Welcome to Marscast, a podcast from Mid-America Reformed Seminary, where our faculty members address all things theological and cultural through a Reformed lens. I'm your host, Jared Luchibor. In today's episode, Dr. Beach looks at the concluding chapters of Book Two of The Institutes of the Christian Religion, where Calvin examines the work of Christ as our Redeemer. Dr. Beach will unpack Calvin's discussion of Christ's three offices of prophet, priest, and king, and how these roles relate to our salvation. He'll also explore Calvin's insights on Christ's atoning work, looking at concepts like divine wrath, divine love, and how Christ's death and resurrection reconciles us to God. Here's Dr. Beach. As we come to the very end of Calvin's book two, book two of the Institutes of the Christian Religion, Calvin's discussion takes us from person of Christ to work of Christ. And here we're thus dealing with the atoning work of Christ, Christ's satisfaction for our sins, and Christ's work to bring us to reconciliation with God, and that according to the meritorious work he has accomplished on our behalf. So we've been working our way through Book II of Calvin's Institutes, and now we arrive at the concluding chapters—chapters 15, 16, 17—that treat, in one big broad category, the work of Christ. To do that, Calvin is concerned to talk about the three offices of Christ. He performs his mediatorial work for us in the unity of his person, which means he's fully human and fully divine. And with chapter 15, he starts to explore the nature of his mediatorial office and the dignity of that office, the specific work he seeks to perform. He says, in order that faith may find a firm basis for salvation in Christ and rest in him, This principle must be laid down. The office, namely this, the office enjoined upon Christ by the Father consists of three parts, for he was given to be prophet, king, and priest. The Son of God, who is the Son of Man, the Messiah, God's anointed one, is one who bears an office. To be the Christ is to bear an office, and a threefold office at that, which means Christ was sent into the world with a task, he was commissioned, he was set apart and authorized for the task, and again that of prophet, priest, and king, or in the order Calvin takes it, prophet-king, and priest. Christ as prophet, then, Calvin shows us, means that being anointed with the Holy Spirit, he was commissioned to bring the Word of God to the world, to be the embodiment of the gospel and to preach the gospel, to declare the good news in himself. and as anointed by the power of the Spirit who equipped him, he continues that work of ministry, that prophetic ministry through his church, for the same Spirit that dwelt in him has now come upon the church, to empower the Church, to lead the Church, not only to inscripturate the Word that was proclaimed, but out of that Word to further and continue that prophetic work by means of the official ministry of the Church. As a king, Christ came in order to reign, to rule. His reign pertains to the whole body of believers, his Church. It also pertains to every individual believer. If you're a believer, a Christian, it pertains to you. He preserves his church in the face of all adversaries and tribulations and foes. Christ reigns on an eternal throne as king, and by his eternal power, we should remember the perpetuity of the church, that there's an imperishability to the church because Christ is the one who builds it and protects it, who rules over it, who's lord of it. So in his royal office, Christ assures the godly of his everlasting protection and the everlasting preservation of the church, and encourages them to hope whenever they seem oppressed. I mean, even today we feel most oppressed. We feel ill at ease in our own society, the kind of former comfort or ease we had in a society where we have rights to proclaim the gospel, these seem now to be under more attack. But Calvin would say, don't forget who's king of you, who's king of the church, who's king, and that's Christ our Lord." So Calvin's jealous in this connection to accent the spiritual character of Christ's kingship, which means he's not reigning and ruling with a sword of steel as such, but he rules and reigns through the sword of the Spirit. And he is not concerned, first of all, of our outward advantages. that our life is joyous and peaceful and full of rich possessions and safety from all harm and abounding in delights. Not that, first of all. Our happiness rather belongs to the heavenly life, That is the salvation of our souls, that we belong to God, that he will see us through, and he rules for our sake to bring his church to glory. So Calvin is concerned that we think of kingdom of God, we think of reign of God, reign of Christ, and the spiritual battle we're in as such. The Holy Spirit indwells us as it indwelled him as anointed one. That's what he's anointed with, not oil, but the Holy Spirit. And so Christ's kingdom lies in the Spirit, not in earthly pleasures or pomp. There is a glory to come, there is happiness and victory and every tear is wiped away, but as citizens of God's kingdom, more specifically Christ's kingdom now, we're in a fight, but we do not doubt who