Let's start with a word of prayer. Fathers, we bring this glorious chapter eight to a conclusion today. We pray that you would be with us as we consider, once again, the mediator work of Christ. And it's fitting that today we should have read this paragraph as part of our confession. And during this time, we'll have more time to think about the depth of its meaning. And pray that you would be with us in Christ's name. Amen. So we're coming to a conclusion of paragraph of chapter eight, the last two paragraphs. So in your introductory notes, I make the comment that there's a little bit of housekeeping to do in paragraph seven. There's not a lot that we'll say about this, but we can look at it and give it some consideration because it's gonna show that there's never confusion between the human and the divine natures of Christ. And then paragraph eight, I call the mountaintop because it's where we see Christ working in time and space to fulfill all the aspects of his mediatorial office, to build his church, to subdue his enemies and so on. So here's a question for us to get started with a little discussion. How does it affect our understanding of salvation if we view it from the perspective of personal experience rather than the perspective of the eternal Trinity? Which is easier for us to put our attention onto? Yeah, and especially if it's something dramatic, right? Did anybody have the experience of a dramatic conversion? CL. My sister did, she's out in the hallway. Just wave, yeah, she's waving. Talking to Jeannie, okay. Do you want to hear about it? Not right now. You could ask me for it. No, but it brings us back to the conversations we've had about how especially in Arminian theology, there is such an emphasis on making a decision. There's such an emphasis on the experience, the time, the occasion of the conversion. And so it's not to discount the importance of that, but I'll deduce from only one or two hands going up that most of you didn't have such a dramatic conversion experience. Is there anybody who would say, I have no idea when it actually happened? the general time maybe, but it wasn't a lightning bolt, it wasn't a Paul Damascus Road kind of conversion experience. And I suspect that for most it's not. And I've told you before that I've had more than one occasion where I've made a profession, and even one of those occasions was joining a church, and looking back on it afterwards, I can say, mm, I don't think that was it. I could say maybe that was a meaningful experience at the time, but that wasn't necessarily the moment of conversion. So the point is that we have a tendency because we're temporal creatures. that we tend to put more of an emphasis on our own personal experience of conversion. And maybe not until sometime later, maybe much later, we start to reflect on what made that possible and what was really behind it. And that's what this is about today. What is the difference of thinking in terms of your own personal experience versus thinking about your salvation from the perspective of the Trinity? How does that change the equation? What does scripture tell us about our individual conversion in time? To our work in progress. It's true. We're being regenerated. But what had to happen before your conversion? The mind had to change. God had to change you, change your mind. That's true. And what had to happen before that? Keep going back a little further, like eternity. Remember chapter three, God's eternal decree? We're starting to tie that together. This chapter ties back to that because there's that eternal decree of election that's particular, and then there's the outworking of that elective purpose in time. Metaphorically, yeah, from eternity, right? From before your conception, I knew you. And that has a very particular meaning as well when he says, I knew you. Not just I knew about you, but I knew you in what sense? I knew you in the electing sense. As you said that, there's kind of an inside joke here because I just discovered there's this donut up here. That's not my donut. I usually make a point to make sure there's nothing left behind after the pastor is finished. I wonder if he's still here. So that was just bad timing. Which seems more important to us, especially in and around the time of our conversion? The experience of it. But in reality, which is actually the more important part of it? Because you wouldn't have had that experience if not for God's eternal decree in eternity past, the eternal decree. So we're seeing the contrast between those two things as we finish this chapter in confession. There's just one last catechism question and answer that corresponds to this chapter, number 57. What benefits have Christ procured by his mediation? Christ by his mediation have procured, I can never say that. Christ by his mediation has procured redemption with all other benefits of the covenant of grace. And that last clause, that last clause has a lot of meaning behind it. It's kind of a broad way of describing a lot of other things that are going on. So let's think about it this way. The verb tense is an important detail that Christ has procured redemption in the past tense. though its application has a future fulfillment in his ongoing mediatorial work. And then look at the reference there, Hebrews 9.12, and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, he entered the holy places, once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. So again, we see that there is one true sacrifice for sin, There only needs to be one. And what does that