(Continued from vol. xxx., p. 451.)
ONE of the finest answers in the Shorter Catechism is that given to the question—“Who is the Redeemer of God’s elect?” The answer reads—“The only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continueth to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, forever.” Those who are most familiar with the great controversies that have raged round the person of Christ will best appreciate the extraordinary care and precision that characterise this answer, conserving as it does the truth in a short space, in a remarkably comprehensive statement on the Person of Christ. To guard against the possibility of bringing any one else into the place of honour as Redeemer of God’s elect, the Answer asserts that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only Redeemer. His eternal Sonship is also clearly affirmed in opposition to those who hold that this relationship is not eternal, but has its beginning either at the Incarnation or the Resurrection. In opposition to the Docetic heresy it is asserted He “became man,” that is, not in appearance only, but in reality. “And so was and continueth to be, God and man in two distinct natures and one person for ever”; these words assert that during His humiliation He did not cease to be God for the time being, and if the modern doctrine of the Kenosis does not directly assert this, it comes perilously near doing so. It is questionable if one who consistently holds this doctrine could accept the statement “and so was and continueth to be God and man.” The same criticism may be offered to the Lutheran doctrine of the “Communicatio Idiomatum,” which was invented in defence of the peculiar Lutheran view of Consubstantiation which asserted that “Christ was present in, with, and under the elements in the Lord’s Supper.” This necessitates the presence of the entire person of the Incarnate Son, soul, body, and divinity wherever the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is celebrated. To get over this difficulty the Lutherans, with whom originated the doctrine of the Kenosis, invented the theory that each nature shares in the essential attributes of the other nature. When they came to explain more fully what they meant they affirmed in detail that the humanity shared with the divine in its omniscience, omnipresence, and power of giving life. This view is in opposition to the statement that our Lord “was God and man in two distinct natures.” The Reformed doctrine of the “Communicatio Idiomatum” is, that what is predicable of one of the natures is predicable of the Person. The Apollinarian heresy which asserted that the divine nature took the place of the human soul (pneuma) at the Incarnation is also guarded against by the words of the Catechism, “in two distinct natures,” as is also the Eutychian or Monophysite heresy which confounded the two natures. The opposite extreme is seen in the Nestorian heresy, which emphasised the natures to such an extent that it made two persons. “There are two distinct natures,” said Dr Duncan, “but not separate” in the one Person for ever. It will be seen from the foregoing that the Catechism Answer is an exceedingly careful and well-guarded statement of the scriptural doctrine of the Person of the Lord.
The Answers to the Questions dealing with the application of the Redemption purchased by Christ are also admirable statements of scriptural truth. “How are we made partakers of the Redemption purchased by Christ?” To which the Divines give the answer—”We are made partakers of the Redemption purchased by Christ by the effectual application of it to us by His Holy Spirit.” Here the work of the Holy Spirit is prominently brought before us, and the Spirit’s method of applying this redemption is set forth in the words of the succeeding Answer—”The Spirit applieth to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by working faith in us, and thereby uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling.” This brings us to one of the finest answers in the Shorter Catechism—the Answer to the Question, “What is effectual calling?” “Effectual calling,” so runs the Answer, “is the work of God’s Spirit, whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, He doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the Gospel.” In this answer our attention is directed to the Spirit’s work and the free offer of Christ in the Gospel. Man’s ruin by the Fall is complete, and he is rendered utterly helpless as far as doing anything for his salvation is concerned. The Fall affected the Conscience, bringing such confusion into it that light is called darkness and darkness light, evil good and good evil. The Understanding was darkened. The Will became so perverse that its whole bent was always away from God, and the Heart had lost all love to God. When the Holy Spirit effectually calls a sinner He begins with the Conscience—”convincing us of our sin and misery.” But the work of the Holy Spirit being thorough, is not confined to the Conscience. He deals with the Understanding “enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ”—light is made to shine into the Understanding. But the work is not confined to the Conscience and the Understanding. The Will is also dealt with—”renewing our wills”—nothing short of the Spirit’s omnipotent power could change the perverse bent sin gave them. And finally the Spirit deals with the Heart—”persuading and enabling us to embrace Jesus Christ as He is freely offered to us in the Gospel.” It will thus be seen that the work of the Holy Spirit in effectual calling is of the most thorough kind. Every faculty of the soul is operated on—Conscience, Understanding, Will, and Heart. Were the Conscience convinced only and the other faculties untouched, it would not be sufficient, however thorough that conviction might be. So the Westminster Divines, as truly Spirit-taught men and faithful students of God’s Word, have given us in this all-important doctrine, one of the finest Answers of the Shorter Catechism.
The Answers to the Questions on the great doctrines of Justification, Adoption, and Sanctification are also admirable. Another very fine Answer is that to the Question—”What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death?” “The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory; and their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves till the resurrection.” On the same high plane is the Answer to the Question, “What benefit do believers receive from Christ at the Resurrection?” “At the Resurrection, believers being raised up in glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment, and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity.” The great end for which God created man is now attained for all believers—their glorifying God—being themselves raised up in glory for this end—and they are made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity.