Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

 ⁴⁴  Pilate wondered if He was dead by this time, and summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He was already dead.

 ⁴⁵And ascertaining this from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph.

 ⁴⁶  Joseph bought a linen cloth, took Him down, wrapped Him in the linen cloth and laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.

 ⁴⁷  Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were looking on to see where He was laid.”  Mark 15:42-47.

In following Question and Answer 41, The Heidelberg Catechism instructs us why Jesus was buried.

“Question 41. Why was he also “buried”?

Answer. Thereby to prove that he was really dead.” 

The foregoing Scripture also makes it clear that Jesus was really dead by including verses 44 and 45 which show that Pilate confirmed that Jesus was really dead.

But, I think that there is an additional reason why Jesus was buried.  Jesus was buried to accomplish and show the depth at which are sins have also been buried.   Jesus was buried to accomplish and show the extent to which our body of sin has been  done away with, so that we are no longer slaves to sin.  Jesus was buried to accomplish and show how dead to sin that we are, so that we can be alive to God in Christ Jesus.     

Romans 6:4-11 states: 

^“4  Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

 ⁵  For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,

 ⁶  knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;

 ⁷  for he who has died is freed from sin.

 ⁸  Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,

 ⁹  knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again;  death no longer is master over Him.

 ¹⁰  For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.

 ¹¹  Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

 ²⁰  Where is the wise man?  Where is the scribe?  Where is the debater of this age?  Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

 ²¹  For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

 ²²  For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom;

 ²³  but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness,

 ²⁴  but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

  ²⁵  Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

 ²⁶  For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;

 ²⁷  but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,

 ²⁸  and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are,

 ²⁹  so that no man may boast before God.

 ³⁰  But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,

 ³¹  so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”

 ⁶⁸  But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are talking about.”  And he went out onto the porch.

 ⁶⁹  The servant-girl saw him, and began once more to say to the bystanders, “This is one of them!”

 ⁷⁰  But again he denied it And after a little while the bystanders were again saying to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean too.”

 ⁷¹  But he began to curse and swear, “I do not know this man you are talking about!”

 ⁷²  Immediately a rooster crowed a second time.  And Peter remembered how Jesus had made the remark to him, “Before a rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” And he began to weep.”  Mark 14:66-72.

This is a hard passage to consider.  At times, we do feel in times of strength like Peter and the other disciples who confidently said:  “Even though all may fall away, yet I will not.”  …  “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!”  See Mark 14:29-31.  But, we also do know that we experience times of weakness and sin in which we too may deny Christ by our words and our actions.

As I considered what to write, I am reminded of Jesus’ words in the same chapter:  “… the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  Mark 14:38.

The lesson for us is to put no confidence in the flesh.  However, we are not to just give up in resisting temptation.  The first phrase of Mark 14:38, this very same verse, is “Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation …”. 

The following Scriptures teach us that we should resist temptations and resist the devil.

 ²⁸  “But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”

 ²⁹  But Peter said to Him, “Even though all may fall away, yet I will not.”

 ³⁰  And Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you, that this very night, before a rooster crows twice, you yourself will deny Me three times.”

 ³¹  But Peter kept saying insistently, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And they all were saying the same thing also.”  Mark 14:27-31.

At first reading, it may seem strange that God would want to “STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP SHALL BE SCATTERED.’   By reading the full quote in Zechariah 13:7-9, we better understand this phrase and why God would allow this to occur.     

^“7  “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd,
         And against the man, My Associate,”
         Declares the LORD of hosts
         “Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered;
         And I will turn My hand against the little ones.
    ⁸  “It will come about in all the land,”
         Declares the LORD,
         “That two parts in it will be cut off and perish;
         But the third will be left in it.
    ⁹  “And I will bring the third part through the fire,
         Refine them as silver is refined,
         And test them as gold is tested
         They will call on My name,
         And I will answer them;
         I will say, ‘They are My people,’
         And they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.'”  Zechariah 13:7-9.  (Emphasis added.) 

God does refine us, His people, and test us as gold.  God refined and tested Jesus’ disciples, and God will also refine and test us.

 ²⁴  And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.

 ²⁵  “Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

 ²⁶  After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”  Mark 14:22-26.    

What was actually accomplished by Christ’s death on the cross, by His blood of the covenant? 

Did such blood only serve as an option of salvation that men can accept or refuse by their alleged “free will”? 

Or, did it accomplish more? 

Let us look at The Canons of Dordt, Article 8 of the “SECOND HEAD OF DOCTRINE Of the Death of Christ, and the Redemption of Men Thereby”.

