The Process of Church Discipline and Restoration - Pt. 1

Okay, so the first common place that is best to go to in talking about the process of discipline is to go to Matthew 18.

Matthew 18 plainly lays out the doctrine for us of Matthew 18.

The whole chapter is helpful in considering the matter and is worthy of study.

I've taught through Matthew 18 on a number of occasions before, but what

I want to point out right now is the process text, which is verses 15 through 19.

Verses 15 through 19 read as follows. Moreover, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.

If he hears you, you've gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more.

By the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established. And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church.

But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Again, I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by my

Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them.

So the three levels, we've talked about steps one, two, and three of Matthew 18 frequently, but those are laid out here.

And furthermore, there is an idea that at the conclusion of a step two or in a case where something is public and there are already two or three witnesses, what you can do is then you're able to proceed to a court.

A court, however, is never to hear unless there's two or three witnesses. So a court can not deal with a matter unless there's two or three witnesses.

It applies to elders, it applies to all congregants. And so the idea of two or three witnesses being necessary for a court to hear a matter.

Ordinarily, you have the process of going through step one by private discussion, then bringing other people in if there's an inability to resolve.

Then those people are witnesses so that the matter could theoretically go to court. And so you have things that are public, you have things that are of a sufficient grievousness, or things that can accelerate.

And when things get to a church court, the church court itself is to be public.

And the church court, when it hears out a matter and deals with a matter, there are levels of discipline that get dealt with in other texts, but they talk about rebuke, admonition, suspension from the table, and then there's excommunication.

And excommunication is the one where a person is then dealt with as a heathen or tax collector.

Now, that has details in it that are not listed here, that have to be dealt with from other texts in terms of how that process works.

But this is a good outline text. So then from there, verse 18,

Assuredly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

The binding and loosing there has to do with a ruling of a court.

And if the court on earth is teaching and applies justly what

Christ teaches in his word, that action on earth is in accordance with the throne of heaven.

And so therefore, the two agree. And so that's true for binding and for loosing in terms of obligations.

Verse 19, again, I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by my

Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them.

So the presence of Christ in the midst of the church here is in reference to the exercise of government.

And so the authority of a church court, when it validly exercises power, is doing so with the authority of Christ.

When it does so invalidly, like, for example, the church court did against Christ, when the

Sanhedrin convicted Christ unlawfully, or when you have over and over again persecutions of believers at different times from churches that showed themselves to be invalid, those actions are not effective at bringing curse on a believer.

And in fact, the believer kicks the dust off their feet and puts curse on the body that unjustly puts curse on people and casts them out.

So it's extremely important that judgments be done justly in accordance with God's Word and not based upon favoritism or based upon a mere outward appearance or about hearing only one side, but that there's due process gone through, carefully considered, so that unjust results are not brought about.

Now, furthermore, when there is sin, even when there's actual sin or even criminal sin or grievous sin of some variety, then at the same time when repentance occurs, verse 21, then

Peter came to Him and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him?

Up to seven times. Jesus said to him, I do not say up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

And so then there's a parable that's given following that. Those are the key prose didactic passages there.

There are a number of excellent parables and teachings surrounding it, so I'd encourage you to go study the whole chapter.

But this is the heart of this text. Now, the next text

I want to take you to is 1 Corinthians 5.

1 Corinthians 5 is important because it shows that the function of a church court is not merely a function of church officers.

1 Corinthians 5, starting at verse 1, going through 13.

It is actually reported there is sexual immorality among you and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the

Gentiles that a man has his father's wife and you are puffed up and have not rather mourned that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you.

So when there's plain sin, when there's clear sin, when it's publicly known, a failure to deal with discipline is something that should be mourned.

Verse 3, for indeed as absent in the body but present in spirit, I have already judged as though I were present him who has done this deed.

So Paul is expressing that in terms of the matter of law, this is very clear.

Now, whether he's saying that there's already sufficient evidence for a fact, for the finding of guilt,

I don't know. But the point is you always need to know clearly what the sin is and you need to know what the counts are.

And as you deal with particular actions or counts of breaking the law, you deal with those and evidence for them.

Verse 4, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together along with my spirit, with the power of our

Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the

Lord Jesus. So this is in unity with the Lord Jesus Christ, just like we saw in the text before in Matthew 18.

And then we also have in unity with Paul. And so that idea that the whole church should in unity agree about disciplinary matters is put forward.

So discipline should be recognized between valid churches. So then there's a delivering such a one to Satan.

So when people are cast out from the assembly, they're handed over to have

Satan destroy the flesh, that the spirit of the one whose flesh is being called on to be damaged, that their spirit might be saved in the day of the

Lord Jesus. So there's a use of Satan, a cursing to bring about pain for the sake of hoping to see the spirit saved.

