My Journey in the Christian Faith

My goal in sharing with you this story is to thank God and His providence in leading me in my journey as a follower of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to thank as well those whom God has used in helping me grow in the faith. In my other article, “The Testimony of God’s Grace in My Life,” I shared with you how I came to a saving knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Here I would like to relate my growth in the Christian faith highlighting some people who helped me and those ones that I want to help me along the way.

People Who Helped Me Grow in the Faith

God has sovereignly and uniquely strengthened me in the faith using people who are devoted first to Him. My brother, Melchor, first modeled to me the Christian life. His example of faithfulness to God challenged me to stay strong in the faith. He was one of the few people who was concerned for my spiritual growth early in my Christian life back in 1987.

When I was still new in the Christian faith, he would always bring me to a Pentecostal church every Sunday and let me join in every lecture and seminar the church was offering. Though he never taught in any of those lectures I still consider him as my 'teacher'. After the class he would talk to me and try to explain further what the teacher had said. He would also compare notes with me and ask me if I have more questions. He also became my first discipler because he modeled to me how to study the Bible and pray privately and publicly. In the first year of my Christian life he served as my personal discipler.

I was also a college freshman when my brother took care of me as a new Christian. The following year I started involving in a Christian fellowship inside the campus. There I have experienced continuous spiritual growth as I attended Brother Elmo Velasco’s Bible study group. Three times a week he would lead a small group Bible study. There were five of us who would regularly attend his group and he became a discipler to us. He taught us the basics of prayer, fasting, Bible meditation, church involvement and other Christian disciplines.

One time he led us in giving out Bible tracts to other students inside the campus. On another occasion he asked me to enter a room with students waiting for their class. Then he let me share my personal testimony of how I came to know the Lord Jesus Christ. That was my first experience in sharing my faith with other people. It was through his coaching that I became an active witness for Christ in the campus.

I also realized that my skill in leading group Bible studies was first learned from him. He also became a spiritual guide to me. His warm and pastor-like personality served as an example to me on what it means to be a servant-leader of Christ. He also brought me to many trainings and seminars. I felt as if he wanted me to learn many things.

Through the early mentoring of these two people I have gained enough knowledge and understanding on how to live the Christian life. I have learned basic skills in witnessing and leading Bible study out of my relationship with them. On my last year in college, I got involved with Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF).

While with IVCF I experienced a tremendous spiritual growth when I joined its month-long leadership training camp known as Kawayan Camp (KC). It was like a mini-Bible school. There I was enabled to strengthen my knowledge of the Holy Scripture and enhance my skill in studying it and in leading Bible studies. It also helped me grasp the basic Christian doctrines and disciplines as we studied the theology and practice of the Christian life, listened to Bible expositions from Genesis 1-3 and lectures on the kingdom of God and other topics relevant to life and ministry as a Christian student.

The camp also helped me come to terms with my struggles in my personhood and relationship with my family. The different lectures by and my personal interactions with the IVCF staff and speakers, as well as my conversations with fellow campers helped me settle some personal issues haunting me in the past. In that camp it was not all lecture and study but also a real and healthy interaction in a community of fellow believers who share the same struggles in life as followers of Jesus Christ.

I brought these knowledge, experiences and skills with me when I joined an evangelical church. Pastor Elvin Mijares, the resident pastor of Caloocan Bible Church, has helped me grow more as a believer. He encouraged me to join a local team of young people who ministers to the high schoolers in a nearby campus. He served as a counselor to me in joining this team. Being my local church pastor I learned from him deep spiritual insights through his expository sermons every Sunday. It was through him that I first learned the rudiments of preaching textual expository sermons. His study habits and discipline in preparing for these sermons provided a model for me on how to do the same.

One of the greatest impacts he had on me as a leader was his love for books and the discipline of reading interactively. He would always lend me his books and I saw how he interacted with the author. He wrote his comments and questions on the margin and highlighted those ideas that he deemed to be important. Because of that I started buying Christian literature for myself and did the same. Also this led me to start reading my Bible in the same manner.

Another influence he had on me is in the area of humility and simplicity. He never projected himself as a super Christian or a perfect pastor or pretending to be somebody who knows a lot. He simply did his best to live out his faith. He did not hide his fears, his angers, his failures and his weaknesses. He cried and poured out his anguish and frustrations in life and ministry in his sermons, as well as during Wednesday prayer meetings. He could manage to laugh also. In fact he laughed a lot and oftentimes aloud. He is so down-to-earth and a light-hearted person.

Although there was no formal commitment for him to mentor me, yet I consider our relationship as that of a mentor-protégé. Oftentimes he allowed me to stay with his family, eat with them and spend time with them. He let me see who he was as a husband and a father. I became a family friend to them as a result. In the process I learned a lot about building a Christian family out of that relationship I had with him and his family.

Pastor Elvin also served as a mentor to me when I joined Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship staff team. With his years of experience with IVCF he provided me the right perspective in this ministry. My interactions with him became an informal way of learning the ups and downs of campus ministry. His perceptions and precautions were seeds of wisdom as I tried to figure out my way through the student ministry.

Several people mentored me while I was with IVCF. Jun Singson is one worth mentioning. He became a Kuya (big brother) to me. He imparted principles and strategies on how to start and sustain group Bible studies among high school students. I remember how he brought me to different high school campuses and introduced me to several key teachers and students whom he was working with. I learned through that experience that having a good relationship with people is an important element in doing the ministry.

Peer counseling was another type of mentoring that I had experienced while with IVCF. Gary Celis, a fellow field staffworker became an accountable partner to me. In times of loneliness and confusion Gary acted as a concerned friend and co-worker. He gave me timely words of encouragement and affirmation. Gary possesses traits of a good counselor. He was willing to listen and accept people in spite of their weaknesses. I can be transparent with him with no fear of rejection. He corrected my misbehaviors without passing any judgment. The relationship I had with him provided the venue for me to grow in my listening and people-skills, which are important in ministry among students.

I would like to mention Kuya Darrell Mortalla as well. He was my IVCF co-worker in Davao City and pastor at Grace Evangelical Free Church. I served the Lord with him in IVCF and Grace EFC and it was a pleasure working with him. His wisdom and wit are both inspiring and contagious. His devotion to the Lord and dedication for His kingdom are genuine. His ability to expound the Scripture and apply it to daily lives is just awesome. He has a kind pastoral heart, too, for the Lord's flock. I was privileged to minister side-by-side with him and to have learned significant lessons in the Christian life and ministry under his mentorship.

Authors Who Influenced and Shaped My Early Christian Life and Ministry

Early in my Christian life several authors helped me get established in the faith. John R. W. Stott, through his acclaimed book Basic Christianity, left an imprint to my soul as I tried to understand the new life I have in Christ. Stott systematically explained man’s universal sinfulness as well his violation of God's law as summarized in the Ten Commandments. Through the simple explanation of the Ten Commandments Stott is able to prove that man is guilty in violating all those commandments and in desperate need of a Savior.

In Christ, Stott argued, God displayed both His justice and love. Man deserves to die because God’s justice requires death as a penalty for his sin and disobedience to the moral law of God. But Christ died in man's stead paying for the penalty of his sin and disobedience.

In Christ’s death God’s wrath was propitiated. Thus man’s sin was atoned for at the cross of Calvary. This is where God showed His holy justice and gracious love – at the cross of Jesus where He died on behalf of sinners like me.

Stott also explained that in Christ’s perfect and obedient life God’s righteous requirement was satisfied. Thus anyone who believes in the finished atoning work of our Lord Jesus Christ will be saved and clothed with the righteousness of Christ.

This is the way God provided for man to be saved and forgiven. Therefore man, by God’s enabling grace, must repent from his sin, ask God’s pardon and believe in the death of His Son as the only means to be reconciled with Him. It was through Stott’s clear presentation of the gospel that the Holy Spirit enabled me to understand my fallenness and God’s unearned favor in Christ.