reigns. And then Calvin also talks about Christ as priest, as a pure and stainless mediator. Jesus Christ is by his holiness and what he has done on our behalf. brought reconciliation to God on our behalf. So he kind of diagnoses in this connection, and this gets more directly into his atoning work for us, the work of satisfaction and reconciliation, he diagnoses that sinners are unclean, that we as sinners are estranged from God and we're at enmity with God. God is not so much a friend as a foe, as long as we're not reconciled to him. And part of this isn't just we shake our fist at God. God's displeased with us. We've turned against him. He's angry toward us for our sins. And so we need expiation. We need our sins covered and removed. We need God's wrath appeased to be taken away, but only in the way of being appeased by his justice, his wrath being fulfilled, being meted out, and that Christ then is the one who can affect friendship, who can affect for us reconciliation. And Christ as our priest accomplishes all of these things. That's what he came, in fact, to do as the Christ. Now as Calvin moves to the next chapter, and this is the second to the last in Book 2, he accents that chapter and how Christ specifically fulfills this function as our Redeemer to acquire salvation for us. To do that, he uses the mighty acts of God in history as that is, the mighty acts of Christ, if you will, in his incarnation, as that's articulated for us in the Apostles' Creed. But before he gets to that, he takes up this discussion of divine wrath and divine love. Calvin says, what we have said so far concerning Christ must be referred to this one objective. What's the objective? Condemned, dead, And lost in ourselves, we should seek righteousness, liberation, life, and salvation in Him. That's a big question. Where do you seek righteousness, liberation, life, and salvation? If you're not seeking it in Him, you're on the wrong path. And we're taught by Peter, Calvin quoting Peter in Acts 4.12, there is no other name under heaven given to men in which we must be saved. So that's the big topic. How can we be saved and what has Christ done to save us? being that he's divine and human, he's the one who is able to endure the wrath of God, to bear the wrath of God, and deliver others from it. We abide under the wrath of God. We could only eternally suffer this wrath, but Christ taking our place, being fully human but also fully divine, can bear this wrath and come out on the other side, if you will. He takes our estrangement upon himself, the fury of God that we deserve, the curse of death that is ours, the eternal punishment that we're destined for, and Christ intercedes for us, is our advocate, takes these things, these penalties upon himself on the cross and thereby The judgment of God, the justice of God, indeed is meted out on him on our behalf, so that by his blood our sins are washed away. Our sins and our guilt are expiated, taken away. God's justice is satisfied and we have peace with God, no longer estranged but reconciliation. So what we deserve is God's hatred. What we get is God's love. So Calvin is helpful in raising this question about divine wrath and divine love. He writes, however much we have brought death upon ourselves, yet God has created us unto life. And so he is moved by pure and freely given love of us. to receive us into grace. Therefore, to take away all cause for enmity and to reconcile us utterly to himself, he wipes away, or rather, wipes out all evil in us by the expiation set forth in the death of Christ. He cleanses us. And so this work of Christ derives from God's love. That's first. It's not, oh, after you're fixed and made new and cleansed and made whole, now God loves you. No. The work of Christ itself derives from God's love. So God is at enmity with us for our sins while simultaneously he's favorable and loving toward us, and thus sends his Son as Savior to reconcile us, to take our sins away. It's really critical, though, to see that it's God-loving sinners, not loving saints, first of all, that moves God to this action. Calvin says this, this love of God is grounded in eternity. The fact that we're reconciled through Christ's death mustn't be understood as if his son reconciled us to him, that he might now begin to love those whom he had hated, rather, We have already been reconciled to him who loves us with whom we were enemies on account of sin. Therefore he loved us even when we practiced enmity and wickedness unto him. He loved us even when he hated us. How do you like that phrase from Calvin? because he hated our sins, but he desires very much to save the sinner he lobs. Now to talk about that, he uses the words of the Apostles' Creed, how Christ suffered under Pontius Pilate, so he was declared innocent, yet condemned nonetheless. The innocent for the guilty. He was crucified, suffering a cursed death. One who hangs on the tree is one cursed, crossed up as a sinner between sinners, yet innocent in God's eyes, but bearing our guilt, so one crushed. one broken, one pierced, and thus appeasing the wrath of God. The fullness of that is shown further that he was dead and buried, as we confess in the Apostles' Creed. He went all the way into death