Verse 6, your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?

Leaven is used sometimes to refer to behavior, character, sometimes as doctrine. So you find all of these things sort of, but the issue is whatever this thing is, this leaven, this sin, this bad doctrine or sin is to be removed from the lump.

So do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump since you truly are unleavened.

For indeed Christ, our Passover was sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

So this idea of approaching things with integrity and in accordance with the truth. I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people.

Yet I certainly did not mean with sexually immoral people of this world or with the covetous or extortioners or idolaters since then you would need to go out of the world.

But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother who is sexually immoral or covetous or an idolater or a reviler or a drunkard or extortioner, not even to eat with such a person.

For what have I to do with judging those who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside?

But those who are outside, God judges. Therefore put away from yourselves the evil person.

So that shows the way in which it, again, involves the whole church.

But in 2 Corinthians, go to 2

Corinthians, go to chapter 2.

And this is a discussion about the forgiveness of the one who was cast out and because he has apparently repented.

So chapter 2, verse 3. And I wrote to you this very thing.

I wrote this very thing to you. Lest when I came, I should have sorrow over those from whom

I ought to have joy, having confidence in you all that my joy is the joy of you all.

For out of much affliction and anguish of heart, I wrote to you with many tears, not that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love which

I have so abundantly for you. But if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me, but all of you to some extent, not to be too severe.

This punishment, which was inflicted by the majority, is sufficient for such a man.

Okay, so notice that. The punishment was inflicted by the majority. That right there is the principle proof text, the idea that when there's a casting out of a person, it requires that the voting members of the congregation participate.

There are two major benefits of doing that. The first major benefit is the fact that church rulers are fallible.

And as we've read about in the Johannine letters, it is possible for church leaders to be tyrants like diatrophies and to cast out men unjustly.

And so it is key and necessary to avoid tyranny and diatrophies and usurpation of the government, of the church, for the congregation to be vigilant.

If there is not vigilance, if the men of a congregation become lazy, if they will not consider things for themselves, they are preparing themselves to be slaves.

It is necessary to maintain liberty that you carefully consider matters yourself.

And that when you are called upon to vote on a thing, that you not simply take the word of those who are in authority over you, but that you consider the matter with your own mind.

And so this action also makes it so that if there is an engagement of the mind of every voting member, if there is disagreement, it makes it so that an act of injustice can be stopped before it reaches its height.

The second benefit is if there is a just penalty imposed and the men agree, then the men have gone through a process of considering the matter, have had deeper understanding, and as a result are able to have deeper unity.

And therefore, also in participating in the discipline of the church, are able to help to see the unity of the body increased and to be more vigilant in the future against that error.

So these are the benefits of this design by God, to strengthen the unity of the church and to safeguard the church against tyranny.

Verse six, this punishment, which was inflicted by the majority, is sufficient for such a man.

So on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow.

Therefore, I urge you to reaffirm your love to him. For to this end, I also wrote that I might put you to the test, whether you were obedient in all things.

Now, whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. So notice the unity of Paul here in the judgment, the negative judgment, and also the unity of Paul in the forgiveness.

The church in a unified way seeks to work through matters of discipline and in a unified way seeks to work through the process of forgiveness.

And so that what is bound or what is loosed is bound or loosed in a unified way.

Under the kingship of Christ, for if indeed

I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ. Lest Satan should take advantage of us, for we're not ignorant of his devices.

We are called to not be ignorant of the devices of Satan. And one of the things that we should not be ignorant of is causing despair unjustly in people.

When there is repentance for sin, there's a duty to forgive. And so the forgiveness and restoration into the church makes it so that there is a unity and a care and helps to prevent the swallowing up of the repentant party into despair.

Now those texts, 1 Corinthians 5 and 1 Corinthians 2, when laid beside Matthew 18, help us to understand far better the process and help us to think about these things.

So these are texts that are to be laid side by side with each other to understand well. There are many Old Testament texts that I'm sure you know

I am restraining myself from spending time in. But 1 Timothy, we spent time there recently.

1 Timothy at verse 20 deals similarly with the issue of curse. 1

Timothy, starting at chapter 1, verse 18. This charge

I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare.

Having faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected, concerning the faith, having suffered shipwreck, of whom are

Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.

So in 1 Corinthians 5, we have a moral failing.

And in 1 Corinthians 1, we have a moral failing that's doctrinal.

And in both of these, there's a calling upon Satan for curse. And this is a type of waging of warfare.

