1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, Chapter 8.5 The Slaying of the Lamb

Table of Contents

The Text

Revelation 5:12-13 (CSB) They said with a loud voice,
Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered
to receive power and riches
and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and blessing!
I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, under the >earth, on the sea, and everything in them say,
Blessing and honor and glory and power
be to the one seated on the throne,
and to the Lamb, forever and ever!

The Chapter

The Lord Jesus, by his perfect obedience and sacrifice of himself, which he through the eternal Spirit once offered up unto God, hath fully satisfied the justice of God, procured reconciliation, and purchased an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of heaven, for all those whom the Father hath given unto Him.

The Confession

The Lord Jesus, by His perfect obedience and sacrifice of Himself, which He through the eternal Spirit once offered up to God, has fully satisfied the justice of God

Hebrews 9:14 (CSB) how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works so that we can serve the living God?

Hebrews 10:14 (CSB) For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are sanctified.

Romans 3:25–26 (CSB) God presented him as the mercy seat by his blood, through faith, to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his restraint God passed over the sins previously committed. God presented him to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so that he would be just and justify the one who has faith in Jesus.

In England, October 16, 1555, there were two men, Catholic priests, named Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley. They were imprisoned together under the rule of Mary I for 18 months before being led through the streets of Oxford to a heavy stake on the north side. Latimer, in his frock and cap with Ridley in his bishop's gown, marched earnestly. Some of the crowd jeered and mocked. Others, still, try to encourage and emboldened the two prisoners. After the two men embraced, prayed to God, they were then chained to the stake, back to back. Kindling was built at their feet. A satchel of gunpowder around their midsection so that they would be obliterated when the soon-to-be flames licked up.

The Queen's officers, come to give the two men one last change to recant, and repent of their heresy. They refused, but instead praised the Lord.

The fire was lit.

In their most desperate moment, with his loudest voice so that his friend could hear, Latimer yells to Ridley:

Be of good heart, brother, for God will either assuage the fury of the flame, or else strengthen us to abide it.

The fires began to strengthen and burn their legs. But Latimer pressed on:

Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man; we shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.

When the flames reached the gunpowder, they were both annihilated--their bodies exploding into millions of pieces and quickly turned into ash.

What was this belief that both men were willing to be imprisoned and die in the most brutal fashion--leaving behind loved ones and parishioners and friends? What was this belief that they were willing to die for?

It was this doctrine: The doctrine of the atonement. And the fact that Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of God, made this sacrifice once and for all.

Hebrews 9:28 (CSB) so also Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

These men died for the truth in Hebrews 9:28.

The entire Roman Catholic church is built upon the superstition that at ever Mass, that is, ever Sunday service, the priest is able to say a few words in order to make the bread and wine of the Eucharist will be turned into the physical body and the real blood of Jesus. And because we are reasonable people with a reasonable faith, you might think, "Sure they are meaning figuratively or even spiritually?"

The Council of Trent summarizes the Catholic faith by declaring: "Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God, and this holy Council now declares again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation."

The Catechism of the Catholic Church. 1376.

Or take it from the book, Mangiare Dio: Una storia dell’eucarestia, which the title is translated into, Eating God: A History of the Eucharist, by the Italian historian Alberto Melloni.

Why is that so important to the Roman Catholic church? For the bread and the wine to physically turn into the body and blood of Christ, the priest is then able to crucify the Son of God again and again and again for the sins of the people.

Latimer and Ridley, both ordained in the Roman Catholic church. Both born again by the Spirit and both possessed the indwelling of the Triune God within them. Both had their hearts of stone removed, given God's own heart, eyes opened and minds renewed in order to look up the Scriptures and know that the Catholic Church was, in fact, going against the very Word of God. It is the Roman Catholic church that is heretical.

And for the doctrine of atonement--that Christ died once for all time to cover the sins of his people and to satisfy the wrath of God--Latimer and Ridley were willing to die.

procured reconciliation, and purchased an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of heaven, for all those whom the Father has given unto Him

John 17:2 (CSB) since you gave him authority over all people, so that he may give eternal life to everyone you have given him.

Hebrews 9:15 (CSB) Therefore, he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance, because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

Christ did not come to make salvation possible. For the Old Testament saints, from Adam to John the Baptist, who died before the cross, Christ died to save them. For the New Testament saints, from Stephen until Christ returns, he died for them.

His death was satisfactory. His crucifixion was complete. His blood spilt was perfect. His body broken was enough. His sacrifice was sufficient. His atonement was all that was needed to save every single person within the family of God.

God did not look upon the annuals of time and picked the timeline where you choose him. No! Before Genesis 1:1, when the Father and the Son saw us, all he saw that we were sinning and sinning all the morning and running into death as fast as we can.

Romans 5:8 (CSB) But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

It was there--before the foundations of the world were even form--that the Father, Son, and the Spirit set the love and affections upon you. They did this not because you were good nor because you were going to be a sinner destined unto hell but rather, they predestined you to be adopted as sons and daughters of God forever.

Ephesians 1:4–5 (CSB) For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him. He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

God loves you. God knows you were far from him. He knows that. He knows that you sin continuously all the time. He knows that you cannot be holy and good on your own. You and I are made from dust. He knows that. If he does nothing, we were doomed with Satan, demons, hell and death for all of eternity.

Yet:

1 John 4:9-10 (ESV) In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Latimer, Ridley and nearly 300 other Christian men, women, and children died during the reign of Bloody Mary because they believe that Christ came to save sinners, once and for all, and there is nothing we can do to add to his perfect and final work.