teach us about the sacrificial system that was in place under the old covenant? Yeah, the blood of bulls and goats was never gonna be sufficient for removing sin. It was always a pointing forward to the work of Christ, that one Lamb of God, whose one perfect sacrifice would accomplish redemption for all the elect for all time. And then what happens at that point if we start trying to add something to that? And say, well, yeah, Christ did that, but we need to do this and that and the other. Yes, we could say that it does some damage to the doctrine of the atonement, doesn't it? That if we have to add something to it, whether it's our own works or whether it's some mediated work through the church or whatever it might be, that there was something that was not yet sufficient for that one sacrifice. So very serious problem if we start trying to add something to it. There's one sacrifice that is effectual for all the elect for all time. And that term effectual shows up more than once in paragraph eight. And from that, we understand that the atonement is not a potentiality, but a certainty. And there's where we differ drastically from any kind of Arminian theology. Christ's work always accomplishes what it intends. His promises never fail. And we could look at the footnote there, 2 Corinthians 1.20, for as many as are the promises of God in him, they are yes. Therefore also through him as our amen to the glory of God through us. So there are many other promises that are attached to that besides just salvation. On the other hand, Arminian theology sees the atonement as potential for everyone, but certain for none. Potential for everyone, but certain for none. It is quite frankly, another gospel. because that is not the gospel of Christ. That is not the gospel of the atonement that was satisfactory for all who would be saved. And not just satisfactory, but effectual. Hodge says this, that our standards, referring to Westminster, very explicitly teach that Christ, as mediatorial priest, made expiation and purchased salvation for certain definite persons. not just potentially some, but definitely some. The covenant of grace includes justification, which is what brings us into right relationship with God, but it goes much further than that to include other graces. Well, what do they mean by that? One good example that we've mentioned is that there's a grace of adoption that's also added to salvation. It's one of the extras. And what does that grace of adoption do? It makes the redeemed saints co-heirs of the kingdom of God with Christ, the firstborn son. If that doesn't rock your world and you haven't thought long enough about it, it's remarkable. I said before, and I'll say it again, that there's a tendency for us to kind of lump justification and adoption together as if they are kind of the same thing, but they're not. They're very distinctly different. And adoption goes much beyond what the grace of justification does. Questions or thoughts? I have a question. Yes. So what exactly is our inheritance? What is our inheritance? Well, what is the inheritance that Christ receives? That's part of it, sure. But let's put it this way. Does God owe us any reward for our works? I'll use that as an example. So if the scripture says that we will be rewarded for our good works, what does that mean? in Christ, right? That it's not because our works were good, because even after regeneration, our works are still, yeah. Well, he does owe us for our works. In the sense that the wages of sin is death. On that sense, yeah. So if we are not under grace, then we get exactly what we deserve according to our works. that which God is able to do through us. Whatever comports with obedience to God's word. Use worship as an example. Now I wanna ask for a show of hands. I won't raise mine either, but how many of you worshiped perfectly this morning? I gather by the chuckles that you probably realized your worship wasn't perfect. But in Christ, the work of your worship is perfected. And by His merit, there's a reward for that. That He can reward us for our good works, even though they're not perfect works, because they're done with a desire for obedience. So whatever conforms to the Word of God would be in that category. And Christ says, I'm giving everything to you. What I have is yours. So in eternity, not here on this earth, right? But in eternity, when the kingdom is consummated, Christ has everything and we have it all as well. If we have an inheritance and he's promised us everything, he will give us everything. Does that mean that we're excited about being rulers over the whole earth? No. But anything that he has to give is ours. And that's a beautiful picture, because we're so undeserving of any of it. Any of it. And to the poor. How about righteousness? How about righteousness? How do you mean? So for the present, this may be a shock to some of you, but I'm going to say it anyway. We're not righteous yet. But how then is it that God reckons us to be righteous so that we are no longer under the curse of the law? Because Jesus is on our behalf. Yeah, so it's the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, reckoned to us, accounted to us. Remember, we've used that monetary language over and over again that puts us in right standing even though we are not yet ourselves righteous. We're still sinners. But we will be. The day will come when we don't need the righteousness of another, but we will have been perfected in ourselves. there will be that day when we no longer sin because we no longer have a