On Heaven's Seat

It's hard, from our lowly position in God's World, to envision how our attitude toward this world should be shaped, unless our vision is shaped by God's Word.  In that Word there is certainly a lowly vision of ourselves, as servants, even slaves of God, living by the rule that the last shall be first, and that the greatest is the servant of all, and that our hope is in resurrection.  But, behind this Godly lowliness is the Godly vision of the human race on the Throne of Heaven.  It is all in Christ, of course.  But how little do we ponder how he rose to heaven's throne in our nature.  Of course, we believe he is a real human being.  But, don't forget:  We are in him!  In him, we are risen and seated there!  Think of yourself on that throne!  What is your perspective on the world's business as you sit on that throne?  What do you think of all the outward excellence in the world, even if it came to the Christian dominion of all the world's business?  Is this vision of the government of this age ultimately worthy of your position?  Is this what you are co-ruling with Christ to bring about?  No.  Isn't the current vision of Christian dominion in this age a sanctified Enlightenment, Western 19th-century liberal, upper-middle class, educated vision, which is successful in business, science, liberal arts and politics?  Is this really a Christian vision?  Most of the believers in this world have not, and up to now cannot, share this vision because of "backwardness," "lack of progress," and persecution.  No.  They have a higher vision.  Even if you told them of the Western Enlightenment vision that God's dominion might eventually bring to them, would they truly look forward to it?  Would it replace the Eternal Vision?  No.  It would be a seduction.

We must be grateful to God in his providence for the excellencies of our earthly life, and the seeming successes of our Christian efforts, but these are not in themselves God's Kingdom, though they bear traces and signs of it.  But, God's Kingdom is far higher than these things.  We should think again, how the last shall be first, and the lowest shall be highest, and the least will be the greatest, and how the cross will triumph through his suffering servants, and God's Kingdom -- the one that really is his -- will one day, when all cares of this earth are past -- shine forth in eternal glory, in the fellowship of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Seeing this now, we shall have power.

Meeting Christ in the Apostolic Word

 ¹ What was ⁽¹⁾from the beginning, what we have ⁽²⁾heard, what we have ⁽³⁾seen with our eyes, what we ⁽⁴⁾have looked at and ⁽⁵⁾touched with our hands, concerning the ⁽⁶⁾Word of Life— ² and ⁽⁷⁾the life was manifested, and we have ⁽⁸⁾seen and ⁽⁹⁾testify and proclaim to you ⁽¹⁰⁾the eternal life, which was ⁽¹¹⁾with the Father and was ⁽¹²⁾manifested to us— ³ what we have ⁽¹³⁾seen and ⁽¹⁴⁾heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our ⁽¹⁵⁾fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. ^{4 (16)}These things we write, so that our ⁽¹⁷⁾joy may be made complete. 

(1) John 1:1f; 1 John 2:13, 14
(2) Acts 4:20; 1 John 1:3
(3) John 19:35; 2 Pet 1:16; 1 John 1:2
(4) John 1:14; 1 John 4:14
(5) Luke 24:39; John 20:27
(6) John 1:1, 4
(7) John 1:4; 1 John 3:5, 8; 5:20
(8) John 19:35; 1 John 1:1
(9) John 15:27; 1 John 4:14
(10) John 10:28; 17:3; 1 John 2:25; 5:11, 13, 20
(11) John 1:1
(12) John 1:4; 1 John 3:5, 8; 5:20
(13) John 19:35; 2 Pet 1:16; 1 John 1:1
(14) Acts 4:20; 1 John 1:1
(15) John 17:3, 21; 1 Cor 1:9
(16) 1 John 2:1
(17) John 3:29

From Biblegateway.com

An amazing point of the teaching in this paragraph of I John is that the personal familiarity, to the point of tangible, tactile fellowship with the God/Man, the Creator of the Universe, was not only had by those apostles, and could be described by them to us, but that it is also a fellowship that can be spiritually communicated to us by the Word of those Apostles!

