The Beza Briefing - Faith

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the Apostle Paul said, �But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

In short, if you like smooth, watered-down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn�t for you. By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we�re called by the divine trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King.

Here�s our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth.

The Beza Briefing and the Ordinary Means of Grace

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry. My name is Mike Abendroth, and it is what day? In real time, it�s February 2028, in the year 2929, if man is still alive. You can write me, Mike, at NoCompromiseRadio .com.

I think we still have some stickers. If you want to write info at NoCompromiseRadio .com, Spencer�s got some stickers. If you want to send a self-addressed envelope, we�ll send you one of the new stickers.

New font. I think I�ve got to get a new intro and close for the show, etc. I�m glad to be on radio in Alaska and Wyoming. Only allowed in the tundra. None of the east coast, west coast, coastal elite cities, but we are in where the real Americans live.

America. Today is another Beza briefing. I should have some music, some special thing. I don�t know what I could use. I guess I could use my Joel Osteen thing for the Beza briefing, but we on No Compromise Radio, I am reading The Christian Faith by Theodore Beza, the one translated by James Clark and printed in Crawford, Edinburgh.

And I�ve been doing this for quite some time. I don�t know what show this is, but I�m trying to read this so I can read it, because I haven�t read it before, and it�s an important book to read, not only for church history, but also understanding doctrine.

Scott Clark has got it on his list of books that we should read, so I just went to that list, ordered all the books. Maybe there was one book or two books that were a couple hundred bucks or something like that.

Maybe I didn�t order those, but most of them, ordered, and just start reading them. This book by Beza, The Christian Faith, it�s almost like a little mini Systematic Theology. I love Berkhoff�s Systematic Theology.

There�s a small summary of Berkhoff�s Systematic Theology that�s now with the newest Banner of Truth red and white reissue, but you can get it a standalone as well. And then kind of in the middle, more towards the summary side, but in the middle of a summary and a Systematic Theology, there�s a manual.

You can get both the manual, the Systematic Theology, and the summary, kind of the concise summary, all online for free, PDFs. And those are important to read. Well, I like this as well because it�s shorter and nice sections.

If you�re a teacher, this is an easy format to teach from. If you have to brush up on something about the triune God, this is an easy one to do. I�ve been reading Gerardus Foss�s Systematic Theology, and as hard as the biblical theology book is to read, the Systematic Theology, five volumes, based on his notes, is easy to read.

I just was reading the section on sanctification, monergistic sanctification, sanctification by faith, and then eventually adding to faith virtue, etc. Really really good question and answer format. I think it was on sale two weeks ago on Amazon, Kindle, for five bucks.

Five volumes, five bucks. I have the hardbound, and usually, I don�t know who did it, Lexham Press or something, Westminster Theological Seminary�s bookstore, but the paper is already getting kind of yellow.

It�s only a few years old, how does the paper get yellow? Maybe I�ve got a bad deal on that, I�m going to have to give some Yelp reviews. Gerardus Foss. Beza published this in Geneva, 1558, and remember, he took over for a man, no-mean theologian John Calvin.

Today, we�re in section four, the Christian faith, the Holy Spirit, the means which the Holy Spirit uses to create and preserve faith in us. And even there, what a great title for the section. The means which the Holy Spirit uses to create and preserve faith in us.

Creating faith in us, I think you�ll remember him by that, with that line in it. Here�s what Beza said, �In order to create in us this instrument of faith, and also to feed and strengthen it more and more, the Holy Spirit uses two ordinary means, without however communicating to them his power, but working by them.

These are the two means, ordinary. The preaching of the Word of God and his sacraments, Matthew 28, Acts 6, Romans 10, James 1, 1 Peter 1. We�ve talked often here about the ordinary means of grace and maybe ordinary means of gratitude.

We understand, and even if you want to pull up an older article by Michael Brown, Michael ordinary means, we understand this is not radical, this is not spectacular, this is not, you know, above and beyond, and this is not neon, this is not a big movements and conferences and celebrity culture or anything like that.

The world would not look at it and say, �Wow, super impressive. Oh, you know, that�s new, that�s innovative, that�s pragmatic. You have preaching, Lord�s Supper, baptism. Brown says, �There�s no halftime shows, no rock concerts, no celebrity personalities.

It is plain, ordinary, and even boring at times. Truth be told, it�s about exciting as watching a tree grow. Baza goes on, �Further on, we will return to this. In the first place, we shall define what this so precious faith is and what are its effects and powers.

