“The doctrine of justification was the great natural principle of the Reformation. With respect to the nature of justification the Reformers corrected the error of confounding justification with sanctification by stressing its legal character and representing it an act of God’s free grace, whereby He pardons our sins and accepts us as righteous in His sight, but does not change us inwardly. As far as the ground of justification is concerned, they rejected the idea of Rome that this lies, at least in part, in the inherent righteousness of the regenerate and in good works, and substituted for it the doctrine that it is found only in the imputed righteousness of the Redeemer. And in connection with the means of justification they emphasized the fact that man is justified freely by that faith which receives and rests in Christ only for salvation. Moreover, they rejected the doctrine of progressive justification, and held that it was instantaneous and complete, and did not depend for its completion on some further satisfaction for sin.” (Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 512-513)
Here is one artist’s portrayal of the ugly scene in Paris, France when thousands of French Huguenots were murdered at the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre
The St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre on the night of August 23-24, 1572 is a sad legacy of the Roman Catholic Counter-Reformation. It is difficult for me to even imagine the horror of that night! Thousands of French Protestants (i.e. the Huguenots) were viciously murdered by Roman Catholic troops loyal to King Charles IX and his mother Catherine de’ Medici. From that time on, the Huguenots became an oppressed minority in France–often hunted down, brutally arrested, falsely imprisoned, and martyred for their faith. They persevered through much persecution and suffered for the sake of the Gospel.
French Huguenot Church in Charleston, South Carolina
In the late 1600’s many French Huguenot families fled to America. The first Huguenot church was established in Charleston, South Carolina in 1681. It still stands today and is an active congregation whose members maintain the witness of the Huguenot faith (i.e. Reformed Calvinistic Protestantism). The Huguenots who came to America and settled in the Carolinas were largely responsible for resisting the tyranny of Great Britain during the late-1700’s during the Revolutionary War. We owe them a debt that cannot be repaid.
It is proper, in my opinion, to remember them as sincere Christian men and women who treasured religious freedom and who rejected oppressive government. And that, is a wonderful testimony to their persevering spirit! Surely Jesus spoke of them when he preached, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10).
“The book of Hebrews gives us a definition of faith: ‘Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen’ (Hebrews 11:1). Faith comprises the essence of our hope for the future. In simple terms this means that we trust God for the future based on our faith in what He has accomplished in the past. To believe that God will continue to be trustworthy is not a gratuitous faith. There is every reason to believe that God will be as faithful to His promises in the future as He has been in the past. There is a reason, a substantive reason, for the hope that is in us. The faith that is the evidence of things unseen has primary but not exclusive reference to the future. Nobody has a crystal ball that works. We all walk into the future by faith and not by sight. We may plan and make projections, but even the best foresight we have is based upon the edge of tomorrow. We view the present and can recall the past. We are experts in hindsight. The only solid evidence we have or our own future is drawn from the promises of God. Here faith offers evidence for things unseen. We trust God for tomorrow.” (R. C. Sproul, Essential Truths of the Christian Faith, 183-184)
The members of the “Theology Study Group” at Redeemer Presbyterian Church as we celebrated the conclusion of our study through Berkhof’s “Manual of Christian Doctrine”
Throughout the Fall months we will be studying the “History and Theology of the Reformation.” What is our plan? Specifically, we will interact with John Calvin’s masterful treatise The Necessity of Reforming the Church (1544), and hear lectures from Pastor Marcus Serven on the key people and core doctrines of the Protestant Reformation. Our group of serious adult learners meets at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Austin, on Thursday mornings (9:30-11:30 AM) in room 208 of Calvin Hall. The first class begins on Thursday, September 15, 2022. For more information, or to reserve your place contact Pastor Marcus Serven (mserven@redeemerpres.org).
Our text for the Fall
The publishers of our text book–Reformation Trust Publishers–capture the main theme of John Calvin’s treatise quite well when they portray an upside down church as symbolic of the Roman Catholic doctrine of the Church. Rather than emphasizing the priority of a living and active faith in Jesus Christ, the Roman Catholics wrongly emphasize the authority and power of the Church. It is a point well taken, and Calvin forcefully argues that the proper role of the Church is to humbly serve as an assembly of believers who faithfully obey and worship the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the central reason that the church in the time of the Reformation needed to be thoroughly reformed–the church had forsaken their “first love” (Rev. 2:4). Thankfully, through the work of Calvin and many other Reformers, it was reformed. And as “heirs of the Reformation” we have received all the benefits. Soli Deo Gloria!