We are accustomed to hearing the Word as the Word of truth.  We also know that this Word, in its truth, is spiritually perceived.  But, do we always understand that the communication that is instituted through spiritual perception of this Word mediates the Real Presence of Christ to our souls?

This ought to give us a hint why the forces of evil always work in our lives to draw our attention away from this Word.

Following Christ the Savior

^{John 12:20} Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. ²¹ Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ²² Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus. 

²³ But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. ²⁴ Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. ²⁵ He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.  

²⁷ “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. ²⁸ Father, glorify Your name.”

Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.” 

The inquiries of the Gentiles provoke our Lord to think of the sine qua non of his mission, the sacrifice of himself.  The overflow of the church into the whole world is now called for.  In fact, the world has come "knocking."  Therefore, our Lord must not shrink back, but die -- and multiply.  He preaches to himself, but also to us!

In this, we see our Lord as the author or pioneer of our salvation.  He does not ask us to go where he has not gone before.  He leads the way!  All we need to do is to follow him.  We do not go alone, but in the company and footsteps of the Great Shepherd who gives his life for his sheep.

What ambition, what riches or fame in this dying world counts compared to the fellowship of the Son of God?  He who loses worldly riches, fame or comfort gains eternal riches, fame and comfort in the family of God the Father!

Our Lord, paradoxically points out that his suffering is his glory!  What we shrink back from instinctively, just as a soldier shrinks back from death in his feelings, our Lord shrinks back from, too!  But, he also recognizes that in his suffering he is glorified.  Like a soldier-hero who gives his life for others, our Lord lays down his life under the wrath of God, enduring the pains of hell in body and soul which we shall never see, and all for his love of poor sinners such as we are!

Shall we not trust him with our souls and bodies?  Shall we not follow him, even in his sufferings?  Let us serve him and be with him where he is, forever!  Glory and honor from God our Father await us!

The Glorious Man, Our Savior

I have reproduced the first chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews below.  As you read it, notice how the author mixes references to the divine and human natures of the Son of God as the author recites his argument for the superiority of the Son to the angels.  I have marked some minor alterations in the first verse or so, to help bring out the contrast being made between the prophets and the Son.  Suggested or certain references to the manhood of the Son are underlined.

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us "by Son," whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who, being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

For to which of the angels did He ever say: "You are My Son, Today I have begotten You"? And again: "I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son"?  But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: "Let all the angels of God worship Him."  And of the angels He says: "Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire." 

But to the Son He says: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your Kingdom.  You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions."  And: "You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands.  They will perish, but You remain; And they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail." 

But to which of the angels has He ever said: "Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool"?  Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?   (Epistle to the Hebrews, Chapter 1, alt.)

The fully and completely divine and the fully and completely human attributes and natures of the Person of the Son are interleaved and mixed in this record  of his career in such a manner that the natures are not distinguished in order that each nature might receive its own appropriate glorification.  Rather, all the glory of the God-man is holistically applied to his whole being -- including the manhood!

Therefore, as the Westminster Larger Catechism states:

WLC 39  Why was it requisite that the Mediator should be man? A. It was requisite that the Mediator should be man, that he might advance our nature, perform obedience to the law, suffer and make intercession for us in our nature, have a fellow-feeling of our infirmities; that we might receive the adoption of sons, and have comfort and access with boldness unto the throne of grace.

WLC 53  How was Christ exalted in his ascension? A. 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.

WLC 55  How doth Christ make intercession ? A. Christ maketh intercession, by his appearing in our nature continually before the Father in heaven, in the merit of his obedience and sacrifice on earth, declaring his will to have it applied to all believers; answering all accusations against them, and procuring for them quiet of conscience, notwithstanding daily failings, access with boldness to the throne of grace, and acceptance of their persons and services.

What Adam lost, Jesus Christ has more than regained.  Our Head, our Husband, our Savior, our Prophet, our Priest, and our King is in every case the selfsame single God Incarnate, Man Divine, the God-Man, a man of our flesh, full of knowledge, wise and sympathetic, compassionate, forgiving all manner of iniquity and sin, a High Priest ever on our case to save us, the answerer of all our prayers, the giver of all good, the Helper of the weak, the Savior and deliverer of sinners, filling us with the triumph of his power and glory, for His Name's sake.

