Should We Only Pray to the Father in the Name of Jesus?

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As a young Christian, I would often go to a weekly prayer meeting at the local church I attended. It was there that I first noticed how many people began their prayers by addressing God as “Lord Jesus” or “Jesus” or “Christ,” rather than by addressing him as “Our Father” or “Our God.” I wasn’t sure whether or not it was right for us to pray directly to the Son and Spirit or whether we should specifically address the Father.

Occasionally, someone with whom I was praying would address God with the Trinitarian formula, “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” For whatever reason, I was more comfortable with that sort of address than I was with the singular address to the Son or Spirit. But was I right to be uncomfortable when prayer was addressed in this way?

The Son is God in every way that God is God.

I was fully convinced from the Scriptures that the Son is God in every way that God is God. After all, the apostle Paul explicitly tells us that Christ has eternally been in “the form of God” (Phil. 2:6). B.B. Warfield explained the significance of that phrase when he wrote:

‘The form of God’ is the sum of the characteristics which make the being we call ‘God,’ specifically God, rather than some other being—an angel, say, or a man. When Our Lord is said to be in ‘the form of God,’ therefore, He is declared, in the most express manner possible, to be all that God is, to possess the whole fulness of attributes which make God God. (B.B. Warfield, The Person of Christ).

The Holy Spirit is the same in substance, equal in power and glory, with the Father and the Son.

I was also fully convinced from the Scriptures that the Holy Spirit is a personal being rather than an impersonal force—he is the same in substance, equal in power and glory, with the Father and the Son. The writer of Hebrews appealed to the Spirit’s personal and divine authorship of Psalm 95 when he wrote, “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, if you hear his voice…’” (Heb. 3:7; emphasis added). The Spirit actively speaks through the Scriptures that he himself inspired through the prophets. When Simon Peter brought the indictment against Ananias and Sapphira for their lying to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:1-11), he said, “You have not lied to man, but to God.”

Additionally, when the apostle Paul gave the elders in Ephesus his parting admonition, he charged them in the following manner:

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. (Acts 20:28)

The Holy Spirit is a personal and active member of the Godhead, appointing men to be shepherds of the flock of God.

Can we address God generally in prayer? Should we only pray to the Father in the name of Jesus?

Still, for right or wrong, there was something about hearing others address the second or third members of the Godhead that left me unconformable. In turn, I set out to study this issue in order to see whether or not my suspicions were right. What I needed then was to be settled about the following questions: Can we address God generally in prayer? Should we only pray to the Father in the name of Jesus? Is it right to pray directly to Jesus? Is it right to pray directly to the Holy Spirit?

Serious-minded Christians have, no doubt, considered these and related questions when they have approached the subject of prayer. The fact of the matter is that Scripture treats this subject both with more care and less specificity than one might suppose. A brief survey of pertinent passages will prove to be extremely beneficial as we seek to draw conclusions about the person(s) of the Godhead to whom we should address our prayers.

The Patriarchs

In the Old Testament era (prior to the full unfolding of the mystery of God’s triunity), believers addressed God in prayer, employing the many names by which he revealed himself to them in redemptive history. The names that God revealed to his people carried with them significance in relation to either his attributes or acts. Here are a few of God’s names that we find believers using when addressing God or speaking about Him in the Old Testament:

• El Shaddai (Lord God Almighty; first occurrence in Genesis 17:1)

• El Elyon (The Most High God; first occurrence in Genesis 14:18)

• Adonai (Lord, Master; first occurrence in Genesis 15:2)

• Yahweh (the Covenant Lord, Jehovah; first occurrence in Genesis 2:4)

• Jehovah Nissi (The Covenant Lord My Banner; occurs once in Exodus 17:15)

• Jehovah-Raah (The Covenant Lord My Shepherd; occurs once in Psalm 23:1)

• Jehovah Rapha (The Covenant Lord That Heals; occurs once in Exodus 15:26)

• Jehovah Shammah (The Covenant Lord Is There; occurs once in Ezekiel 48:35)

• Jehovah Tsidkenu (The Covenant Lord Our Righteousness; first occurrence in Jeremiah 23:6)

• Jehovah Mekoddishkem (The Covenant Lord Who Sanctifies You; first occurrence in Exodus 31:13)

• El Olam (The Everlasting God; first occurrence in Genesis 21:33)

• Elohim (the Creator God; first occurrence in Genesis 1:1)

• Qanna (Jealous; first occurrence in Exodus 20:5)

• Jehovah Jireh (The Covenant Lord Will Provide – יְהוָ֖ה יֵרָאֶֽה; occurs once in Genesis 22:14)

• Jehovah Shalom (The Covenant Lord Is Peace; occurs once in Judges 6:24)

• Jehovah Sabaoth (The Covenant Lord of Hosts; occurs 1 Samuel 1:3)

The Wisdom Literature

In the Psalms, David often addressed God in a variety of ways. Sometimes he made his prayer to Elohim(i.e., the Creator God). At other times he appealed to Yahweh (i.e., Jehovah—the Covenant Lord), especially when he cried out for salvation or deliverance. Of course, David also addressed God with the name Adonai (i.e.,Lord, Master). The author of Hebrews highlighted the fact that the dialogue between Yahweh and Adonai (“the Lord said to my Lord”) in Psalm 110:1 revealed the mystery of the Trinity. It does so by showcasing the communion that exists between the first two persons in the Godhead (Matt. 22:41-46; Heb. 1:13). We learn from that passage that the members of the Godhead exist in perfect unity, yet maintain their distinction in personal subsistence. This varied use of names teaches us that, even in the old covenant economy, the different members of the Godhead can be addressed in prayer.

The Prophets

Before and during Israel’s exile in Babylon, the prophets addressed God in a variety of ways that are instructive to us regarding our prayer life. Many times, the prophets addressed God in prayer as the Covenant Lord (i.e., Yahweh) and sometimes as the Mighty One or the Creator (i.e., Elohim). One of the most significant prophetic prayers is found in the prophecy of Ezekiel. When the Lord called Ezekiel out to the valley of dry bones (a symbol of the spiritual deadness of the covenant people), he commanded Ezekiel to “prophesy to the breath…” (Ezek. 37:9). There the Lord was commanding Ezekiel to pray to the Spirit. Apart from being a proof text for the deity of the Holy Spirit, this passage teaches us that it is right for us to pray directly to the Holy Spirit for his promised work of regeneration.