As I slowly grow in the faith Charles Swindoll, Neil Anderson, and Max Lucado helped me along the way. Swindoll’s Strengthening Your Grip and Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life, Anderson’s Victory Over the Darkness, and Lucado's In the Grip of Grace helped me in my understanding of the Christian life. Though I didn’t fully agree with their teachings, God, in His sovereignty, used these authors in my personal knowledge of Him and the abundance of His grace in Christ at that point in my Christian journey.

Additionally, when I decided to join IVCF I thought I was ready to face the student ministry’s demands and challenges. Life as a student worker is no joke. It is not easy. It is not only taxing physically, it is sometimes draining spiritually and emotionally. I think this is a typical experience for men and women in people-helping ministry.

Two prominent Christian authors mentored me as I struggled in my personal life and ministry among students. The first was Paul Borthwick. His books Feeding Your Forgotten Soul and Leading The Way ministered to me. The former helped me understand what I was going through. It also provided me valuable insights on how to stay spiritually and morally healthy as a student worker. The latter gave me the courage to take the challenge of leadership especially in critical times when faithful and morally responsible leaders are hard to find.

The other author was Bill Hybels. His books Too Busy Not To Pray, Who You Are When No One’s Looking, and Honest to God? challenged me to live the Christian life with the knowledge that God is all knowing, ever present and ever pure. His wisdom deepened my knowledge of the Christian life. His simplicity and very practical approach to life provided me the model to practice the different Christian disciplines more consistently at that point in my Christian journey.

People Who Helped Sharpen My Perspective in Life

My five-year stint with IVCF increased my appetite to read. Shortly after I left campus ministry, four outstanding Christian authors continued to impact my life and understanding of the grace of God as I read their books. The first was R.C. Sproul whose books The Holiness of God, The Soul’s Quest for God, Chosen by God, and Grace Unknown are still very valuable. Sproul is more of a popular theologian and his writings are easy to understand. It is as if he is just talking to me face to face. His passion and skill to communicate Biblical truths is contagious. God has spoken to me through His Word as I read Sproul. To some degree, Sproul has marked me theologically.

Another Christian author whom I delight reading is Jerry Bridges. His expositions on holiness, godliness, grace, and sovereignty of God are superb. I have been greatly blessed by God’s wonderful grace in reading Bridges. His books The Pursuit of Holiness, The Practice of Godliness, Transforming Grace, Trusting God, and The Disciplines of Grace are my frequent companions when I want to read and study God’s Word. His impact is in the area of holiness and personal obedience to God. His wisdom empowers me to take holiness seriously. By the power of the Holy Spirit, Bridges’s warnings against legalism and antinomianism save me from trying to earn God’s favor by performance, on the one hand, and from abusing His grace by living licentiously and irresponsibly, on the other hand.

John MacArthur is also a favorite writer. He faithfully expounds the Word of God and communicates clearly to his reader. I especially like his books Ashamed of the Gospel, The Gospel According To Jesus, and Our Sufficiency In Christ which deepened my knowledge of God and understanding of the message and the implications of Christ’s gospel. To a certain degree, these books motivated me and made me more confident in sharing the gospel. Also his book Ultimate Priority led me to a deeper understanding of why and how should we worship God.

J. I. Packer is also very influential to me. When I first read his book Knowing God, it was as if God was talking to me saying, “I gave you my Son for your life and salvation, now live a life of faithful service by my Spirit.” I can't thank God enough for the blessing of His grace to me through Packer's careful and faithful exposition of the Biblical truths he wrote in the pages of that book. It is still one of my favorites and I promise myself to read that book, or at least part of that book, every year.

I am grateful to God for the lives and ministries of these authors. Surely God has used them and is using them still to impact my life with their gospel-centered books. But the other person who really has a great impact in my life as a Christian, especially as a Reformed Christian, is Pastor Nollie Malabuyo. He is the one who introduced me and taught me and my family the Reformed faith back in 1999. He is also responsible in encouraging me to study in a Reformed seminary. The Reformed denomination which I am now a part of was organized partly due to his faithful teaching of the Reformed faith and mentoring.

I also would like to thank the Lord for my seminary professors and mentors at Mid-America Reformed Seminary who taught me how to think Biblically and minister pastorally. My thanks to Dr. Cornel Venema, Dr. Nelson Kloosterman, Dr. J. Mark Beach, Rev. Mark Vander Hart, Rev. Alan Strange, Dr. Peter Wallace, Prof. Blaine Conklin, Rev. Ron Scheuers, Dr. John Sittema, Rev. Paul Ipema, and Rev. Jason Tuinstra. They've been gracious in giving their time and energy to train and mentor young and aspiring pastors like me.

My Personal Commitment

While I have been learning from different people with diverse backgrounds, in various ways and in different degrees, still, Lord willing, I desire to grow more in the knowledge of God and His grace. Lord willing, I would like to take the time to learn some more from the early church Fathers such as Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp of Smyrna, Athanasius, the Cappadocian Fathers, John Chrysostom, Cyprian, Augustine, and others. I also want to be acquainted with the great medieval theologians and their writings particularly Anselm, Thomas Aquinas, and Bernard of Clairvaux.

Definitely I want to be influenced by the Protestant Reformers – Luther, Calvin, Bucer, Bullinger, Ursinus, and others who followed their faith like the English Puritans and the Dutch Reformed theologians. Their knowledge of God, prayer life and passion for godliness are exemplary. Their influence in the past and even in the present is noteworthy. I can see God’s grace and mercy flowing out of their beliefs and behavior. I am not only impressed. I am inspired and challenged by their pursuit to serve and follow Christ. God is blessing me by their words and works.

I also would like to be adequately informed by the writings and theologies of some great Puritans like John Owen, William Perkins, Thomas Watson, Thomas Boston, Richard Sibbes, Jonathan Edwards, and those preachers and theologians in the Reformed tradition like Francis Turretin, Wilhelmus a Brakel, Abraham Kuyper, and Herman Bavinck. I am also interested to explore and study the theologies of the Hodges (Charles and A.A.), B. B. Warfield, Louis Berkhof, Geerhardus Vos, J. Gresham Machen, John Murray, etc.. Then I would surely enjoy the writings of contemporary writers such as my seminary professor Dr. Cornelis Venema, Drs. Sinclair Ferguson, Gregory Beale, Richard Gaffin, Vern Poythress, and Michael Horton, and other Reformed and Evangelical authors.

Ultimately my desire is to read, study, meditate and live out the Bible in order to glorify God. I am also desiring to faithfully study the Christian faith as it is the summarized or expressed in the ecumenical creeds of the Christian Church and the Reformed confessions in order to grow in my knowledge of the Christian doctrines and to be able to live consistently with these Scriptural doctrines serving the Church, body of Christ, and the kingdom of God.

As I grow in my understanding of the Word of God I also desire to be more obedient and devoted to the Lord, living a holy life out of gratitude to His undeserved grace to me in His beloved Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I implore the enabling grace of the Holy Spirit as I embark on this lifetime pursuit of knowing God, glorifying and enjoying Him forever. Soli Deo Gloria!

Some Suggested Procedures for a Biblical Exegesis of an OT Passage

(This was based on a lecture notes written by Rev. Mark Vander Hart of Mid-America Reformed Seminary)

1. Pray, honestly determining before God to present the message of that text fully and faithfully.

2. Carefully define the limits of the text paragraph/pericope.

3. Read and re-read the text paragraph/pericope in the larger context, both literally (paragraph, chapter, book, testament) and historically (especially the various covenants – Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic – and events – Creation, Fall, Flood, Exodus, Kingdom, Divided Kingdom, Exile). How does the context color the message of the text paragraph/pericope? View the text from the perspective of the whole of the Scripture. View the whole Scripture from the perspective of that text.

