Lord's Day 13

Devotion

We have learned in the catechism so far that, 1) we are in desperate need of salvation, 2) we cannot save ourselves, and 3) only the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ can save us from sin and deliver us to eternal life. The next logical question must necessarily be, “how is the work of Christ, His atoning sacrifice, His righteousness, His redemption, applied to our lives?”

The Westminster Confession teaches that the Holy Spirit “is the only efficient agent in the application of redemption. He regenerates men by His grace, convicts them of sin, moves them to repentance, and persuades and enables them to embrace Jesus Christ by faith. He unites all believers to Christ, dwells in them as their Comforter and Sanctifier, gives to them the spirit of Adoption and Prayer, and performs all those gracious offices by which they are sanctified and sealed unto the day of election.”

Many Christians today have never contemplated the gracious process by which the Holy Spirit has applied the saving work of Jesus Christ. For most, salvation is a matter of “I chose Christ, and then He saved me.” The clear witness of scripture, on the other hand, teaches that when we were dead in our sins, unable to choose Christ, God sent His Holy Spirit to bring us to life, making us aware of our sinfulness and creating in us a desire to find forgiveness, and to then receive Christ as our Savior. God does not wait for us to seek Him out; by the power of His Spirit He comes to us and brings us home. As the old hymn goes, “I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew he moved my soul to seek him, seeking me; it was not I that found, O savior true; no, I was found of thee.”

Our salvation begins and ends with God. Even the faith that unites us to Christ is a gift of the Holy Spirit of God working in us. Because of this, our salvation is all the more assured. If God has chosen us for salvation, if God has sent His Son to make it possible, if God has given His Holy Spirit to make us alive together with Christ, then nothing could ever separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ which is our salvation.

Prayer

Gracious God, we thank you for your Holy Spirit, who brings us life and unites us with Christ in faith. To you alone is the glory for our salvation. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Question 29

Q. 29. How are we made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ?

A. We are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ, by the effectual application of it to us by his Holy Spirit.

Scripture Proofs

John 1:11-12;

He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, the gave the right to become children of God,

Titus 3:5-6.

he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

Question 30

Q. 30. How doth the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ?

A. 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.

Scripture Proofs

Eph. 1:13-14;

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

John 6:37;

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

John 6:39;

And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.

Eph. 2:8;

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

Eph. 3:17;

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

1 Cor. 1:9.

God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

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