The Westminster Confession of Faith (Chaps. 2-3) with John Gerstner

The Westminster Confession of Faith has, for hundreds of years, served as the doctrinal foundation of the Reformed churches. In this series, Dr. Gerstner focuses his lifetime of scholarship on a comprehensive treatment of the meaning and application of this important confession for the life of the church. This is an exceptional series for pastors and church leaders.
This is the 2nd in a series of messages by Dr. Gerstner on the the Westminster Confession of Faith. See other videos in the series: • The Westminster Confes...
This message was originally published by Ligonier Ministries: www.ligonier.org/

[@jankragt7789]

Wow❤

[@CharlesRBiggs]

This is the good stuff! I miss Dr. Gerstner. Thank you, Father, for His faithfulness and His ongoing influence! -2 Tim. 4:7-8

[@hectorreynoso6308]

Great teaching and excellent teacher. Thanks for posting

[@jesuschristbiblebiblestudy]

Bible based and Christ centred. Thank you

[@jesus_saves_from_hell_]

Thank you so much! 🙏

[@MaverickBEvans]

This man's voice would've been amazing in old school professional wrestling.

[@solovedjohn3165]

What's the knowledge of God that saves us?

[@Amilton5solas]

Lol, no one is moving this chalk in my hand!!

[@dailybread4047]

God elected to damn certain souls to glorify His Eternal Sovereign Justice and all others He Predestinated to praise His Eternal Mercy Grace !

[@LegBuilder]

It’s the most ridiculous thing ever taught in church. The Bible says he is the saviour for all. Whosoever, that means all are welcome. It is sadistic not glorious to think God would do that. The Bible does not teach this unless you are getting your doctrine of men

[@LegBuilder]

God ordains rape, murder, pedophelia according to this. Whatever comes to pass he ordains it. Show me a bible verse that says this. The Bible doesn’t say this. His phrasing is that if you don’t agree then you don’t agree in god

[@LegBuilder]

Show me a verse that says he ordains all and gives free will. The Bible never says this.

[@LegBuilder]

Jeremiah 19:5 is a reason that God is not sovereign. Plus the Bible doesn’t say the word sovereign

[@LegBuilder]

Everything he is saying is philosophy. Show me scripture and verse

[@davidrichard2765]

So do I ( or should I ) understand that there was no reason on God’s eternal ‘side’ for Christ to suffer and by experience be ‘perfected? I.e. it was not ‘best for Christ ‘ to obey in the Garden of Gethsemane but only best for the elect? Apologies for my untrained terms, but can you discern the basis of my question? Because to say thar it was best for Christ (as God) to experience Gethsemane would be to say that God was deficient before Calvary? (God, if He is - and He is - God , cannot be in any way deficient from eternity). The only reason for Gethsemane that I can understand is that it was to demonstrate or manifest God’s Love (Greater Love)?

[@jackuber7358]

You construe an unfounded dualism when one was not presented. But, as with the doctrine of God's complete and unalterable sovereignty AND, at the same time and in the same context, the unviolated will of man as well as the doctrine of the Trinity, both are true. That is, Christ's cosmic sacrifice was both "good" for God--for He does nothing that is not "good"--AND profoundly beneficial to man. To reiterate, God is never demonstrated to be insufficient in any way merely because he does something good. Otherwise, God could do nothing as any action he would take, regardless of the inconsequence, would change Him.

[@teody43]

God is never deficient before sending Christ but to show perfection in His character for He can not leave the wicked unpunished for He is always JUST and to satisfy the demand of His justice one has to take our place for the punishment attached to our wickedness and the only Person righteous who can do that in His standard is His son our Lord and Saviour JC.

[@henokdaniel6358]

concerning the predestination..... does it also imply that God ordained Adam to sin? i mean Adam wasn't originally a sinner right? i'd like some clarifications on that

[@rangoman1815]

What I understood from this lecture is that God exercises Sovereignity over man without violating man's free will... Adam sinned because of his free will and not because God wanted him to sin specifically...the fall was all Adam's doing...

[@ezequielarce8079]

@@rangoman1815 can you explain this when it comes to the elect?? My brain is shooting out sparks and smokes too much info in 30 minutes haha God bless thanks

[@richardfoster5830]

@@ezequielarce8079 with regard to the elect regeneration must precede faith. Fallen man in his unregenerate state has no desire for God, and will not come to God. But if God changes his disposition by removing the heart of stone and resurrecting the spiritual corpse that's dead in sin, giving spiritual life resulting in the sinner's eyes being opened so that he can then see clearly that Christ is altogether beautiful and desirable, he will then come to Christ of His own free choice. Thus the sinner seeing Christ as more desirable than sin, he believes of his own choice to believe. But without the intervention of the Holy Spirit working in him internally he would never choose Christ.

[@ezequielarce8079]

@@richardfoster5830 thanks for this anyways, a week ago I finally understood it :)

[@wanda520]

God gives some mercy and others he gives justice.

[@Mricanseeyou]

Is this not what Jehovah's witnesses preach? That some chosen people will see the kingdom of heaven and some will not? I've never heard this in any Christian faith teaching, grew up in a Baptists church. The bible teaches that salvation can be given to anybody, its god's gift, not some special treat only a select few get to enjoy. If I am misunderstanding, I believe that is because Gerstner did not explain it very well. His story about the students trying to find counter examples was cute, but also why did he not bring up the most vile disgusting creatures of the earth: Pedophiles. That would be my first example of how does god ordain evil things such as that? I do believe god controls all, but he also lets us make our own choices. I believe god gives us free will, but sin and the devil give us the powers of evil that can corrupt others around us. Our human experience is us grappling with what powers we will follow into eternity.

[@joshuatheo1419]

No. JWs misinterpret the part in Revelation with the 144k to be a literal group of that number that only will go to heaven. What Gerstner is talking about is unconditional election.

[@TruthwillPrevail7938]

How do you know that you have not "been left to perish"? Maybe you are just like any other religious person that is trusting in your works?

[@adrianpasillas3832]

@Patrick: Works without faith is dead: faith without works is equally dead. Surely you haven't read sacred scripture not to make such a naif statement you' ve just uttered!

[@kramsdrawde8159]

What a truly ignorant response !!! Congrats that's the stupidest thing Iv'e heard in the 21st century !!!

[@josephscottadams39]

I’m still confused about the Trinity. This didn’t make it any clearer. Gerstner sounds like he doesn’t quite understand it either. Let’s chalk it up to a Divine Mystery I suppose.

[@danbezabhe7620]

@@josephscottadams39 I know of a resource that can better explain the trinity for you in detail. Respond back if you are interested.

[@josephscottadams39]

@@danbezabhe7620 yes sir. Anything would be great!

[@alanjohnson6398]

John Wesley would not agree with Dr Gerstner. God has foreknowledge but he does not predestine. Free will with predestination is a contradiction in terms. A strict Paulist will buy predestination. A Johanine believes in the ability of the Holy Spirit to bring salvation to all. God wants everyone to be saved.