So I emphasize all that to express to you the weightiness of dealing with church discipline and the weightiness of voting on such a matter and calling upon you to give your attention to it, to consider it carefully, to review the record of what's already been done and also to consider carefully the information that gets presented and for you to judge it as individuals who must give an account for how you judge and how you vote.

I also ask for prayers because of the seriousness of that, that we come to resolution so that you'd please continue to pray for that.

But the next thing is I want to lay out for you, again, the importance of being vigilant in this process.

So if you can go to chapter 20 of the Confession. And actually, forgive me, before we go to 20, we'll be going to the section on censures.

So sorry, I jumped ahead. The section on censures,

I will give you momentarily. It's 30, chapter 30.

So chapter 30. The Lord Jesus, as king and head of his church, has therein appointed a government in the hand of church officers distinct from the civil magistrate.

Section two. To these officers, the keys of the kingdom of heaven are committed by virtue whereof they have been respectively, they have power respectively to retain and remit sins, to shut the kingdom against the impenitent, both by the word and censures, and to open it unto penitent sinners by the ministry of the gospel and by absolution from censures as occasion shall require.

So the kingdom here is the visible church. The kingdom here is the visible church.

And so there are the word and censures, and there's gospel and absolution from censures.

Those are the keys. Those are the keys. Now, section three.

Church censures are necessary for the reclaiming and gaining of offending brethren, for deterring of others from the like offenses, for purging out that leaven which might infect the whole lump, for vindicating the honor of Christ and the holy profession of the gospel, and for the preventing the wrath of God which might justly fall upon the church if they should suffer his covenant and the seals thereof to be profaned by notorious and obstinate offenders.

Four, for the better attaining of these ends, the officers of the church are to proceed by admonition, suspension from the sacrament of the

Lord's Supper for a season, and by excommunication from the church according to the nature of the crime and demerit of the person.

And so there's the systematic arrangement of the doctrine. We've seen the texts. Hopefully, it's obvious to you how much those texts cover those things.

There are other texts that are worthy to go to to help to understand that doctrine more fully. But again, for the sake of time, we will not right now.

So I want you to go to 20, chapter 20 of the confession. Chapter 20 is of Christian liberty and liberty of conscience.

The liberty which Christ has purchased for believers under the gospel consists of their freedom from the guilt of sin, the condemning wrath of God, the curse of the moral law, and in their being delivered from this present evil world, bondage to Satan, and dominion of sin, from the evil of afflictions, the sting of death, the victory of the grave, and everlasting damnation.

As also in their free access to God and their yielding obedience unto him, not out of slavish fear, but a childlike love and willing mind, all which were common to believers under the law, in other words, under the

Old Testament. But under the New Testament, the liberty of Christians is further enlarged in their freedom from the yoke of the ceremonial law to which the

Jewish church was subjected. And in greater boldness of access to the throne of grace and in fuller communications of the free spirit of God, than believers under the law could ordinarily partake of.

The fuller communications of the free spirit of God would be more gifting and a greater degree of knowledge, and we also have the complete canon, the complete scriptures.

But the scriptures are used and the ordinances of the new covenant are used to increase our knowledge of God and our enjoyment of God to have more than what would have been ordinary under the old covenant.

Section two, God alone is Lord of the conscience and has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are in anything contrary to his word or beside it.

And so God alone is Lord of the conscience and has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are in anything contrary to his word or beside it.

Now the Savoy Declaration puts a period there. Just to help to avoid any misunderstanding.

I think that was a good move by John Owen. But this carries on and says, interrupter clause, if matters of faith or worship.

Now matters of faith is an interesting question. What are matters of faith?

Matters of faith are what you're supposed to believe, right?

So the idea that what you're supposed to believe, this is the regulative principle of doctrine.

Now when we think about our various ethics that we have to deal with, the choices about good and evil, we have a doctrine of good works as well.

And that applies there. So this limits the authority of men, not just in what they're teaching you, but it's also limiting them and what they're teaching you about what you're supposed to do.

So I think the Savoy Declaration helps to make that a little bit more clear. But this right here,

I think is just fine and accurate, but it needs to be explained typically. And then matters of worship also, that's emphasized.

So God alone is Lord of the conscience and has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are in anything contrary to his word or beside it, if matters of faith or worship.

So that to believe such doctrines or to obey such commands out of conscience is to betray true liberty of conscience and the requiring of an implicit faith and an absolute and blind obedience is to destroy liberty of conscience and reason also.

So if somebody demands you believe them or obey them with authority they can't demonstrate from scripture, believing those doctrines or obeying those commandments out of a sense of duty, out of a sense of duty is to transfer your duty of faith and obedience from God to that human.