Will he not help you?

The Mystery of Christ in You, The Hope of Glory

From Colossians 1:25-28 (The Epistle for July 18, 2010)

Paul writes:

... I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, ...

Now, the whole Word of God is a big subject, but Paul speaks of fully carrying out the preaching of the Word, not with the sense that he must exposit the whole of Scripture to them (though he does this in principle), but that he must finish the process of revealing and expositing the whole Word that had been begun in the Old Testament revelation (before Paul's time) but was only completed in the New Testament time, with its special emphasis on doctrine and experience previously hidden -- the "mysteries."

Picking up the quote, this is seen by the underlined words:

... that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations; but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, ...

Then, Paul continues with a more explicit indication of what this mystery is:

... which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

The teaching of the doctrine of "Christ in you," leads to the experience of it by faith.  It is real, not just an abstract idea.

Paul continues, indicating that "Christ in you," and "You in Christ," are complementary conceptions for the same reality.

And we proclaim Him [Christ], admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ.  

This passage indicates that the revelation of Christ among the Gentiles (not just Jews), bringing Jew and Gentile into a true and real union with Christ, is the surpassing spiritual reality that constitutes what the New Covenant actually is and does.  This intimate union, we in Christ and Christ in us, is the only salvation, and it is what those Old Testament saints waited for, and have finally received, along with us.

This union is our certain hope of glory.

Union with Christ The Imputation of Sin and Righteousness

2 Corinthians 5:21   For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Christ was made to be sin.  Well, actually he remained righteous.  He was reckoned to be sin.  If he weren't righteous when he was reckoned to be sin, then he could not have been our sacrifice for sin.  Therefore, he must remain perfect all the time he is made sin.  This is the imputation of our sins to Christ.

The reason for this reckoning Christ to be sin is that, as a consequence of being in him, we might become the righteousness of God.  It seems most likely that the intent of the writer is to say that we become righteous in reciprocal manner to the way that Christ became sin.  He remained righteous, while he became sin.  Likewise, we remained sinners while becoming the righteousness of God.  All this happens in Christ, that is, in and because of our union with Christ.

Consequences:

Union with Christ does not mean that he and we are morally mixed, such that he becomes partly a sinner and we become partly righteous.  He is reckoned to be sin, though he is not a sinner at all.  We are consequentially reckoned to be righteous, though we are not righteous at all.  Christ is not made sin, such that he becomes partly sinful.  We are not reckoned to be righteous because we are made partly righteous by our union with Christ.

Therefore, it is right to say that union with Christ does not dispense with the need for imputation.

But, there's more:

Forensic relationships are the necessary foundation for the promotion of actual righteousness.  Christ was reckoned to be a sinner forensically, but he really grasped both the guilt and power of our sin, and confirmed both the judicial basis of our acceptation as sinners, and the basis in divine power for our renovation in righteousness.  Likewise, though we were reckoned forensically to be the righteousness of God, our forensic justification as sinners must ultimately eventuate in real righteousness, because the sacrifice of Christ takes away both the guilt and power of sin.  In the end, we will be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

But, we cannot lose our connection with Christ in the righteousness of our own resurrection, so that the imputation of Christ's righteousness is forgotten.  We never become autonomous from him, but remain eternally dependent on our union.  We will recognize forever that the reward of our final destiny is simply Christ's crowning of his own works in us, which were done by him when we were very imperfect.  Even in the beauty of holiness, we can only attribute our glory to his gift!   

Imputation and Penal Substitution

In recent academic research in New Testament exegesis, on matters which affect the doctrine taught in the church, it has become the fashion in some quarters to deny the imputation (or divine reckoning) of the righteousness of Christ to Christian believers.  This "new perspective" is found in more well-known teachers, both Lutheran and Reformed, then we want to know.

