Theological Term of the Week: Warning Passages of Hebrews

warning passages of Hebrews
Five passages interspersed throughout the New Testament book of Hebrews which warn professing believers of the consequences of apostacy and exhort them to remain faithful. (See list of passages below under Learn More.)1 

• One of the warning passages: 

  [4] For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, [5] and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, [6] and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. [7] For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. [8] But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned. (Hebrews 6:4-8 ESV)

• From Thomas Schreiner in Calvinism and the Warning Passages: A Reply to Scot McNight:

We must remember that the passages are warnings and admonitions. They say nothing about whether believers will actually fall away. They are not declarations but warnings. The common response is that the warnings are beside the point if believers can’t fall away. What a silly waste of time! But that objection fails if the warnings are a means by which God keeps his elect. I would argue that the warning passages are always effective in the lives of the elect, i.e., those who are truly saved always heed the warnings, and it is precisely by heeding the warnings that they are preserved until the end.

Learn more:

1. ESV Study Bible: A list of the warning passages of Hebrews
2. Thomas Schreiner: Can You Lose Your Salvation? What About the Warning Passages? (video)
3. Collin Hansen: Warning Passages Ahead (an interview with Peter O’Brien)
4. Lee Gattiss: The Function of the Warning Passages

Related terms: 

• apostasy
• perseverance of the saints
• saving faith 

Filed under Salvation

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Theological Term of the Week: Westminster Confession of Faith

Westminster Confession of Faith 
The Reformation statement of faith written by the Westminster Assembly in England in 1643-1648, and used as a doctrinal standard in Presbyterian churches around the world. 

• From the Westminster Confession of Faith: 

  CHAPTER V.

  Of Providence.

  I. God the great Creator of all things does uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by His most wise and holy providence, according to His infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of His own will, to the praise of the glory of His wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy.

  II. Although, in relation to the foreknowledge and decree of God, the first Cause, all things come to pass immutably, and infallibly; yet, by the same providence, He orders them to fall out, according to the nature of second causes, either necessarily, freely, or contingently.

  III. God, in His ordinary providence, makes use of means, yet is free to work without, above, and against them, at His pleasure.

  IV. The almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and infinite goodness of God so far manifest themselves in His providence, that it extends itself even to the first fall, and all other sins of angels and men; and that not by a bare permission, but such as has joined with it a most wise and powerful bounding, and otherwise ordering, and governing of them, in a manifold dispensation, to His own holy ends; yet so, as the sinfulness thereof proceeds only from the creature, and not from God, who, being most holy and righteous, neither is nor can be the author or approver of sin.

  V. The most wise, righteous, and gracious God does oftentimes leave, for a season, His own children to manifold temptations, and the corruption of their own hearts, to chastise them for their former sins, or to discover unto them the hidden strength of corruption and deceitfulness of their hearts, that they may be humbled; and, to raise them to a more close and constant dependence for their support upon Himself, and to make them more watchful against all future occasions of sin, and for sundry other just and holy ends.

  VI. As for those wicked and ungodly men whom God, as a righteous Judge, for former sins, does blind and harden, from them He not only withholds His grace whereby they might have been enlightened in their understandings, and wrought upon in their hearts; but sometimes also withdraws the gifts which they had, and exposes them to such objects as their corruption makes occasion of sin; and, withal, gives them over to their own lusts, the temptations of the world, and the power of Satan, whereby it comes to pass that they harden themselves, even under those means which God uses for the softening of others.

  VII. As the providence of God does, in general, reach to all creatures; so, after a most special manner, it takes care of His Church, and disposes all things to the good thereof.

• From Reformed Confessions Harmonized edited by Joel R. Beeke and Sinclair B. Ferguson:

The Westminster Confession of Faith represents a high point in the development of federal theology, and its inner dynamic is powerfully covenantal. Divided into thirty-three chapters, it carefully covers the whole range of Christian doctrine, beginning with Scripture as the source of knowledge of divine things…. It continues with an exposition of God and His decrees, creation, providence, and the fall (II-VI) before turning to expound the covenant of grace, the work of Christ, and, at length, the covenant of grace, the application of redemption (X-XVIII). While criticism is sometimes voiced that the confession is a deeply scholastic document (e.g., it has no separate chapter on the Holy Spirit), it is now increasingly noted that is the first confession in the history of Christianity to have a separate chapter on adoption (XII)—perhaps the least scholastic of all doctrines. Careful attention is given under various chapter headings to questions of law and liberty, as well as to the doctrine of the church and sacraments (XXV-XXXIII). 