And so therefore it's a betrayal of true liberty of conscience. Furthermore, if a person commands you to believe stuff they can't prove from the

Bible and commands you to obey stuff they can't prove in the Bible, they're requiring an implicit faith.

Well, just trust me. Just trust me. Just trust what I have to tell you without the arguments, without the reasons.

So the requiring of an implicit faith and an absolute and blind obedience is to destroy liberty of conscience and reason also.

Rational creatures we are to obey out of faith. Faith in the word of God.

Three, they who upon pretense of Christian liberty do practice any sin or cherish any lust do thereby destroy the end of Christian liberty which is that being delivered out of the hands of our enemies we might serve the

Lord without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life.

Okay, so section one teaches us about the general idea of Christian liberty. And section two teaches us about the limits of human authority and power.

Section three teaches us about the limits of our own ability to act and how authority can be used to restrain because they who upon pretense of Christian liberty do practice any sin or cherish any lust do thereby destroy the end, in other words, the goal of Christian liberty.

And the goal of Christian liberty is since we're delivered out of the hands of our enemies that we would serve the

Lord without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life.

So the purpose of Christian liberty is to be able to do the stuff that God commands us to do to be able to serve the

Lord in holiness and righteousness before him. Section four, and because the powers which

God has ordained and the liberty which Christ has purchased are not intended by God to destroy but mutually to uphold and preserve one another they who upon pretense of Christian liberty shall oppose any lawful power or the lawful exercise of that power whether it be civil or ecclesiastical resist the ordinance of God and for their publishing of such opinions or maintaining of such practices as are contrary to the light of nature or to the known principles of Christianity whether concerning faith, worship, or conversation or to the power of godliness or such erroneous opinions or practices as either in their own nature or in the manner of publishing or maintaining them are destructive to the external peace and order which

Christ has established in the church they may lawfully be called to account and preceded against by the censures of the church and by the power of the civil magistrate so this idea that liberty and lawful power are intended to uphold and preserve one another and it is possible to use power to try to snuff out liberty under the pretense of applying justice and it's possible to use liberty under the pretense of lawful liberty to seek to commit sins and to resist lawful powers and so it's important to carefully consider the doctrine and the practice according to scripture now those things that are contrary to the light of nature are those things that are contrary to logic things that are self -contradictory things that are unreasonable also the things that are contrary to the known principles of Christianity in other words the covenanted uniformity that's been attained to now as we think about Christian liberty and we think about this idea of the things that we are free to do and that we've been freed by God to serve him in righteousness and holiness you go to chapter 16 of the confession of good works so these are the things we're freed from bondage to do in chapter 16 of good works good works are only such as God has commanded in his holy word and not such as without the warrant thereof are devised by men at a blind zeal or upon any pretense of good intention now that idea of the holy word of God we have laid out for us in terms of the first chapter and we'll go there last but section one of good works are only such as God has commanded in his holy word is talking about the scriptures we have the commandment of God given to us in the scriptures now it is true that before the completion of the canon there was the prophetic word and the prophetic word given to us by people speaking and those things have ceased we know that because the scriptures themselves teach it and so good works are only such as God has commanded in the scriptures for us at this time and not such as without the warrant of scripture are devised by men at a blind zeal or upon any pretense of good intention section two these good works done in obedience to God's commandments are the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith so notice that these are done in obedience to God's commandments these good works are done in obedience to God's commandments so we can find these good works we can find warrant for them in the commandments of God now if we want to understand how do we find what's commanded we know that there are big principal commandments so we think about the love

God, love neighbor we think about the ten commandments the first four teaches to love God the last six teaches to love neighbor you can find other principal commands that can fit underneath those but then you also find the case laws if this then that if that then this right the case laws are organized there under those big principal laws and then we have lastly approved and disapproved examples so between those things the big principal commands the case laws and the approved and disapproved examples those are the ways that we know what

God has commanded so these good works done in obedience to God's commandments are the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith and by them believers manifest their thankfulness strengthen their assurance edify their brethren adorn the profession of the gospel stop the mouths of the adversaries and glorify

God whose workmanship they are created in Christ Jesus there unto that having their fruit unto holiness they may have the end eternal life now section three their ability to do good works is not at all of themselves but holy from the spirit of Christ and that they may be enabled there unto besides the graces they've already received there is required an actual influence of the same holy spirit to work in them to will and to do of his good pleasure yet are they not thereupon to grow negligent as if they were not bound to perform any duty unless upon a special motion of the spirit but they ought to be diligent in stirring up the grace of God that is in them so in other words you have no power to do good works unless the holy spirit works in you to do them at the same time the law of God does not allow you to use that as an excuse to not seek to do good works you're commanded to do good works and you're also told that you have no power to do them unless the holy spirit causes you to do them so some people go well if I can't do them unless the holy spirit causes me to do them