We need to tune our thinking up when we hear this.  It is common to hear this denial of imputation expressed in terms of a denial of the whole concept and mechanism of it.  But, denying the whole concept and mechanism of imputation also implies denying the imputation of our sins to Christ. 
 
It needs to be understood that denying the imputation of our sins to Christ is a not uncommon doctrine in the whole church history of theology, but when this is done we have to understand that this means that Christ, though he for sure dies as our substitute in some sense, or dies as a righteous man to pay back the honor of an offended God, or dies to show God's displeasure with sin, yet he does not die as a sinner, taking our punishment.  In other words, there are lots of doctrines of "substitutionary atonement" that are not "penal substitution."  In these other doctrines of "substitution" Christ does not truly endure the divine curse and the penalty of our sins.

The next thing to know is that teachers of these non-penal substitutions, particularly today, commonly do not teach that we need this penal substitution at all.  God can forgive whomever he wishes, any time he wishes, without any sacrifice by Christ at all.  This lowers the "power" in the concepts of holiness, of redemption, and of grace.

This is one big problem with the "new perspective."  There is too low a view of the stringency of the requirement for perfect obedience.  That is, there is too low a view of the Law.  There is too low a view of the requirement for holiness.  There is too low a view of the divine curse against sin. Therefore, there is too low a view of the need for "penal substitution."  As a consequence, there is too low a view of the immensity of the free grace expressed toward us in Christ.

Because the concept of sin is too small, the concept of grace is too small.

When we're "laid back" about the law, and about sin, then we're also too laid back about holiness and repentance.  And, when we're too laid back about holiness and repentance, then we're too laid back about the need for total grace.  Grace becomes banal and loses its flavor.  We speak glibly using the word "grace," but it isn't grace.  "Laid back" isn't grace.  "Easy-going" isn't grace.

On the other hand, when the screaming tension between the horror of true sin and the incomprehensible miracle of grace astounds our hearts continuously, then we at least have a chance, by the Spirit, to detest our sin daily, and flee to grace daily, and exult in God, and in the things to come from heaven, and see the power of the Spirit working holiness in our lives.

We have to understand the reason for all that blood in the Old Testament sacrifices.  We have to understand why the Son of God who taught us not to fear death feared his own death, and sweat blood over it -- and he was no coward.  We have to understand the cry of dereliction from the cross -- and the simultaneous piety of it.  This man on the cross was a truly righteous man -- who was spiritually deserted by his God.

Since this man took our punishment, we are delivered from it forever.  Our sins are canceled by what Christ endured on the cross.  Because of what he did, we are now considered righteous.

This is imputation.

Faith and Obedience -- Not Double Justification

It's clear from Paul and from James that those with a spiritual allegiance to God have the Holy Spirit, and thus show evidence of an imperfect righteousness.

By the strict judgment of the Law, this imperfect righteousness is sin, and yet by the cleansing judgment of God, made in light of the death of his Son, these imperfect works are cleansed and accepted by him.

Furthermore, it is a commonality of Scripture that those who are in a right state with God do show evidence of these works (visible to God at least -- an important caveat), and that the Lord often declares such persons to be "righteous," even though they are sinfully imperfect.

Beyond this, God even justifies -- approves -- the right, though imperfect, actions of his saints, and indicates the eternal, heavenly destiny of people who act like this from a true heart.

But, at root, it is clear that the presence of the Holy Spirit who generates these works in us is a free gift of God, whose coming to us is evidenced by "faith alone" in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Therefore, the favorable judgment that God makes of the believers' works is a consequence of the favorable judgment he makes of the believers totally apart from their works.  Justification by works is brought about by complete justification apart from works.  There are not two separate hoops to jump through:  first, the judgment of faith; later, the judgment of works.  It is not as if one could have faith and then fail the judgment of works.  Rather, the judgment of works is a vindication of the efficacy of justification by faith only.

Double justification could have been asserted if the first justification (by faith) were incomplete or temporary, so that the threat of doom (in the judgment of works) hung over even those justified by faith.  But, the Paul who asserted "justification by obedience" in Chapter 2 of his Epistle to the Romans, goes on to teach "justification by faith and no works at all" in immediately following chapters of his epistle.