Article 8.  “For this was the sovereign counsel, and most gracious will and purpose of God the Father, that the quickening and saving efficacy of the most precious death of his Son should extend to all the elect, for bestowing upon them alone the gift of justifying faith, thereby to bring them infallibly to salvation:  that is, it was the will of God, that Christ by the blood of the cross, whereby he confirmed the new covenant, should effectually redeem out of every people, tribe, nation, and language, all those, and those only, who were from eternity chosen to salvation, and given to him by the Father;  that he should confer upon them faith, which together with all the other saving gifts of the Holy Spirit, he purchased for them by his death; should purge them from all sin, both original and actual, whether committed before or after believing; and having faithfully preserved them even to the end, should at last bring them free from every spot and blemish to the enjoyment of glory in his own presence forever.”  (Emphasis added.) 

God’s sovereign and saving actions to fully save His elect extend from “Unconditional Election’, the “U” of “TULIP” through “Limited Atonement“, which is this blood of the covenant and the “L” of “TULIP” through “Irresistible Grace“, the “I” of “TULIP” through “Perseverance of the Saints” better described as “Preservation of the Saints“, the “P” of “TULIP”.  No wonder we love “TULIP” so much!   

^“For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;  and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”  Romans 8:29-30.

Thus, as stated above in Article 8,  “the most precious death of his Son should extend to all the elect” but “only” to the elect, and is therefore “limited” in that sense.  But, it is “unlimited” in the sense that it accomplishes much more than only presenting an option of salvation that men can accept or refuse by their alleged “free will”.  This blood “effectively redeems” the elect and “purchases” faith and “all the other saving gifts of the Holy Spirit” such that it “purges them from all sin” and “faithfully preserves them even to the end” and “brings them free from every spot and blemish to the enjoyment of glory in his own presence forever”.

I think the following “bridge” analogy is helpful to consider this third point of “Limited Atonement”.  Think of a wide bridge available for everybody, but the wide bridge only goes half-way over hell.  In comparison, think of a narrow bridge only available to the elect, but the narrow bridge goes all the way over hell to safety and salvation.     

Arminianism believes that God loves everyone, Christ died for everyone, and God wants to save everyone, and thus, this plan of salvation is comparable to a wide bridge available for everyone.  The only difference between the unsaved and saved is that some take what I will call “a leap of faith” from that wide bridge of universal atonement (which wide bridge illustrates that Christ died for everyone). Arminians believe that everyone has an equal opportunity to be saved (at least in comparable situations), but that Christ’s death saved no one;  Christ’s death only provided the opportunity and option to be saved.  Only those who exercise their “free will” and take the leap of faith (to the other side of safety and salvation as the illustration) will be saved. Thus, the bridge is wide, but it only goes halfway across hell.

In contrast, Calvinism believes that God only loves His elect and only wants to save them. Christ died only for the elect, and God does everything necessary for the salvation of His elect. In comparison to the wide bridge of Arminianism, Calvinism is the narrow bridge because salvation is only available for the elect.  But, but unlike Arminianism’s wide bridge which only goes half-way across hell, Calvinism’s narrow bridge completely crosses over to the other side of safety and salvation because God provides all that is necessary for salvation, and God handles all the points of salvation.

Because Man is so totally depraved (first point of Calvinism) that he is “dead” in sin, hostile to God, cannot please God, cannot understand the things of God, and is in bondage to sin and Satan, God must make His elect “born again” or “alive” or “draw” them to Christ, or else no one would believe and be saved. God does everything for the elect, including giving them faith, sanctifying them, and preserving them to salvation, so that all the elect will be saved. See the golden chain of salvation in Romans 8:29-30.

Arminianism rests on “the wisdom of man” while Calvinism rests on “the power of God”.  Is it true faith to believe that salvation is dependent on man’s choice – “the wisdom of man”?  Certainly, Arminianism is more attractive and wise and just to our natural human mind to believe that everyone has an equal opportunity to be saved and to believe in free will and to believe in sufficient goodness in man and to believe that salvation is ultimately controlled by us as to whether or not we will choose Christ and be saved.  However, our faith should not rest on the wisdom of men (Arminianism) but on power of God (Calvinism).  See I Corinthians 2: 5.

Generally, we are reminded of Romans 8:28:  “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” 

 ⁵  “For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they were scolding her.

 ⁶  But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you bother her?  She has done a good deed to Me.

 ⁷  “For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them;  but you do not always have Me.

 ⁸  “She has done what she could;  she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial.

 ⁹  “Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.”

Extravagant acts of love is the subject today.  The extravagant act of love of this woman will be spoken of in memory of her.  The extravagant acts of love of God will be considered.  Finally, we will consider what extravagant acts of love that we may do for others.

This woman’s act of love was certainly extravagant.  In the footnote to my Bible, it is stated:  “The denarius was equivalent to a day’s wage.”  Thus, this perfume cost almost a year’s wages.  How many of us have saved a year’s wages?  How many would spend a year’s wages to buy something for somebody else?  How many of us would spend it on something for somebody else that could only be used once?  

Consider the ultimate extravagant act of love by our Savior Jesus Christ who died for us.  “For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.  For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”  Romans 5:7-10.

Happy Valentine’s Day!