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work, in their plan of salvation for the co-operation of man, without which, they believe there can be no salvation. This element might be baptism, good works, church membership or engendering (creating) faith itself.
Devoted To Christ Alone
Christ is the center of the Christian faith. This is so because He is God in the flesh. This great truth is a product of a systematic study of all Scripture. It pleased God to reveal Himself to His creation in a progressive manner, that is, God revealed Himself to man in stages as He saw fit for His own purposes and man's well being. The systematic study of God in His Word clearly demonstrates that God is One and that He is in three persons. As difficult as it is for us to grasp this great truth, we nevertheless find it clearly taught that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
“In the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit: the Father is of none, neither begotten, not proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Spirit eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son.” The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 2, Paragraph 3
It has pleased the Father to send the Son to do the work of redemption, and to send the Spirit to apply that work to His elect. In doing the work of redemption the Son fully fulfills the offices of prophet, priest, and king, which were seen as types in the Old Testament and thoroughly realized in the person of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. This mediatorial or intercessory office of Christ was summed up by the Westminster Confession of Faith in this way:
“It pleased God, in His eternal purpose, to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, His only begotten Son, to be the Mediator between God and man, the Prophet, Priest, and King the Head and Savior of His Church, the Heir of all things, and Judge of the world: unto whom He did from all eternity give a people, to be His seed, and to be by Him in time redeemed, called, justified, sanctified, and glorified.” Chapter VIII, Paragraph 1
Prophet - A prophet is one who speaks for God. There were many prophets in the Old Testament of which Moses was the greatest. All these men spoke for God as types of the prophet that Moses said God would someday send, "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him” (Deuteronomy 18:15). Christ speaks for the Father perfectly, therefore Christ is the anti-type or perfect fulfillment of the type of which Moses, and others typified.
Christ is the mediator of the New Covenant. Speaking for the Father, the great message of the Son was a message of peace and reconciliation. Man in his sin is at enmity with God. The prophetic message of Christ is that enmity with God is done away with in the work of Jesus Christ. Christ became the object of the Father's justified wrath. The Son willingly became the substitute of His elect in bearing in His own body the penalty of their sin. So, Christ becomes both the object and subject of biblical prophecy. Christ spoke the prophetic word during His earthly ministry and fulfilled the saving role that all the prophets had anticipated. In Christ the Kingdom of God has come.
Christ continues as prophet today. In His word, He continues to speak forth words of peace and reconciliation.
Priest - The Old Testament Mosaic priesthood was after the order of Levi. However, a greater priesthood than this is found in the Scriptures before that of Levi. Abraham gave tithes to the priest Melchizedek and received blessings from him. Because Levi was yet in the loins of Abraham, in Jewish terms, Melchizedek was greater than Levi was. It was as a priest after the order of Melchizedek that Christ came to fulfill his office of High Priest.
Thou art a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 5:6
In His office of priest, Christ not only offered sacrifice for the sins of the people but He offered the perfect sacrifice of His own sinless life. The animal sacrifices had no intrinsic value in taking away sin but simply looked forward to the perfect sacrifice of Christ. Christ sacrifice has intrinsic value of unlimited worth. He the sinless and eternal Son of God was willing to offer himself for the sins of His elect. His sacrifice, being perfect, cannot be repeated. To repeat it would be to cast a shadow over its value and demean it sufficiency. The sacrificial system of the Old Testament has been done away with forever in Christ. It will never be reinstituted again.
King - Jesus Christ fulfills the office that David was simply a type of, that of King. The message of John the Baptist and Christ was "the kingdom of God has come." Christ now reigns as King. He has ascended to the Father and sits at the Father's right hand as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He will yet return and the fullness of His reign will be consummated at the end of the age.