We have to conclude that the term "justification" is a flexible term used with various meanings, just as we use it in ordinary conversation.  We say that a man "justifies himself" when he gives good reasons for his actions that have been questioned.  Likewise, we are justified by our behavior because it reveals who we are spiritually.  But, the power relationship that leads to Christian behavior is a power relationship not to the "do this and live" of the Law, but to salvation as a total gift of free grace in Christ.

This is why the zeal to teach that our faith does inevitably eventuate in good works must be tempered by a larger zeal to make plain the active spiritual connection to Christ, by faith only, which is the source of such a life.

It ought to be considered that the one who is really justified, when the believers are justified in their works, is God.  This is why:  In bringing us to salvation and righteousness, God's method of salvation by grace alone is what is being justified, contrary to the accusations of Satan!

Righteousness Higher than the Law

It has been maintained that the holiness, righteousness and glory of God is far higher than anything revealed even in his Holy Law.   

It has been maintained that, before the Lord, even the holiness of the unfallen angels is inadequate.

This divine "extra" is certainly associated with the essential separateness of the divine essence of the Triune God from all his creation, but this is not all that is meant by this divine "extra."

We know that Christ overcame death -- a death mandated by the Law.  But, in overcoming death, the text of The Epistle to the Romans, Chapter 7:4-6 is clear that we, though now living, still remain "dead to the Law."  We are not simply delivered from its curse, but are also delivered into a new resurrection life -- a new way of life before God, married to Christ and producing his fruit by his whole Word and Spirit -- not just a renewed life under the Law.

We have a higher life than the Law could ever have delivered to even the unfallen Adam in the original creation.  We are in the New Creation.  We have been delivered into this creation by the divine power of the God-Man, Jesus Christ, in his death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of God.  And, we are in this New Creation only because we are in him, the God-Man.

By our union with Christ we receive entrance into a righteousness that is higher than the Law, and have a level of fellowship with God which is higher than any revealed in the First Creation -- a level of fellowship unknown to the angels, and which they must learn about by watching and caring for us!

Resurrection

Resurrection is not simply the reversal of death, though it's a right thing to say.  Death is certainly vanquished.  The curse is reversed and changed into blessing.

It is important to remember that there is only one Resurrection in the history of the cosmos.  This is the Resurrection of Christ.  We who are resurrected are only resurrected because we are in him.  We are not resurrected at the same time, since Christ is the firstfruits, but we, the full harvest, are resurrected only because we are in him.

In the first place resurrection only occurs after real death under the curse of the Law.  This real death, in our case, apart from Christ, would be an eternal death.  The wrath of God would abide (rest, dwell) upon us, forever and ever.

Christ did not escape this curse.  He did take the death we deserved, and we in him.  Except for his eternal power and Godhead we would both have remained in the state of death!  And, as far as the Law is concerned, we are still in that state.  Before the Law we are dead!  It has destroyed us for our depravity (Christ bearing our sins for us), and this destruction is eternal.  Our connection to the realm and age of the Law, as conveyed to us and to which we were bound in the original creation, is over.  There is no life for us, or for Christ, in that age any more.  The only exit from this terminal state is the Resurrection of Christ.

Christ has died!  Christ is risen!  Christ will come again!

Even now Christ himself, in his human nature, lives a new life in resurrection, and we live it with him, in him.  We live in a new way, not under Law, not lawlessly, but under Grace.  Spiritually, we are already in heaven, seated with Christ in the heavenly places.  When the birth-pangs of the New Creation are finished, we shall be like him, soul and body, for we shall see him as he is.

Until that day we only live by resurrection life that comes from him.  This is not just a life that doesn't face death any more, but it is a life in glory, moved by the grace of God in the New Creation, which longs for the day when Heaven and Earth will be one, wrapped in the majesty and glory of God forever and ever.

What is Plan A?

