Theology: H - Christian Life Flashcards
What is the moral law?
The declaration of God’s will directing and binding everyone to conformity and obedience to it.
WLC 92 - “The rule of obedience revealed to Adam in the estate of innocence, and to all mankind in him, besides a special command not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, was the moral law.”
What laws besides the moral law did God give his people under the Old Covenant?
The ceremonial law and the judicial (civil) law.
WCF 19.3 - “Besides the law, commonly called moral, God was pleased to give to the people of Israel, as a church under age, ceremonial laws, containing several typical ordinances, partly of worship, prefiguring Christ, His graces, actions, sufferings, and benefits; and partly holding forth diverse instructions of moral duties. All which ceremonial laws are now abrogated, under the new testament.”
Are believers under obligation to the law today? Explain and Defend your answer with Scripture proofs.
Yes. While believers are no longer under the law to be justified or condemned by it, it remains for them the rule of life, informing them of the will of God which they are to obey. The moral law forever binds all, though it is by no means a way to merit salvation, which only come through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as he is freely offered in the gospel.
**WCF 19.5 - **“The moral law does forever bind all, as well justified persons as others, to the obedience thereof; and that, not only in regard to the matter contained in it, but also in respect of the authority of God the Creator, who gave it. Neither does Christ, in the Gospel, any way dissolve, but much strengthens this obligation. “
Matt. 5:17-18 - ““Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”
What is “theonomy?” Evaluate it biblically.
Theonomy in its simplest definition means “God’s Law.”
Theonomy encompasses a fairly broad spectrum of views about the exercise, and authority to exercise the civil, social, and religious laws of the Mosaic Law and the legal system of the Old Testament theocracy of the nation of Israel.
**“All laws of the Old Testament were equitable for the era for which they were designed. But great care must be taken to determine precisely how they apply to the present era.” **
Where is the law of God summed up?
The ten commandments—Love God and love your neighbor.
Luke 10:27 - “And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.””
Can believers keep God’s law? Explain and defend your answer with Scripture proofs.
Yes and no. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit to do good, nonetheless, we cannot fulfill the law perfectly.
WSC 82 - “No mere man since the fall is able in this life perfectly to keep the commandments of God, but does daily break them in thought, word and deed.”
**Eccles. 7:20 - **“Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.”
Romans 3:10-12 - “as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
What is at stake in the current “Lordship Controversy?” Explain and defend your view.
The unity of the person of Christ. Christ is both Lord and savior in union of person—he is not a split personality.
The “Lordship controversy” has implications for the nature of regeneration, assurance, and salvation as well as asking the question of who or what will be the sovereign over our life.
Since Jesus Christ is indeed Lord and this must be acknowledged for true saving faith. Following James’ thought, true faith must manifest itself in works. That is not to say that we earn or in any way merit salvation, it is completely a gracious gift of the God who predestines, elects, regenerates, and sacrifices. An admission of our sin (repentance) is part of the application of salvation by the Holy Spirit. Without acknowledging that we are sinful and that Christ is both Savior and Lord, we cannot be saved. Christ is and must be the Lord of the believer.
What are the “means of grace?”
The ways by which God’s grace is extended and received by humans. In Protestant theology, the emphasis has been on the Word and Sacraments as God’s instituted means of conveying the grace that leads to justification - sanctification.
- Word
- Sacraments
- Prayer
What is “Christian Liberty?” Explain and defend your answer with Scripture proofs.
The freedom of the Christian, on the basis of the work of Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit, to be free from the power of sin.
Romans 6:18-22 - “and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.”
Who or what is Lord of the conscience? Defend your answer with Scripture proofs.
God alone.
**WCF 20.2 - **“God alone is Lord of the conscience, and has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are, in anything, contrary to His Word; or beside it, in matters of faith, or worship. So that, to believe such doctrines, or obey such commands, out of conscience, is to betray the liberty of conscience: and the requiring of an implicit faith, and an absolute and blind obedience, is to destroy liberty of conscience, and reason also.”
Romans 14:4 - “Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.”
How does Christian liberty bear on the Christian’s obligation to the state?
Since God intends our liberty, not to destroy, but to uphold the powers, which he has ordained; we are to submit to the state.
What is the “regulative principle?” Defend from Scripture.
The principle that the manner in which we worship God should be in accordance with what he has instituted him-self in his reveal will—the Scriptures. God alone has the Privilege and Authority of defining and decreeing the elements of His worship.
**Deut. 12:32 - **“Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it.”
Who is to be worshipped? Defend your answer with Scripture proofs.
God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit and Him alone.
**Matt. 4:10 - **“Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ “
What are the ordinary parts or elements of worship?
- Reading of Scripture
- Preaching and hearing the Word
- Singing
- Tithes and offerings
- Administration of the sacraments.
Are Christians under obligation to keep a Sabbath? Defend your answer with Scripture proofs.
Exod 20:8-11 - “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”
