We're continuing our journey through John Cahoon's book, little book, Repentance. And let me start with prayer, and then we're gonna dive in together. Let's pray. Living God, we ask your blessing on this class. We pray that you would use it as a supplement to your preached word to encourage our hearts and cause us to reflect on the truths of your scripture. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. So someone just flagged me if for some reason our screen gives way, because I can't see it, but I can see what hopefully you see. We're going to be talking about chapter six, which is a chapter based on this book's topic, but it deals with repentance and faith. Now, if you're wondering why we keep talking about faith or maybe you're just joining us, remember that Kahun is going to make the argument. The reformed tradition makes the argument. Our confession of faith makes the argument that repentance is a gift of grace. It comes to us through Christ and we exercise it, humanly speaking, after the first few moments of faith in Christ. So faith precedes repentance. Now from another vantage point, faith and repentance are just gifts which Christ gives you. But as Cajun has already labored to show, we don't repent of sin believing that he will receive our repentance if we haven't gone to him for salvation. So in that sense, faith precedes repentance. But chapter six is about repentance and faith. Really, the entire chapter is called The Priority of Saving Faith. Cahoon says this, The exercise of true faith is the instrument or means of attaining, through grace, the habit and exercise of evangelical repentance. The first act or first acting of saving faith in conversion is the means of attaining the first exercise of that repentance. And the renewed actings of that precious faith are the means of being enabled to renew the exercise of it. So I know it seemed like a mouthful there, but you repent of your sins. After you express faith in Christ and renewed actings of repentance come as you continue to have faith in Christ. So if you want to repent of sin, you need to regularly make sure that you are looking to Christ. I know that seems really simple, but don't look at your sin. Don't look at your repentance efforts. First, look at Christ first. That is where the strength for. renewed actings of repentance, because remember, as Martin Luther said early in the Reformation, in the early 1500s, the entire Christian life is a life of repentance. It's not a one time act only. Well, for those of you sitting in the far back, you might need to scoot up, I'm not sure, but we are going to take a little history lesson. Some of you have been following this John Cahoon world that we've been in. The men read a book entitled The Law and the Gospel, or a treatise on The Law and the Gospel. Now we're going through another John Cahoon book entitled Repentance. And some of you have heard me say that this is a part of what is called marrow theology. Now, that's not some kind of cultish kind of thing. It's the theology, which quite frankly is just biblical, flowing out of something called the marrow controversy. Let's take a little history lesson because we're in chapter six and we're going back to that same repeated refrain, repentance comes by faith in Christ. So here's a little history lesson. In the 1700s, a Presbytery, which I love the Presbyterians, they gather themselves in groups And the elders of a variety of churches are called presbyters. They gather together in presbyteries, and that presbytery governs the church, the churches in that region. So a presbytery in Scotland was seeking to ordain men for the ministry. And in this region from which this creed gets its name, Ochterarder, Imagine someone with a Scottish accent saying that. You should listen to Sinclair Ferguson's lecture on this because it's phenomenal because he actually has a Scottish accent. I do not. But the Octa-Arter Creed was put forward and it asked these ordinands, these men being considered for ordination, what they thought about this statement. It's called a creed because it's a statement. Quote, it is not sound and orthodox to teach that we must forsake sin in order to our coming to Christ and in stating us in covenant with God. Now, if you're like me, the first 100 times I read that, I thought, now I know the history, so I'm like, okay. But think about that. It is not sound and orthodox to teach, okay, so it's not good to teach what? that we must forsake sin in order to our coming to Christ and in stating us in covenant with God. Hmm. Shouldn't we forsake sin? Yes. Why would it not be orthodox or sound to teach that? Well, do we tell people you must forsake your sin and then you can come to Christ? or do we tell people, come to Christ, forsake your sin? The second one is the orthodox and sound one. The first one would be what is called preparationism, which is telling someone they must do something in order to be able to come to Christ. So at first read, you think, yeah, we should tell people to forsake sin. But what this creed, kind of clumsily worded, was after is, is