The material which is presented cryptically in this table is discussed at length here.

If Plan A was the original creation, then:

Plan A	Plan B	Result
Creation	Redemption	Restores plan A
Low (but definite) revelation of the trinity.	Trinity fully revealed only in redemption.	Full revelation of the Trinity was originally unnecessary for divine religion. Was, and is, the religion of “God.”
No Incarnation.	Incarnation, only to repair the problem of sin, and to restore the original creation.	Christology was originally unnecessary for divine religion.
Establish social and political order of the First Creation.	Restoration of the order of the First Creation.	The  order of the First Creation can now be implemented in the present aeon. No “deification” (2 Pet 1:4).
First Creation based on Law, not Gospel.	Restoration of the First Creation through the Gospel restores the effectiveness of the Law.	The Current (and Final) Kingdom is based on the restored Law.
The Old Testament is the Canon of Creation. No Messiah in the original creation.	The New Testament restores the Covenant and Canon of the original Creation through contingent Messiah.	The New Testament is not the normative revealer of God’s purposes.
		Not Redemptive-Historical

If the original intent of creation is actually redemption, then:

Plan Zero	Plan A	Result
Creation.	Redemption.	Implements plan A  (redemption).
Low (but definite) revelation of the trinity.	Trinity fully revealed only in redemption.	Full revelation of the Trinity is necessary for divine religion. Is the religion of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
No Incarnation.	Incarnation, to save mankind and elevate them to a higher level than the original creation.	Christology is truly necessary for divine religion. “Deification” possible (2 Pet 1:4).
Social and political order of the First Creation.	Elevation of the mankind to a new level in the New Creation.	The New Creation is fully inherited only in resurrection.
First Creation based on Law, not Gospel.	Redemption and Elevation of the First Creation through the Gospel, not the Law.	The Kingdom is based on the Gospel, not the Law.
The Old Testament promises the New, in the Person of Messiah.	The New Testament fulfills the Old, in the Person of Messiah.	The New Testament is the supreme revealer of the prophet, priest and king, in the Person of Messiah.
		Redemptive-Historical

Sacraments and Faith

Participation in a sacrament is analogous to participating in the gospel.  The gospel brings union with Christ the Savior, through faith, a spiritually receptive capacity which is the gift of God and given through the Holy Spirit.  Baptism brings union with Christ, through faith.  The Eucharist brings union with Christ, through faith.

But faith is not faith in faith.  Faith is not a looking inward, so that I may analyze my heart state, and thereby be able to discern the presence of faith.  Faith is looking outward at Christ, at the objective truth of God's grace, and receiving it.

Faith is receiving the Words of the Gospel.  Faith is receiving Baptism as union with Christ.  Faith is receiving the Bread and Cup as the Body and Blood of Christ.  We know we are Christians because we receive the Words of the Gospel (not because we look inward and see that we have faith).  We know we are Christians because we have received the "washing of regeneration."  We know we are Christians because we have received the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist.

If the sacraments and the Word of the Gospel are only validated by some inward "faith" that we have to look inward to be sure about, then our assurance of salvation, our assurance of Baptism, our assurance of participation in the Eucharist in a meaningful manner is all contingent on how well we are doing in our faith.  Poor faith means poor participation.  Perhaps we don't benefit spiritually.

But, if the sacraments and the Word of the Gospel are external objective realities that we can receive, then we can know we are Christians when we look outside ourselves and receive these things.

This is why it is so vital that we see that the Word of the Gospel is objective and objectively powerful to save, and receive that.  This is why Baptism is objectively powerful to save, and we receive that.  This is why the Eucharist, and its sharing in Christ, is so objectively true and powerful to save, and we receive that.

This is why we must not only believe (receive) the Gospel, but also believe (receive) the sacraments as objective manifestations of the grace of God.

I, a believer in Christ, have received the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist, because I ate in faith, and tasted the bread and the wine.