I'm just gonna wait for the holy spirit to do it and that is a wrong understanding that leads to not doing the works because when the holy spirit wants you to do good works he causes you to want to do them there's another doctrine that people say well rather than listening to the word

I'm going to wait for an impression of the spirit or emotion of the spirit to do some good work now we're commanded to do the good works the holy spirit can prompt our consciences cause us to feel conviction of sin those sorts of things but we are commanded to seek to apply the law knowing that we won't unless the holy spirit causes us to we are to be diligent using the ordinary means words, sacrament, prayer to try to see fruit and we pray for God to bless those means section four they who in their obedience attain to the greatest height which is possible in this life are so far from being able to super irrigate it's a five dollar word and to do more than God requires as that they fall short of much which in duty they're bound to do in other words the best

Christians don't even don't make it to accomplishing what their duty is they definitely don't super irrigate that's like really great irrigation the super irrigation is doing works that are beyond they're super, they're beyond the works that God requires super irrigation irrigation is we can work so this idea of doing works that are beyond what's required is a

Romish invention that has to do with saints being able to pile up extra merit that they could then give to other people and that is not the case we are not able to go beyond what

God requires and store up extra merit five we cannot by our best works merit pardon of sin or eternal life at the hand of God by reason of the great disproportion that is between them and the glory to come and the infinite distance that is between us and God whom by them we can neither profit nor satisfy for the debt of our former sins but when we have done all we can we have done but our duty and our unprofitable servants and because as they are good they proceed from his spirit and as they are wrought by us they're defiled and mixed with so much weakness and imperfection that they cannot endure the severity of God's judgment notice only the extent to which they come from the

Holy Spirit are they good which means that only believers have good works that's taught earlier in the confession as well in this very chapter but that idea that only believers can do good works and furthermore that any of it that comes from us is going to be defiled six notwithstanding the persons of believers being accepted through Christ their good works also are accepted in him not as though they were in this life wholly unblameable and unapprovable in God's sight but that he looking upon them in his son is pleased to accept and reward that which is sincere although accompanied with many weaknesses and imperfections and so those things that are that are done in faith are made acceptable in Christ and so faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of God that hearing of the word is the hearing of the word that's given to us in the scriptures that is the word that saves and gives life it is that gospel message that gives life seven works done by unregenerate men although for the matter of them they may be things which

God commands and of good use both to themselves and others yet because they proceed not from a heart purified by faith nor are done in a right manner according to the word nor to a right end the glory of God they're therefore sinful and cannot please

God or make a man meet to receive grace from God and yet their neglect of them is more sinful and displeasing unto

God so unbelievers should do the outward forms when they do the outward forms of God's commands they're still sinning and if they don't do the outward forms and just don't believe and don't do the outward forms that's even worse that's that's the situation that unbelievers find themselves in now that idea of works you can see as you as you look through that chapter over and over again the centrality of faith to works to do a good work it requires you have faith and that faith again is going to be in the word of God and so I want to with this last bit of time go to chapter one of the confession chapter one of the

Westminster Confession section one of the holy scripture although the light of nature and the works of creation and providence to so far manifest the goodness wisdom and power of God is to leave men inexcusable yet they are not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and of his will which is necessary unto salvation so notice so first of all the light of nature is the image of God it is logic it is the laws of logic it is the rules of necessary inference from syllogisms it is the rules of immediate inference that's what logic is you can talk about the categorical forms you can talk about propositions that's what logic is so the light of nature is that and certain categories that are necessary to even think about and do things in the world that includes the categories of the law now the works of creation and providence are defined in the catechism and in the confession they are defined as God's performance of creation not the creatures as in chapter four and providence his work of providence is not events it's specifically the control by God of events and creatures so the work of creation is not creatures and the work of providence is not events the work of creation is

God's making the work of providence is God's governing so the light of nature and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness wisdom and power of God is to leave men inexcusable the light of nature and the thoughts about God making and the thoughts about God governing are things that leave men inexcusable yet they're not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and of his will which is necessary unto salvation and they're not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and of his will which is necessary into salvation some people will say that if it's not sufficient to give the knowledge of God necessary to salvation then it is sufficient to give the knowledge of God to some other extent it.

That does not follow. That is not a logical implication. If I say that the gasoline that I have in my tank is not enough to get me to the store, that doesn't imply that it's enough to get me down to the end of my own street.

Do you see that? Do you see that the statement that I don't have enough to get to point

B does not imply that I do have enough to get to point A. Yet they are not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and of His will which is necessary unto salvation.