4. Interpret the text in its original setting:

a. If you know Hebrew or Aramaic, translate the passage from the original language. Use lexicons, if needed, such as Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius, Koehler-Baumgartner, Holladay, etc. If you don’t know the original language, rely on the English translations of the Bible such as KJV, NKJV, NASB, ESV, RSV, NRSV, NIV, NLT, CEB, etc.

b. Study carefully key words or phrases: how does the author (or the Bible itself) use these words or phrases? Use concordances: Englishman’s Hebrew is one of the best; also Young’s, Strong’s, etc.

c. Pause to evaluate and meditate on your comprehension of the message of the passage. Attempt to formulate an initial statement of the ‘big idea’ or theme of the passage.

d. Compare the text with other Old Testament parallel passages (the closer to home, the better). Always check marginal references (study Bibles and chain references are useful here).

e. Check Old testament Introductions:
Gleason Archer, Dillard & Longman,
R. K. Harrison, Wm. LaSor, David Hubbard, & F. Bush,
Horace Hummel, E.J. Young,
Peter Craige, … and many others

f. Check Bible dictionaries, theological dictionaries:
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible (ZPEB)
New Bible Dictionary
Dictionary of Biblical Imagery
Dictionary of Biblical Theology
Hasting’s Bible Dictionary

g. Check Old Testament histories:

John Bright, Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Eugene Merril,
Leon Wood, Roland de Vaux, … and many others

h. Check exegetical commentaries:

Keil & Delitzsch, New International Commentary of the Old Testament (NICOT),
Tyndale Series, Word Biblical Commentary (WBC, especially if you know Hebrew),
… and many more

i. Memorize the passage.

5. Seek the literary connection into the New Testament:

a. Read the Septuagint (LXX, Greek translation of the Old Testament), using Liddell & Scott’s Greek-English Lexicon and Hatch and Redpath’s Concordance.

b. Pick key Greek words from the OT passage, then check Moulton and Geden, Englishman’s Greek Concordance, Young’s or Strong’s.

c. Old Testament Quotations in the New Testament by Gleason Archer and G. Chirichidno (Moody Press) is an excellent tool.

6. Consider the theological connection into the New Testament.

7. Pause to re-evaluate your preliminary statement of the text’s ‘big idea’ or theme. Fine-tune the statement.

8. Consult various biblical theologies (Geerhardus Vos, Brevard Childs, Eichrodt, etc.).

9. Consult systematic theologies, after determining the major theme(s) of the passage.

10. Consult homiletical commentaries.

John Calvin, Charles Spurgeon
S.G. De Graaf’s Promise & Deliverance … and many others

11. Now, BRAINSTORM. Saturate yourself with notes and thoughts. Pray. Organize your notes and thoughts. Make an outline of the passage. Then write your discoveries. Don’t forget to give credit where credit is due. Document all the materials and authors you quote or allude to.

A Testimony of God's Grace in My Life

Grace is one of my favorite biblical words because of the depth it reveals. It was just an ordinary word for me from way back then. But the word became of utmost importance to me when God enabled me to understand what He did in the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ for sinners like me.

Search for Peace and Acceptance

I grew up in a "dysfunctional" and nominal Roman Catholic family from the province of Capiz in the Philippines. My father was an alcoholic and a habitual gambler. My mother, though religious and outwardly good, was a notorious nagger. She drove my father crazy most of the time. I was both a victim of and a witness to their frequent quarrels. This made us siblings feel ashamed of ourselves and our family as well. Two of my older brothers married as early as eighteen just to get out early of my parents' authority.

Early in my life I longed for peace and love which obviously I have not experienced from my family. As a result I have tried to be good and intelligent so I can be accepted and loved. I have performed well in trying to please others except my family. I became rebellious to my parents. I learned to disobey and dishonor them by not heeding their advices and not being good to them. I told myself that I don't want to be like them and not to do the same mistakes they have done to us their children.

Yet I noticed that the same things I hated in them were gradually being developed in me. I learned to smoke and drink hard liquors early in high school. Later I became addicted to gambling, too. Unknown to my parents, I stole money from our cash box. I used them to satisfy my gambling and impulsive-buying habits.

I also became critical with other people. Outwardly I looked nice and good. I was a hypocrite. I was one of the best students in school. I always top my religion subjects in high school and know a good number of facts from the Bible and the Roman Catholic Church. Yet others did not know the evil I was trying to hide with my outward behavior. They did not see the pain and guilt I was trying to bury with my good performance and behavior.

I tried to look for ways to be at peace with others and to be acceptable. I thought serving God in the church would help. I thought being in the church could get rid of the evil I have inside. So I joined the church choir. I served as one of the altar boys that assists the parish priest during the mass. I became very religious. Like many young people I tried to be more knowledgeable. I thought knowing a lot of things would make me a better person.

Still I did not get what I longed for. Even though many of my friends seemed to have admired me and have told me a lot of good things about me still it did not matter. I also started reading the Bible so I would look more religious but the words were too deep and the teachings were quite strange for me to understand at that time. It did not help me at all and I got very frustrated. So I gave up trying hard.

God-Sent Messengers

In God's appointed time, He sent some people to explain to me the gospel of His Son Jesus Christ. The first person God used to share with me the gospel was Mr. Samuel Colinco, a Baptist minister from Bacolod City. He was a high school teacher. We were roommates at the National Secondary School Press Conference (NSSPC) back in 1986 in Iloilo Province. I was a third-year high school student and a delegate at the conference. He used a gospel tract in presenting to me some important ingredients of the gospel and had me read Bible passages that supported them. Of course I did not understand everything he said because they were new to me. Two words stuck into my mind though after that encounter. The words were born-again and grace. But grace was more pressing to me. After the conference we parted ways but left me with several literature. None of those I really cared to read at all.

When I entered college in Manila, my brother became instrumental in helping me understand more about grace. He was a member of a growing Pentecostal church then and he cared to bring me to their Sunday afternoon meetings to listen to their Bible teacher. Providentially, the Lord used those meetings to increase my understanding of the concepts of grace and born-again or regeneration.

The Beginning Work of God's Grace

Through my brief encounter with the Baptist minister and through the help of my brother and the people in their church, God brought home His salvation message to me. I had seen my own selfishness and pride. Then as they explained to me the reason why Jesus had to die at the cross, I was also being convicted of my hatred against and rebelliousness toward my parents. The Holy Spirit enabled me to understand that Jesus' death is a sacrificial and substitutionary death in behalf of guilty sinners like me.

I understood that God saw the wickedness of humanity, including my hatred and rebelliousness, and He was so displeased. His wrath was upon sinners, including me. But because sinful man is totally hopeless and helpless in saving himself from the wrath of God, God Himself, in His divine mercy, took the initiative to save man from sin and its eternal consequences. God sent His Only Son and offered Him as a substitute for sinners. As a substitute, He not only obeyed God's law perfectly, He also bore the sins of many and paid the just penalty of their sins in His cruel death at the cross of Calvary. Thus, in Christ’s perfect obedience and sacrificial death, man's salvation was achieved for God’s wrath against sin was satisfied and man's guilt has been taken away.

Slowly, I understood these doctrines and through the effectual power of the Holy Spirit I was enabled to see this work of Jesus Christ as the Good News, bearing God’s powerful message of salvation to those who believe. I was led to confess my sins and to cry out to God for forgiveness and mercy. I was also enabled to put my trust in the work of Jesus Christ for my salvation from sin and its horrifying eternal punishment.

Eventually, the grace of God became apparent to me. I understood that God’s grace is something that He gives to an undeserving sinner on account of his relationship with Jesus Christ by faith. Grace is a divine favor given to someone who deserves otherwise. This grace cannot be earned. Not by any good works, but is received by faith alone in Jesus Christ, the One whom God has highly favored.

So this saving grace can only be received by putting one’s trust in the person and works of Christ, the Son of God who became the Lamb of God. There’s no other way grace can be accepted apart from faith in God’s beloved Son. I did believe in Christ and made a profession of faith in His saving work. And I still do by the grace of God.