and the grave, which is the curse of sin, death in the grave, dust you are. So Christ, however, as Redeemer, dies to conquer death, to crush the head of the one who has the power of death. And this is our first great benefit of Christ's death and burial. benefit is our own death, our own mortification of our old self can find new life in Christ. So we can die with Christ in this way, so that in Christ's death and burial, we see this twofold blessing emerging, liberation from the death to which we've been bound, but now a mortification, a killing, a dying away of that. fleshly nature. Christ also descended into hell, and you can get into a lot of discussion about the nature of that, but since this is only a sketch of what he's teaching us, Calvin makes the point that Christ's descent into hell signifies the hellish penalty and agony he suffered on the cross for our sakes. And then, of course, cross and death, burial, is part of a package deal called resurrection. Christ rose again from the dead, and in Christ's resurrection, which is inseparable from his death, is where we see the victory of our faith over death. It lies all together in what Christ has done for us. We always, in the scripture, says Calvin, view Christ's death and resurrection together. Sometimes the Bible will just talk about his death, but of course the resurrection is included, or sometimes it will talk only about the resurrection, but likewise his death is included in that. Further, Christ ascended into heaven, which shows his final victory. He's the one who indeed reigns, anointed as king, reigns on high, and shows forth his glory and power. He's truly inaugurated his kingdom come, which is really certified in the ascension. He sits at the right hand of the Father, he's received in the glory, the one who was forsaken of God for our sins is welcomed at the right hand of God as our Savior, and the purpose of Christ's sitting or his session is that both heavenly and earthly creatures may look with admiration upon his majesty. that he rules, that all must obey unto him and submit to him and finally bow the knee before him. And finally, he's going to return to judge the living and the dead as part of this victorious work of Christ. A work isn't accomplished just by rising from the dead or ascending. It's also returning as judge, the final vindication. And Calvin wants us to see a wonderful comfort in this, and the comfort is that we perceive judgment to be in the hands of him who has already, who already is destined us to share with him the honor of judging, that we judge with Christ as his people. So Christ's coming again to judge the living and the dead is not a thing to be feared except in unbelief, but in faith it's our wonderful assurance of the victory that awaits us and that is truly ours. So Calvin wants us to see all these things. Now, he ends by talking about the last chapter, that Christ has merited for us, and that mercy and merit do not contradict one another, but in fact that in the way of God's mercy, he provides the one who will satisfy divine justice, and Christ satisfies divine justice by being the one who fulfills the law in all of its dimensions. His whole earthly life was an obedience to the law, but of course this culminates in the cross and what he does there. So God's favor is free, but his justice, and thus he gives Christ, his love is free, he gives Christ, but he gives Christ to indeed satisfy justice, to satisfy the wrath of God that is rightly there, and that Christ then fulfills the law for us and satisfies the just wrath of God for us and merits for us this blessing. So God's love is the highest cause of our redemption. and faith in Christ is how we're bonded to him. It's important we see that the merits of Christ are what we rest in, lean on, that he is the one who's fully paid for our sins and has fulfilled the law, has satisfied divine justice, and so has set us free, and we rest in that. Meanwhile, he didn't have to merit for himself. He's the Son of God. What does he need to merit? It's as Son of God. that not a mere human could merit, but as God-man, he can rightly merit being son of God for our sakes. And this is our victory. This is our assurance that the one who is God-man indeed made full satisfaction for our sins. In our next episode, Dr. Beach looks at Book 3 of the Institutes, where Calvin tackles the crucial question of how we receive Christ's grace. He'll examine the vital role of the Holy Spirit in uniting us to Christ, Calvin's robust definition of faith, and how true assurance rests not in our own efforts, but in God's promises. If you enjoyed this episode of Marscast, please consider subscribing and telling others who may be interested. Consider leaving a review as well. Your thoughts are greatly appreciated and they help us to enhance our content further. If you feel like it, write us on Twitter or on Facebook or other social media platforms and let us know what sort of content and theological issues you would like to see in the future. Your support allows us to produce engaging content and to build a community of lifelong learners and thoughtful practitioners. I'm Jared Luchobor, signing off for now. See you in the next episode of Marscast.