Devoted To Christ Alone
Christ is the center of the Christian faith. This is so because He is God in the flesh. This great truth is a product of a systematic study of all Scripture. It pleased God to reveal Himself to His creation in a progressive manner, that is, God revealed Himself to man in stages as He saw fit for His own purposes and man's well being. The systematic study of God in His Word clearly demonstrates that God is One and that He is in three persons. As difficult as it is for us to grasp this great truth, we nevertheless find it clearly taught that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
“In the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit: the Father is of none, neither begotten, not proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Spirit eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son.” The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 2, Paragraph 3
It has pleased the Father to send the Son to do the work of redemption, and to send the Spirit to apply that work to His elect. In doing the work of redemption the Son fully fulfills the offices of prophet, priest, and king, which were seen as types in the Old Testament and thoroughly realized in the person of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. This mediatorial or intercessory office of Christ was summed up by the Westminster Confession of Faith in this way:
“It pleased God, in His eternal purpose, to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, His only begotten Son, to be the Mediator between God and man, the Prophet, Priest, and King the Head and Savior of His Church, the Heir of all things, and Judge of the world: unto whom He did from all eternity give a people, to be His seed, and to be by Him in time redeemed, called, justified, sanctified, and glorified.” Chapter VIII, Paragraph 1
Prophet - A prophet is one who speaks for God. There were many prophets in the Old Testament of which Moses was the greatest. All these men spoke for God as types of the prophet that Moses said God would someday send, "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him” (Deuteronomy 18:15). Christ speaks for the Father perfectly, therefore Christ is the anti-type or perfect fulfillment of the type of which Moses, and others typified.
Christ is the mediator of the New Covenant. Speaking for the Father, the great message of the Son was a message of peace and reconciliation. Man in his sin is at enmity with God. The prophetic message of Christ is that enmity with God is done away with in the work of Jesus Christ. Christ became the object of the Father's justified wrath. The Son willingly became the substitute of His elect in bearing in His own body the penalty of their sin. So, Christ becomes both the object and subject of biblical prophecy. Christ spoke the prophetic word during His earthly ministry and fulfilled the saving role that all the prophets had anticipated. In Christ the Kingdom of God has come.
Christ continues as prophet today. In His word, He continues to speak forth words of peace and reconciliation.
Priest - The Old Testament Mosaic priesthood was after the order of Levi. However, a greater priesthood than this is found in the Scriptures before that of Levi. Abraham gave tithes to the priest Melchizedek and received blessings from him. Because Levi was yet in the loins of Abraham, in Jewish terms, Melchizedek was greater than Levi was. It was as a priest after the order of Melchizedek that Christ came to fulfill his office of High Priest.
Thou art a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 5:6
In His office of priest, Christ not only offered sacrifice for the sins of the people but He offered the perfect sacrifice of His own sinless life. The animal sacrifices had no intrinsic value in taking away sin but simply looked forward to the perfect sacrifice of Christ. Christ sacrifice has intrinsic value of unlimited worth. He the sinless and eternal Son of God was willing to offer himself for the sins of His elect. His sacrifice, being perfect, cannot be repeated. To repeat it would be to cast a shadow over its value and demean it sufficiency. The sacrificial system of the Old Testament has been done away with forever in Christ. It will never be reinstituted again.
King - Jesus Christ fulfills the office that David was simply a type of, that of King. The message of John the Baptist and Christ was "the kingdom of God has come." Christ now reigns as King. He has ascended to the Father and sits at the Father's right hand as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He will yet return and the fullness of His reign will be consummated at the end of the age.
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Presbyterian Doctrine
Committed to Faith Alone
From the moment that Adam and Eve began to make for themselves aprons of fig leaves, man has been in the business of creating a man-made salvation. In man's arrogance and pride, he will not find faith in God sufficient for salvation. He simply does not value God's work in Christ at Calvary. This is such a universal truth that all the religions of the world can be divided into two groups. The first group would be those that trust the work of God in Christ alone for the salvation of their souls. The second group would be those that depend for their salvation on the work of man, or those that mix faith in Christ with a work by man. Sadly, this division would not simply result in a distinction between Christianity and the non-Christian religions of the world. Many who claim the name of Christ would in reality need to be classed with the non-Christian religions. This is so because they require an element, or a
From the moment that Adam and Eve began to make for themselves aprons of fig leaves, man has been in the business of creating a man-made salvation. In man's arrogance and pride, he will not find faith in God sufficient for salvation. He simply does not value God's work in Christ at Calvary. This is such a universal truth that all the religions of the world can be divided into two groups. The first group would be those that trust the work of God in Christ alone for the salvation of their souls. The second group would be those that depend for their salvation on the work of man, or those that mix faith in Christ with a work by man. Sadly, this division would not simply result in a distinction between Christianity and the non-Christian religions of the world. Many who claim the name of Christ would in reality need to be classed with the non-Christian religions. This is so because they require an element, or a
Committed to Faith - Devoted to Christ
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