Mike Abendroth reading Theodore Baza. That�s Teddy B. This is the Teddy B. briefing. Theodore, Teddy, Baza, Baza, Teddy, Baza, Teddy B. I think Teddy B. is better. Four-five, how faith is necessary and what faith is.

The Nature of Saving Faith and the Gift of Faith

Now this is going to be an important section because we have people out there that can�t define faith properly. Of course, there is a false faith. There�s a spurious faith. There�s a faith that doesn�t save.

There�s a faith that�s a James 219 faith, a faith that is simply intellectual and emotional. The demons believe in what? Shudder. They have an emotional experience, as it were. Shudder, that�s what that sort of means.

It�s an emotional word. I�m sure they could sign off on the 1689 and the Forms of Unity and they would just line right up. But they�re not saved. There�s a faith that doesn�t save, obviously. I�m not saying that.

But when we do define faith, I�m wondering why we just need to start over. Why don�t we go back to things like this with Beza and other men of God, that the Spirit of God has equipped, that Jesus has paid for, Ephesians chapter 4, gave gifts to the church, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers.

Why don�t we say, oh yeah, the church has thought, well, it can�t just be intellectual, but it has to be intellectual, but partly, right? Oh, let�s see, well, there has to be an assent, an agreement, but that�s not all.

And there has to be a trust, this volitional trust. And so we have knowledge, assent, and trust. Remember, saving faith is not knowledge, assent, and obedience. Knowledge, assent, and faithfulness. Knowledge, assent, and surrender.

Knowledge, assent, and being committed. Knowledge, assent, and yieldedness. Knowledge, assent, and desiring. Knowledge, assent, and treasuring. Knowledge, assent, and submission. Knowledge, assent, and whatever other Arminian category you can throw in there that�s really supposed to be talk about sanctification.

Knowledge, assent, say it children, say it class, say it congregation, from children up to the senior saints, knowledge, assent, and trust. Knowledge, assent, and trust. Let�s see what Baezer says. I said Baezer on purpose.

What does Baezer say? �We are at this point such enemies of our own salvation because of our natural corruption, Romans 8, 1 Corinthians 2, that if God had merely contented himself to tell us that we should find our salvation in Christ, we would only mock it.

Thus has the world always done, and will do until the end, 1 Corinthians 1, John 10, Acts 2, Luke 23. Even more, if he added nothing more than to tell us also that the means whereby we experience the efficacy of this remedy against eternal death is to believe in Jesus Christ, that would profit us nothing, John 3.

For in all this we are more than dumb, Psalm 51, Isaiah 6, Jeremiah 1, deaf, Psalm 40, John 8, Matthew 13, and blind through the corruption of our nature, John 1, John 3, John 9. It would be no more possible for us even to wish to believe than it would be for a dead man to fly, John 12, John 6.

Basically what Baezer is saying is, because of original sin, because of Adam�s sin imputed to us because of the consequences of that, and how depravity affects wholly, totally, mind, will, emotions, conscience, et cetera, body, what would we do?

I mean, Jesus died for sinners. How would we receive that? How would we, what�s the instrument? I mean, if there�s no instrument, then we mock. If there is an instrument that we have to come up with, well, we�re deaf, dumb, and blind.

So what are we going to do? Jesus does die on behalf of sinners. The triune God loves us, and that�s all planned for Jesus to do that. And He does die for us, and how do we receive those benefits? Well, left to ourselves, we�re not going to want to receive them, and we can�t come up with the only non-meritorious, instrumental faith.

So what do you think He�s going to do? Beza, �It is necessary, therefore, that with all this, the good Father, who chose us for His glory, should come to multiply His mercy towards His enemies, in declaring to us that He has given His own Son, so that whoever takes hold of Him by faith should not perish.

John 3. He creates also in us this instrument of faith, which He requires from us. And there we have it. He creates also in us this instrument of faith, which He requires from us. And dear Christian, you know from Ephesians 2, Acts 14, Philippians 1, verse 29, that faith also is a gift.

If you�re going to talk about the obedience of faith, well, people say believe, and what�s the response to that command to believe? Well, the obedient response would be faith, but we�re not adding faith plus obedience.

That�s not the point there. That would mess everything up. What we�re having here is Beza explain to us that how do we receive, what�s the instrument, how do we, what�s the conduit, if you will, for us to receive these benefits?