Necessity unto salvation, by the way, salvation is a broad category. Salvation is a category, is a category that includes not only justification and glorification, but it includes the removal of curse.

It includes the removal of afflictions. It includes being that which we're designed to be.

The wholeness of the benefits of salvation. But there's an insufficiency to the light of nature and the works of creation of providence to cause us to have the knowledge of God and of His will which is necessary unto salvation.

Salvation is a broad category that is inclusive of justification, but it's not only that.

It's all of the stuff that we're saved to. You remember the liberty that we're saved to that we just read about in chapter 20?

That's the stuff that is inclusive in salvation that's given to us.

And the light of nature and the works of creation and providence make us inexcusable, but they're not sufficient to give the knowledge of God and of His will which is necessary unto salvation.

Therefore, please the Lord at sundry times in diverse manners to reveal Himself and to declare that His will unto

His church. And so we know God and we know His will by these sundry and diverse revelations.

And afterward, for the better preserving and propagating of the truth and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church against the corruption of the flesh and the malice of Satan and of the world to commit the same wholly unto writing.

All of the truth that God intended to preserve and propagate, He preserved by putting it in writing, which makes the

Holy Scripture to be most necessary, those former ways of God's revealing

His will unto His people being now ceased. So the only way to know the will of God is to have the

Scriptures. Section 2, under the name of Holy Scripture or the

Word of God written are now contained all the books of the

Old and New Testaments which are these. And it lists out the 66 books. That is a denotative definition.

A denotative definition is when you list out all of the individual members of a category.

All which are given by inspiration of God to be the rule of faith and life.

The Scriptures are the rule of faith and life. Not a, not one of, not one of two, not one of three, not one of four, not one of five.

I think you can see I can keep going there. So we'll put dot, dot, dot. The rule of faith and life.

The Scriptures, the 66 books are given by being breathed out by God.

They are spoken by God to be the rule of faith and life.

Now here's the Protestant doctrine of tradition. Section 3, the books commonly called Apocrypha, not being of divine inspiration, are no part of the canon of Scripture and therefore are of no authority in the church of God nor to be any otherwise approved or made use of than other human writings.

So look at this. This is what the Westminster Assembly is saying. The books commonly called Apocrypha are not part of the canon of Scripture.

The Interrupter Clause, not being of divine inspiration, are not part of the canon of Scripture. So the Westminster Assembly is teaching to be a part of the canon of Scripture, the writings need to be breathed out by God.

That's a qualifier to be a part of the canon of Scripture. And notice this argument, the word therefore.

The Westminster Assembly believed if something wasn't breathed out by God and therefore wasn't part of the canon of Scripture, it therefore was of how much authority in the church of God?

How much authority did it have in the church of God? It has no authority in the church of God nor to be any otherwise approved or made use of than other human writings.

This is the doctrine of the Westminster Assembly that the authority is dependent upon divine inspiration.

Four, the authority of the Holy Scripture for which it ought to be believed and obeyed depends not upon the testimony of any man or church but wholly upon God who is truth itself, the author thereof, and therefore it is to be received because it is the word of God.

So the word of God is the authority, the Scriptures to be received because they are the word of God. There is no higher authority than the word of God.

Five, it lists out nine evidences as to why we might believe the

Scriptures, but these evidences are not a proof. Proof is prior to the thing.

To prove something means you have premises that are before and proofs lead to a conclusion.

The only kind of logical proof you can give is syllogistic reasoning from prior premises to a conclusion or a proposition leading to immediate inference.

Those are the only kinds of logical proof, syllogistic reasoning and immediate inference.

In order to come to a conclusion, you have to have prior premises. There are nine evidences here.

We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the church to a high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scripture and the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts.

The consent of all the parts, by the way, is the logical coherence of it. If it's not logically coherent, it's not the word of God.

The Scriptures cannot be broken. The scope of the whole, which is to give all glory to God, the full discovery it makes of the only way of man's salvation, the many other incomparable excellencies and the entire perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it does abundantly evidence itself to be the word of God.

Yet, it evidences it. Yet, notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof is from the inward work of the

Holy Spirit, bearing witness by and with the word in our hearts. The word bears witness and also the

Holy Spirit bears witness, and that's talking about the metaphysical cause. Metaphysically, we're persuaded because the

Holy Spirit causes. Epistemologically, section four teaches that the word of God is self -attesting.

There's no higher authority, and to deny it leads to absurdities. Logic is a part of the word of God, and if you deny logic, it leads to absurdities.

You can't prove logic. It leads to absurdities to deny it. You can't prove the word of God. It leads to absurdities to deny it.