there anything someone must do before they can come to Christ? And the answer is a flat no. Well, Thomas Boston, a man that you can read about, agreed with the statement, although he thought that it wasn't well worded. I don't like the wording either. I think it's confusing the way that it's worded. Because we do want people to forsake sin. But he thought that the statement was, well, good, but not well-worded. It led him to advocate, during this controversy, the use of a previously written book. Okay, now we're getting deep in the weeds of history. That work was a work entitled The Marrow, Marrow of Controversy, Marrow of Theology, The Marrow of Modern Divinity, written, we're pretty sure, by a guy named Edward Fisher, although the book itself just says EF. Scholars have thought, that's Edward Fisher, but it's EF. We think it's Edward Fisher. In that work, there is a dialogue between nominista and evangelista. So, John Bunyan wasn't the only person to take biblical ideas and put them into character form and have them talking about things, okay? Nomonista, which is from the Greek word nomos, which means law, and Evangelista, which is from the Greek word euangelion, which means gospel. So law and gospel are having a conversation, right? And as part of their conversation, they're talking about certain issues. Now let me read a couple of paragraphs. This is from another work which I would commend to you by John Beagle. And it is entitled, Offering and Embracing Christ, The Merrow Theology of John Cahoon of Leith. Okay. Listen to what happens in this Merrow book, which Boston, who agrees with the Octa-Arter Creed, but thinks it's not worded well, says, we should use this book again. Here's the conversation, according to Beagle summarizing it. Evangelista answers by establishing that complete warrant is present for all sinners of Adam's race in the free offer of the gospel, and by quoting the expression of the free offer in Revelation 22, 17. Nominista then challenges Evangelista, reasoning from Christ's words, let him that is a thirst come, Revelation 22, 17, that Christ requires a thirsting before a man can come unto him. The witch I conceive cannot be without true repentance. Namanista made true repentance a qualification that prepared the sinner to come to Christ and formed part of his warrant for doing so. Evangelista responds that in demanding such true repentance of a sinner prior to and as a prerequisite for saving faith, Namanista, quote, would have him to do that which is impossible, end quote. On the contrary, Evangelista replies, the truth is, a repentant sinner first believes that God will do that which he promiseth, namely, pardon his sin and take away his iniquity. Then he rests in the hope of it, faith. And from that and for that, he leaves his sin and will forsake his old course because it is displeasing to God and will do that which is pleasing and acceptable to him. So that first of all, God's favor is apprehended and remission of sins believed, then upon that cometh alteration of life and conversation. Now this is two characters, law and gospel, nominista and evangelista, having a discussion in Edward Fisher's book, The Marrow of Modern Divinity. Sounds great, sounds like it should solve the issue, but for a while, some in the presbytery of that region outlaw this book, The Marrow of Modern Divinity. There were those who had concerns with this idea. For instance, one brother Hopefully, was a man by the name of James Haddo, a minister. He argued against this, instead writing, quote, that the evangelical grace and duty of repentance goeth before pardon of sin in God's method of bestowing them, that remission of sin is a consequent blessing annexed unto repentance by divine promise, and that therefore ministers in preaching the gospel may and ought to call sinners to repent and forsake their sins. in order unto their obtaining the pardon of them, as well as to believe in Christ for their justification. Now, my great hope is that you have two differing groups of people arguing about the best way to word things. But perhaps at worst, you have an argument that goes like this. Jesus calls sinners to come to him. Do those sinners need to do anything before they look on him with the eyes of faith? And if you tell someone, you must do. That's nominista. That's law. That's preparation. There's something you must do before you can have Christ. You see, the debate is not whether we should repent. The debate is not whether we should forsake sin. The debate is, do you look at a sinner and say, forsake sin, and then you can have Jesus? Or do we say, Jesus died for sinners. Come to him. Forsake your sin. And that's the debate. Well, a little bit after this time, there were a group of individuals, a group of ministers. They're often called the Merrow men. And probably one of the growing later end of that group was a man that you've never heard of called John Cahoon. And John Cahoon writes an entire book on repentance and what he wants unbelievers to see, but particularly believers to see is we actually repent as we express faith in Christ. We