Louis Berkhof’s highly-regarded Systematic Theology
Prof. Louis Berkhof (1873-1957): “Sanctification: It is a work of God in which believers co-operate. When it is said that a man takes part in the work of sanctification, this does not mean that man is an independent agent in the work, so as to make it partly the work of God and partly the work of man; but merely, that God affects the work in part through the instrumentality of man as a rational being, by requiring of him prayerful and intelligent co-operation with the Spirit. That man must co-operate with the Spirit of God follows: (a) from the repeated warnings against evils and temptations, which clearly imply that man must be active in avoiding the pitfalls of life, Rom. 12:9, 16-17; 1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:16-23; and (b) from the constant exhortations to holy living. These imply that the believer must be diligent in the employment of the means at his command for the moral and spiritual improvement of his life, Micah 6:8; John 15:2, 8, 16; Rom. 8:12-13; Rom. 12:1-2, 17; Gal. 6:7-8, 15.” (Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 534)
“Christ is God’s single heir by nature. He is the Father’s Son. We who are adopted become heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ, and ours is the most valuable and rich inheritance that anybody can have. The inheritance is given by God the Father to His Son, and everything Christ possesses is given to us, as His adopted brothers and sisters, including the gift of eternal life. He is called the first fruits of those who are raised from the dead. As God the Father has raised our elder brother from the grace, so He promises to do the same for us. It is an incalculable inheritance that God has preserved for His people, and at the last day God will say to His children, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world’ (Matt. 25:34).” (Sproul, Truths We Confess, 283)
“Justification stands at the beginning of the Christian life, at the moment we truly believe in Christ. At that instant, God reckons to us the righteousness of Christ, and we are declared just. Martin Luther expressed this concept with the phrase simil justus et peccator. Those four Latin words mean that we are, at the same time, both righteous and sinful. How can that be? On the surface, it sounds like a contradiction, doesn’t it? But we are indeed just by virtue of the justness or the righteousness of Christ, which is given to us. God imputes the righteousness of Jesus to you. That’s the basis of your justification. But, in and of yourself, you remain a sinner. That’s the whole point of the Protestant doctrine of justification. God doesn’t wait for us to be worthy of salvation. He doesn’t wait for us to become holy before we’re counted as righteous. ‘While we were still sinners, Christ died for us’ (Rom. 5:8).” (Sproul, Growing in Holiness: Understanding God’s Role and Yours, 76-77)
The lofty spires of St. Mary’s Church tower over the City Hall and the main square in the center of Wittenberg, Germany.
Dr. Martin Luther
Some of Martin Luther’s (1483-1546) most powerful sermons were preached in the pulpit of St. Mary’s Church in the center of Wittenberg, Germany. When Cheryl and I visited this beautiful church during the summer of 2019, I found myself deeply stirred. Here was the very place where Luther boldly proclaimed the Word of God week by week to the gathered congregation! His sermons were quickly transcribed and later printed as pamphlets so that they could be distributed far and wide. These sermons had a profound impact throughout all of Europe–from Basel to Bern, from London to Lyon, and from Paris to Prague! God used the preaching of Martin Luther to bring reformation and revival to a people who were starved for the Word of God. As Isaiah prophesied, “so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11). Luther’s preaching is one more example of how this prophecy has been fulfilled throughout the centuries.
As I recalled some of Luther’s sermons, I was struck by the simplicity of his language and by the power of his rhetoric. He was unafraid to speak plainly with words and images that proclaimed his message. He was also humble, and often used himself as an example of what to do in the Christian life, and what not to do. Here is a fine example of his preaching from a sermon on Matthew 7:1-5.
Luther’s Pulpit at St. Mary’s Church
“Therefore a Christian should follow a different practice. When he sees the mote in his brother’s eye, he should go look at himself in the mirror before passing judgment. He will then find beams in his eye big enough to make hog troughs. Consequently he will have to say: What is this anyway? My neighbor has done this once in a quarter, a half, a whole year; but I have become so old and have never yet kept the commandments of our Lord God, yea, I transgress them every hour and moment. How can I be such a desperate rascal? My sins are nothing but large oaks, thirty feet tall; and I allow the paltry motes, the specks of dust in my brother’s eye, to irritate me more than my large beams! But this should not be. I must first see how to get rid of my own sins. This will keep me so busy that I shall forget about the motes.”
Martin Luther. What Luther Says. Ewald M. Plass, ed. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1959 (Page 524).
I hope you can agree with me that Luther’s colorful use of words and images powerfully drives home the point of Jesus’ exhortation in Matthew 7, “Judge not, that you be not judged” (vs. 1). How could anyone miss it?
