In his sermon, Eric Bechler discusses the doctrine of justification as outlined in the 2nd London Baptist Confession, Chapter 11, Paragraph 4. He emphasizes the coordinated roles of the Trinity in the process of justification. God the Father decreed from eternity to justify the elect, a plan carried out by Christ who died and rose for their justification. The Holy Spirit applies Christ to individuals in 'due time,' making justification personal and specific for each believer. Scriptural references underscore that this divine decree encompasses both Jews and Gentiles and was established before time began. The 'fullness of time' refers to the appointed moment when Christ's redemptive work was fulfilled. The sermon highlights that the Holy Spirit not only changes our status before God but also renews us inwardly, empowering believers to live lives of gratitude. This reinforces the idea that salvation is initiated by God's mercy and actualized through the Holy Spirit's transformative work.

Our reading this morning from the 2nd London Baptist Confession, Chapter 11 of Justification, Paragraph 4 this morning. God did from all eternity, decreed to justify all the elect, and Christ did in the fullness of time die for their sins and rise again for their justification. Nevertheless, they are not justified personally until the Holy Spirit does in due time actually apply Christ unto them. We continue today in our study of the Doctrine of Justification. Last week, our focus was on Christ and His work of substitutionary atonement in the discharge of our sin debt so that God might be glorified.

This week our paragraph lays out the work of the Trinity related to justification. It includes actions and their unique timing from God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit. I believe the emphasis on the paragraph is on all three, but also raising the point of the job that the Holy Spirit is doing in its timing. Peter in his first epistle uses the same pattern and similar wording in his greetings. Keith read that for us this morning in 1 Peter 1-2.

Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, we have his part here, through the sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you and peace be multiplied." We see Peter using the work of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit there. In our paragraph this morning, our first section is on God, God the Father. We've covered this a number of times previously in the confession. God decreed to justify the elect, all the elect. He did this from all eternity, from before the foundations of the world were laid.

It reads, God did from all eternity, decree to justify all the elect. The 1 Peter 1-2, again that we just read, tells us that the elect were chosen according to the foreknowledge of God. Romans 8.30 tells us that whom he did predestinate, them he also called and justified and glorified. These would include both Jews and Gentiles, all the elect. Paul's letter to the Galatians clarifies God's statement to Abraham that the blessing to all nations would include justification of even the heathen.

In Galatians 3, 8, In the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. God's decree to justify all the elect not only included those chosen by God to be saved but also included that Jesus would be sent to accomplish the work of redemption. Both were decreed before time began. In 1st Peter 1 20, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you. And in Acts 2 23, him being delivered by the determinate council and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.

In the second part of our paragraph, our focus is on Christ. And Christ did in the fullness of time die for their sins and rise again for their justification. We see that phrase, the fullness of time comes straight from scripture we read in Galatians 4, 4. But When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his son, made a woman, made under the law. The fullness of time was the time appointed by the father.

Eliot's commentary describes this as, that which was predetermined in the councils of God as the right and proper time when the whole course of previous preparation both for the Jew and Gentile was complete. John Gill describes it as the time agreed and fixed upon between God and his Son from all eternity, in the Council and the Covenant of Peace, where the Son of God should assume human nature. At this appointed time, Christ came into the world and died not for any sins of His, since He had none, but for the sins of the elect. Their sins were imputed to Christ and He bore the punishment for their sins, for our sins. He paid our debt when he died on the cross.

First Timothy 2, 6, who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time. Because he lived a perfect sinless life, he was found righteous and was raised from the dead. For those who have faith in him, his righteousness is imputed to us and we are justified. Romans 4 25, who was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification. In our last section, it gives a qualification related to our justification.

It says, nevertheless, they are not justified personally until the Holy Spirit does, in due time, actually apply Christ unto them. When the Holy Spirit actually applies Christ unto the elect, they are justified. It is the Holy Spirit that gives us the faith to believe in Christ. This happens in due time, which means that there is not a specific time that generally happens to the elect. It is an appointed time by the Father and it is personal.

It is specific to each elect person. It may be as an infant for some, we see the example of John the Baptist. It may be on the deathbed like the thief on the cross, or anytime in between. It's completely up to God. In Paul's letter to Titus he tells us that by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit we are justified.

In Titus 3 verses 4 through 7, But after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. I'll conclude with some words from a table talk back in 2009. The ultimate cause of our salvation, Paul explains, is the mercy of God. There's nothing any person can do to make himself worthy of such mercy.

And our Father must take the initiative in salvation because His mercy is really the last thing we would ever seek without His intervention. But God pours out His mercy on those whom He has chosen from the foundation of the world to be His friends, redeeming them through the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit. By His Spirit, God removes our hearts of stone and replaces them with hearts of flesh, enabled to trust in His Son and be justified through faith alone, setting us right in the eyes of our Creator. But the Holy Spirit in bringing us to faith does not only affect a change in our status before God from that of a condemned sinner to that of a person clothed in Jesus's righteousness. He also brings inward renewal, empowering us to do good in gratitude for the great salvation bestowed on us.

Apart from the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, we are enslaved to the primal human sin of refusing to give thanks to God. Who with the Spirit gives us a new heart and a gift of faith, we are empowered to offer our whole lives as an expression of Thanksgiving for our redemption. As such, we should be looking for ways to thank the Lord in word and deed. And I would end with the question, how are you going to make your life an expression of thanks to God this day and this week? Amen.