The Gospels

Jesus’ teaching about prayer is most instructive. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught his disciples to address their prayers to God the Father: “Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven…”Westminster Larger Catechism 189 explains the significance of this in the following way:

The preface of the Lord’s prayer (contained in these words, Our Father which art in heaven,) teacheth us, when we pray, to draw near to God with confidence of his fatherly goodness, and our interest therein; with reverence, and all other child-like dispositions, heavenly affections, and due apprehensions of his sovereign power, majesty, and gracious condescension: as also, to pray with and for others.

Additionally, Jesus addressed all of his prayers to the Father. Whether it was in the High Priestly prayer in the Upper Room, in the Garden of Gethsemane, or on the cross, Jesus always began his prayers by calling on God the Father. This is, no doubt, on account of the fact that he had come to do the will of his Father and to glorify his Father in the mission on which he was sent by the Father. In the economy of redemption, the second person of the Godhead prayed to the first person of the Godhead.

In the Upper Room discourse, Jesus taught his disciples the significance of praying “in his name” when he said, “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do” (John 14:13); “Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you” (John 15:16); and “In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you” (John 16:23). In this way, Jesus was highlighting his role as the mediator between God and man. The same Christ who said, “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6), taught us that the Father only hears us when we pray to him through the mediatorial work of the Son in accord with the truth of His word.

The Apostolic Prayers

When we move into the early days of the New Covenant era, we find Stephen—the first Christian martyr—crying out as he was stoned, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59). Here is the first reference we find in the New Testament in which we see that it is altogether right for believers to pray directly to the Son of God. Jesus is God and as such deserves the same worshipful approach as the Father. Saul of Tarsus, in his conversion prayer, also prayed directly to Jesus. When he heard the voice from heaven, he said, “Who are you, Lord?” The response? “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9:5).

In the New Testament epistles, we find that the majority of prayers are addressed directly to the Father. For instance, the apostle Paul explained his prayerful commitment for the well-being of the members of the fledgling church when he said, “I bow my knees to the Father” (Eph. 3:14). In calling his readers to pursue a life of holy living, Simon Peter wrote,  “If you call on him as Father… conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile” (1 Pet. 1:17). There are numerous other places in the New Testament that lead us to conclude that, ordinarily, the Father is the proper subject of address in prayer.

It is right for us to address each and every person of the Godhead in prayer.

Though there is much more that the Scriptures have to teach us about this subject, I have come to the settled position that it is right for us to address each and every person of the Godhead in prayer—honoring each one as the infinite and eternal God. We would err if we did not treat the Son and Spirit as co-equal members of the Godhead in this way. In the economy of redemption, however, the ordinary way in which God is to be addressed in prayer is as “our Father,” even “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” in the name of Jesus (i.e., through his mediation) by the power of the Holy Spirit. As the apostle puts it, “For through him [Christ] we both have access in one Spirit to the Father” (Eph. 2:18).

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This article is adapted from “To Whom Should We Pray?” from feedingonchrist.org and was originally published at Beautiful Christian Life on August 11, 2020.

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5 Ways the Ascension of Jesus Comforts Christians Today

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning Beautiful Christian Life LLC may get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through its links, at no cost to you.

Before he was taken up, Jesus turned to his disciples, raised his hands, and blessed them:

And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,and were continually in the temple blessing God. (Luke 24:50-53)

Not only did Jesus bestow a blessing on his disciples, he ascended to heaven as he was speaking it. What an image! As Jesus floated upward, slowing vanishing from sight, his words rang forth, “The Lord bless you and keep you…May he give you peace.”  

Even as Jesus receded from view, his disciples still heard him blessing—and for good reason. This cloud elevator to heaven was not just some simple means of transportation. Rather, this was Bethany—the place of triumph. Here are five ways the ascension brings comfort to every Christian today:

1. The ascension is the confirmation of Jesus’ glorification in his resurrection.

Jesus’ ascension is his entering his heavenly kingdom as Lord and King. Luke records Jesus telling his disciples,

You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (Luke 22:28-30)

The Father had covenanted with Jesus to assign him a kingdom, and the ascension is Jesus being crowned with all authority in heaven and earth.

The ascension trumpets that Jesus has won. As we look out at this world, we see chaotic evil, tragic accidents, sin increasing, and the church struggling. To the eye, it seems as if Satan is winning. He completes all his passes and always gets the first down. But the ascension shows us that Jesus is standing in the end zone with the ball, and the scoreboard reads: Satan 0, Jesus 100. 

2. The ascension is our assurance of Christ’s vindication.

The ascension is our assurance that our Savior is working all things for his glory and our everlasting good in him. Moreover, the ascension is our Lord’s vindication over the world’s judgment. On the cross, through Pilate, the world rendered its judicial verdict on Christ, declaring that he was a failure and didn’t have the right to life.  

This conclusion the world still shouts at us as it scorns the truth of Scripture and denies the lordship of Jesus. What does the world say about our faith in Christ? We hear that Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, his death wasn’t a sacrifice, or we don’t have to believe in him because all religions lead to the same place and so on. 

All these lies are “amens” to Pilate’s judgment. Yet, the ascension is the Father’s vindication that Jesus is the Righteous One and there is no other name by which to be saved. When a lower court renders a wicked and false verdict, it is the duty of the higher court to overturn that decision. Thus, the ascension is the heavenly court’s reversal of the world’s corrupt judgment.

3. The ascension looks forward to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

The ascension confirms for our faith that the Jew who was nailed to the tree is also our Lord and Savior enthroned in glory forever and ever. The name in which we pray is the highest name in heaven and earth and below the earth: Jesus Christ. Furthermore, the ascension reminds us that Jesus is absent from us.

He is in heaven and we are on earth. We believe in Jesus. We love our Christ and Savior, but we do not see him. We cannot touch him or eat with him in his bodily presence. The ascension pinches us with the painful truth that the work of Christ is not quite finished because he still needs to bring us home to live with him.  