sin nature. Don't we have to be careful using the word obedience? Because even our obedience isn't our ability. It's through the power of Christ and our ability to yield to Him that we're able to obey. We can't stand and say, I tried to obey the best I could. Yeah, that doesn't work. the grace of regeneration that begins to change our affections, and it's the work of the Holy Spirit in us to bear the fruit of good works. But we recognize that in this life, even those fruits are frankly kind of rotten, but they are perfected nevertheless. And the reward comes from not the good fruits that we produce per se, but from the perfection of those fruits because of that grace of Christ. So there is a reward for good works, but that doesn't make us, we're not saying that we're saved by works. And we also can't say that we deserve the reward per se, because we can only do those good works through Christ. Okay? So let's look at paragraph seven. Christ and the work of mediation acts according to both natures. by each nature doing that which is proper to itself, yet by reason of the unity of the person, that which is proper to one nature is sometimes, in scripture, attributed to the person denominated by the other nature. Now, what are we talking about here? I don't have a clue. All right, so let's- They told me in the first part, but once they started the second one, the words ran together. Let me look at Williamson's quote there. That Christ's mediatorial work concurrently involves both natures. What natures are we talking about? That Christ is fully God and fully man. So two natures united in the one person. And both natures are necessary for him to accomplish his mediatorial work. Now, Hodge says that all mediatorial acts are therefore to be attributed to the entire person of the Theanthropos, the God-man. And in the whole of his glorious person, he is to be obeyed and worshiped by angels and men. So we're making a distinction here so that we don't confuse the two natures of Christ. And let's look at the footnotes there under B. and see if we can see what they're referring to. John 3.13 says, and no one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended from heaven, the son of man. See it? Let's try the next one. Acts 20.28, be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. See it now? I'm still... First John 3, 16, by this we have known love that he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. So let me ask the question like this. Did a man come down from heaven? No. Question number two, can God bleed? Okay. Can God die? No. So what we're seeing in these verses is that, look at the first one again, the son of man is referring to the human nature of Christ. He didn't come down from heaven in his human nature. He was made man. Secondly, refers to God having purchased with his own blood. Well, I thought Jesus purchased with his blood. Oh, so his human nature, which did bleed, is being described by his divine nature, which is God. You see? And then lastly, he laid down his life for us. In his human nature, he laid down his life for us, but not in his, divine nature. So it's simply saying that the two natures of Christ, who is fully God and fully man, there are times like these in scriptures, when the work of one is attributed to the other. And that's what this paragraph is telling us. That by reason of the unity of the person, that which is proper to one nature, such as bleeding, is sometimes in scripture attributed the person denominated to the other nature. When you talk about laying down his life, couldn't you also say that's the surrender that he gave to his father's will? Yes. That he forfeited his desire, his will, to do the will of his father. So he laid down his life. Not what I want, Lord, but what you want. Yes. And it was in his human nature. It was why he had to have a human nature so that he could be the perfect sacrifice and lay down his life. So just saying that the mediatorial work of Christ involves both natures, God and man, and that even if we're not referring to one or the other specifically, that whatever pertains to that nature, that part of his nature, we're not confusing the two natures, in other words, when we say that God purchased people by his own blood. Does that make sense? So again, it's kind of a, we're splitting some hairs, I suppose. I didn't think that paragraph was gonna be as perplexing as it turned out to be, but that's okay, that's why we're doing this. So basically, with all these words that are all jumbled up and make no sense, it's saying that we're not separating the divine from the human, and that the actions that he takes are, in some ways, are human, at the same time he's performing them. He has both natures and each of his natures performs what pertains to that nature. But they're not separated. They're not separated, no. But because of the unity of the two natures in one God-man, the scripture will sometimes refer in a way that doesn't necessarily make the distinction of which nature is doing that thing. Okay? So, I got a question. So, are they numerated in some way, somewhere? So, who says what is God's nature, and who says what is man's nature? I mean, bleeding is obvious. It should be obvious, right? So is there a list of God's natures and a list of man's natures? So we could ask the question like this. Why was it necessary for Christ to be incarnate? Why was it necessary for him to have a human body? Because Adam was a human and he fell. And we needed somebody that was human. but to be a propitiatory sacrifice for