So reductio ad absurdum, which is argumentation showing the absurdity of the alternative, is something that sometimes gets talked about as amounting to proof, and so in that sense, sure, we can reduce all other positions to absurdity, but we don't arrive at the scriptures from prior premises.

Six, the whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man's salvation, faith, and life is either expressly set down in scripture, it gets laid out there in black and white, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from scripture.

Now, what does that mean, good and necessary consequence? It means using the rules of good and necessary reasoning, using syllogistic reasoning, or using immediate inference.

So you take the explicit statements of scripture and you can use them in syllogisms to draw conclusions.

You take the expressed statements of scripture and you can use them to draw immediate inferences.

You can take the immediate inferences and the conclusions from syllogisms and plug them in, and you can go as long as you can go.

As long as the reasoning is valid, that chain is the word of God.

The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man's salvation, man's faith, and man's life is either expressly set down in scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from scripture, unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the spirit or traditions of men.

Nevertheless, we acknowledge, now that's all, that's epistemological.

That right there is how you know. Nevertheless, we acknowledge a metaphysical thing.

Here's the metaphysical thing. Nevertheless, we acknowledge the inward illumination of the spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the word.

This is called Augustinian illumination theory, or the Calvinist view of regeneration, but also of sanctification.

That God illuminates to give you saving faith, and God illuminates to build your faith. That illuminating work is the metaphysical work of the

Holy Spirit. That you could have the words of God pound upon your ears, and you would not believe them unless the

Holy Spirit illuminates your mind. And that there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God and government of the church common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the word, which are always to be observed.

So, the first section, which ends with footnote 1, is epistemological.

The next section that ends with footnote 2 is metaphysical, talking about the need of the Holy Spirit to illuminate us in order for us to understand and believe.

The next section that ends with footnote 3 is talking about how we shouldn't add anything to worship or government of the church unless it's an element that God reveals or is a circumstance.

What's a circumstance? Circumstance is something that people like to grab onto to say that we can invent all sorts of stuff in worship.

Lots of people will argue you can use musical instruments in worship because it's a circumstance. Well, an element is when

God commands the thing to be used, okay? So, God commanded the Levites to use musical instruments in worship in the

Mosaic Temple, sorry, in the Davidic Temple, in the Solomonic Temple. They were commanded to do that.

That was an element of worship. If they had not done it, it would have been sin. They'd have been disobeying.

A circumstance is something where you've got to make a choice. Like, for example, if we're going to be in a building, there's going to be floor.

You've got to pick the floor. You can't avoid the floor.

I mean, if you try to have a building with no floor, you'll fall to China. So, if you're going to have a building, you're going to have a floor.

The very nature of human action is such that you're going to be standing somewhere or sitting somewhere or lying down somewhere.

So, circumstances are defined as the things that are common to human actions and societies.

In other words, by the very definition of human action, you can't avoid making a choice about the thing.

Or by the very definition of human society, you can't avoid making a choice about the thing. So, the things that are common to human actions and societies are circumstances.

We have to make a choice, and we're supposed to use the light of nature, which is reason, and Christian prudence.

What's Christian prudence? Well, there's a definition clause, comma, according to the general rules of the word.

Do you think there's a difference between Christian prudence and applying general rules of the word? Like, if you're not applying the general rules of the word, do you still have

Christian prudence? And if you are applying the general rules of the word, don't you have

Christian prudence? Christian prudence is applying the general rules of the word. So, there are general rules, like do things in decency and with order and do things for edification.

Those are general rules. So, the light of nature is logic, and Christian prudence is applying the general rules of the word.

And then, to further emphasize Christian prudence as general rules of the word, it says, which are always to be observed.

So now, we get to section seven. All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all.

All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all. Yet, those things which are necessary to be known, believed, and observed for salvation, and people want to narrow that.

They want to be like in order to get justified, in order to not go to hell. So, they want that to mean. That is not what this means.

What this means is everything that's necessary to be known, believed, and observed for renewing to the maximum, the removal of curse, the elimination of things that we would like to see gone.

As far as the curse can be found, all the things necessary for the removal of curse to be known, believed, and observed are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of Scripture or other that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of the ordinary means, may attain unto a sufficient understanding of them.

Section eight. The Old Testament in Hebrew, which was the native language of the people of God of old, and the

New Testament in Greek, which at the time of the writing of it, was most generally known to the nations.

Notice that. The covenant people were bound to a nation before, and so God wrote it in that nation's language. And then the covenant people of God were an international people, and so God used the lingua franca, the bridging language, the language used by people all over the place.