While the confession was composed by disciplined theological minds, it also displays the influence of men with deep pastoral and preaching experience. It is an outstanding expression of classical Reformed theology framed for the needs of the people of God. 

• From The Importance and Relevance of the Westminster Confession of Faith by John Murray:

The Westminster Confession is the last of the great Reformation creeds. We should expect, therefore, that it would exhibit distinctive features. The Westminster Assembly had the advantage of more than a century of Protestant creedal formulation. Reformed theology had by the 1640’s attained to a maturity that could not be expected a hundred or even seventy-five years earlier. Controversies had developed in the interval between the death of Calvin, for example, and the Westminster Assembly, that compelled theologians to give to Reformed doctrine fuller and more precise definition. In many circles today there is the tendency to depreciate, if not deplore, the finesse of theological definition which the Confession exemplifies. This is and attitude to be depreciated. A growing faith grounded in the perfection and finality of Scripture requires increasing particularity and cannot consist with the generalities that make room for error. No creed of the Christian Church is comparable to that of Westminster in respect of the skill with which the fruits of fifteen centuries of Christian thought have been preserved, and at the same time examined anew and clarified in the light of that fuller understanding of God’s Word which the Holy Spirit has imparted.

The Westminster Confession was the work of devoted men and the fruit of painstaking, consecrated labour. But it was still the work of fallible men. For that reason it must not be esteemed as sacrosanct and placed in the same category as the Bible. The latter is the only infallible rule of faith and life. The framers of the Confession were careful to remind us of this. “All synods or councils since the Apostles’ times, whether general or particular, may err, and many have erred. Therefore they are not to be made the rule of faith, or practice; but to be used as an help in both.” (XXXI, iv). It is not superfluous to take note of this reminder. We are still under the necessity of avoiding the Romish error. One of the most eloquent statements of the Confession is that of I, vi: “The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men.”

Learn more:

1. Bible Research: Westminster Confession of Faith with Scripture Proofs
2. Reformed Forum: Audio of Westminster Larger Catechism
3. Theopedia: Westminster Confession of Faith
4. Robert Shaw: An Exposition of the Westminster Confession of Faith
5. Joel Beeke: The Westminster Confession of Faith in History
6. Justin Holcomb: Why You Should Read the Westminster Confession of Faith

Related terms:

• Augsburg Confession
• Belgic Confession
• Canons of Dordt
• catechism
• Heidelberg Catechism
• London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689
• Second Helvetic Confession
• Westminster Larger Catechism
• Westminster Shorter Catechism 

Filed under Creeds and Confessions

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Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured as a Theological Term of the Week? Email your suggestion using the contact button in the navigation bar above. 

Clicking on the Theological Terms button will take you to an alphabetical list of all the theological terms.

Theological Term of the Week: Westminster Larger Catechism

Westminster Larger Catechism
The longer and more comprehensive of two catechisms produced by the Westminster Assembly, completed in 1648, and providing “a well-structured guide to applying the Word of God in the practical context of everyday life.1

• A few questions on Christ’s exaltation from the Westminster Larger Catechism: 

  Question 51: What was the estate of Christ’s exaltation?

  Answer: The estate of Christ’s exaltation comprehends his resurrection, ascension, sitting at the right hand of the Father, and his coming again to judge the world.

  Question 52: How was Christ exalted in his resurrection?

  Answer: Christ was exalted in his resurrection, in that, not having seen corruption in death (of which it was not possible for him to be held), and having the very same body in which he suffered, with the essential properties thereof (but without mortality, and other common infirmities belonging to this life), really united to his soul, he rose again from the dead the third day by his own power; whereby he declared himself to be the Son of God, to have satisfied divine justice, to have vanquished death, and him that had the power of it, and to be Lord of quick and dead: all which he did as a public person, the head of his church, for their justification, quickening in grace, support against enemies, and to assure them of their resurrection from the dead at the last day.

  Question 53: How was Christ exalted in his ascension?