man. So there are aspects that were necessary to his mediatory work that pertain to his nature as a man and others that he could not accomplish except by virtue of being God. Okay. I guess what I'm asking is you have physical characteristics, but a human being is more than just physical characteristics. So sometimes it might not be so obvious whether it's a human nature or whether it's a God nature. Right? So the soul is not, well that's human. But does God have a soul? God is a spirit. And when Christ was incarnate, for him to be fully man, he also had a soul. And don't ask me to explain that one, because that's in the category of mysteries. But in order for us to say that he was not just occupying a body, that he was fully man, he must have had a human soul to go along with that body, or else he wasn't fully human. And he had to be fully God, because otherwise he could not have achieved the goal of being obedient. And he couldn't have borne the wrath of God. Right. He would not have been able to withstand the wrath of God except by his divine nature, because his human nature would not have been sufficient for that. So, good questions and good discussion. I honestly wasn't expecting this to to bring up as much? Is there more? Just to be clear that I'm getting it right, Hebrews 9.14 and 1 Peter 3.18, in those we see that that makes sense to us because it shows the God nature doing what we expect the God nature to do, and the man nature doing what we expect mixed up together. Right, and that's what we're saying. And if you look at how this is footnoted, the two verses that you're referring to there are saying that each nature, man and God, does what is proper to itself. And so there's an example, two examples of how the God nature and the man nature does what is proper to itself. And then it goes on to say, by virtue of the unity of the person, what is proper to one nature is sometimes in scripture attributed to the person denominated by the other nature. And that's where the next three proof texts show up. So even single is a big word for you, huh? Okay, I'll try to slow it down just a little bit. Alright, let's look at paragraph 8. gonna bring us up to the mountaintop. To all those for whom Christ has purchased redemption, he does certainly and effectually apply and communicate the same, making intercession for them and revealing unto them in and by the word, the mysteries of salvation, effectually persuading them by his spirit to believe and obey and governing their hearts by his word and spirit, overcoming all their enemies by his almighty power and wisdom in such manner and ways are most as our most consonant to his wonderful and unsearchable dispensation. So here's where we come back to the idea of the connection between time and eternity, that the incarnation of Christ is the outworking of the eternal immutable decree of God. A couple of short quotes from Hodge should help us out. Christ died with the purpose of executing the decree of election. So the decree of election is back in eternity, and then the life and death of Christ is carrying out the plan. Christ as mediatorial king, seated at the right hand of God, applies the redemption he had effected as priest to the proper subjects of it. So redemption is effectually applied and communicated to the redeemed by what actions? What clues do we have here from paragraph eight? How is redemption applied and communicated? Okay, yep. That tells us something about the importance of the reading and the preaching of the word. Where is the work of the Spirit? Persuasion. And not just persuading, but what's the adverb? Effectually persuading by His Spirit to believe and obey. By His Spirit. And not the spirit by himself, but we understand the spirit working through the Word. I think we get trapped in self-condemnation when we try on our own merits to do something and fail. And then, I'm no good. We forget that we have to yield to the Holy Spirit and ask Him for His empowering. Yeah, we're always, in some way or another, trying to go back to salvation by works. even as justified people, we still find ourselves trying to do good deeds that we think will bring some, you know. Yeah, something that would be meritorious in one way or another. What about the idea of God overcoming all of their enemies by His almighty power and wisdom. That's the enemies of the church, isn't it? Their enemies. Any of the enemies of the saints. It's universal. So, can you enumerate all of those? So, for instance, all of our enemies? Well, let's start with the the salient fact that at one time we ourselves were enemies of Christ. How were we overcome as enemies? Yeah, so salvation is one of those ways. I think there are just two ways, at least as far as I can figure out. There's salvation, that's one way to subdue your enemies. The other way is by force. Does Christ do that too? Do we have some evidence in scripture? Yes. He's going to judge the world. He's going to judge the wicked. Yeah, this seems to be a future tense. When we think about the martyrdom of Christians. We can't really rely on God to overcome our enemies in this world. So you think subduing enemies is the right time? It seems like it would be delivered from subdued or action. Well, I'm using it in a couple of respects, that we can either be subdued by the Gospel message, by grace, or we can be subdued by force. If there's a third option, let me know. The end. Yeah, and what is the end going to look like? that those who are not subdued by grace at the end are gonna be destroyed. Jesus is a