Steven Lawson describes Luther’s preaching in the following manner,
“Though Martin Luther’s preaching was thoroughly biblical and deeply theological, his pulpit presentation was anything but stiff or sterile. To the contrary, his manner of delivery was energetic, engaging, and highly impactful on his listeners. The success of his preaching was due not only to the truth of what he said, but also to the passionate tone and trajectory of how he said it. The power of his sermons did not consist merely of doctrine, but also of his lively delivery. In other words, the strength of Luther’s proclamation was not simply his mind reaching the minds of his listeners, but his heart reaching their hearts. In order to preach in such a way, Luther had to possess a heart enflamed with a holy passion for God’s glory. As the fire of the Spirit consumed his soul, his heart was ablaze, and he was warmly invigorated for the gospel. Thus, he was filled with a burning desire to do more than teach. He wanted the substance of the truth he taught to bring about life change in his listeners. Therefore, he designed his pulpit proclamation to motivate and move his hearers to live the truth of God’s Word. To this end, his sermons included all the elements of true preaching that go beyond mere explanations of the text. These included exhortation, admonition, affirmation, and consolation.”
Steven Lawson, The Heroic Boldness of Martin Luther, 83-84
I thank God for the preaching of Martin Luther, and I fervently pray that God will continue to raise-up preachers like him who will faithfully proclaim his Word.
The Ten Commandments – found in the Bible at Exodus 20 & Deuteronomy 5
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Matthew 5:17
Written by Dr. Marcus J. Serven
Jesus Christ actively kept all of the provisions of the law of God on behalf of God’s people. In essence, he did for us what we could not do for ourselves. The Apostle Paul put it this way, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Rom. 10:4). This means that Jesus fulfilled the mandates of the Law upon our behalf, and he lavishly extends his righteousness to the people of God. Therefore, when we stand before the Lord on the Judgment Day we can know with certainty that our salvation is not based upon our own merit, but it is based upon the meritorious work of Jesus Christ—by grace he extends his righteousness to us. In another significant passage the Apostle Paul declares, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). Jesus Christ took our sins upon himself, and the people of God received the righteousness of Jesus Christ (in a double imputation). It was a divine exchange that was sovereignly brought about by the gracious activity of God. Professor Louis Berkof describes the “active obedience” of Jesus Christ in the following manner,
Prof. Louis Berkhof
Christ as Mediator entered into the federal relation in which Adam stood in the state of integrity, in order to merit eternal life for the sinner. This constitutes the active obedience of Christ, consisting in all that Christ did to observe the law in its federal aspect, as the condition for obtaining eternal life. The active obedience of Christ was necessary to make His passive obedience acceptable with God, that is, to make it an object of God’s good pleasure. It is only on account of it that God’s estimate of the sufferings of Christ differs from His estimate of the sufferings of the lost. Moreover, if Christ had not rendered active obedience, the human nature of Christ itself would have fallen short of the just demands of God, and He would not have been able to atone for others. And, finally, if Christ had suffered only the penalty imposed on man, those who shared in the fruits of His work would have been left exactly where Adam was before he fell. Christ merits more for sinners than the forgiveness of sins. According to Gal. 4:4-5 they are through Christ set free from the law as the condition of life, are adopted to be sons of God, and as sons are also heirs of eternal life, Gal. 4:7. All this is conditioned primarily on the active obedience of Christ. Through Christ the righteousness of faith is substituted for the righteousness of the law, Rom. 10:3-4. Paul tells us that by the work of Christ ‘the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us,’ Rom. 8:3-4; and that we are made ‘the righteousness of God in Him,’ 2 Cor. 5:21.
Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 380
Dr. J. Gresham Machen
Whereas Louis Berkhof gives a rather lengthy description of the doctrine, Dr. J. Gresham Machen, a well known Presbyterian and Reformed theologian, gives us a much shorter statement by simply saying, “I’m so thankful for the active obedience of Christ. No hope without it.” (Stonehouse, J. Gresham Machen: A Biographical Memior, 508). With these compelling words Machen points out how the active obedience of Jesus Christ is an absolute necessity for the passive obedience of Jesus Christ to accomplish its goal—the redemption of the people of God. Thus, when Jesus Christ obeys his Father’s wishes he not only fulfills the Law by his active obedience, but he also lays down his life as a sacrifice for sins by his passive obedience. Both aspects—active and passive obedience—capture the essence of Christ’s atoning work on behalf of the people of God.