I mean, we don�t want to receive them. We�re not able to receive them, so God creates that faith that He requires from us. Beza goes on, �Now the faith of which we speak does not consist only in believing that God is God and that the contents of His word are true, for the devils indeed have this faith and it only makes them tremble, James 2.

That�s what I alluded to earlier, something more than intellect. And I said, Beza hasn�t said it yet, but I said even emotional, right? They shudder, they tremble. The Jews used to call demons hairy ones, right?

Because if you see a dog and they�re frightened or mad or angry, what happens to the hair on the back of their neck? Right? It goes up. And so that was just spilt over to talk about demons that way. I know demons don�t have a body, and they knew that too, but that was just the idea.

Beza, �But we call faith a certain knowledge which by His grace and goodness alone the Holy Spirit engraves more and more in the hearts of the elect of God. 1 Corinthians 2. Isn�t that wonderful? �The Holy Spirit engraves more and more in the hearts of the elect of God.

By this knowledge, each of them, being assured in his heart of his election, appropriates to himself, God doesn�t believe for you, and applies to himself the promise of his salvation in Jesus Christ. Doesn�t this make you want to praise the Lord?

Thankful for everything? Not only that the Lord has done these things, but also gives us faith. �Faith Beza said, �I say. Faith, I say, Beza, �does not only believe that Jesus Christ is dead and risen again for sinners, but it comes also to embrace Jesus Christ.

Romans 8, Hebrews 10, 1 John 4, 1 John 5, �Whoever truly believes, trusts in Him alone and is assured of his salvation, to the point of no longer doubting it. Ephesians 3. That is why St. Bernard said, conformably to the whole of Scripture, what follows, �If you believe that your sins cannot be blotted out except by Him against whom alone you have sinned, you do well.

But add yet one point, that you believe that your sins have been forgiven you by Him. This is the testimony that the Holy Spirit gives to our hearts, saying, �Your sins are forgiven. End. St. Bernard quote.

I read this and I think, no wonder Clark said, read this, because it�s important. And like good doctrinal work about God, the triune God, it elicits thankfulness and praise. We call this a devotional kind of book.

Who would ever think that a mini-systematic theology would be devotional? Well, we all need to think that way. And when I read in the morning, just finished the Summary of Christian Faith by Berkhoff, I would read my Greek text, I would read my English text, I would look at different spots of the Bible, and then I would open up to Heidelberg Catechism, go through a few questions, and then I would read a little bit of that Berkhoff, and it would warm my heart.

Now, not every section. Some of it is more, okay, what�s the difference between inspiration and revelation and illumination, or, you know, whatever it might be. But here, especially when you talk about sins need to be forgiven, my sins, sins against God, and now God blots them out, He�s the only one that can do it.

It�s very wonderful. That�s why when you read Calvin�s Institutes, you don�t read Mr. Stoic, staid, grump man. You read a man whose heart is aflame, right, on fire for the Lord. Theodore Beza, 4 -6, the object and power of true faith.

Christ as the Object of Faith and the Sufficiency of His Righteousness

If I were to ask you, what�s the object and power of true faith, Bible Answer Man, you say, survey said, did you know, Kim and I, and my brother, I think, and his wife, and my mother, we tried out for a family feud in Los Angeles, and I think Richard Dawkins was the main guy then.

He wasn�t in the room when we played another family, but I was like the leader, and I just couldn�t get into the whole good answer, and clapping, and acting like a crazy person. They said, after we beat this other family, that they would call us, just like they say in Los Angeles, in the movie industry, �Don�t call us, we�ll call you.

Still waiting for that call. Maybe my old phone number is not working anymore. Since Jesus Christ is the object of faith, and indeed Jesus Christ as He is held forth to us in the Word of God, there follow two points which should be noted well.

Right off the get-go, Beza is saying the object of our faith, it�s not faith in faith, it�s not faith in anything else, it�s faith in a person, faith in Jesus Christ, but not the Jesus Christ of your own imagination, or inner light, or spirituality, or Hinduism, or Islam, or something like that.

None of those Jesus�s, but the Jesus revealed, or set forth, or held forth to us in the Word of God. The following two points should be noted well. On the one side, there is no Word of God, but only the Word of man, whoever he be.

There is no faith here or there, but only a dream or an opinion which cannot fail to deceive us. Romans 10, Mark 16, Romans 1, Galatians 1. That is to say, you can either go to man or to God to find out about the object of faith.