The Continuing Work of Grace for Sinners Like Me

Since then, the peace that I have been longing for came as a result of the knowledge of God’s grace in Christ. The prophet Isaiah's words in chapter 53 verse 5 became meaningful to me. It says, "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by his wounds we are healed." There is a lot of comfort that comes from the knowledge that God will not take my sins against me anymore; all because somebody has taken my stead and paid for the penalty of all my sins. That’s really amazing! That’s grace. It gripped me from the inside out.

Now I know that God, by His grace, has been working in my life. Now I know that the reason why I believed (and continue to believe) in Christ is all because of His effectual grace. In His goodness and mercy, He regenerated me. He gave me new life. I learned that since birth I was dead, not in physical sense but in spiritual sense, which means, I have been separated from Him and without hope for future blessings.

Apart from God's enabling I cannot come to Him for mercy and I cannot truly repent from my sin because I simply do not have the ability and will to do so. My response in faith in Christ's finished work of redemption and my repentance from sin was a result of His work of grace prepared for me even before the foundation of the world and is the work of the Holy Spirit in me.

Now, by faith in Jesus, His mercy and forgiveness are in my life. I have learned that His grace led me and keeps on leading me to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This grace that saved me in the first place is the same grace that is now at work in me, keeping me from falling back to my old life. Thank God! I pray that God will continually give me the power to do good and to live a holy life. I realize that at the time of my spiritual birth the Holy Spirit started to live in me. He gives the will to desire and the power to do what is good and pleasing to God.

God's Grace Enables Obedience and Grants Real Peace

There are several things worth mentioning here that have changed in my life as a result of the grace I received from God. The hate I had toward my parents was replaced by understanding and desire to love and care for them. Instead of blaming them I have learned to forgive my parents. Instead of rebellion I have learned to respect and honor them from the heart. I started to seek to please them and still seek to be pleasing to other people. The most amazing change I have noticed especially is my motivation in doing good. Unlike before, I am compelled to be good and to do what is right to others because I want to express the love God has given me in Christ.

The inner peace continues to reign in my heart as God enables me to understand His patience, forgiveness and mercy toward me in and through Christ. His love becomes clearer as I read the Bible this time. Now I love listening to Biblical preaching and reading good Christian literature.

Yes, I still see the remaining sin within me. I daily struggle with my sinful habits, especially with covetousness and lustful thoughts. I fall oftentimes if not for the grace of God working in my life and giving me the strength to stand against the onslaught of the flesh. God's grace empowers me to obey Him and to resist the sinful desires that daily wage battle against me. I know that in Christ He has bestowed me everything I need for life and godliness through the knowledge of my God and Savior Jesus Christ.

I thank Him for breaking through my life. If not for His undeserving mercy and grace I am still living in my sin and still looking for peace and love from other sources. If not for His abounding grace I am still working my way to Him. I thank God for giving the Lord Jesus for sinners like me. In Him, through the working of the Holy Spirit I am saved and being transformed into His likeness, patiently waiting for that day that He has promised when I can be with Him throughout eternity. All by His sovereign, free grace. All for His honor and glory!

A Study on Roman Catholic Doctrine of Penance

Introduction

This paper is a brief study on the Roman Catholic doctrine of Penance. It aims to fairly present the Roman Catholic understanding on the problem of sin and her dogmatic solution to this problem, partly the sacrament of Baptism and mainly the sacrament of Penance. A brief evaluation of key points of Roman Catholic doctrine on sin and Penance will be offered towards the end from a Reformed-Biblical perspective.

The Problem of Sin in Roman Catholic Understanding

One of the most basic issues which confront all of us relate to sin.[1] The Roman Catholic Church does not take sin lightly. In fact, recent news mentioned of Pope Benedict XVI citing the “loss of a sense of sin” in modern society and urging his fellow bishops that the recovery of a sense of sin must be a “pastoral priority.”[2] When it comes to the Roman Catholic Church's view of sin, one Evangelical Protestant author has rightly observed some forty years ago, “There is no doubt that the Church of Rome takes sin seriously and this, as in other points [of doctrine], shows a healthy divergence from the shallow optimism of liberal theology.”[3] This seriousness is evident in the way the reality of sin is treated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which was officially approved by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger himself, now Pope Benedict XVI, where it says,

Sin is present in human history; any attempt to ignore it or to give this dark reality other names would be futile. To try to understand what sin is, one must first recognize the profound relation of man to God, for only in this relationship is the evil of sin unmasked in its true identity as humanity's rejection of God and opposition to him, even as it continues to weigh heavy on human life and history (original emphasis).[4]

The Church of Rome also affirms the doctrine of original sin. The Catechism summarizes, “Although set by God in a state of rectitude, man, enticed by the evil one, abused his freedom at the very start of history. He lifted himself up against God and sought to attain his goal apart from him.”[5] The Catechism further adds, “By his sin, Adam, as the first man, lost the original holiness and justice he had received from God, not only for himself but for all human beings. Adam and Eve transmitted to their descendants human nature wounded by their own first sin and hence deprived of original holiness and justice; this deprivation is called 'original sin.'”[6] The Roman Catholic Church thus confesses that as a result of original sin, “human nature is weakened in its powers; subject to ignorance, suffering, and the domination of death; and inclined to sin. (This inclination is called 'concupiscence.')”[7]

It would be a misrepresentation if one would assert that sin is a trivial matter for the Church of Rome. In fact, to further show how serious Roman Catholic Church takes sin, one has to hear her clear note of warning as she talks about the reality of hell: “The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, 'eternal fire.'”[8] The Catechism further asserts, “The affirmations of Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Church on the subject of hell are a call to the responsibility incumbent upon man to make use of his freedom in view of his eternal destiny (emphasis original).”[9]

The Vatican's understanding of the gravity of sin can be seen also in her doctrine of the sacraments, especially in the sacraments of Baptism and Penance, which is basically her answer to the problem of sin. But before we move on to discuss Vatican's doctrine of Penance it is appropriate to explore further her doctrine of sin in order to better understand her solution to it.

While the Roman Church admits that all sins are ultimately an offense against God and a failure to genuinely love God and neighbor, yet she makes a distinction between greater and lesser sins, which are then classified as 'mortal' and venial'.

How does the Roman Church determine mortal sin? She sets three conditions for a sin to be deemed mortal. “Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent (emphasis added).”[10] For the Vatican Church grave matter is specified by the Ten Commandments, 'summarized as they are by Jesus in the twofold requirement to love God wholly and to love our neighbor as ourselves.'[11] Mortal sin also 'presupposes knowledge of the sinful character of the act, of its opposition to God's law' and 'it implies a consent sufficiently deliberate to be a personal choice.'[12] Aside from transgressing the Ten Commandments, the seven deadly sins – pride, covetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, envy, sloth – can also be considered as mortal sins. Thus mortal sin results in the loss of charity and the privation of sanctifying grace, bringing with it spiritual death, and if it is not pardoned, it will exclude the sinner from Christ's kingdom and cause eternal death of hell.[13]

A venial sin, however, is a sin that is less serious and is more easily pardoned. It does not result in the loss of charity but weakens it. It also impedes the soul's progress to virtuous and moral living and merits temporal penalty. In his 1984 Apostolic Exhortation entitled Reconciliatio et Paenitentia, the late Pope John Paul II reminds the Roman Catholic faithful, “Venial sin does not deprive the sinner sanctifying grace, friendship with God, charity, and consequently eternal happiness.”[14] A hasty word or carelessness in prayer may be considered as venial sin.

Therefore the Roman Catholic Church affirms the reality and problem of sin, both as original and actual or personal. But how does she deal with this problem? What does the Church teach concerning the way for a Roman Catholic adherent to be set free from guilt and pollution, as well as from the penalty of sin? How, in the Roman Catholic view, is one saved from sin and made right with God? The answers to these questions will be the focus of the next section.