The absence of Christ makes us question how he helps us. How can he protect us if he is not with us? Yet, Jesus told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the promised power from on high (Acts 1:4-8). The absence of Christ looks forward to the presence of the Spirit. The ascension anticipates Pentecost.

4. The ascension means that Christ is now present with us by his Spirit.

Christ now dwells in the beauty of Zion as we shuffle our feet in the dust of this dirty world. Yet, Christ is present with us by his Spirit. The Holy Spirit makes Christ present with us. How does he do this? The Spirit does this by applying to us the benefits of Christ. Jesus’ body remains in heaven, but the riches of his grace fill our bank accounts.

The Spirit makes us alive by the life of Christ. He works faith in us by Christ’s creative might. The Spirit writes the name of Jesus on our foreheads in baptism. He covers us in forgiveness, righteousness, holiness, and knowledge. The Spirit feeds us with the heavenly manna of Christ’s body in the Supper.

5. The ascension testifies that Jesus is coming back. 

We don’t see Jesus, but we are by no means left alone and impoverished. Rather, the Spirit makes our cup overflow with the delicious wine of Christ’s grace. Yet, even though Jesus is present with us by the Spirit who lives within us, the Spirit reminds us that this is not enough. We cannot be kept at a distance forever. Our faith needs to become one of sight.

Thus, ascension testifies that Jesus is coming back. Just as he levitated to heaven on a cloud, so also on a radiant cloud Jesus is returning. The seventh trumpet will blow, heaven will open, and Jesus will ride his cloud chariot back for our deliverance. Jesus smiles on us now in the benediction, but then we will see his face beam on us face-to-face.

Our bodies will be raised in glory as his body, and Jesus will openly acknowledge our names before heaven and earth that we are his and he is ours. Jesus has entered his glory, and he is coming back to bring us into his same glory forevermore.

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This article is adapted from the Rev. Zach Keele’s sermon on Luke 24:50-53, preached on August 12, 2018, and was originally published at Beautiful Christian Life on September 21, 2018.

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The City of Man: Without God and Without Hope

Photo Credit: The Tower of Babel by Alexander Mikhalchyk; image from Wikimedia Commons

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When sin entered the beautiful and good world that God had created, the distinction was made between those who would follow in the rebellion of the devil, who did not submit to God, and those who by God’s grace would be saved to be friends with the Holy Triune God. The spiritual reality of those who are under the influence of the evil one, citizens of the city of man, is different—in fact, in complete antithesis—to those who are citizens of the kingdom of God, a  kingdom of joy, peace, love, holiness, righteousness, and humility.

Those belonging to the city of man follow their own rules and judgments that fit their sinful desires.

Rather than submit to the Creator, those who either knowingly or unwittingly follow in the rebellion of Satan are “following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2). They are functioning according to a different principle—the principle of pride which results in disobedience to the Lord.

When Satan deceived Eve in the garden of Eden, he was able to persuade her to trust her own understanding, and thereby make herself the judge of what was good and evil. She thought more highly of herself and her knowledge than of her Creator, who had made her and all other good things she had experienced. So, we see that pride is a principle of the city of man. Man does not want to listen to the precepts of God’s Word; rather, he wants to make his own rules that fit his own desires.

The city of man is a city filled with misery, faction, hate, unholiness and wickedness.

The prophet Isaiah had this to say about those who made their own rules in opposition to the Lord:

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
And prudent in their own sight! (Isa. 5:20-21)

What will happen when such atrocious reversals happen, when God’s goodness and light are scorned and replaced with the precepts of man’s sinful heart? Well, we see it every day around us. The city of man, the spiritual city that functions in rebellion against God’s precepts, is a city filled with misery, faction, hate, unholiness and wickedness. This city is a spiritual reality that has physical implications.

The city of man is first a spiritual reality to which all peoples belong if they are not citizens of the kingdom of God. It is the spiritual kingdom of darkness, for such people have turned away from the light of Jesus and therefore dwell in spiritual darkness. Yet, it also has visible manifestations as the evil that comes out of the hearts of men takes shape in hateful and sinful words and deeds.

Every unbeliever is a member of this spiritual kingdom of the city of man. Unbelievers do not experience the peace that comes from knowing their sins are forgiven. They do not know the love of a merciful and yet just God. They do not know the joy of a permanent and lasting eternal blessedness in the presence of their heavenly Father. Rather, the citizens of the city of man are like those in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress who live in the City of Destruction: they labor endlessly under the hard toil of a decaying reality, a city that has no future other than death, a spiritual state of bondage to sin, ushered in by pride and rebellion against God.

We must both rejoice in the mercy of God toward us and devote ourselves to praying for unbelievers.

What then should we do as we interact with unbelievers whom we know and love? We understand they are in spiritual darkness—they are members of the city of man that in pride has raised itself up in defiance of God like the builders of the Tower of Babel. First, we must rejoice in the mercy of God toward us, undeserving sinners who also at one time were members of this doomed city of man, but as the apostle Paul reminds us of our changed status:

You are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. (1 Thess. 5:5)

And secondly, we must devote ourselves to praying for unbelievers. We must plead with our heavenly Father to extend his grace and mercy to them, and that the light of his Word by the power of the Holy Spirit would transform more citizens of the city of man into citizens of the kingdom of God.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Eph. 6:12)

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This article was originally published in Beautiful Christian Life’s October 2024 monthly newsletter, “The City of Man.”

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What Can Women Do in the Church?

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The issue of women’s ordination, and more generally women’s involvement in the church, is a modern issue which continues to generate numerous books, articles, and even supporting societies. The worst thing we in Reformed communions can do is ignore the issue simply because we do not ordain women to the special office ministries. There are some excellent discussions in print on the issue of women in the church, and while I do not claim to have read that deeply on the subject, I have yet to find one that begins from what is a fundamental category for our Reformed understanding of the matter: the general office of believer.

The General Office of Believer

The origin of the term and concept “the general office of believer” probably arose from the Reformation’s key notion of the priesthood of all believers derived particularly from passages like this:

Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple. (1 Cor. 3:16–17; cf. 2 Cor. 6:16)

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Eph. 2:19–22; cf. Eph. 4:7–16)

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Rom. 12:1–2)

But the general office of believer extends beyond priesthood to the “prophet-hood” (Acts 2:1–4 and Joel 2:28–29) and “kingship” of all believers (Rev. 1:4–5; 5:9–10), because Christ redeemed us all that we may all serve him now and forever in his royal service.

