A. Introduction:
1. With this article, the Confession begins to speak of what is usually called “Soteriology”, or “The doctrine of the application of the blessings of salvation”. This subject is treated in Arts. XXII-XXVI.
2. The usual order which we follow is not followed in this Confession.
a. Our order is usually Regeneration, Faith, Justification, Sanctification, Preservation and Glorification.
b. While the order of this Confession is Faith, Justification, Sanctification and Good Works.
c. Concerning any order of the blessings of salvation however, we must remember:
1) That the order is logical and not temporal.
2) That we must distinguish between what Christ objectively merits for us, and the order in which we consciously. receive these blessings.
3) That any order is somewhat arbitrary in the light of the fact that various blessings such as regeneration, conversion and faith can be spoken of in more than one way.
c. The order which the Confession follows is due to the fact that:
1) It makes no distinction between faith as a power and faith as a conscious activity.
2) That therefore, it considers faith as the sole instrument whereby salvation is given and appropriated; and therefore it treats faith first.
3. This article sums up all the blessings of salvation under the one term “righteousness”.
a. This is perfectly correct because Christ, as the fulness of all the blessings of salvation is called in Scripture and in this article, Christ our Righteousness.
b. Furthermore, the blessing of righteousness is a fundamental blessing of salvation upon which all the other blessings of salvation are based. Righteousness or justification is logically before all else. Yet this subject is more particularly treated in the following article.
B. The question of the article is therefore, How do we receive this righteousness and therefore all the blessings of salvation? And the answer is, By faith.
1. Faith is first of all the bond that unites us to Jesus Christ.
a. Although this is not directly expressed in this article, it is nevertheless implied when it states that faith “is an instrument that keeps us in communion with him…”
b. This means that faith is the living and organic connection between Jesus Christ the Head and the elect who are His body.
c. It is the channel through which flow all the blessings of life and salvation.
2. Faith is also a power or faculty.
a. God implants in the hearts of His people the abliity to believe even before they consciously believe and before this faith becomes active Just as a baby may have the power of seeing and speaking before it ever exercises this power, so also do the elect have the power to believe even before they actually exercise this power.
b. This power must necessarily be there is faith is to be exercised. Without it one will never believe, no matter how often the gospel is preached to him.
3. Thus faith has two elements:
a. The element of knowledge-This is not a mere intellectual knowledge of God’s God’s Word, a knowledge about God; but it is the knowledge of God, the knowledge of love, the knowledge that is lifo eternal. John 17:3.
b. The element of confidence-This is conscious trust whereby the one who has faith casts himself upon Christ trusting in Him alone as his only comfort. The confidence of the believer is directly proportional to his knowledge.
C. Thus the article emphasizes that all our salvation is in Christ.
1. Negatively:
a. Christ does not possess only half of our salvation. This is the position of Arminians.
b. To assert that Christ is not sufficient, but that something more is required besides Him, would be too gross a blasphemy.
c. If Christ were only half a Savior, then faith would not be the sole instrument for our salvation, but then works would also be needed to complete this.
d. In this respect, Arminians are very subtle. They say also that it is only by faith that we can be saved, but that we must be willing first of all. We must believe of ourselves. And then faith becomes nothing else but another work.
e. If the gospel is an offer of salvation, or if the promise of God is general, then also the Arminian error of faith as a work of man cannot be escaped.
2. Positively. But this the article emphatically denies.
a. All of our salvation is in Christ. To say anything else is the grossest of blasphemy.
b. But since Christ is a complete Savior, faith is the only means to be saved.
c. But more than this, faith is not and cannot be the work of man, but is only the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit.
1) Thus we are not justified by faith and works, but by faith alone.
2) And yet, to speak more clearly, faith itself does not justify, but it is the instrument whereby we are placed in abiding communion with Christ; and it is therefore the instrument whereby we receive all that is in Christ for our own salvation.
3) For this reason, it must be emphatically maintained that faith is not our instrument, but God’s instrument in us and through us whereby He saves us completely and finally. This is the death knell to all Arminianism!