Sacraments: The Roman Catholic Church's Solution to the Problem of Sin

No one can appreciate the Roman Church’s solution to the problem of sin without understanding her high view of the sacraments, which for Rome are seven, not two as Protestant churches maintain. Romanism is essentially a sacramental religion. We may say that through and through, one’s life in Roman Catholicism, from the cradle to the grave, even beyond the grave, in purgatory, ‘is conditioned by this sacramental approach.’[15] Herbert Carson is quite right in his summary observation about a person’s life in the Roman Catholic Church when he said,

We may summarize Rome’s teaching on the seven sacraments thus: in baptism original sin is removed; in confirmation the Spirit is given; in the sacrament of penance mortal sins are forgiven; in the mass [or Holy Eucharist] the priest offers on man’s behalf the sacrifice by which sins are atoned for; in the hour of death he hopes for the unction to be administered by the priest. Should he be married or should he be ordained to the priesthood the grace required for either of these states of life comes again through the sacraments.[16]

According to the decrees of the Council of Trent in its Seventh Session on March 3, 1547, a sacrament is an ‘effective’ or ‘efficacious’ sign instituted by Christ. The Roman Church holds that by divine institution a sacrament “possesses the power both of effecting and signifying sanctity and righteousness.”[17] Thus sacraments for Rome are said to work ex opera operato for by virtue of the performance of the sacrament, when ‘celebrated worthily in faith’, the grace it signifies is also conferred.[18]

This is clearly shown, for example, in the sacrament of Baptism. Kenneth Baker, a Jesuit theologian, writes,

There are many ways in which God could cleanse man from his sins and communicate to him the divine life. But what we are concerned about is what God actually did, not what he could have done. It is a matter of divine revelation that original sin and all actual sins, if there be any, are remitted by Christian Baptism which requires a flow of real water and a calling upon the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.[19]

Baker further says that the administration of the sacrament of baptism has twofold effect.[20] First, baptism infuses 'sanctifying grace – the divine life – into the soul of the one baptized,' which is also referred to as the grace of regeneration.[21] Second, baptism also remits all the recipient's sins, both original sin and all personal sins, both mortal and venial.[22] The Catechism summarizes the outcome of Baptism in the recipient’s life in this way,

The fruit of Baptism, or baptismal grace, is a rich reality that includes forgiveness of original sin and all personal sins, birth into the new life by which man becomes an adoptive son of the Father, a member of Christ and a temple of the Holy Spirit. By this very fact the person baptized is incorporated into the Church, the Body of Christ, and made a sharer in the priesthood of Christ.[23]

In other words, through the sacrament of Baptism a baptized person, whether a child or an adult, is infused with grace which regenerates him and makes him righteous, entitling him to become an adopted son of God and member of the Church, the Body of Christ. When he dies immediately after Baptism the Roman Catholic Church leaves no room for doubt that he would go directly to heaven. Rome thus claims,

The Holy Spirit marks the baptized with ‘the seal of the Lord (“Dominicus character”) “for the day of redemption.” “Baptism indeed is the seal of eternal life.” The faithful Christian who has “kept the seal” until the end, remaining faithful to the demands of his Baptism, will be able to depart this life “marked with the sign of faith,” with his baptismal faith, in expectation of the blessed vision of God – the consummation of faith – and in the hope of resurrection.[24]

The grace of baptism also ‘imparts to the baptized person the infused theological virtues (i.e., faith, hope and charity), the moral virtues (i.e., prudence, justice, temperance and fortitude), and the gifts of the Holy Spirit (i.e., wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, piety, fortitude and fear of the Lord).’[25] Rome asserts that these virtues and gifts enable the Christian to daily live a sanctified life.

However, in the event that a Christian did not ‘remain faithful to the demands of his Baptism’ but committed a grievous sin, one that is considered mortal, such as adultery or stealing, he will forfeit the grace of Baptism and will be liable to eternal punishment in hell. The only way for him to be redeemed and to be restored is through the sacrament of Penance, to which we direct our attention next.

Penance: Remedy for the ‘Shipwrecked’ Soul

The Roman Catholic Catechism is explicit in saying that “Christ instituted the sacrament of Penance for all sinful members of his Church: above all for those who, since Baptism, have fallen into grave sin, and have thus lost their baptismal grace and wounded ecclesial communion.”[26] Rome recognizes the deadly effect of mortal sin in the life of the believer. He who commits such sin is sometimes described as one whose soul has been shipwrecked[27] and needed to be rescued. The sacrament of Penance ‘offers a new possibility to convert and to recover the grace of justification’[28] for anyone who lost their salvation because of mortal sin.

The sacrament of Penance is variously called because of its nature. First of all, it is called the sacrament of Penance because ‘it consecrates the Christian sinner’s personal and ecclesial steps of conversion, penance, and satisfaction.’[29] Second, it is also called the sacrament of conversion because ‘it makes sacramentally present Jesus’ call to conversion, the step in returning to the Father from whom one has strayed by sin.’[30] Third, sometimes it is also known as the sacrament of confession ‘since the disclosure or confession of sins to a priest is an essential element of this sacrament.’[31] Fourth, it may also be properly described as the sacrament of forgiveness for ‘by the priest’s sacramental absolution God grants the penitent “pardon and peace.”’[32] Fifth, it is also identified as the sacrament of Reconciliation ‘because it imparts to the sinner the love of God who reconciles.’[33]

Thus, speaking of its effect, the Catechism goes on to say,

‘The whole power of the sacrament of Penance consists in restoring us to God’s grace and joining us with him in an intimate friendship.’ Reconciliation with God is thus the purpose and effect of this sacrament. For those who receive the sacrament of Penance with contrite heart and religious disposition, reconciliation ‘is usually followed by peace and serenity of conscience with strong spiritual consolation.’ Indeed the sacrament of reconciliation with God brings about a true ‘spiritual resurrection,’ restoration of the dignity and blessings of the life of the children of God, of which the most precious is friendship with God.[34]

The Roman Church identifies two equally essential elements in the sacrament of Penance. On the one hand, the person who undergoes this sacrament of conversion must perform penitential acts through the action of the Holy Spirit, namely, contrition, confession, satisfaction or penance. On the other hand, God must act through the intervention of the Church, which acts through her bishops and priests in granting forgiveness of sins in the name of Christ, in determining the manner of satisfaction, and in praying for the penitent sinner and doing penance with him.[35]

In other words, for the sacrament of Penance to be effective, the penitent believer must act in conjunction with God’s act through the Church. The first act of the penitent is contrition. This act is defined by the Council of Trent as ‘grief and detestation of mind at the sin committed, together with the resolution not to sin in the future.’[36] It is close to the idea of repentance and it arises from a love for God above all else. Rome distinguishes contrition from attrition, which is a sorrow for sin not motivated by love for God or hatred for sin but by fear of hell. Attrition would suffice for venial sins but contrition is necessary for mortal sins.