warrior king. Do you want a list of enemies? It's Satan. Yeah, but why is man corrupted? Because of Satan? Yes, and so... So, let's think of it this way. The first thing that Christ does to subdue his people, his salvation, and then what? That's not the end of the story. For his people? Yeah. He sanctifies us. So, continuing work of the Spirit, bringing us more and more into conformity with the law, with Christ, and subduing those things that pertain to the old nature. Some of you might have noticed it's kind of a slow process. But we're getting there. And that's the encouraging sign that you are making progress. The term incremental comes to mind. Yeah, and it's not always going forward because you can be making some incremental progress and then fall backwards, can't you? At least go somewhere. And I'm certainly glad that he didn't show me all my sand the day that I was saved, because that would have done me in for sure. Little by little, you grow in one area, and then he says, hey, pretty good on this one now. Let's look at this over here. He brings those things to mind that we haven't dealt with yet. But the trash should be up. Sure. For by their fruits, you so know them. Yeah, there should be good fruits there. I like the way John MacArthur puts it. He says, it's not the perfection of your faith, but the direction of it. So it's kind of a little sing-songy thing that you can remember. Are you making progress in your spiritual life? Don't look at it in terms of perfection, because in this life, you're not going to get there. And if you get to a point, here's a little warning And we have some Nazarene influence in here, so I gotta say this, that if somebody tries to tell you that one day soon you're gonna be perfect in this life, they're lying. Yeah. So we've alluded to this, in what ways is the mediatorial work of Christ ongoing? It's not an all at once. And if you wanna use the example, it kind of will cover a couple of bases here perhaps. In the conquest of Canaan, all right, what were the Canaanites in relation to the Israelites? Enemies, enemies of the Israelites and enemies of God. And God used Israel at that time too. to judge the Canaanites. Now, here's the trivia question. Were the Canaanites driven out all at once? No. No. Now, what's the reason that's attached to that in scripture? They didn't want animals to overrun. Yeah, kind of strange to think about it. But if there are bodies everywhere, then the scavengers are going to multiply. But here's the idea. that there is, in one sense, a conquest, or we would say the beginning of the conquest, but it's gonna take many years to fully subdue and to occupy the land. What does that sound a little like? Sounds a little like the Christian life, doesn't it? That not all at once, but little by little, there will be an overcoming, as it were, of the enemy. Now here's this language, effectual persuasion. Does effectual persuasion, this is in the middle of paragraph eight, where it says, effectually persuading them by his spirit to believe and obey. Does that take the place of personal choice? Oh, we have a disagreement in the Whittemore family. Yeah, it's probably the first time we've had any conflict, right? I understand. So here's where we run into some difficulties with our Minyan friends because they want to put a particular emphasis on our individual choice and our individual action. But what's behind that? Even if we can't see it, what must be behind that? God's will. God already decided. Yup. And not only that, but then there's also the working of the Spirit through that. Remember the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus? And Jesus says, you're the teacher and you haven't figured this out yet. And then he gives them a little lesson in pneumatology. He says, the wind blows where it wills. You don't see where it comes from and you don't see where it goes. Now, how is that a lesson in pneumatology? Some of you are saying, what is pneumatology? Yeah, the Spirit does what He wills. And you don't necessarily see where He comes from or where He goes, but what is the comparison between the Spirit and the wind? How do you know the wind is blowing? Right, you can see what it does. Especially in the Midwest when, you know, the tornadoes come around. So there is that working of the spirit and through those means like the reading and the preaching of the word, that inward work, and then it produces a persuasion so that we want to do what? Now, there should be a renewed desire for obedience. And that's where it starts, isn't it? What's one of the problems with the scribes and the Pharisees? Matthew 23. You remember that one, don't you? That's a pretty rough chapter. What does he call the scribes and the Pharisees? Actually, he calls them several things. Yeah? Hypocrites. Why hypocrites? and masquerade at least like they did not. They didn't practice what they preached. Hang on. Did they practice the law? Yes. Did not Jesus commend them in one respect in saying that if you don't have the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, then you shouldn't be too confident in your own salvation. So it wasn't a question of whether there was outward obedience, what was the problem? What was the analogy? Whitewashed tombs. What's the rest of that? On the outside, you look good. But on the inside, you're filled with all kinds of uncleanness. It's that inward desire. So there's a sense in which we can, with enough efforts, look pretty good on the outside. But what's desired? It's that inward obedience first, and that