It is true that Christ calls some to particular, focused service in this life to equip his saints in special ways (e.g. Eph. 4:11–12; 1 Cor. 12:4–29). But this does nothing to discount the dignity and critical importance of the service of those who hold the general office. The Form of Government of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church puts it this way:

The power which Christ has committed to his church is not vested in the special officers alone, but in the whole body. All believers are endued with the Spirit and called of Christ to join in the worship, edification, and witness of the church which grows as the body of Christ fitly framed and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in due measure of each part. The power of believers in their general office includes the right to acknowledge and desire the exercise of the gifts and calling of the special offices. The regular exercise of oversight in a particular congregation is discharged by those who have been called to such work by vote of the people. (FOG III:1; cf. Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 31-32)

Now this teaching on the general office is particularly helpful when thinking about the way in which women serve Christ in his church. Given that our churches do believe that God does not call women to special office, people in our churches often wonder what women can do in the church. We read the following passages, for example:

I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. (1 Tim. 2:12) . . . the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church. (1 Cor. 14:34–35)

As a result, questions come up about whether the Bible allows women to teach Sunday school or participate in Bible studies where men are present.

What Can Women Do in the Church?

The best approach to these kinds of questions about women’s involvement in the church is a principled one sprinkled with a heavy dose of wisdom. And the main principle is that all women, by virtue of being redeemed daughters of God created and renewed in the image of Christ, do hold office in the church just like non-ordained men: the general office of believer. And as such, they have certain far-reaching rights and responsibilities for service in the church. This is the principle underlying any answer to the question regarding how women can serve in Christ’s church.

Hence, as a starting point, one should say that a woman should be doing things in the church that a non-ordained man can do. There is no principled basis for saying otherwise. We must apply this principle with wisdom, but that is the starting point nevertheless. Let me first illustrate the principle with examples of situations where questions could arise, and then discuss situations where the session or consistory may need to apply prudence in deliberating particular situations.

In many of our churches, women take the lead in organizing, teaching, and writing materials for the education of our children and young people in Sunday schools. Is this not “teaching in the church”? Does it compromise the Bible’s teaching on women? Yet non-ordained men who hold the same general office as do women are also fully involved in these Sunday school activities. So if a non-ordained man can and should do this in the church, then on principle a non-ordained woman can and should be able to do these things also.

The issue of Sunday schools is qualified by another biblical idea in my opinion. The teaching and discipling of covenant children is the particular responsibility of parents with direct involvement of the minister and elders through the ministry of the word and catechism. While the Bible often focuses on fathers teaching and training their children “in the Lord” (e.g. Eph. 6:1, 4), mothers are directly involved in the Christian discipleship of children as well: “Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.... The words of King Lemuel. An oracle that his mother taught him.... She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue” (Prov. 23:22; 31:1, 26). Children are to be instructed in the word of the Lord “when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise” (Deut. 6:7), and this must involve mothers to a very significant degree.

Now given that parents have a primary responsibility in Christian instruction of their children, we should view non-ordained people (both women and men) who teach Sunday school as delegated by parents to assist in that instruction. These women and men are, for an hour or so each week, standing in for parents with extra instruction in the faith under the special oversight of the session or consistory. As such, then, the Sunday school teachers and curriculum developers function in the general office of believer as do parents who disciple their children in the faith.

But what about an adult Sunday school? Well, here is where the practice in our churches will vary considerably. It is my opinion that these classes should be taught by the pastor, pastoral intern, or possibly an elder who is “apt to teach,” as a part of the special ministry of the word. This seems to me to be part of the special instruction in the word to which these men are especially called, for the building up of the saints in doctrine and life. In the congregation of which I am a part, this is our practice and the catechisms of the Reformed churches play a prominent role as our curriculum.

Even given my opinion, I can still conceive of valuable situations where women could participate legitimately as teachers of an adult class. For example, let us imagine that a pastor has led his church through the catechisms and Bible books over the course of the years and now wants to branch out for a time into instruction in issues that have a “day to day” focus. (This relates to what the Bible calls “wisdom” and is the special subject of Proverbs.) He wants to lead discussion on issues such as “The Christian and Modern Medicine” or “The Christian and Law.” In the course of deliberating on the Bible’s teaching relating to the issues of medicine and law, he wants to include presentations over several weeks by members of the church who are a medical doctor and a lawyer, who have thought deeply about how their faith impacts some of the tough decisions they face in their professions every day. And he wants them to bring Bible passages that they have found particularly relevant to these issues. However, both the doctor and the lawyer that the pastor has in mind for the adult classes are women. Does this compromise the principle in 1 Timothy 2:12 that a woman should not teach a man in the church? Again, we should approach the issue that these women hold the general office of believer. If the pastor were to involve a male doctor and a male lawyer in this class, these men would hold no special office superior to the women by virtue of being male: both are holders of the general office of believer and thereby should be engaged in “teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom” (Col. 3:16; cf. Eph. 5:19).

Conclusion

These examples illustrate that the general office of believer gives women certain proper opportunities to teach and admonish in the church alongside non-ordained men who hold the same general office. Both are created on the image of God and renewed in the image of Christ for such service as priests and a kingdom (e.g., Rev. 1:6; 5:10) in Christ’s kingdom. But in our day, sessions and consistories must apply the principles discussed here with special wisdom. Nowadays, non-ordained men sometimes are given roles that may be proper really for the ordained ministers and elders in the church. As such, non-ordained women could easily and understandably aspire to the same tasks. Furthermore, people are particularly sensitive to the differences between men and women in our culture, and we will have to work hard to explain why we do not ordain women to the special offices. But we must work equally hard to create opportunities for the general officers of our churches to serve Christ in the proper ways to which he has called them, so that through their service, they bring to him, the Head of the Church, the tribute of their lives of gratitude for his high calling.

Editor’s Note: To learn more about women in the first-century church, see S. M. Baugh's essay, "A Foreign World: Ephesus in the First Century" in the book: Women in the Church (Third Edition): An Interpretation and Application of 1 Timothy 2:9-15 by Andreas J. Köstenberger and Thomas R. Schreiner.