The second penitential act is called confession. This involves disclosure or admission as well as the taking of responsibility before a confessor-priest of the sins one is guilty of. Trent decrees that ‘all mortal sins that penitents are aware of after a careful self-examination have to be related in the confession, even if they are very private and committed only against the last two commandments of the Decalogue, since these may often quite seriously damage the soul and are more dangerous than those which are openly admitted.’[37]

The third act, satisfaction, involves making amends for the sin or sins committed. The penitent must ‘make satisfaction for’ or ‘expiate’ his sins. This satisfaction is also called “penance.” It must be imposed by the confessor upon the penitent taking into consideration the latter’s personal situation and must seek the spiritual good of the penitent. On this act Trent declares,

For this satisfaction which we offer in payment for our sins is not so much ours that it is not also done through Christ Jesus; for we can do nothing of ourselves as of ourselves; with his cooperation we can do everything in him who strengthens us. Thus we have nothing of which to boast; but all our boasting is in Christ, in whom we live, in whom we merit, in whom we make satisfaction and yield fruits that will benefit repentance, which have their worth from him, are offered by him to the Father, and through him are accepted by the Father.[38]

The Roman Catholic Church firmly believes that only God forgives sin (Mk.2:7). Further, she claims that our Lord Jesus Christ, being the Son of God, has the authority on earth to forgive sins (Mk. 2:10) and He exercises this divine power when He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven” (Mk. 2:5). By virtue of His divine authority Jesus gives this power to men to exercise in His name (cf. Jn.20:21-23). And in what way did He do this? Rome says, “Christ has willed that in her prayer and life and action his whole Church should be the sign and instrument of the forgiveness and reconciliation that he acquired for us at the price of his blood. But he entrusted the exercise of the power of absolution to the apostolic ministry which he charged with the ministry of reconciliation.”[39]

Thus for Rome the Church, through her bishops, whom she claims to be the rightful successors of Christ’s apostles, and priests, who are the bishops’ collaborators, continues to exercise the power to forgive sins in the name of Christ. Part of discharging their duties, bishops and priests ‘must encourage the faithful to come to the sacrament of Penance and must make themselves available to celebrate this sacrament each time Christians ask for it.’[40] Rome adds

In celebrating this sacrament, the priest is fulfilling the ministry of the Good Shepherd who seeks the lost sheep, of the good Samaritan who binds up wounds, of the Father who awaits the prodigal son and welcomes him on his return, and of the just and impartial judge whose judgment is both just and merciful. The priest is the sign and the instrument of God’s merciful love for the sinner.[41]

So the sacrament of Penance was instituted to address the problem of mortal sins committed by the believer after Baptism since those sins endanger his status before God and the Church. The purpose of the sacrament is to restore and reconcile the penitent sinner into holy union and communion with God and the Church through various penitential acts of the sinner and by the word of absolution of the priest who declares the words of forgiveness and reconciliation upon the penitent in the name of Christ.

An Evaluation of Rome's Doctrine of Sin and Penance

One can appreciate Rome's seriousness in addressing the problem of sin. It is seen to be the greatest evil in the world. At its root is breaking the law of God and therefore it correspondingly brings upon man serious consequences. So Rome is to be commended in her effort to face the issue of sin seriously.

We, however, take issue with Rome in her teaching regarding sin and Penance. Here I limit my critique to four points only.[42] First, the problem with Rome in her treatment of sin is in the distinction she makes between what is mortal and what is venial. For a sin to be mortal it must be a serious matter and must be done consciously and deliberately. But, if we may ask, what really constitutes a 'serious matter'? Ever since Eden man has been an adept at excusing himself, and the whole idea of less serious offenses is one which gives him abundant scope for attempting to evade the judgment of a holy God upon every sin. While it is true that there is a difference in the nature and the consequences between a careless word and murder, for example, yet there is no difference in the sight of God between one sin and another as far as guilt is concerned. James is emphatic in his rejection of the idea that any sin is venial when he said, “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it” (Ja. 2:10).

Second, when the Bible declares that 'the wages of sin is death' (Rom. 6:23) it neither draws distinction between one sin and another nor between one penalty and another.[43] Thus Rome's distinction between eternal punishment for mortal sins and temporal punishment for venial sins is not Biblical but arbitrary, which may prove both morally and spiritually dangerous. We who believed in Christ and repented of our sins may therefore confess with Paul that “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1).

Third, Rome's distinction between contrition and attrition has no Biblical ground either. What we see, however, in Psalm 51 is a Biblical repentance that sees sin as being loathsome because it is an offense against God and sees sin's consequences as being a loss of God's favor. Basically the same idea is evident in the New Testament where Paul, for example, knits together repentance toward God with faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21). The call in the New Testament is 'to repent and believe the gospel' (Mk. 1:15). To separate repentance from faith is to produce an attitude which bears no relationship to the authentic sorrow of the sinner. True repentance is centered on God not on man's effort. To give any place to such a notion as attrition is to open the door to what may appear to be the pathway to forgiveness but is in fact a spiritual blind alley.

Fourth, human satisfaction contributes nothing to one's justification. The Bible is emphatic on the completeness of the pardon given by God in view of the perfect satisfaction offered by our Lord Jesus Christ. We do not deny that the temporal consequences often remain even after sin has been confessed and forgiven. A man, for instance, who has lived an immoral or unchaste life will bear in his body the ravages of past misdeeds even though he himself is pardoned by God. God may in chastening love leave us to live with consequences of our sins that He may humble us and teach us how completely we are in need of His grace (cf. 2 Cor. 12:7-10).

Thus the whole idea of a continuing punishment for sin for which satisfaction or penance must be offered dishonors the perfect atoning death of Christ. To say that I, by the performance of penance must satisfy the offended justice of God is to say that Christ's offering has not adequately met God's demands. But Christ's satisfaction is surely perfect. His offering after all was provided by the Father (Rom. 3:25). He is the propitiation for our sins (1 John 2:2). His present position at the right hand of God is a clear declaration that the propitiation He has offered, the once-for-all sacrificial death He has died to satisfy God's wrath, has been accepted (Heb.10:12-18). God's justice has been satisfied and the guilty sinner needs a humble reliance upon Christ alone.


Endnotes

[1] See Herbert Carson's The Faith of the Vatican: A Fresh Look at Roman Catholicism (Durham, England: Evangelical Press, 1996), 135.

[2] From “Canadian bishops urged to preach on sin, Confession,” news article on-line at http://www.miraclerosarymission.org/sin-conf.html, accessed April 16, 2008.

[3] H. M. Carson, Roman Catholicism Today (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965), 92.

[4] Catechism of the Catholic Church (New York: Doubleday, 1995), 109, par. 386. This catechism is a summary of Roman Catholic belief based on her doctrinal interpretation of Scripture and traditions.

[5] Ibid., 117, par. 415.

[6] Ibid., 117, par. 416-417.

[7] Ibid., 117. par. 418.

[8] Ibid., 292, par. 1035.

[9] Ibid., 292, par. 1036.

[10] See Ibid., 507, par. 1857. This quote is from Pope John Paul II's Apostolic Exhortation Reconciliatio et Paenitentia issued in Decemeber 1984.

[11] Carson, The Faith of the Vatican, 138.

[12] Catechism, 508, par. 1859.

[13] Ibid., 508, par. 1861.

[14] See Ibid., 509, par. 1863.

[15] Carson, Roman Catholicism Today, 54.

[16] Ibid., 55.

[17] This is a quote from the creed of Pius IV, the Roman pope from 1559 to 1565, regarding the effectiveness of the sacrament as a sign. This is quoted in Carson’s Roman Catholicism Today, 55.

[18] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 319, par. 1127-1128.

[19] Fundamentals of Catholicism, Vol. 3 (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1985), 198.

[20] See also Catechism, 353, par. 1262.

[21] Fundamentals of Catholicism, 200.

[22] Ibid., 201.

[23] Catechism, 357, par.1279.

[24] Ibid., 356, par. 1274.

[25] Fundamentals of Catholicism, 202.

[26] Catechism, 403, par. 1446.

[27] Tertullian used the idea of being shipwrecked to describe a person sinking in the waves of sin in his treatise On Repentance 4.2. See also Catechism of the Catholic Church, 403, par. 1446.

[28] Catechism, 403, par. 1446.

[29] Ibid., 397, par. 1423.

[30] Ibid., 396-397, par. 1423.

[31] Ibid., 397, par. 1424.

[32] Ibid.

[33] Ibid.

[34] Ibid., 409-410, par. 1468.

[35] Ibid., 404, par. 1448.

[36] Creeds and Dogmatic Decrees of the Council of Trent, 1545-63, in Creeds and Confessions of Faith in the Christian Tradition, Vol. 2, eds. Jaroslav Pelikan and Valerie Hotchkiss (New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2003), 851.

[37] Ibid., 852.

[38] Ibid., 856.

[39] Catechism, 402, par. 1442.

[40] Ibid., 408-409, par. 1464.

