WESTMINSTER LARGER CATECHISM #21
Commentary by Dr. Chuck Baynard
Q21. Did man continue in that estate wherein God at first
created him?
Answer: Our first parents being left to the freedom of their
own will, through the temptation of Satan, transgressed the
commandment of God in eating the forbidden fruit; and thereby
fell from the estate of innocency wherein they were created.
References: Gen. 3:6-8; Eccl. 7:29; 2 Cor. 11:3
In this statement we begin the revelation for the necessity of
the Reformed TULIP, and begin to see how the complete doctrine of
the Bible can be so tightly interwoven into these five classic
points of Calvinism. While some doctrines are not clearly taught
in the points themselves, their necessity for the TULIP to stand
is immediately apparent, and it is there we find we must first
acknowledge the sovereignty of God, and accept the
presuppositional statement that the Bible is God’s word,
neither having nor needing external proof, but resting entirely
in the hand of God Himself.
As introduced in the last question, we once more see the
infra/supra question before us. This is one place an exact answer
to this question would shed light into the text, and allow more
definite statements to be made. The Divines words "left to
the freedom of their own will" seems to place the decree of
election after the fall. Since the fall we know the election is
in place and man is not ultimately "free" to choose, as
the words of the Divines appear to indicate before the fall. We
also see the "personal" relationship of God begin to
move toward representatives of the elect, and not dealing with
the people as a whole. The curse brought about the necessity of
the covenantal agreements and those who would administer this
covenant through the generations. To the head so chosen by God,
(Note Jacob wasn’t the eldest son, thus chosen
‘elected’ of God) God spoke personally or through
angels. This gap will widen until after the time of the
patriarchs, it is only through God’s chosen prophets God
speaks to the people, and I believe we will see that move to an
even greater distance as these words seem to be in the form of
visions (dreams) and less and less personal utterances from our
Creator,. For several centuries God is silent, until the baptism
of our Lord where we see the personal voice of God sounding in
history history once more. The tangle of theological process that
must now take place to put all this in order concerning free will
is one reason the Reformed church has always demanded an educated
clergy. We may thank and praise our God, such detail is not
needed for our salvation. Yet being able to hold two or three
threads apart, even as one weaves the tapestry of a life that
requires full obedience to God’s law, though tedious is a
necessity.
It isn’t my attempt here to dive into such a theological
discussion, but to point to the fantastic highlights of the work
God so graciously provided from the pens of the Divines. Yet we
must at least address the major themes as they appear. The
question then raised is that of "free will." Those
opposed to Calvinism would claim full autonomy for man and say we
have a choice. The so called hyper-Calvinist would say we have no
choices. In my opinion, the truth lies somewhere between these
two extremes. Calvinism doesn’t deny free will, but does
deny that man may choose salvation. While a sovereign God who
counts the hairs on man’s head and sees the sparrow fall
from the air is definitely a God who is involved with His
creation and in control of all things, to what extent does he
order the events of daily life for His creation, particularly
man? To try and limit it to the election diminishes God’s
love and concern for His creation. To move it toward the other
end of the continuum makes man mere robots from whom God could
receive no glory. With prayer I invite you to again read the
creation story, and let the Holy Spirit speak from the Word of
God. While not a thing indifferent, I do believe we have much
leeway from the Bible in what we each perceive this truth to be,
and that this truth may change as we mature in the Spirit and in
our obedience to God. Know this, God is Sovereign; God is always
with His people; and God does providentially care for His people.
Let us then stand in awe of this awesome God of creation as these
things fall out in history according to His perfect plan. Paul in
Romans chapter twelve begins with the words "By the tender
mercies of God . . .." As we try to peer into the deeper
things of God, it is well to take the time to prayerfully read
that chapter again. The infra/supra connection? When did God
limit these choices by election? When in God’s mind did the
grace of the covenant to replace this Adamic covenant take place.
How would this order in God’s mind change the operation of
the covenants and their administration? Huge questions, with
eternal consequences. They can be dealt with when one diligently
seeks God’s answer, even by the non-theologian, when
sufficient time is spent reading the Bible and paying attention
to the ancient creeds of the church where the church doctors from
each generation have wrestled with these questions for us.
