Westminster Larger Catechism # 85
Commentary by Dr. Chuck Baynard
Q85. Death, being the wages of sin, why are not the righteous delivered from death,
seeing all their sins are forgiven in Christ?
Answer: The righteous shall be delivered from death itself at the last day, and even in
death are delivered from the sting and curse of it; so that, although they die, yet it is
out of God’s love, to free them perfectly from sin and misery, and to make them
capable of further communion with Christ in glory, which they then enter upon.
References: 1Cor. 15:26,55-57; Heb. 2:15; Isa. 57:1-2; 2 Kings 22:20; Rev. 14:13; Eph.
5:27; Luke 23:43; Phil. 1:23.
Harmony of the Standards: COF 32.1
Could you answer this question without slipping a peek at the answer first? Sort of a
trick question to the believer, but do you realize how sad the witness of the church is
when her members don’t only know, but live the victorious life we have in Christ?
Is this rescue from death then a thing reserved until some future day when Christ shall
come to claim His bride? Not at all! The whole rapture theory (a topic we will deal with
in its place) resulted from words Paul wrote the Thessalonians that they might comfort the
living, by the sure knowledge of what awaits those who have already passed into life (not
death) as well as those who patiently await this appearance of their Lord. How can the
believer be so sure of himself? Because God has said so!
Surely one of the greatest tools in the tool belt of the devil is depression. All
depression is the result of a reaction to events around us. It results when there are
circumstances that deny expectations. Unmet expectations result in anger, frustration and
defeat. The ultimate defeat for man is death. God having so mercifully relieved us from
the greatest of defeats, should give us reason to sing with joy in our hearts and take all
other failures to meet expectations in stride, whether of ourselves, others, or even
others expectations of us. With this assurance, we may fall, but have the ability and
power in Christ to pick ourselves up and begin anew. What comfort then to know that those
we loved, respected, and admired have not ended their lives with the passage from earth to
heaven, but have simply taken the first step into the glorious light, beholding the face
of God personally.
Have you ever noticed how often Solomon uses the finality of death as he declares each
venture to seek satisfaction vanity? "I have seen all the works that are done under
the sun; and behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit" (Prov. 1:14).
The beginning of this statement taken from Romans 6:23 once more establish the first
petal of the TULIP and the statement ends with the assurance of the fifth petal and our
eternal salvation by God in grace, through faith. Can we then not most readily agree with
the Divines that death of this mortal body isn’t defeat, but victory in Christ? Can
we not see that though indeed we await with all of nature that faithful day for the sons
of man to be made manifest, that the first fruits have already blossomed in God’s
earthly garden filled with the Reformed TULIP?
Friends, when we take the time to smell the TULIP surely we can sense its great beauty,
and the simple truth of God’s love for us is laid bare at our feet. When we compare
the Reformed faith with her classic points to all other theologies can we not see that the
difference is in the comfort and blessings that we know while still in the flesh awaiting
God’s timing for our entrance into the halls of grace in that heavenly kingdom? How
much guilt and hurt others bear without need because they don’t understand the simple
truth of the Gospel I can not begin to express. Yet God chose to raise up the Divines and
to gather the teaching needed to reveal this truth, even as He ordained the Synod of Dordt
before them to lay the foundation of the TULIP in their declaration of truth to set aside
the heresy that had entered this great faith of ours in thier day. I dare say I harm the
Scriptures not in saying that these documents of men were ordained of God that the
youngest among us would be enabled to grasp His truth and begin their spiritual walk
toward maturity in Christ at ever decreasing ages. Alas it is not so as we have laid aside
the work of our fathers, and the catechism classes are a thing of the past in all too many
would be Reformed homes and churches. I say "would be," friends because we grasp
not this gentle truth, but see her as a severe doctrine revealing a God of wrath. The
truth is the Divines have rightly said here, tis of God’s love that life on earth
ends. How easy then should we be able to still the tongue of the would be critic as we
proclaim I am alive today and forever more. Along with faithful Job we can say,
"though He slay me, yet will I trust him. . . (Job 13:15).
Death then is not to be feared, but to be embraced in the proper time and place of
God’s choosing with comfort and understanding of just how great the love and mercy of
our Heavenly Father that such as we by grace through faith alone may enter into the very
presence of His Majesty on high for eternity. Many a stone heart has been turned toward
God as they witness the steadfast love of God’s people for their God, as His love and
goodness is reflected in their lives amid the most fierce of storms. That which should
slay a mortal merely drives the saint to his knees in search of the comforting hand of his
Father, whereupon he arises again to stand on the heights once more having added to his
faith, experience through the furnace of life (Rom. 5:1-6).
Such times of trial and tribulation, adversity are mandatory paths the soul must travel
between heaven and earth. Not to bring on oppression or depression, but to try the
faithful as by fire, the refiners fire, whereby they exit the furnace, not only unharmed,
but finer and purer than before. How grateful we should be then when our God selects to
lay before us not one, but many trails through the furnace. For you see God has promised
to lay no more upon us than we can bear. What faith then our Father has in us that we
should face such manifold trials in life.
The joy we know, not only because we have this sure knowledge of life after death, but
the assurance of the living God that we shall not even taste of the second death. Thus we
can say, "Awake my soul, let us be about the Lord’s work today, for come evening
tide, surely our Master will return. And, when the days grow long, and yet our Master
tarries, we have no fear, for we know His word is sure, that again tomorrow the sun will
rise as we watch and pray in our pondering how it can be; we await our master you see; yet
He is here with me through the crucible of fire." How small the sufferings I have
care of, when my Lord gave His all that I might know God, today and ever more.
Dr. Chuck Baynard -- October 1998
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