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This article is adapted from “Women in the Church” in Evangelium, Vol. 4 No. 4, which was also featured on Westminster Seminary California’s Valiant for Truth blog, and was originally published at Beautiful Christian Life on August 2, 2018.

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6 Ways a Christian Wife Cherishes Her Husband

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning Beautiful Christian Life LLC may get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through its links, at no cost to you.

There is a lot of confusion among Christians today regarding what makes for a godly marriage. Much of this controversy centers around how a husband and wife interact with each other.

BCL’s article “6 Ways a Christian Husband Cherishes His Wife” explores some ways a Christian husband honors Christ in his relationship with his wife. Here are six ways (in no particular order) a Christian wife cherishes her husband:

1. Companionship

A Christian wife should be her husband’s friend. After God placed the first man, Adam, in the garden of Eden, he declared, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him” (Gen. 2:18). While she doesn’t need to join in on all of her husband’s activities, a Christian wife should enjoy spending as much time as possible with her spouse.

Even though we don’t get to go as often as we would like, I love going fly fishing with my husband. It’s a pretty good deal for me as he ties all my flies and helps me find good fishing spots. He never gets frustrated (at least he doesn’t show it!) when I get my fishing line caught in the bushes, and he always comes over and helps me get untangled. We have a lot of fun, and it’s wonderful to spend time together away from the usual routines of daily life.

2. Love

A Christian wife should always love her husband. Because Paul tells husbands to love their wives and wives to respect their husbands in Ephesians 5:33, some Christians think this means that a Christian wife doesn’t have to love her husband—but this is not the case at all.

All Christians are commanded to love their brothers and sisters in Christ, and this is especially true in marriage. When a man and woman get married, they make a vow before God to stay together until death parts them. To be in a relationship where love is one-sided—or there is no love on either side—is a great tragedy.

When Christians remember how God loves them so much that he sent his Son to suffer and die on a cross for them, this gives them courage and the will to love even in the most difficult of circumstances. When a Christian wife loves her husband with the love of Christ, this love can do much to soften the hardest of hearts (1 Pet. 3:1).

3. Respect

A Christian wife should respect her husband. The Greek word the apostle Paul uses in Ephesians 5:33 for the respect wives should have for their husbands is phobētai, which means to have a profound measure of reverence/respect for someone (BDAG, 1061).

Some Christian women wrongly believe that the word “submit” in Ephesians 5:21–24 means they must tolerate any kind of treatment from their husband. The Greek word Paul uses in these verses for “submit” is hypotassó, whichrefers to a wife’s “recognition of an ordered structure” in which her husband is the person to whom she should show appropriate respect “as to the Lord” (BDAG, 1042; Eph. 5:22; see also Col. 3:18 and 1 Pet. 3:1–6). If a husband directs his wife to do anything that goes against her conscience, she always “must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29; 1 Cor. 8:12–13).

4. Help

A Christian wife can help her husband in a multitude of ways. This will look different in each family. While some Christians think certain work and household responsibilities belong to a specific sex, believers should not be bound where Scripture gives them liberty.

One important way a Christian wife can support her husband is in the area of counsel. In the Bible, we find instances where women gave their husbands good counsel or were discerning (Sarah in Gen. 21:12; Abigail in 1 Sam. 25:3; Pontius Pilate’s wife in Matt. 27:19) as well as instances where women gave poor counsel (Eve in Gen. 3:6; Sarah in Gen. 16:2; Jezebel in 1 Kings 19:1–2). A Christian wife should seek to grow in knowledge and wisdom in God’s Word as well as in all her callings in life, so she can give her husband the best possible counsel in all circumstances (Prov. 31:10–31).

God never intended for a wife to be a “yes-person.” A husband bears great responsibility, and he needs his wife’s straightforward input. A Christian wife should be honest with her husband about any concerns she has regarding a particular matter to protect him from potential harmful consequences.

5. Devotion

A Christian wife should be completely devoted to her husband. This includes being faithful to her marriage vows, caring for her husband physically and emotionally, praying for him, and seeking his good in all things. A Christian wife should joyfully help her husband in his callings to the glory of God. She should be loyal, trustworthy, and look after the interests of her husband (Phil. 2:4). When a Christian wife honors God in her comportment in daily life, she also brings honor to her husband.

6. Self-Respect

A Christian wife honors her husband when she expects him to respect her in all circumstances. There is no excuse ever for a husband to harm his wife physically or emotionally. Paul is clear on this matter:

In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. (Eph. 5:28–29)

When a Christian wife is in an abusive marriage, she needs to seek help from extended family, friends, civil authorities, and the leadership of a faithful church. This is why it is so important for Christians to be members of a church community that upholds God’s Word carefully and provides proper oversight over its members. There is no situation where a woman should be abused—period. A Christian wife honors her husband when she holds steadfastly to standards that help him to be a godly man.

Because of our sinful natures, Christian husbands and Christian wives will not fulfill their duties to their spouses perfectly in this life. Thankfully, our hope lies not in our own works but rather in the perfect work of Christ done on our behalf. Christian marriage involves joy, sacrifice, commitment, and forgiveness. Our failures should keep us humble and direct us to daily seek God’s help in loving our spouses to His glory in all.

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This article was originally published at Beautiful Christian Life on November 18, 2017.

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What Is Necessary for a Christian to Believe?

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The questions often arise: “What must a Christian believe to be saved”? or “What are the essentials?” Most often the broad evangelical answer is “not much.” The tendency is toward minimalism in doctrine (belief) and practice. In some circles it is enough to say that one came forward at a rally, prayed a prayer, and signed a card (or clicked yes on a website). The Reformed Churches, however, confess a different answer to that question in the Heidelberg Catechism:

Q. 22. What then is necessary for a Christian to believe?

A. All that is promised us in the Gospel, which the articles of our catholic, undoubted Christian faith teach us in sum.

The catechism begins with the gospel, the good news about Jesus the Messiah, which is shorthand for his incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension for us sinners—but there is more.

The Apostles’ Creed contains the articles of our catholic, undoubted faith.