"Through the temptation of Satan . . ." the Divines
note the reason of our first parents fall in the garden. It is no
different today, as the tempter is immortal and exists to tempt
each generation into sin. Since the original fall, I am not so
sure we even put up the token resistance of Eve in that we now
are born with a sinful nature in the flesh that she did not have.
From the fall of those created without sin, and the ease with
which the evil one caused them to sin, we each should moment by
moment know we need the guidance of the Holy Spirit and
constantly seek God’s face in prayer. We should take to
heart the question from the classic by Charles Sheldon and
constantly ask ourselves "What Would Jesus Do" before
we make any decision. Note that it wasn’t a big decision,
but a normal every day activity like eating, Satan chose to
entrap Eve. God requires perfect obedience, but has and continues
to give us the thing required before asking for it, and in the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit has provided this power also. Then
in complete consistency with His own character, our God provides
words to comfort and give hope to the frail and faithless people
He has chosen for His own in that John wrote that as often as we
confessed these sins, God was faithful and just to forgive them.
Thankfully then we live not by our faithfulness, but by
God’s faithfulness toward us. This is not an excuse for sin,
nor can we rationalize it away, but even as God left hope for the
first created humans, He leaves hope for His people today, that
He is there and they are his, despite their failure to meet His
standard perfectly. As we see in Romans 5:1-5, when we place our
faith in Him, the "experience" of that faith in life
brings the assurance of this hope to fruit in our lives.
"Fell from the state of innocency . . ." is another
interesting statement. When we consider that a large percentage
of the population suffers from shame and guilt and fill the
counsel rooms of the world seeking answers, perhaps we can begin
to understand what this fall from innocency really means. Man was
created innocent, not perfect or impeccable (unable to sin). When
I was studying psychology my professor was working on a model of
"Christian" personality whereby the ills of the human
mind could be Biblically defined and from there Scripture applied
to bring the person back to this state of innocency. I was
intrigued that he chose the titles "nakedness" and
"hate" for the two axis model where man moves away from
the shameless innocency in which he was created. Along these two
lines he showed how as man moved from this place of creation in
innocency, the ills of the psychological world developed in
direct proportion to how an individual was thinking about himself
in self exaltation or worthlessness in combination of their
opinion of others, whereby they exalted or degraded others. When
God was the center, man knew his proper place and none of the
mental illnesses existed. This fits with this account from the
creation story, as we see man first become aware and ashamed of
his own shortcomings, and hate enter into the world via pride and
self exaltation. Paul speaks of this internal struggle and notes
that which he wants to do he doesn’t and that it goes so far
that, that which he hates, he does. Thus the internal struggle of
man apart from the peace with God known in the creation and
shattered by the fall, as man struggles to return to that place
of innocence and peace apart from God’s unfolding plan of
redemption.
Here we have seen the introduction of grace and the beginning
of the covenant of God with the Son of God (full development of
this theme will flow rapidly from the catechism now) for the
benefit of His elect. Perhaps we can now begin to see that the
only model for salvation and life that is truly gracious is that
of the precious TULIP revealed by God in Scripture and brought to
us by our Reformed forefathers.
I don’t think we have any problem seeing all the petals
of this flower from God, not in any preexistent stage, but center
stage as a jewel in the glorious crown of our King. Even in innocence, man did sin and petal one stands tall in the garden.
With sin now in the open, the second springs forth as only by His
unconditional grace God provided for the continuation of man,
rather than eternal damnation as with fallen angels. As noted
before, if there is an election, it must be some are not elected,
or election doesn’t exist, so petal three stands firm. The
first man has proven that given the choice, he will turn from
God, and the necessity of the fourth petal is in full bloom. Then
as we have seen from the opening words of Scripture, God is
sovereign, and Petal five is the only way for God to be
consistent with Himself and His holiness. The critics of the
Reformed faith have no foundation but their own vain imaginations
to turn to in defense of their unbiblical schemes that cater to
the heart of man, not God’s revealed word.
Dr. Chuck Baynard October 1997
