong to the universal church of Christ. An elder is a shepherd of a particular flock which is entrusted to him (e.g., Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:2-3). There are no elders that exercise authority over a congregation that is not under their care. As Wayne Grudem also observes:

Although the apostles in Jerusalem certainly had authority over all the churches, there is no indication that elders by themselves, even in the Jerusalem church, had any such authority. And certainly there is no New Testament pattern for elders exercising authority over any other than their own local churches.[50]

Seeing, therefore, the place of the Jerusalem church, the presence of the apostles, the presence perhaps of the 70 disciples sent out by Christ (Luke 10:1, 17), “There is every reason to think, therefore, that the church of Jerusalem exercised a unique authority in the church of Christ.”[51]

John Dagg summarizes the case for the independence of the local church well:

Each church, as a distinct organization, was independent of every other church. No intimation is anywhere given that the acts of one church were supervised by another church, or by any ecclesiastical judicatory established by a combination of churches. In the direction given by Christ, for settling a difficulty between two members, the aggrieved brother is commanded to report the case to the church, and the action of the church is represented as final. The church at Corinth excommunicated the incestuous person, by its own act and without reference to a higher judicatory. As if to settle the question of church independence, Paul, though possessing apostolic authority, and though he commanded the act to be done, yet required it to be done by the assembled church, as the proper agent for performing the work. Again, when the same individual was to be restored, the action of the church became necessary, and this action completed the deed. In the book of Revelation, distinct messages were sent to the seven churches of Asia. The character and works of each church are distinctly and separately referred to; and the duties prescribed are assigned to each church separately, and that church alone is required to perform them.[52]

Our graci...

Hebrews 6:4-6, Apostasy and Calvinism
Simon Wartanian | 14,846 views | 11,271 words | 0:59:55 hours | 15 May 2016 15:27
Hebrews 6 Apostasy Perseverance Of The Saints Reformed Theology Calvinism Falling Away From Grace
... goodness of the word of God

The word “tasted” is again used here which should be contrasted with the believer who hides God’s Word in their heart (Ps 119:11), treasures His words (Job 23:12) and as Jeremiah 15:16 says, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.” The experience of the apostates with the Word of God is merely natural and not spiritual. Even unbelievers can see that the Bible says a lot of things which even to their sinful worldview seems right and good, but that does not lead them to acknowledge the full authority and Inspiration of the Bible as the believer does.

I agree with Calvin that by the Word of God here is meant primarily the goodness of the Gospel message. He writes in his commentary on verse 4:

He calls it the participation of the Spirit; for he it is who distributes to every one, as he wills, all the light and knowledge which he can have; for without him no one can say that Jesus is the Lord, (1Co 12:3;) he opens for us the eyes of our minds, and reveals to us the secret things of God. He calls it a tasting of the good word of God; by which he means, that the will of God is therein revealed, not in any sort of way, but in such a way as sweetly to delight us; in short, by this title is pointed out the difference between the Law and the Gospel; for that has nothing but severity and condemnation, but this is a sweet testimony of God’s love and fatherly kindness towards us.[11]

They have heard of salvation by grace through Jesus Christ and heard it taught from the Word of God, but they still turned their back and went back to the work’s religion that is called Judaism. Their “acceptance” of the Gospel was momentary and not lasting, therefore, the Gospel was not truly received by them. They merely accepted its truth, but did not conform and transform their lives according to that truth. They had the Scriptures even before Christ’s coming in what we know the Old Testament, yet since Christ’s coming we have a greater revelation of God in the last days, namely, a revelation through His Son (Heb 1:1-2) which is far superior to the previous ways of revelation by God. This “Word of God” would include, I believe obviously, fulfilled prophecies concerning Jesus much like how the Apostles began on the day of Pentecost by seeing the fulfillment of the coming of the Spirit, Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. They had seen such passages applied to the Lord Jesus Christ, but with this clear knowledge in mind after a while, they abandoned the church and the Christian religion and went back to Judaism without that knowledge in mind.

Therefore, this clause describes those who among other things sit under the faithful preaching of the Word of God, see its transforming effects on people, even experience some transforming effect in their lives, see the prophecies concerning the Messiah fulfilled in Jesus and yet with this knowledge in mind, turn their back on Him.

5. Those who tasted the powers of the age to come

I believe that the word “tasted” at the beginning of v. 5 about the word of God, also applies to the powers of the age to come. This would mean that they had some experience with the powers of the age to come. But what is meant by the age to come?

The KJV uses the word “world” instead of “age” (ESV, HCSB, ISV, NET, NKJV) as the majority of English translations do, but I believe that the idea ...