The gospel as we understand it is summarized not just in those events but in “the articles of our catholic, undoubted Christian faith” that teach us what is necessary for us to believe. The articles to which this answer refers are the twelve articles of the Apostles’ Creed, which are in three sections, organized by the Holy Trinity:

Father

• I believe in God the Father, almighty, maker of heaven and earth,

Son

• And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord,

• Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, Born of the virgin Mary,

• Suffered under Pontius Pilate, crucified, dead and buried; He descended into hell;

• The third day He rose from the dead;

• He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty;

• Thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

Holy Spirit

• I believe in the Holy Spirit,

• The Holy Catholic Church, The communion of saints,

• The forgiveness of sins,

• The resurrection of the body,

• And the life everlasting.

According to the Reformed understanding, all twelve articles are under the heading “gospel.” This doesn’t mean that there isn’t a narrow sense of the gospel (as sketched above), but it does mean that, when we answer the question of what must be believed, we do not stop at the narrow sense of gospel. We include in it the doctrine of the Trinity, a doctrine of God, a doctrine of creation and providence, of sin, of Christ, of salvation, of the church, sacraments, and last things.

Our doctrine of God is intimately connected to our understanding of man, salvation, church, and worship.

Modern evangelical answers to this question have focused on Christ to the exclusion of these other doctrines, but in Reformed theology they’re all connected. Our doctrine of God is intimately connected to our understanding of man, salvation, church, and worship. The Reformed faith, however, is biblical and catholic, i.e., we believe what the Scriptures teach about God, man, Christ, salvation, etc., as understood by the church in all times and places.

In contrast, for evangelicals, so long as one affirms a personal relationship with the risen Christ, everything else is negotiable. It is not even always certain what an evangelical means by “Christ.” Is she referring to the Christ of Scripture and history, confessed in the Creed, or to the Christ of subjective, mystical experience?

The Reformed answer to the question, “what must a Christian believe?” is not minimalist, but neither is it maximalist. We don’t ask Christians to believe everything possible. We ask them to believe all that is necessary. There are limits to what may be set as a condition of salvation. There is a hierarchy of beliefs. They aren’t all equally ultimate or necessary. There are fundamentalist groups that require adherents to believe that the King James Version of the English Bible is the only acceptable translation, but that’s not a necessary belief. The King James Version is a wonderful piece of work, but it’s just one translation among many.

The Geneva Bible pre-existed the KJV, the Tyndale translation pre-existed the Geneva Bible, and we’ve had many fine translations since 1611. Others would set the length of creation days as a necessary belief. One is certainly entitled to one’s opinion about the meaning of the “day” in Genesis 1 and 2, but historically the emphasis has been on the reality of the creation days and upon the truth that we are created and not the Creator.

The Christian faith is distinct from other religions.

Reformed churches are Trinitarian. This puts us at odds not only with Jews and Muslims who reject the Trinity, but also with those evangelicals who seek some détente with Mormonism, which denies the catholic (universal) Christian doctrine of the Trinity.

We believe in divine providence, that God is the same God who spoke creation into existence by the power of his Word and is actively upholding and governing all things. We reject deism. We reject pantheism (everything is God). We reject panentheism (everything is in God). God is. He isn’t becoming. Whatever comes to pass does so only because and under the control of God’s good providence.

We believe the catholic doctrine of the two natures of Christ as summarized in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (381), in the Definition of Chalcedon (451), and the Athanasian Creed (7th century). He is true God and true man. He remains one person with two distinct, united, inseparable, unconfused natures. What is true of Christ’s natures is true of his person, but the distinct properties of each nature are unchanged.

We are not Gnostics. We believe that God created humanity good, righteous, and holy; able to fulfill his law and enter into eternal blessedness through obedience to that law (the commandment of life—the covenant of works). Our first parents, Adam and Eve, disobeyed God, and Adam, as the legal representative of all humanity, died spiritually. In Adam’s fall into sin, death, and guilt, all humans were implicated. We are all born in sin and death.

The Spirit gives the grace of faith to all Christians.

There is salvation by (a covenant of) grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Just as God, in the garden, offered to Adam life on condition of obedience, so now he has promised life to his elect on the basis of the obedience of the Second and Last Adam, Jesus. His Spirit grants life to those for whom he obeyed, suffered, was crucified, died, was buried, and was raised, and for whom he now intercedes.

The Spirit gives the grace of faith to those to whom he has given life, and through faith he grants us free acceptance with God, unites believers to the risen Christ, and adopts them as sons. We do believe heartily in a personal communion with the risen Christ, but the Christ to whom we are united, with whom we commune, is the Christ of Scripture and history. He is not the figment of our imagination or the creature of our experience.

The true church exists where the gospel is preached purely, the sacraments (baptism and the Lord’s Supper) are administered purely, and where there is discipline.

We are not saved alone, nor are we saved to be alone. The Triune God administers his salvation in the visible church. Where the gospel is preached purely, the sacraments (baptism and the Lord’s Supper) are administered purely, and where there is discipline, there is a true church. In those assemblies is where the Spirit is at work bringing the elect to faith and where believers are growing in sanctity as a consequence of God’s grace and fellowship with one another.

These visible covenant assemblies are mixed. In them are believers, those who are yet to believe, as well as those who profess faith but who do not believe. There has always been a universal church—composed in all times and places of believers—since the beginning of the world, and there shall always be this body, united by true faith, in the visible assembly.

Believers are freely accepted by God (justified) through faith (knowledge, assent, and trust) alone in Christ.

In the visible church is where all believers are ordinarily found. Believers are those who have been given a knowledge of the faith, assent to the truth of the faith, and a hearty trust that the promises of the gospel are true not only for others but for themselves also. Believers are freely accepted by God (justified) through faith (knowledge, assent, and trust) alone in Christ.

In that communion of saints God uses visible signs of his promises. To those who believe, these signs (sacraments) testify that what they signify is really true for the believer. Christians follow in the footsteps of Abraham and Moses by initiating their children into the visible covenant community in baptism and, upon profession of faith, communing with him at the Lord’s Table. These signs and seals are not magic; but they do tell the truth, and the Spirit does use them to strengthen our faith and to help us grow in Christlikeness.