He used the language of the nations. He used Greek. And the

New Testament in Greek, which at the time of the writing of it, was most generally known to the nations, being immediately inspired by God and by his singular care and providence, kept pure in all ages, are therefore authentical.

So as, and get this, in all controversies of religion, the church is finally to appeal unto them.

But because these original tongues are not known to all the people of God, who have right unto and interest in the scriptures, and are commanded in the fear of God to read and search them, therefore they are to be translated into the vulgar language of every nation unto which they come, that the

Word of God, dwelling plentifully in all, they may worship him in an acceptable manner, and through patience and comfort of the scriptures, may have hope.

Right? The scriptures are to be translated so that the Word of God can dwell plentifully in people who don't read the original languages.

Nine, the infallible rule of the interpretation of scripture is the scripture itself.

This is the sufficiency of scripture for interpretation. If you make anything outside of the Bible necessary for the proper interpretation of the

Bible, you have made the scripture into a wax nose and a playthings of the professors.

The scriptures interpret themselves. And to say anything else is to make that thing that you use to interpret the scriptures into the authority over the scriptures.

And that thing is your God. The thing that controls how you know.

The thing that controls the interpretation of the Word of God. The infallible rule of interpretation of scripture is the scripture itself.

And therefore, when there's a question about the true and full sense of any scripture, which isn't manifold, but one.

It speaks with one voice. It communicates clearly. There's a true sense of the text. It must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly.

If you don't get it, if you don't get the doctrine taught in one place, you're looking for the literal meaning. You're trying to use the rules of grammar.

You're trying to figure out how to look at the context. And you can't figure it out. You take other places of scripture and you put them beside it.

And the fullness of the teaching of scripture on the subject matter is the whole counsel of God on that subject matter.

It is sufficient. It is clear. It is all that we need to make it happen. The infallible rule of interpretation of scripture is the scripture itself.

And therefore, when there is a question about the true and full sense of any scripture, which is not manifold, but one.

It must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly. 10.

The supreme judge by which all controversies of religion are to be determined and all decrees of counsels, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest can be no other but the

Holy Spirit speaking in the scripture. The supreme judge by which all controversies of religion are to be determined.

What is religion? Religion. It's a rule.

Religio. It's a rule. A rule of what? A rule of faith? What you're supposed to believe?

A rule of practice? What you're supposed to do? Religion is a rule of faith and practice.

The supreme judge by which all controversies of what we're supposed to believe and what we're supposed to do are to be determined.

All decrees of counsels, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest can be no other, no other, but the

Holy Spirit speaking in the scripture. The doctrine of scripture in the

Westminster Assembly was laid out plainly and clearly in the first chapter of the

Confession. Is the first chapter of Confession the authority by which we're to determine these things? No. The supreme judge by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees even of counsels including the

Westminster Assembly, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest can be no other but the

Holy Spirit speaking in the scripture. The Word of God is true. The Word of God has been given to us in terms of the full counsel of God.

The whole mind of Christ that God intends to reveal to man has been given to us in the scriptures of the

Old and New Testaments. Comments, questions, objections from the voting members and those with speaking privileges.

Mr. Boyston? Yeah, so the proper religion, the rule of faith and practice is what the scriptures teach, and God is able by the illuminating work of his

Holy Spirit to cause his people to understand and believe what his scriptures teach, and to bring the church to unity.

By taking the things that we understand and believe and seeking to apply them, God increases our understanding.

That's the ordinary means. We rely upon him to do it, but that's the thing. The ordinances and oracles of God are sufficient with the work of the

Holy Spirit to gather and perfect the elect, and so the mission of God in the earth is to gather and perfect the elect into the visible church, and to see all institutions put under subjection to the

Word of God, and to have them acknowledge the kingship of Christ. And so as far as how we do it, epistemologically we do it by looking at the scriptures and reasoning from them.

Metaphysically, how do we do it? The Holy Spirit empowers us. Experientially, or how do we go through it?

Psychologically, what do we do? We wage warfare, wrestling with falsehood in our own minds, using the ordinary means, preying down blessing, seeking to encourage each other, fellowshipping arm -in -arm to advance on the earth, speaking the

Word and evangelizing and discipling people by catechesis, and bringing them under the public preaching of the Word, and seeing them receive hospitality.

That's the existential or experiential process that we go through, but the only argument is that God's Word says so, and without God's Word there is nothing.

There is ignorance, and the only metaphysical cause is the Holy Spirit, and we grind it out, fighting, using all the means that God has given, and we rely upon the

Lord Jesus Christ to bring victory. So that's how we deal with those various claims to religion, and we offer those different means to wage war against false religion, but how do we know?