  Answer: Christ was exalted in his ascension, in that having after his resurrection often appeared unto and conversed with his apostles, speaking to them of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God, and giving them commission to preach the gospel to all nations, forty days after his resurrection, he, in our nature, and as our head, triumphing over enemies, visibly went up into the highest heavens, there to receive gifts for men, to raise up our affections thither, and to prepare a place for us, where himself is, and shall continue till his second coming at the end of the world.

  Question 54: How is Christ exalted in his sitting at the right hand of God?

  Answer: Christ is exalted in his sitting at the right hand of God, in that as God-man he is advanced to the highest favor with God the Father, with all fulness of joy, glory, and power over all things in heaven and earth; and does gather and defend his church, and subdue their enemies; furnishes his ministers and people with gifts and graces, and makes intercession for them.2

• From Reformed Confessions Harmonized by Joel Beeke and Sinclair Ferguson:

The Larger Catechism serves well as a useful guidebook for preaching on doctrinal themes. In this sense it identifies the key elements and issues that ought to be addressed in such preaching.

Following five opening questions indicating that it is from scripture that we learn who God is, how we may know Him and what He requires, question 6—90 teach us what we are to believe about Him. Questions 91—196 spell out the duties of the Christian life. 

As is the case with the Shorter Catechism, this emphasis on the obedience of the Christian is set within a strong and full grasp of God’s grace in Christ. 

• From The Making of the Westminster Larger Catechism by Chad B. Van Dixhoorn: 

No doubt it requires some effort whether to teach or to learn the Shorter Catechism. It requires some effort whether to teach or to learn the grounds of any department of knowledge. Our children - some of them at least - groan over even the primary arithmetic and find sentence-analysis a burden. Even the conquest of the art of reading has proved such a task that “reading without tears” is deemed an achievement. We think, nevertheless, that the acquisition of arithmetic, grammar and reading is worth the pains it costs the teacher to teach, and the pain it costs the learner to learn them. Do we not think the acquisition of the grounds of religion worth some effort, and even, if need be, some tears?

For, the grounds of religion must be taught and learned as truly as the grounds of anything else. Let us make no mistake here. Religion does not come of itself: it is always a matter of instruction. The emotions of the heart, in which many seem to think religion too exclusively to consist, ever follow the movements of the thought. Passion for service cannot take the place of passion for truth, or safely outrun the acquisition of truth; for it is dreadfully possible to compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, to find we have made him only a “son of hell.” This is why God establishes and extends his Church by the ordinance of preaching; it is why we have Sunday schools and Bible classes. Nay, this is why God has grounded his Church in revelation. He does not content himself with sending his Spirit into the world to turn men to him. He sends his Word into the world as well. Because, it is from knowledge of the truth, and only from the knowledge of the truth, that under the quickening influence of the Spirit true religion can be born. Is it not worth the pains of the teacher to communicate, the pain of the scholar to acquire this knowledge of the truth? How unhappy the expedient to withhold the truth - that truth under the guidance of which the religious nature must function if it is to function aright - that we may save ourselves these pains, our pupils this pain!

Learn more:

1. A Puritan’s Mind: Westminster Larger Catechism with Scriptural Proofs
2. Chad B. Van Dixhoorn: The Making of the Westminster Larger Catechism
3. Chad B. Van Dixhoorn: Is the Larger Catechism Worthwhile?
4. Danny Hyde: Meditations on the Larger Catechism
5. Reformed Forum: Audio of Westminster Larger Catechism

Related terms:

• Augsburg Confession
• Belgic Confession
• Canons of Dordt
• catechism
• Heidelberg Catechism
• London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689
• Second Helvetic Confession
• Westminster Confession of Faith
• Westminster Shorter Catechism 

Filed under Creeds and Confessions

1From Reformed Confessions by Joel Beeke and Sinclair Ferguson.

2Compare this to the section on Christ’s exaltation from the Shorter Catechism, which simply reads

Q. 28. Wherein consisteth Christ’s exaltation?
A. Christ’s exaltation consisteth in his rising again from the dead on the third day, in ascending up into heaven, in sitting at the right hand of God the Father, and in coming to judge the world at the last day.

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Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured as a Theological Term of the Week? Email your suggestion using the contact button in the navigation bar above. 

Clicking on the Theological Terms button will take you to an alphabetical list of all the theological terms.