Sin (violation of God’s holy law) corrupted creation and especially human nature and brought death, but that is not the end of the story. Just as there is forgiveness of sins in Christ, so too our Lord has, by his bodily resurrection, begun to reverse the effects of the fall. His bodily resurrection is a promise that, when Christ returns, believers too will be raised from the dead. As we wait for the final day, we do so with the confidence that Jesus ascended bodily and that he, in his true humanity, is at the right hand of our Father praying for us.

We live our life in union with Christ and in communion with believers.

The new life that believers have by grace alone is a down payment of the eternal life that is to come in the new heavens and new earth. We live our life in union with Christ and in communion with believers, patiently waiting and serving him by fulfilling our earthly vocations as citizens of his twofold kingdom (eternal and temporal).

The Christian faith has objective content that must be believed. Those propositions are more extensive than many might like to think, but all that content must be appropriated personally by faith or it remains only theoretical. The Spirit works through the proclamation of this gospel, these truths, to produce new life, true faith, and sanctity. Those to whom he has given new life he has also given a new identity shaped by the catholic, Christian faith.

The biblical faith, the catholic faith, is an integral, coherent, whole. It isn’t a patchwork, but neither is it an endless garment.

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This article is adapted from “What Must a Christian Believe” at heidelblog.net and was originally featured at Beautiful Christian Life on November 17, 2018.

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Justice and Mercy United in Christ

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It is difficult to comprehend God’s mercy in Christ Jesus apart from a true understanding of the condition of sinful humankind. Mercy in general is the application of compassion and forgiveness in light of what would be just punishment for the transgression of law. As all have sinned against God (Rom. 3:23) by breaking his law either by commission of sins or by omission of what is required, we are all subject to God’s righteous justice.

Justice and mercy are united in Christ Jesus.

The just penalty for sinning against God is death; it is a capital crime that requires a death sentence (Rom. 6:32). Considering this ought to get our attention and drive us to a plea for mercy from such a perfect, righteous, and just God. Thankfully, God is also merciful. Justice and mercy, though they are contrasting concepts, are united in Christ Jesus.

The answer to Heidelberg Catechism question 10, "Will God permit such disobedience and rebellion to go unpunished?” declares that Scripture teaches God is angry with those who sin against him and are subject to his just punishment. Question 11 then asks, "But isn’t God also merciful?” The answer is, "God is certainly merciful [citing Ex. 34:6–7; Ps. 103:8–9], but he is also just. His justice demands that sin, committed against his supreme majesty, be punished with the supreme penalty—eternal punishment of body and soul.”

The Catechism then proceeds to declare the teaching of God’s Word concerning his deliverance of his people from sin and death through the salvation accomplished by Christ Jesus. It is in Christ Jesus that God’s justice and mercy meet with perfect beauty, harmony, and love.

God demonstrates his love by giving his Son to die for us.

The Belgic Confession, Article 20, "The Justice and Mercy of God in Christ," describes it well. This article of Christian belief begins by pointing out how the Bible teaches that God is both merciful and just. In giving his Son, Christ Jesus, to bear our sins and die on the cross, God’s justice was satisfied for all those who are united to Jesus by faith. All humankind are subject to the penalty of death, but God made known his justice toward his Son while "he poured out his goodness and mercy on us.” God demonstrates his love by giving his Son to die for us and raising Christ Jesus from the dead for our justification, so "that by him we might have immortality and eternal life.”

God’s mercy in Christ brings us into eternal union with God.

The apostle Peter writes, "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" (1 Pet. 1:3). The mercy of God is found in Christ Jesus, and it is in him that we receive the mercy of God by grace through faith. It is in Christ Jesus that the goodness of God, his love and mercy, are displayed in vivid detail.

For believers there is no more death, no more weeping. We no longer receive what we deserve but instead mercifully enjoy the love of God, who brings all who trust in Christ Jesus to salvation and eternal life.

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This article was originally published in Beautiful Christian Life’s November 2024 monthly newsletter, “Mercy.”

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One Word That Explains Why Your Salvation in Christ Is Secure

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning Beautiful Christian Life LLC may get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through its links, at no cost to you.

Do you struggle with guilt? Do you sometimes wonder how God could possibly love such a wretched sinner as you? Do you ever get depressed because you feel as though you don’t “measure up”?

Many Christians wrestle with these feelings, even though they started their spiritual journey by acknowledging that all their sins are forgiven through Jesus’ sacrificial death. We learn this key truth from such passages as 1 Peter 2:24 (“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree”) and from Isaiah 53:

But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his wounds we are healed. (Isa. 53:5)

While these verses explain how can we be reconciled to God even though we are sinners who fail to keep his law, how does God remove the burden of depressing guilt over our sin?

Believers are declared righteous in Christ.

The answer is that rather than making us holy and sinless persons, God declares us righteous based not on our works but instead on what Christ did for us. In other words, it is not our works that remove our guilt and save us. Instead, it is what Christ did—that is, the work he did for us in both his life and death. Our receiving and benefiting from the work of Jesus for our salvation is often referred to by the term “imputation,” a word that describes the act of assigning or attributing something to someone else.  

Understanding the word imputation is essential to resting in Christ.

We find three areas of imputation in the Bible, and understanding each of them helps us not to worry about whether we have enough righteousness for God to be pleased with us or whether we are truly saved.

• Imputation #1: Adam’s first sin is imputed (credited or counted) to all his posterity—as described at length in Romans 5: We “all sinned” when Adam did, and thus, “by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners” (vv. 12-19). The theologian John Murray is helpful here, explaining how the Greek word for "made" (kathestemi) is better translated as “constituted,” meaning that we “were placed in the category of sinners.” [1]

• Imputation #2: In this case, our sins are imputed to Christ, and he suffers the penalty due for sin in our place. Thus, the apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin,” fulfilling Isaiah’s earlier words: “The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:6). Since Christ has been “offered once to bear the sins of many” (Heb. 9:28), we no longer need to fear God’s wrath for our failures and transgressions.

• Imputation #3: Jesus’ perfect obedience and righteousness are imputed to all believers in Christ, so that we stand before the Father, not merely forgiven for our sins, but also bearing the spotless perfection of Christ’s lifelong obedience—as though we ourselves had also lived that flawless and exemplary life (Rom. 5:17-19; 3:21-24; 10:5-13).