Dr. R. C. Sproul summarizes this important doctrine by saying,
Dr. R. C. Sproul
It was by His sinlessness that Jesus qualified Himself as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. However, our salvation requires two aspects of redemption. It was not only necessary for Jesus to be our substitute and receive the punishment due for our sins; He also had to fulfill the law of God perfectly to secure the merit necessary for us to receive the blessings of God’s covenant. Jesus not only died as the perfect for the imperfect, the sinless for the sinful, but He lived the life of perfect obedience required for our salvation.
R. C. Sproul, Essential Truths of the Christian Faith, 84
The “two aspects of redemption” mentioned by R. C. Sproul refer to Christ’s active and passive obedience. God’s plan of redemption begins with the active obedience of Christ—in perfectly fulfilling the law—and ends with the passive obedience of Christ—in laying down his life as a sacrifice for sins.
The Westminster Confession of Faith summarizes the active and passive obedience of Christ in this manner:
4. This office the Lord Jesus did most willingly undertake; which that He might discharge, He was made under the law, and did perfectly fulfill it, endured most grievous torments immediately in His soul, and most painful suffering in His body; was crucified, and died; was buried, and remained under the power of death; yet saw no corruption. On the third day He arose from the dead, with the same body in which he suffered, with which also he ascended into heaven, and there sitteth at the right hand of His Father, making intercession, and shall return to judge men and angels at the end of the world.
5. 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 His Father; and purchased, not only reconciliation, but an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of heaven, for all those whom the Father hath given unto Him.
Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 8, articles 4 & 5
The two phrases, “He was made under the law, and did perfectly fulfill it” (Article 4), and “The Lord Jesus, by his perfect obedience, and sacrifice of Himself…once offered up unto God, hath fully satisfied the justice of His Father” (Article 5) wonderfully express the active and passive obedience of Christ. Jesus kept the Law perfectly so that he would be an atoning sacrifice for our sins. By his righteous merit the salvation of unrighteous sinners was accomplished. It was a “divine exchange”–the righteous One gave up his life for the unrighteous ones (1 Peter 3:18). To all of this we can rightly affirm, Soli Deo Gloria!
— “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished…For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matt. 5:17-18, 20
— “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men, For as by one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” Rom. 5:18-19
— “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Rom. 8:3-4
— “For Christ is the end of the law for the righteous and to everyone who believes.” Rom. 10:4
— “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sins, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Cor. 5:21
— “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, and so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” Gal. 4:4-7
— “Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.” Heb. 5:8-10
Resources for Further Study:
Berkhof, Louis. Systematic Theology. 4th Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdman’s Publishing Company, 1939.
Murray, John. Redemption Accomplished and Applied. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdman’s Publishing Company, 1955.
Reymond, Robert L. “Obedience of Christ” in Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Walter A. Elwell, ed. Second Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001.
Sproul. R. C. Essential Truths of the Christian Faith. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1992.
Stonehouse, Ned. B. J. Gresham Machen: A Biographical Memoir. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdman’s Publishing Company, 1954.
The Confession of Faith and Catechisms. American Edition (1788). Jointly published by Great Commission Publications (PCA) in Atlanta, GA, and the Committee on Christian Education (OPC) in Willow Grove, PA, 2005.
Dr. Marcus J. Serven, ThM and DMin
The Genevan Foundation – Copyright May, 2022 – All Rights Reserved
“Christ as Mediator also entered the penal relation to the law, in order to pay the penalty in our stead. His passive obedience consisted in His paying the penalty of sin by His sufferings and death, and this discharging the debt of all His people. The sufferings on Christ, which have already been described, did not come upon Him accidentally, nor as the result of purely natural circumstances. They were judicially laid upon Him as our representative, and were therefore really penal sufferings. The redemptive value of these sufferings results from the following facts: They were borne by a divine person who, only in virtue of His deity, could bear the penalty through to the end and thus obtain freedom from it. In view of the infinite value of the person who undertook to pay the price and to bear the curse, they satisfied the justice of God essentially and intensively. They were strictly moral sufferings, because Christ took them upon Himself voluntarily, and was perfectly innocent and holy in bearing them. The passive obedience of Christ stands out prominently in such passages as the following: Isa. 53:6; Rom. 4:25; 1 Pet. 2:24, 3:18: 1 John 2:2, while His active obedience is taught in such passages as Matt. 3:15, 5:17-18; John 15:10; Gal. 4:4-5; Heb. 10:7-9, in connection with the passages which teach us that Christ is our righteousness, Rom. 10:4; 2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:9; and that He secured for us eternal life, the adoption of sons, and an eternal inheritance, Gal. 3:13-14, 4:4-5; Eph. 1:3-12, 5:25-27.” (Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 381)
Source: Louis Berkhof. Systematic Theology. 4th Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdman’s Publishing Company, 1939.
