Westminster Larger Catechism # 57
Commentary by Dr. Chuck Baynard
Q57. What benefits has Christ procured by his mediation?
Answer: Christ, by his mediation, has procured redemption, with all other benefits of
the covenant of grace.
References: Heb. 9:12; 2 Cor. 1:20.
Here we begin a section that could properly be labeled soteriology, or having to do
with salvation. The Divines in this and the following thirty-two questions deal with
redemption in some detail. This opening question is too broad to try and deal with alone,
and needs the space granted in so many questions on one topic. Here we will find the
division between the reformed church and all others. The TULIP will be laid before us in
all her glory shining through the curtain of darkness other theologies would attempt to
cover her with.
What are the benefits procured by Christ? That defies human ability to list, much less
fully understand. We have to begin with the total depravity of petal one. How fallen is
man? Completely so and to an extent that he cannot save himself. God looked upon the world
once and saw this total depravity and destroyed the earth, save eight souls by water.
Apart from the mediation of Christ, this would be true today. God having at this time made
a covenant with Noah, but more especially with creation. Noah as representative of man at
this point in revealed history was the "official" recipient, but the covenant
was with creation; "I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although
the imagination of man"s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every
living thing as I have done" (Gen. 8:21). Man is evil in the imagination of his
heart, in every thought he has, every dream, every idea. This brokenness also extends to
the physical condition of man. We will see God limit the actual life of man, later in the
story of redemption revealed in Scripture because of this corruption of the perfection in
which he was created. There remains not one part of man that is not corrupt. This has not
changed, and except for the covering of the blood of Jesus Christ, surely all can see that
God would long ago have destroyed the wickedness from before His holy altar. The story of
redemption as outlined in the TULIP is not only beautiful in its completeness and
revelation of God’s grace, it also lays before us the correct sequence of thought to
understand the story, and the necessity of all five petals. Thus all of nature awaits the
manifestation of the sons of God, that the curse may be lifted, having no other remedy,
not even that of destruction until in the fullness of time, God lifts the curse, as He
makes known His children begotten in Jesus Christ.
From the foundation of the total depravity of man flows the necessity of the
unconditional election of the second petal. Few words are needed to show the necessity of
it being unconditional after due consideration of the evil within and about man from the
fall onward. We then must be careful as we present God’s truth, not to confuse others
by holding forth a false hope of choice. Man will not accept this because of his fallen
nature. As noted earlier, let us harken to Paul and use due caution and restraint in
teaching the points of this we have come to know as the Reformed TULIP, that which Paul
called election and predestination. Nonetheless the second petal stands and it is only by
grace that God chose to save any, and the doctrine of unconditional election was
established by the word of God, lest any should boast.
The third petal, that of limited atonement also brings much debate among men. I choose
to use a simple rhetorical question when faced with this question of limited atonement;
"Will there be any souls of men in hell?" The answer cannot be any other than
the affirmative for this is clear from Scripture. This being affirmative, then the
atonement must be limited, for what God says, He can and will do. It remains for us a men
then to understand the atonement is limited and to weave a theology that fits the truth of
God’s word, not our own vain and proud imaginations.
The fourth petal of irresistible grace flows from the first three as naturally as rain
falls from heaven. Man in his fallen condition, being hindered in all his faculties would
not recognize the need for much less accept the gracious gift given, limited or otherwise.
God thus in choosing some, must irresistibly call them to Himself, or they would forever
wander lost in the vanities of their own making. The most obvious example being Saul of
Tarsus, who by the "choice" of God became Paul the Apostle. It is sad that with
the record before us, we like Paul must lose even what feeble sight we have, to gain a
more clear vision of all that is holy and good. Even this restored vision being hindered
by the flesh and the remains of fleshly sin in our nature.
Perseverance of the saints remains as the capstone to this beautiful story of
redemption from the pen of God. What God has set in place, no other can remove. The decree
of the Sovereign of the universe cannot be appealed nor set aside by any other. Perhaps a
shadow of this can be seen in the laws of the United States whereby a convicted killer
that has been sentenced to death must have that sentence appealed. That the killer himself
asks that the appeal process cease and the penalty be carried out, is not enough to stay
the process without the approval of the courts that inflicted the sentence. Herein we see
that the convicted has no choice, even of death, much less of life. Likewise, the choice
to grant pardon belongs to God, and it would only be from this same court that an appeal
could be prosecuted. God does not change and His gifts are without shadow or turning. God
has decreed life to the elect, and there is no power that can reverse that decree. To the
question that always comes from this declaration from the detractors of the reformed
faith, "Do you mean a person can murder someone and still go to heaven?"
Absolutely, heaven will be populated with forgiven sinners. Can you name the sin that the
blood of Christ does not cover, the one sin of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit being
excepted? The truth is, sin continues to abide within the flesh, even of the redeemed, and
thus we have need for the constant and continuous mediator, Jesus Christ. The church wears
a human face!
My love for the Westminster Standards comes from this ability to see the fullness of
the reformed faith, laid on the foundation of God’s Word, flow from every clause they
set in place. Much gratitude is owed to these saints of the past, who have so completely
laid open the truth of the Scripture before us. It is for this reason that when I differ
with the Divines, I find it is time to sit and contemplate what they have said, and search
the Scriptures to see if these things be true. The standards are not Scripture, though
they should hold a special place of respect and so influence our own endeavors to
understand God’s revealed truth. Being secondary, we may differ, but let us do so
with caution and much prayer.
What peace and comfort, now, today, belongs to us when we understand what benefit the
mediation of Christ has procured as understood from the reformed perspective. We are given
the freedom to be about our Master’s work, as we eagerly await His soon return. No
other understanding of the Scriptures is as complete, all leaving gaps and space for
debate. A practical truth is that over the years I have spent as much time trying to bring
this understanding of God’s sure and permanent plan of redemption to those who in my
limited abilities, I considered to be of the elect. Assurance of faith is useless if it
can all be lightly tossed aside by the fallen mind and nature of man. Without this eternal
assurance, we live a life of fear and bondage. Yet Holy Writ declares that perfect love
casts out all fear. God has loved us perfectly and completely. Let us then, along with the
Divines, look at each point in this love manifested to us by way of the covenant of grace
in the next thirty questions and answers from this beloved work of the Westminster
standards.
Dr. Chuck Baynard -- May 1998
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