The Anti-Lutheran Polemic of Westminster

WCF 29:7  Worthy receivers, outwardly partaking of the visible elements, in this sacrament,(1) do then also, inwardly by faith, really and indeed, yet not carnally and corporally but spiritually, receive, and feed upon, Christ crucified, and all benefits of His death: the body and blood of Christ being then,

not corporally or carnally, in, with, or under the bread and wine;

yet, as really, but spiritually, present to the faith of believers in that ordinance,  

as the elements themselves are to their outward senses.(2)

(1) 1 Cor. 11:28
(2) 1 Cor. 10:16

This paragraph is based on the confessional Lutheran description of the presence of the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist as being "in, with and under" the bread and wine.  The Westminster Assembly is saying that this means a corporal or carnal presence.  Most Reformed folks, then and now, say that this Lutheran description "in, with and under" means consubstantiation, or a physical union of the bread and Christ's body, or the wine and Christ's blood.

However, expert testimony from both Lutheran and Reformed sources indicates that this is clearly not correct, and in fact can only be construed as common though false imputation of the Reformed, who ought to know better.  The historic and continuing purpose of the Lutheran description of the presence of Christ's body as being "in, with and under" the bread is to teach against transubstantiation and consubstantiation.  In other words, confessional Lutheranism does not teach that the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ, nor that the bread and wine become partly the body and blood of Christ, and yet they continue to teach that the body and blood of Christ are present "in, with and under" the bread and wine.

Furthermore, the Lutheran notion of the presence of the body and blood is described by them as spiritual, not carnal.

Since the Reformed also use the word "spiritual" to describe the Reformed notion of "real presence," the meanings of the two uses of the word "spiritual" must be distinguished.

The confessional Lutherans believe that by means of the divine power of the Person of the Incarnate Son, he makes himself spiritually present in the Eucharist as the whole Christ in both his natures (since they cannot be separated), even though the body and blood are not present carnally in the Eucharist.  In fact, his body remains seated all the while on the throne of heaven.  In this view, the body and blood of Christ are spiritually present, not carnally present, in connection with the use of the bread and wine, whether the recipient receives them savingly by faith or not.

The high (Calvinian) confessional Reformed generally seem to mean that Christ is present to believers only, in both his natures, by the mediation of the Holy Spirit from heaven, and that the Lord's presence with them does not occur directly in connection with the handling of the bread and cup as instruments.  In other words, there is (only) a parallelism between the handling of the bread and cup by the believer and the work of the Holy Spirit to communicate to the believer the fruits of his union with Christ.  This seems to be the clear teaching of the article from the WCF quoted above.  This is also the implication of the Heidelberg Catechism.

These are different conceptions and uses of the word "spiritual."

As you study this subject (for 5 years or more) you'll begin to see

1) Why the Calvinists say that our argument with the Lutherans is a technicality about the mode of the presence (though, at the same time, the Calvinists will still zealously object to the special Lutheran "presence" "in, with and under" the bread and wine.)  And,

2)  Why the Lutherans try to say that we don't have a "real presence" at all.

Actually, we all have the "real presence," even the Zwinglians.  The only questions have to do with whether it is admitted and how it is described.

The answer depends on discerning the proper way to interpret passages like these:

1 Cor 10:16-17   16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?  17 For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.

1 Corinthians 11:23-29  23 ¶ For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread;  24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me."  25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."  26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes.  27 ¶ Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.  28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.  29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

"Bread Worship"

The mystical union between our human natures and Christ's human nature is a real union transcending the apparent distance between us.  So, in the Supper, he can be objectively present for us, as we receive him by faith.  But, if he is there, what kind of respect do we show the bread and cup?

Calvin and Melanchthon shared an opposition to what Melanchthon privately called "bread-worship" in letters between them.  One of the reasons for the Reformed opposition to too much "real presence" down on earth at the Eucharist was that it was the basis for the "overly-respectful" treatment of the bread and cup in high Lutheran worship, which, in turn, was too reminiscent to them of the worship that was paid to the bread and cup in Romanism.