don't repent so that we can, like a little child, say, look what I've done. Will you take me now? No, we look to Christ and. In the first quickening rays of his spirit, he gives the gift of repentance, which grows in our hearts week in and week out throughout the course of our life till we one day are glorified. So that's the history behind this whole movement. And it's a movement that actually needs to be rediscovered in our day. If you listen to some of the preaching that happens in even broader reform circles, sometimes there can be a lack of precision about how to talk about law and gospel and about how to talk about repentance. You can see even famous, well-known individuals who will say things like, the gospel is repentance. That is not the gospel. What does Paul say the gospel is? This is what Jesus has done. Repentance is our response to the gospel. So in our day, this whole thing needs to be rediscovered again. And it is, thankfully, thanks to publishers like Banner of Truth and Reformation Heritage Books. Because even though we're not arguing over an act of art or creed anymore, the question is, we should be people who repent. How do we do it? Well, we don't first look at self. We don't first look at the mountain of sin and what we're gonna do with it. We first look to Christ. So in chapter six, then, Cajun builds on this theme, and he gives eight quick points, and I'll give them to you. The first is this. Faith is the principal grace. Now, in the Reformed tradition, the confessional tradition, when something is called a grace, you could think of that as gift. Now, I know that when you hear the word grace, you may think of other things, but in our confession, for instance, something will be called an evangelical grace, a gospel grace, and it really could be considered gift. It's given to you. Faith is the principal gift, and the acting of it is the first breathing, the first vital motion of the regenerate soul. Now, this takes us even further back in our church history. Does someone repent and then the Holy Spirit regenerates them? Or does the Holy Spirit regenerate someone and then they repent? The Calvinist says, regeneration precedes repentance. We cannot repent unless we are born again. The Arminian, the non-Calvinist says, Repentance precedes regeneration. So we repent, then the Spirit regenerates us, causes us to be born again. Well, Cajun is a Calvinist. He's a confessional reformed man. Faith is the principal grace, and the acting of it is the first breathing, the first vital motion of the regenerate soul. So if we were to map this out, here's what happens when you got saved. The Holy Spirit regenerated you and quickly, as you took your first few breaths of this new life, regeneration, being born again, your little baby cries, as it were spiritually, were expressions of faith in Christ Jesus. But it wasn't you were crying and God said, I've been waiting for you to do that. Boom, life, right? John 15, five. John 15, five. There the word of God says this. John 15, five. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit. For without me, you can do nothing. You can't have faith. You can't repent. You can't do good works. Without me, you can do nothing. Faith is the principle or the chief or the first grace, and the acting of it is the first breathing. I love that phrase, the first breathing, the first vital motion of the born-again soul. Cajun says this, no sooner is the dead sinner quickened than he begins to act spiritually. And his first activity is that of believing. His true belief of the law with application to himself issues in true conviction of his sinfulness of heart and life. His saving faith of the gospel with application to himself issues in union and communion with Christ, and so in evangelical repentance. You see, we need to split faith and repentance and order them in this discussion. From another vantage point, they're just both given to you at regeneration. The Spirit implants them in you as gifts of Christ. But if you're looking at which one comes first, faith and repentance. Faith and repentance. And the Bible constantly tells you it's not faith. And yeah, you may have repentance, maybe not. No, no, no, no. If you're in Christ, you'll have them both. Faith and repentance. Repentance comes after this principal grace of faith. You look to Christ, believing his word. You look to his law, believing that you're a sinner. And then you turn from sin. Secondly, saving faith is the leading grace, especially to the exercise of true repentance. We've quoted Zechariah 12, 10 multiple times in this because Cajun does. It's a chief verse for the merriment. They make the argument that the prophecy of the work of Christ will be that Christ will pour out his spirit of grace upon people and then they will mourn for sin. This is where we're getting the idea. This is where our confession helpfully gets the idea that repentance is a gift of grace. I pour out my spirit upon a people, Christ says, and then they mourn for sin. Cajun says this evangelical repentance cannot otherwise be attained that by faith receiving