On the other side, faith embraces and appropriates Jesus Christ and all that is in Him, since He has been given to us on the condition of believing in Him, John 17, Romans 8. There follows one of two things, either all that is necessary for our salvation is not in Jesus Christ, or if all is indeed there, he who has Jesus Christ by faith has everything.

See what I mean about the devotional aspect of it? Or if indeed there, if all is indeed there, he who has Jesus Christ by faith has everything, Beza. Now, to say that all which is necessary for our salvation is not in Jesus Christ is a very horrible blasphemy, for this would only make Him a Savior in part.

There remains, therefore, the other part in having Jesus Christ by faith, we have in Him all that is required for our salvation, Romans 5. This is what the Apostle says, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Wonderful stuff. Mike Ebendroth here, No Compromise Radio. We're 20 minutes in and we've got about four and a half minutes to go. Let's keep going. For seven, Theodore Beza, the Christian faith, section of the Holy Spirit.

Justification by Faith Alone and the Non-Meritorious Nature of Faith

How must that word be understood which we say after St. Paul, we are justified by faith alone? Uh-oh. The other day, I think I put a tweet out and I said, the same reason I don't listen to Doug Wilson, I don't listen to Richard Baxter, and of course, one is alive and one is dead, but listen to meaning heed, read, follow, care about, quote, et cetera.

If you get sola fide wrongly, then I don't care what else you get rightly. I mean, everybody wants to talk about, well, Doug's a good social warrior, or Richard Baxter is so good when it comes to counseling.

If you can't get sola fide right, then what? I mean, we could list the other problems that you should, as a Christian, discern. As a matter of fact, somebody sent back, I followed you for years, brother, but now you're just attacking men of God and I'm going to unfollow you.

Ooh. Well, if that's what it takes, I mean, if you're Doug Wilson homies and you don't want to listen anymore because I don't think he's good for your soul and you don't like me telling you that, first, see if I'm right or not, and second of all, I don't know what to tell you.

This show is, yes, I guess the Lord is using it in my life to sanctify me, but it's also, I'm hoping you'll learn and grow. Maybe we have some fun as time goes on, besides documented plagiarism, besides documented issues with marrying that person that got in all the trouble with the court and law, besides theonomy, besides federal vision, besides getting kicked out of your denomination, besides using bad words to talk about ladies, besides, I mean, the list go on and on and on, can it?

In my opinion, don't, don't, don't. Beza, here's the explanation of our justification by faith alone. Faith is the instrument which received Jesus Christ and consequently, which receives his righteousness, that is to say, all perfection.

When therefore after St. Paul, Romans 1, 3, 4, 5, 9, 11, Galatians 2, 3, Philippians 3, 2 Timothy 1, 2 Tim, 2 Titus, Titus 3, Hebrews 11, we say that we are justified by faith alone or freely, or by faith without works, for all these ways of speaking give the same sense.

We do not say that faith is a virtue which makes us righteous in ourselves before God. For this would be to put faith in place of Jesus Christ, who is alone our perfect and entire righteousness. And so you'll see it in the Reformed Confessions, will you not?

It's not faith itself is what is righteous and justifies, that's, that's not, it's faith in the object. And we can have theological shorthand even when it comes in Scripture, right? If you, if you think about it, it's faith in the representative substitute, risen Savior, Lord Jesus Christ, Prophet, Priest, and King, etc., etc., etc.

If it's not faith that makes us righteous because faith is receiving, faith isn't meritorious, faith isn't the ground of our salvation, faith is in Jesus. Remember Horatius Bonar when he said something in effect, faith didn't live a perfect life, faith wasn't baptized in the Jordan, faith wasn't, and these are all now I'm making up on my own, faith conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary, faith didn't change the water into wine, faith didn't heal Lazarus, faith didn't cleanse anything.

Faith doesn't forgive sins, faith didn't die on a cross, faith didn't get buried, faith wasn't raised from the dead, faith didn't send, faith isn't interceding for us, etc. It's, it's, it's the Lord Jesus, so faith, it's not meritorious.

Thankfully, faith can be weak, tainted, but the right object is not. The right object isn't tainted, that's why faith is so important. That's why we use synonyms like rest, trust, believe, faith. So my name's Mike Abendroth, we're up to page 15, we just finished page 15, it's wonderful.

Theodore Beza, The Christian Faith, Mike Abendroth, No Compromise Radio.

No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life-transforming power of God's Word through verse-by-verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at 6. We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston. You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.