But, rather than denying "real presence" on earth during the Eucharist, would it not be more reasonable to observe that the mystical union that we have with Christ, so that Christ is in each of us, does not oblige us to worship each other even though Christ is present there?  The Corinthian church would hardly have needed the exhortation to "discern the Lord's body" when taking the bread if those elements were being "worshiped."  Clearly they were not.

The bread and cup are instruments of Christ's real presence, but are not Christ in themselves, and thus are not worshiped in any fashion.

How is Christ Present in the Eucharist?

There is a historic, nearly 500 year old schism between the Magisterial Reformationalists -- the confessional Lutherans and the (non-Zwinglian) confessional Reformed -- over the nature of Christ's presence in the Eucharist:

1)  The Reformed say that we two agree that Christ is present in his body and blood, but we seriously disagree on how he is present -- that is, on the 'mode' of his presence.

2)  The Lutherans say that we two really don't agree that Christ is actually present in his body and blood.  The Reformed are self-deceived in their own words.

The test question put by the Lutherans is this:  Do non-believers who come to the Lord's Table receive the body and blood of Christ?  Of course they don't mean, do the non-believers receive it savingly.  They don't.  But, the Lutherans believe that the answer to this question is "yes," because the body and blood are objectively present -- and received unto judgment by non-believers.  The Lutherans also believe that our Reformed theological and philosophical principles require us to say "no" to the test question.  The body and blood of Christ are not and cannot be present in the Eucharist to non-believers, since Christ in his human nature is not omnipresent, and the body and blood are in heaven.

Calvin is especially singled out by the Lutherans because his doctrine of the Lord's Supper is so "Lutheran" to begin with.  His view of the "real presence" is therefore regarded as particularly dangerous by the confessional Lutherans, because he could deceive Lutherans into subtly beginning to accept Reformed views not only of "real presence" but of other things just as vital.

But, the mystical union between me and Christ in our common human nature is a fact.  Christ's humanity and mine are joined intimately, and not just by some principle of "spiritual action at a distance."  Christ is in me, my hope of glory.  Christ said to Saul on the Damascus Road: "Why do you persecute me."

If Christ as a man is in me, and I am in him as a man, then there is no problem with Christ in his sacrificed body and blood being with me in the Eucharist.  This is what the mystical union is all about.

And, just as the offer of Christ in the gospel is just as real to a non-believer as it is to me -- though it may be rejected by a non-believer; so, the offer Christ in his body and blood in the Supper is just as real, whether the recipient is a believer or not.  But, only believers receive the offer savingly.

Union with Christ

In Adam we all die.  In Christ we all live.  As we have had both a real and a covenant union with Adam, so we must have a real and covenant union with Christ.  We ought not to think that our relationship to Christ is any less strong, sturdy and real than was our relationship to Adam.  And, the reality is also physical, because we rise from the dead "like him, for we shall see him as he is."

The "mystical union" between Christ and his church is likened to the union between man and wife.  Just as Adam bore Eve through his sleep in the Garden, so Christ bore his church in his own sleep in a Garden.  And, having borne us through death, in his own body, he is now our husband, triumphant in resurrection.  We are in him, and he is in us, forever.

It is to this union that Baptism and the Lord's Supper speak, each in its own way.  We are one with Christ in cleansing, and we are one with Christ in spiritual sustenance.

Consider the Lord's Table:

NKJ 1 Cor 10:16-17  The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?  17 For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.

The reality of our union with Christ and with each other, as experienced and refreshed in the Eucharist, cannot be overstated.  It communicates by faith a true and real union with Him through his sacrificed body and shed blood, a union which looks forward to that communion meal which is the marriage supper of the Lamb.

So we are refreshed not only by words and actions which strengthen our faith, but by words and actions through which Christ the Savior actually comes to us to feed and strengthen our union with him through his sacrificed body and blood.

We are warned not to eat and drink in an unworthy manner, not discerning the Lord's body. But this warning is not given to turn the Eucharist into a disciplinary act.  Just the opposite.  This warning is given as a principle to the unruly:  Come to your senses and do not miss the joy of feeding on Christ!

Glory be to God!