This crucial third imputation listed above regarding Christ’s righteousness is stressed in several passages of Scripture. In Romans 5:19, right after indicating that we were “made sinners” in Adam, Paul concludes that in the same way, “many will be made righteous" (now placed in the category of the righteous) by “the one man’s obedience.” Similarly, Isaiah 53:11 declares, “By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous.” And 2 Corinthians 5:21 links the two imputations in one glorious verse: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Imputation is an important core doctrine of the historical church.

The Westminster Confession of Faith, a summary of Christian doctrine written in the seventeenth-century, stressed the importance of the doctrine of imputation in its chapter on justification:

Those whom God effectually calls he justifies, pardons their sins and accepts them as righteous, “not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ’s sake alone; nor by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them, as their righteousness; but by imputing the obedience and satisfaction of Christ unto them, they receiving and resting on him and his righteousness, by faith; which faith they have not of themselves, it is the gift of God.” (WCF 11.1)

Notice how the above quote teaches that two aspects of Christ’s work are imputed to believers: obedience and satisfaction. Obedience refers to Christ Jesus’ entire sinless life—his righteousness. Satisfaction refers to Christ Jesus having paid the penalty for our sins—his atonement (satisfaction) for the just penalty of sin, which is death (Rom. 6:23).

Thus, both Jesus’ obedience and satisfaction are imputed to those who rest by faith on his finished work in both his life and on the cross. This is sometimes referred to as “double imputation,” a phrase embracing both the life and death of Christ. To put it simply: Christ not only died for us—he also lived on our behalf!

As the Reformation Study Bible puts it,

In His active obedience, Christ fulfilled the positive commandments of God on behalf of his people, serving God and doing good. This positive righteousness is granted as a gift through faith to believers, securing for them a righteous standing before God. (p. 1679)

We need more than a zero balance for salvation.

It is vital to grasp and embrace both imputations—for if all we have is the sacrifice of Christ to cancel our sins, that merely brings us back to zero, with no more righteousness or merit than a sinless rock or tree.

In his helpful book Side by Side, Ed Welch points out that this would be like erasing a massive debt but not giving the person any actual money to live on. The Father has not left us mere “debt-free beggars.” Yes, Christ has canceled our debt to God—but he has also made us rich beyond measure (p. 151).

Believers wear pure vestments in Christ.

Scripture provides a beautiful picture of double imputation in Zechariah 3 where Satan comes to accuse Joshua the high priest as he stands before God in “filthy garments.” The accuser has not even opened his mouth when God commands that the soiled robes be removed. God tells Joshua, “I have taken your iniquity away from you.” This is the cancellation of debt, but does God then leave Joshua naked? Of course not!

At the same time, God assures the high priest, “I will clothe you with pure vestments.” He then commands, “Let them put a clean turban upon his head” (vv. 1-5). As some commentators have observed, these garments would be “suitable for the heavenly court,” particularly since the priestly turban—going back to Exodus 28:36-37—bore the inscription, “Holy to the Lord.” [2]

This idea of being clothed by a gracious God permeates much of the Bible, starting with the new garments he fashioned for Adam and Eve right after their sin (Gen. 3:21; note that these were made from “skins,” and thus, like our clothing from Christ, they required a sacrificial death!). Or consider Isaiah 61:10: “He has clothed me with garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness.”

We might also recall the prodigal son’s father, who rushed to get his long-lost child a pair of new shoes and “the best robe” (Luke 15:22). And Scripture’s final book offers several passages about new garments, highlighted by a description of redeemed saints who have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 7:14; see also 3:5; 3:18; 7:9; 7:13; 22:14).

“He will rejoice over you.”

Not only do we sometimes feel accused and filthy, like Joshua the high priest, but we also sense that even “our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment” (Isa. 64:6). We need to be reminded that we no longer wear these befouled robes (our works), but rather we are clothed with the glorious righteousness of Christ. As the sixteenth-century Heidelberg Catechism puts it in Question 60:

How are you righteous before God? Answer: Only by a true faith in Jesus Christ; so that, though my conscience accuse me that I have grossly transgressed all the commandments of God, and kept none of them, and am still inclined to all evil; notwithstanding, God, without any merit of mine, but only of mere grace, grants and imputes to me, the perfect satisfaction, righteousness and holiness of Christ; even so, as if I never had had, nor committed any sin: yea, as if I had fully accomplished all that obedience which Christ has accomplished for me; inasmuch as I embrace such benefit with a believing heart. (HC 60)

In his book Death in Adam, Life in Christ: The Doctrine of Imputation, theologian J. V. Fesko sums up imputation’s necessary role to restoring the relationship between God and humans:

Only the imputed obedience and satisfaction of Christ received by faith alone by God’s grace alone grant right and title to eternal life and restore fallen sinners into a new covenantal relationship with the triune God. (p. 276)

Because of these priceless truths, God does not condemn or accuse us, as our own hearts do; nor does he merely tolerate us as debt-free servants with no special rights. Rather, we are eagerly welcomed into the household of God like the impoverished prodigal on his return—precious children with all the privileges of the sinless Son whose spotless robes we now wear.

For this reason, God can say to us, as the smitten groom tells his bride in the Song of Solomon,

"Behold, you are beautiful!...You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you." (Song of Sol. 4:1, 7)

So don’t worry—instead, be joyful in Christ!

Next time you are plagued by feelings of guilt, fear of God’s anger, or a sense that you don’t measure up to his standards, recall that Christ has already met those standards on your behalf—“irrevocably, immutably and indefectibly” (Fesko, p. 278). And remember this verse, whose truths flow from this perfect imputation of Christ’s perfect life:

“He will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” (Zeph. 3:17)

The salvation Christ has won for you cannot be taken away. Be at peace, and take joy in your Savior.

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This article was originally published on January 8, 2018.

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Recommended:

Death in Adam, Life in Christ: The Doctrine of Imputation (Reformed Exegetical Doctrinal Studies series) by J. V. Fesko

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Notes:

[1] John Murray, The Epistle to the Romans (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1997), 204.

[2] Joyce G. Baldwin, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi: An Introduction and Commentary, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Inter-Varsity, 1972), 114; and Barry G. Webb, The Message of Zechariah: Your Kingdom Come, The Bible Speaks Today (InterVarsity, 2003), 86.

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