[41] Ibid., 409, par. 1465.

[42] I am indebted mainly to Herbert M. Carson in my evaluation and critique of Rome's doctrine here. His two books Roman Catholicism Today and The Faith of the Vatican are good resources on Roman Catholicism.

[43] William Webster, Salvation, the Bible, and Roman Catholicism (Edinburgh: Banner of truth, 1990), 44.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Baker, Kenneth. Fundamentals of Catholicism, Vol. 3, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1983.

Boettner, Loraine. Roman Catholicism, Phillipsburg: Presbyterian and Reformed
Publishing,1962.

Calvin, John. Acts of the Council of Trent: With the Antidote, in Selected Works of
John Calvin: Tracts and Letters, Vol. 3: Tracts 3, ed. & trans. Henry Beveridge,
eds. Henry Beveridge and Jules Bonnet, Grand Rapids: Baker, 1983.

__________. Institutes of the Christian Religion, trans. Ford Lewis Battles, ed. John T.
McNeill, Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960.

“Canadian bishops urged to preach on sin, Confession,” news article on-line at
http://www.miraclerosarymission.org/sin-conf.html, accessed April 16, 2008.

Carson, H.M. Roman Catholicism Today, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964.

___________. The Faith of the Vatican: A Fresh Look at Roman Catholicism, Durham,
England: Evangelical Press, 1996.

Catechism of the Catholic Church, New York: Image, Doubleday, 1995.

Companion to the Catechism of of the Catholic Church: Second Edition, San Francisco, Ignatius Press, 2002.

Flannery, Austin P. ed., Documents of Vatican II, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975.

Lukefahr, Oscar. “We Believe...”: A Survey of the Catholic Faith, Liguori, Missouri:
Liguori Publications, 1990.

Mick, Lawrence. Understanding the Sacraments Today: Revised Edition, Collegeville,
Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2006.

Pelikan, Jaroslav & Valerie Hotchkiss. eds., Creeds and Dogmatic Decrees of the Council of
Trent, 1545-63, in Creeds and Confessions of Faith in the Christian
Tradition. Vol. II: Part Four: Creeds and Confessions of the Reformation Era,
New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2003.

Walsh, Michael J. ed., Commentary on the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Collegevillle,
Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1994.

Waterworth, J. trans. The Canons and Decrees of the Sacred and Ecumenical Council of
Trent, Chicago: The Christian Symbolic Publication Soc., 1848.

Webster, William. Salvation, the Bible, and Roman Catholicism, Edinburgh: Banner of
Truth, 1990.

"Make Known His Deeds Among the Peoples" - Part 3

"Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel."

His Glorious Presence (v. 6).

Although a male voice praises throughout, but in v. 6 shout is a feminine singular verb. The inhabitant of Zion is also singular and feminine. What is that to us then? Well, while the daughters of Zion in Isaiah 3 were a depraved group, yet, like Miriam in Exodus 15:20, 21, a woman (here in v.6) urged the praise of the Lord upon others. “Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion…”

And what does this female voice urge others to sing? She says, “…for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.” In other words, the whole congregation of God’s people, the inhabitant of Zion, sings of His presence among them. Before, these people do not know God. Now they know who is among them and they sing about His glorious presence. Together they boast of God’s awesome presence in their midst. They sing, “Emmanuel – God is with us. And if God is with us, who can be against us?”

We as the New Testament church sing the same theme. We sing, "God is with us" in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. God came down to us, lived with us, and walked with us in Christ. And even if our Lord Jesus has ascended back to the Father's side he promised to be with us in our discipling the nations even to the very end of time. Indeed Christ is always with us. He does not leave us as orphans. He is very much involved in our lives in the person of the Holy Spirit. He not only empower us for faithful witness but also for joyful and obedient living even in the midst and in the face of many trials and testings of our faith.

Now, Isaiah looks for the day in which the Lord would be recognized as present in the midst of the people. This was reason for joy. This was reason enough for anticipated joy – joy amid the trials and stresses of surrounding chaos and impending doom. Isaiah challenged the people to live the joy of the hope in promised redemption.

Nowadays, it’s easy to complain about many things – about our government and our politicians, about our husbands or wives, about our children or parents. It’s easy to blame others and criticize others of their unpleasant behavior. And our complaints and criticisms are endless.

Here God calls us to consider His gracious salvation in Christ. He directs our attention to His great commission, in His work of making disciples from every nation, tribe and tongue. And finally, He reminds us of His glorious abiding presence with us in the person of the Holy Spirit who empowers and dwells in us.

These are reasons to sustain heartfelt worship not only on special occasion. these are reasons to drive us to bring the gospel to the ends of the earth. Rather than dwelling on failures and shortcomings – either our own or others, why not consider the glorious work of God or think about how He averted His anger toward us because of Christ. Why not dwell on the glorious harvest of many souls in Christ in many parts of the world as a result of God’s great commission?

I think when we dwell on these things we have all the reasons to stop murmuring and complaining about many things and start praising God. We ought to boast in God’s wonderful grace and love for us in saving us from our sin and misery. And as our appropriate response to His saving grace, we ought to praise Him and proclaim to the world His glory and honor.

May we continue to sing His praises everyday and declare His glorious name and deeds among the peoples of the earth. May our lives shine forth in such a way that the world could truly say, “God is indeed great in your midst.” May God be praised!

"Make Known His Deeds Among the Peoples" - Part 2

(Point 2 of a sermon on Isaiah 12:1-6)

His Great Commission (vv.3-5)

Now this song of praise is not only intended to be sung by an individual believer. Here the believer who received and experienced the saving grace of God calls the rest of the people of God to declare His praises.

Beginning in v. 3, a shift from individual salvation to salvation in community is revealed by the use of the plural pronoun “you.” The single male voice in vv.1-2 is now calling others to draw water of salvation from the same source. Once, the water supply was cut off from Judah because of her sin. Now in v.3, there is an endless water supply. Their gloom is now replaced with joy.

Clearly the water here is another picture of salvation. Life of sin and rebellion against God is portrayed in Isaiah as a desert and dry land (Isa.35:1ff). There is no life without water. Life in sin and unbelief is like a desert. No plant can grow and bear fruit there.

It’s the same in our spiritual life. Sin turns your life into a waterless desert, a place that cannot sustain spiritual life. Sin makes your life fruitless and brings you sure eternal death.
But Isaiah is talking about drawing water with joy from the "wells" of salvation (v.3). “Wells” or “springs” here refer to Christ. Congregation, salvation in Christ is like springs of water where flowers and trees blossom and those who are thirsty are satisfied. A well-watered place is an appropriate metaphor for the person who lives his life in living fellowship with God. That person is like a tree planted by a river of water that brings forth its fruit in its season and whose leaf does not wither.

Now take note how this song of salvation is multiplied. After Isaiah has portrayed salvation experience as a joyful drawing of water from the wells of salvation, he then issues a series of commands to the congregation to participate in singing God’s salvation as a community.

So we read a great company joining Isaiah in worshiping God, calling upon His Name. They proclaim, sing, and broadcast to the far reaches of the earth. Their testimony is affected by their experience, but the testimony was centered in what God has done (v.4, 5). They are singing praises to the LORD for He has done gloriously (v.5a). And they say to one another let this glorious work of God be made known among the peoples (v.4b) in all the earth (v.5b).

These people who did not know God in the beginning of this prophecy (1:3) now make Him known to all the earth. They can’t help singing God’s great commission. They are singing the glorious work of God’s saving grace in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The word of God calls you today to fulfill His great commission not only by singing it but also by bringing the message of salvation to the ends of the earth, to all the peoples, nations and languages of the world, and to make disciples of Jesus Christ who will worship God in spirit and in truth.

We bring this salvation message to conquer the whole world not with human power, for the gospel message itself “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” It is mightier than the sword or any man-made weapon.