it from the Lord Jesus who is exalted to give it. You remember this passage, perhaps, but in Acts chapter five, verse 31, we're told that Jesus is the giver of repentance, Acts 5.31. Him, that is Jesus, God has exalted to his right hand to be prince and savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. So maybe this whole Sunday school class, you're thinking, I'm tracking the theological argument, I've just never thought about asking Christ to give me repentance. He's the giver of it. Ask him. Plead with him. More, more repentance, O Lord. Number three, the exercise of true repentance flows immediately from unfamed love to Christ. Didn't mean to time that with our sermon tonight, but it fits in God's providence. It flows immediately from unfeigned love to Christ and to God in him. But such love to him springs from the exercise of true faith on him. Now, Cahoon gives an interesting conversation about John Calvin. We're just weaving our way through all kinds of church history tonight. But if I were to say to you, how do you know that God loves you? rhetorical question, but think on it for a second. How do you know that God loves you? Well, Cajun quotes 1 John 4.16, and then he quotes John Calvin on it. 1 John 4.16. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him. So I ask again, how do you know that God actually loves you? And particularly if you've come to believe, as I have, that the Bible speaks to a God who elects unto salvation, have you ever asked yourself, well, I love Jesus, but how do I know that he loves me? What if I'm just Like, not elect. And I think that I want Jesus, but he doesn't really love me. Well, Calvin says, speaking on 1 John 4, 16, we have known by believing. In a preceding verse, the apostle represented faith as our believing that Jesus is the Son of God. But here he says, by faith, we know the love of God toward us. So how do you know that God loves you specifically? Well, this is what Cajun says. When a man cordially believes the love of God to him, he in the same degree loves God because God first loved him. He believes or trusts that God loves him with a love of goodwill. And so he is powerfully and sweetly constrained to love him in return. It is not the secret love of God in election, nor the secret operation of it in regeneration that is more directly intended by the phrase, he first loved us, but the public manifestation of his love in the gift of Christ as exhibited in the gospel. Even that discovery of his love, which is the object of the direct exercise of faith. This view of the apostles assertion is confirmed by the fact that he uses this most sublime expression. God is love here. He intimates that God, as the object of faith, is love and also that a convinced sinner cannot sincerely love him till he first believes that in Jesus Christ, his dear son, he is love even to him. the special love of God to the believer may indeed be concluded from his unfeigned love to God. So if you love Christ and you look upon the fact that God is love, John would say in 1 John chapter 4, we believe that Jesus is the Son of God by faith. He has been put forth. We believe who he is by faith. And he's been put forth as the love of the Father. So when you see this, as you have faith in it, you can know for sure that God loves you. You don't need to tinker with the mind of God. Well, am I elect? Am I not? Do you love Christ? Well, yes. Why? Because He was put forth and I think He loves me. Away with I think. You can have faith that Christ put forward loves you. That God loves you. By faith. You don't need to die. and wait until that day to see if the secret decree of God's election works out in your favor. If you see the blessed Savior and you have, as Cajun says, unfeigned love for Him, there's a true kind of motion of your soul toward Him, He loves you. You wouldn't have that motion to Him unless He first loved you. So you believe by faith. And having this faith in the love of God is a ground from which true repentance flows. You don't see sin in your life. This week, tomorrow, you're impatient with your kids. You're impatient with your spouse. You do something, say something that you shouldn't do or say. You think to yourself, does he love me? And I don't mean in any way to give you a license to sin. But rather, what you do is say, I know that he loves me. Therefore, even in this, I can ask for his forgiveness. The love of God actually is, the love of Christ actually is the ground of our moment-by-moment repentance. The exercise number four of genuine repentance supposes true conviction of sin and misery, and this proceeds from a true faith of the law. So we have faith in Christ, but you actually do have faith that God's law is true. So Cajun says this, as soon as a sinner is regenerated and has true faith implanted in his heart, he believes the doctrine of the law with particular application to himself. He begins to see that thou shall have no other gods before me. Thou shall not make for yourself a graven image. Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. And he says, that's true. And it's true for me. You begin to have faith in that. It's no longer just this is a standard of morality of some religion. No, this is true. And I apply this to myself. So there actually is in this process of repentance, belief in God's law. Number five, evangelical repentance is included in sanctification. And the means of instrument of sanctification is justifying and saving faith. So are you saved by works? Well, no, I'm saved by faith. Good. You're justified by faith. Are you sanctified by works? Trick question. No. Your work will not sanctify you. You are sanctified by faith. And as you have faith in God, he sanctifies you and you will increasingly grow in works that look like works that a saved person would do. Acts 26 verse 18. Acts 26 verse 18. There we read this. Apologies. Maybe I should have put this on the slide for us. Acts 26 verse 18. The Word of God says this. I will deliver you from the Jewish people as well as from the Gentiles to whom I now send you to open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me. Paul giving basically a testimony to what God has called him to. Essentially, he says, the living Christ has set me apart that I may be an apostle and a preacher to the Gentiles that they may come to understand through the words preached of the gospel that they can receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance and that they can be sanctified by faith in Christ. The principle of true repentance. Indeed, as previously observed, is infused at regeneration. But the habit and exercise of it are not introduced, but in sanctification. Think about this. You are born again, the spirit gives you new life. The principle, the little seed of repentance is planted there. But the habit and exercise and regularity of it is involved in the process of sanctification. So moment by moment, this repentance is growing. Perhaps it waxes and wanes, but it is a gift that you exercise. So we could say this. Christ has already given you the principle of repentance. Exercise it. Exercise it. Work it out. Use it. Six. If the exercise of true repentance be previously requisite or preparatory to the first acting of saving faith, the convinced sinner must be satisfied that his repentance is true before he begin to believe in Jesus Christ for salvation. Now, some of you are thinking, you know, Pastor Ryan seems really jazzed about this whole thing. I know he loves church history, loves reform stuff, but some of this stuff is very repetitive. Well, from my vantage point, not only as a Christian, but as someone who walks with people regularly, I have seen, as it were, the challenge of thinking there's something you must do before you can have Christ. And the reason that I think that the history of this controversy is so important is because We will, as Cajun says elsewhere in his book, we will convince sinners who have actually been pricked in their souls by the Holy Spirit. We'll convince them that they need to work up repentance. And maybe because the principle of regeneration is there, or maybe because they're beginning to understand certain truths, they'll start to think, I can't come to Jesus. Until I have enough repentance. Because after all, isn't Jesus infinitely worthy of repentance? Shouldn't I be repenting of every single known sin? So what happens? They're like Martin Luther prior to his conversion, completely obsessed. about having offended God. Do you know that prior to Martin Luther's conversion and subsequent nailing of the 95 Theses, the man was an absolute obsessive mess? Wallowing in the floor almost of his little monk cell. He'd go to confession and he would spend so much time there in confession because, you know, he believed that confession is a requirement in order to be forgiven of sin. So he'd spend so much time in confession that given the length of time, he would start to confess sins that he had committed in confession, that finally, those who heard his confession, the Roman Catholic priests, were like, stop coming. Like, we're done with you. Like, you've confessed enough. But he could not, he absolutely could not be convinced that all was well with his soul. And part of it, I think, was because when you think there's something you must do in order to be able to have the comfort of Christ, you may not come to Christ, right? And this takes us back to the history of the marrow controversy. Let's go back to that strange sounding creed. It is not sound and orthodox to teach that we must forsake sin in order to our coming to Christ and in stating us in covenant with God. We must command people to forsake sin. But we must understand that that is a command of the gospel for believers to do after having fully rested and relied on Christ. If we tell people, inadvertently, the gospel is repentance, they'll get to some kind of legal repenting. But they may never actually see the sweet, saving hand of Christ. So that's why this is important. Number seven and number eight quickly, the exercise of true repentance itself shows plainly that the acting of saving faith is prior to it. Every time you repent, what are you