produces the outward obedience. So it's that change of desires, and then the question becomes, can the leopard change his spots? Can the Ethiopian change his skin color? Can those who are inclined to evil do good? Or is it necessary for a change to take place first on the inside, whether you perceive it at the moment or not? So true obedience comes, first of all, from that inward change. And who does that? The spirit. And you don't necessarily see when he comes and when he goes, but you can see the effect of him having been there. How does Christ continue to overcome those who are his enemies and ours? And here I can't resist referring to Psalm 2, because I've prepared a message to give on Psalm 2 this afternoon. It's a remarkable little Psalm. We look at the third stanza. And this is Christ speaking in this third stanza. I will tell of the decree. The Lord said to me, you are my son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Well, that's one way to subdue the nations. And for those who are not penitent, that's how it's gonna go. But there's also a gospel message in this little Psalm. Do you see it? Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage. That's been done. Christ is now the reigning king over the nations. Look at verse 12, what does that say? Huh, so how does that give us a clue about what the remedy is? That there's another way to be subdued by doing what? Yeah, subjecting yourself to that King. That's why I say, I only see two options. You either submit yourself to the King, you show obedience to the King and you find mercy, you put yourself in the place of blessing, or you continue to rebel and revolt against him, and you essentially leave him no choice but to use the rod of iron. Either way, he wins. His will is done. So effectual persuasion doesn't take the place of personal choice. We would put it like this, that it helps to enable personal choice. It helps to enable you to choose what you wouldn't have chosen beforehand. when you were still in your sinful nature. So, well, here's the next question. Can, I'm in the wrong place, hang on. No, can effectual persuasion be resisted? No. Hmm. If it could, then it wouldn't be effectual, would it? No. Effectual means that it accomplishes what it's sent to do. What it's sent to do, and what God intends for it to do, that it will always accomplish that. But couldn't you resist, in effect, the time frame? How bumpy the bride is. Yes. So yes, sure. The name Jonah pops into my head all of a sudden. where God says to Jonah, go to Nineveh and preach the message I'll give you. And Jonah says, no problem, I'm gonna buy a ticket and go as far in the other direction as I can. And he ended up eventually going to Nineveh, but it took a little bit of a detour through the belly of a fish to convince him to do what God had called him to do. So sure, we can resist in that sense, but ultimately, If regeneration is by the power of God, then we can't ultimately resist that. But we can certainly resist God in a variety of ways. We do that all the time. That's why we have a prayer of confession, because we're always resisting God's will. So sure, in that sense, we could say yes. The next chapter, chapter nine, addresses the topic of man's free will, and I put that in quotes. because it's a much maligned concept. Just for fun, you might wanna go read that chapter just to kind of put an appendix onto what we've talked about today. How did Christ overcome us when we were yet enemies of God? Yeah, we got that, didn't we? I didn't know I can't say that. Okay, I get a little lost in my notes sometimes. Hod says, the satisfaction rendered by Christ has forever removed out of the way all legal obstacles to God saving any man he wills to save. It is effectually applied precisely to those persons to whom the father and the son will to apply it. And I included this quote because I like what he says here about removing all legal obstacles. Everything that stood in the way of us being in right standing with God from a legal standpoint has been dealt with. And that's a great way to think about it. Questions or thoughts? We're coming to a conclusion. So just a couple of summarizing points then, that it was necessary for God the Son to become fully man in order to carry out the work of mediator and surety. And surety means a guarantor that what he has set out to do, he will certainly accomplish. And the mediatorial work of Christ ensures that all whom God chooses in the decree of election are saved and secured in time. So we've made that connection in between the eternal decree and the mediatorial work of Christ. Last thoughts. and tries to put us down and tell us all our faults. Right. So, what then do we do with all those accusations? We can simply remind Satan that it's been paid for. It's all done. Nothing else is necessary. And while it's the case, especially in your case, that the accusations are true, nevertheless, they have been dealt with. The legal obstacle, the penalty of the law has been removed because it's been fully satisfied in Christ. All right, let's pray. Father, it is a joyful thing for us to consider just how much you have done from eternity past all the way into the present and into the future to make our salvation possible, to secure it, to hold us in your hands so that none can remove us. Help us to take comfort in the assurance that everything has been fully dealt with so that there is now, as Barth says, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And what a wonderful way to end. We pray this in Christ's name.