So you and I should not limit ourselves to singing and declaring God's work of salvation to one another. We should also declare God's deeds to all the nations of the world. Evangelism and mission involve our praising God through telling all people everywhere about the wonderful work of salvation which God has accomplished in Christ and which we have experienced.

We need to exhort the people of this world to look to the One living and true God for their only hope of salvation. There is no other way of salvation but our Lord Jesus Christ, God’s only Son. This is our only message to the whole world.

If we really are filled with gratitude for what God has done for us, we can't help but tell others about it. We can't hold it in. When something is especially meaningful and precious to us, we can do no other but to talk to others about it. That is what evangelism is. It is sharing the good news which is too good to keep to ourselves.

Isaiah exhorts God's people to proclaim God's salvation to the world. This is consistent with what we learn in the New Testament. The gospel is the power of God unto to salvation for everyone who believes, to the Jew first and then to the Greek. God's people are from every nation, tribe and tongue. Therefore our proclamation is universal. We need to carry the light of the gospel of Christ to the jungles of Asia, South America and Africa as well as to the big secular cities of Europe and North America. God’s glorious name must be proclaimed to peoples of the Middle East and the islands of the Pacific and Caribbean.

So Isaiah in our passage looks at salvation. What he looks at immediately is the then coming restoration of the nation Israel. The nation Israel hadn't even been exiled yet, but Isaiah as a prophet looks forward to Israel's future salvation from the future time of exile. Isaiah does not see all the details of the way his prophecy of salvation would be fulfilled in coming redemptive history. There were mysteries about the new covenant which were not revealed until the time of the new covenant.

I believe this prophecy about God's gathering His people continues to be fulfilled in our day and age as the gospel is proclaimed to all the nations, and people from all direction come to sit down at the banquet of salvation with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This prophetic word also looks forward to that glorious day when God's people will be gathered in that great final harvest and will be privileged to live forever on a glorified new earth.

"Make Known His Deeds Among the Peoples" - Part 1

(based on a sermon from Isaiah 12:1-2)

Where shall we find joy to sustain us beyond the excitement of the New Year or any special occasion such as birthday or wedding anniversary?

In Isaiah 12:1-6, we will find reasons to be joyful and sing praises to the Lord our God. The passage discloses the joyful response of the faithful remnant of Israel to God’s promised salvation. As an individual and a congregation, we sing the glory of our God regardless of our situation. He preserves us through many dangers and threats in life. And through all the difficulties we don’t stop praising Him.

That’s the message we get from this. The chastised people of God sing the glories of the Lord. Yes, Isaiah 12 is Israel’s response song to God’s promised salvation. Here, the saved community of God, although suffering the rod of His chastisement, proclaims to one another, and to the world, the wonders of God.

Here in Isaiah 12, we are given three important truths of God that we shall sing about to one another and proclaim to the ends of the earth. First, we ought to sing His Gracious Salvation; second, we sing His Great Commission; and third, we sing His Glorious Presence.

His Gracious Salvation (v.1-2)

When Isaiah wrote this prophecy the people of Jerusalem and the whole kingdom of Judah were sinning against God. In fact, Isaiah started his prophecy with a series of accusations of the people of Judah (Isa. 1:2-4). Isaiah accuses them of rebellion (1:2), ungratefulness (1:3-4), false worship (1:13-15), hypocrisy (1:15), and many other transgressions. God sees all these iniquities and transgressions in us.

We cannot hide anything from Him. He sees our outward devotion to Him but He can also see our hearts’ deep longing for this world and all the material things in it. He knows how we go through the motions of worship, even pretend to listen to His Word, but our minds are wondering somewhere else and our lips are filled with vile things and our lives with uncleanness.

If you and I are brutally honest, life in the holy presence of God is unbearable for sinners like us. Even the prophet Isaiah would confess, having seen the presence of God in a vision, he would admit that he is lost. He curses himself for being a man of unclean lips, dwelling among proud and ungrateful people, people with dirty tongues and thoughts. That’s us, people of God.

And so if God is going to judge us, we deserve nothing but His anger. We deserve His punishment. But thanks be to God that Someone has appeased God’s anger toward us! Somebody has satisfied the wrath of God for you and me. Even Isaiah himself could testify that although he deserved to die in the presence of God, yet God has touched his unclean lips and has taken away his guilt and has atoned for his sin.

Now the question is, “How can our holy God do that to a sinner like Isaiah, like you and me?” “How can a just God change His disposition toward us who are so idolatrous, ungrateful, and greedy?” Well, of course, the answer is in verse 1. The prophet testifies that although God was angry with him, yet in that day, God’s anger will be turned away once and for all.

God’s anger was turned away at the altar when Isaiah’s sin was atoned for. As a result Isaiah had comfort, and his fear of God’s wrath was gone when he believed the word of God. Trust, rather than fear, has overpowered Isaiah (8:17).

Ultimately, God’s anger against us His people was turned away only through the atoning sacrifice of Christ. Matthew Henry says, “Though God may for a time be angry with his people, yet his anger shall at length be turned away; it endures but for a moment, nor will he contend for ever. By Jesus Christ, the root of Jesse, God's anger against mankind was turned away; for he is our peace.”

Salvation for sinners is a rescue from the wrath of the God Who is offended by our sin. But it is this same Lord God Who made a provision for our sin. God, in His great mercy and love, poured out His wrath against our sins upon Jesus as He suffered upon the cross so that God would not have to pour out that wrath upon us. The cross is the place where the fires of God's judgment consumed our sacrifice, even Christ Jesus our Lord. He bore the fires of God’s anger upon Himself because of our sin and transgressions so we don’t have to carry them anymore.

Boys and girls, Isaiah 53 gives us an awful picture of what Christ has suffered in bearing our iniquities upon Himself (see esp. vv.4-6). And so when God calls us to the cross in faith, He calls us to the one place of safety from His holy wrath against our sin. The cross is the place where God’s anger was satisfied. So when Christ first came, the day of salvation has dawned!

This is the gracious salvation that Isaiah is singing about in vv.1-2. Although God is angry with us because of sin (and let us not forget that), yet He does not treat us as our sins deserve because of the atoning work of Jesus on our behalf. When God is angry with His people, His anger is that of a father to a son. It’s going to be a temporary anger intended to correct and discipline but not to harm. This is the anger of chastisement and not the wrath of judgment. It’s for our good. It’s for our holiness, for without which we cannot see God.

In contrast, God's anger against the pagan Babylonians, against the unbelieving world of Isaiah’s time, was the wrath of judgment, and God permanently destroyed them as a people and culture. They were erased from the face of the earth. The same thing will happen to all the unbelievers who will persist in their rejection of God, who abuse the kindness of God as a license to their wickedness and sinful lifestyle. There will come a day when God’s anger will forever consume the unrepentant and the unbelieving world. So be warned, beloved congregation!

Israel’s exile to Babylon was a discipline for their idolatry and immorality. God used the hardships of the exile in pagan lands to cleanse Israel of their idolatry, to give them a sorrowful heart for their sins and to work faith in them. Then, when they repented as a people, God comforted them and restored them.

So don’t be discouraged when God chastises you. Don’t be dismayed when you feel the rod of God’s discipline. It’s for your good. He loves you with that rod. That’s why you and I could sing with Isaiah, “God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”

What troubles you today? What hinders you to offer your sacrifices of praise to God? Are there any unconfessed sins, or troubled past, or unsettled relationships that bother you? Does it make you feel unworthy before God? Are there sins or failures that cause you to think that God is angry with you?

Be comforted! There is freedom and deliverance. In Christ you can find God’s gracious salvation. Though it’s costly for God, yet it’s free for you! God has promised that anyone who trusts in His Son, anyone who calls upon Him in faith, asking His forgiveness, He will turn away His wrath. He will comfort those who are sorrowful and seek refuge in Him.

Then as God’s comforting grace overwhelms you, sing His praises with all your heart. Join the chorus of God’s people in singing His gracious salvation in our Lord Jesus Christ!