saying? Lord, what gives you a right to call him Lord? Well, he's my savior. How do you know that? Well, because he's offered himself to me. Good. Well, how do you know that you've accepted it? Because I trust the offer. Good. That's faith. You looking at the Lord confessing your sin is an act of faith. It's as simple as that. You don't even breed out words of repentance without some kind of acknowledgement that he is the Lord, right? So the exercise of true repentance, evangelical repentance that we've studied in these previous chapters, plainly shows that the acting of saving faith is prior to it. Number eight, and finally, once more the scripture set forth the blessed object of faith. and the precious promises of grace as powerful motives to exercise true repentance. What is the object of your faith? What is it that you have faith in? Well, the answer is Christ. He is the object of our faith, but this is why it becomes important. And you've heard me say this before. I think if I had any rest, I think I came to Christ at the age of five, I think. grew up in a Christian home. If I had to pick my chief wrestling over the last 39 years, it would have been that I slightly confused the object of faith with faith itself. so that I inadvertently, though saved, wrestled in my older childhood and teenage and early young adult years with confusing faith in Christ with faith in faith. And I don't know about you, but sometimes faith isn't always super strong. So when you have weak faith, maybe you have a weak or nonexistent salvation. The moments that you seem to have stronger faith, ah, now I'm saved, and you're in and out of what? the battle of all kinds of assurance. Am I actually saved? And do you know what a person who constantly questions their salvation does? Among other things, they don't really have the comfort of being able to look at the blessed Savior with full faith and assurance and say, He's mine, therefore I can confess my sins and repent. There's this constant struggle. Can I really go to Christ? I mean, if I'm not even sure that he's mine, I'm not sure that I want to tell him about this one. And we know that Jesus knows all things. We know that the Lord knows all things. But isn't there a sense in which if we're not convinced that Christ is the object of our faith, that he doesn't change and that he has given us warrant to come to him, we won't actually grow in repentance. Repentance comes when you can, in your mind, look at an awful sin that you've just committed and look at the blessed Savior and almost, by God's grace, without even batting an eye, say, I know He loves me and He will hear me when I confess and He will forgive me and cleanse me and give me grace to repent. Until a person gets there by the grace of the Holy Spirit, they'll be regularly wrestling with low levels of repentance. Because we're talking about true repentance, evangelical repentance, gospel repentance. We're not talking about legal repentance. Or I'm afraid of the consequences of sin repentance. Or I'm afraid of the fear of man repentance. Actually exercising the gift of grace that Christ has given us. So the object of our faith put forth in scripture is Christ. He comes with precious promises of grace, blessings of grace, one of which is repentance. And these are motives, powerful motives to the exercise of true repentance. So tomorrow, when you're wrestling with sin, you fall. What do you do? Well, you believe with application that the law of God is true, that what you have done is sin. You believe without a single doubt in your mind. As to the veracity of Jesus's truth claims that he will receive you. So you go to him, you confess this sin, you ask him to forgive you relationally. And then you ask him to give you true repentance, that you may hate that sin more, that you may love him more. But you're completely free to go to him in this. And this is why this little debate in the 1700s in Scotland actually has very important practical implications. I mean, we're reading about this strangely worded creed, the Octorator Creed. What in the world? It is not sound and orthodox to teach that we must forsake sin in order to are coming to Christ. and instating us in covenant with God. I agree with Thomas Boston, not very well worded. But I'm thankful that these brethren 300 years ago wrestled with it because out of it came a whole host of works which helped a whole host of Protestant individuals understand that while repentance is absolutely something that should be in our lives, repentance comes from justifying saving faith. It is not something that we work up to get Jesus to save us for the first time or to continue to be our Savior time and time again. Well, let's stop here. This is chapter six and a little bit of a history lesson. Questions that you may have on this thus far. It's almost as if the same themes are talked about in each chapter with a slightly different ring of application each time. So if you're feeling like, I think I'm beginning to get the message that this book is completely about faith in Christ being the ground of repentance, good.