Written by J. V. Fesko |
Friday, August 18, 2023
As a minister of the gospel, you are many things—a preacher, teacher, and counselor. But you are also a shepherd, one who should regularly be on his knees before the throne of grace on behalf of your sheep. Grab your church directory and pray for your sheep. And if you don’t know how to pray for your sheep, sit down at the feet of the apostle Paul and learn from him and his prayers for his sheep.

I think one of the most underrated things a pastor can do is pray for his congregation. I think pastors, of course, should do all of the regular tasks we might expect, preach, study, counsel, meet with the elders, and perform the regular pastoral administrative responsibilities, which may vary from church to church. But I think pastors should invest regular time in praying for their church. I know most pray for the congregations from the pulpit, and this is a vital and important task. But often times pulpit prayers are filled with those in dire needs. But what about the people in your church who never have serious problems or illnesses? What about the other people in your church who don’t make the pulpit prayer list? Chances are they have needs as well but don’t get the attention that they might need.
One of the practical things you can do to ensure that you pray for all of the people in your church is to pray through your church directory. Depending on the size of your church, you might be able to pray for several households per day and get through your church in a month.
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Southeast Alabama Presbytery approved an overture at a March 31, 2022 Called Meeting, asking the 49th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America to “amend BCO 16 by adding a new paragraph using wording from the Report of the Ad Interim Committee on Human Sexuality.”

The Overture presents proposed wording to amend BCO 16 by adding a fourth paragraph.The overture argues that since the 48th General Assembly in 2021 voted unanimously to commend the Human Sexuality Report, it seems appropriate to ask the 49th General Assembly to approve wording to add to BCO 16. The proposed wording provides the following:
16-4. Those whom God calls to bear office in His Church shall demonstrate maturity of faith and growing conformity to Jesus Christ. While these office bearers will see spiritual perfection only in glory, they will continue in this life to confess and to mortify remaining sins. Thus, those who identify or describe themselves according to their specific sins, or who teach that it is acceptable for Christians to identify or describe in such a manner, shall not be approved for service by any court of Christ’s Church.
An overture is a means by which a Presbytery can bring a matter to the GA for consideration. This overture will be considered by the 49th PCA General Assembly at its meeting in Birmingham, Ala., June 20-24, 2022.
Whereas, the Westminster Standards make a categorical distinction between the “state of sin” and the “state of grace” (WCF 9.3-4); and
Whereas, ever since the Fall, man is naturally in the “state of sin” in which he has lost all                ability to will and to do any spiritual good and is a slave to the penalty, guilt, and power of sin (WCF 9.3); and
Whereas, in the state of sin, his sin defines who he is, and he must rightly conceive of himself and label himself as a fornicator, idolater, adulterer, homosexual, thief, drunkard, reviler, and swindler (1 Cor. 6:9-10); in this state of sin, that is how he is to consider himself and identify himself because he is a slave to sin; and
Whereas, when the Holy Spirit works faith in man, uniting him to Christ in his effectual calling, he is translated into the “state of grace” (WCF 9.4; WSC 30) and partakes of the benefits of justification, adoption, and sanctification (WSC 30-32); and
Whereas, in this state, while he does not perfectly or only will that which is good but also that which is evil (due to his remaining corruption), he is freed from bondage to sin and by grace is enabled freely to will and to do that which is spiritually good (WCF 9.4); and
Whereas, the conversion from the state of sin to the state of grace is so dramatic and the distinction between the two so vast that the Christian is no longer to conceive of himself and label himself as a fornicator, idolater, adulterer, homosexual, thief, drunkard, reviler, and swindler; Scripture says such will not inherit the kingdom of God, “and such were some of you” (1 Cor. 6:9-11); in the state of grace, the believer is no longer to identify that way (e.g. as a fornicator, idolater, adulterer, etc.) for “you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:9-11); because of his union with Christ, his specific sins no longer define who he is; and
Whereas, due to remaining corruption, the Christian can still speak of himself as a sinner in the present tense (1 Tim. 1:12-16) as one who continues to experience and battle with the presence and pollution of sin (Gal. 5:17; Rom. 7:14-25) and even at times feel as though he is enslaved to sin (Rom. 7:14); however, the truth is that the believer is no longer a slave to sin, having been freed from slavery to its guilt (Rom. 3:24; Eph. 1:7), its penalty (Gal. 3:13), and its power (1 Pet. 1:18-19; Rom. 6:6); and
Whereas, while of course the Christian is (and can say he is) a sinner (1 Tim. 1:12-16), he is no longer to identify himself with his specific sins; as Paul says, “Such were some of you” (1Cor. 6:9-11), and “Though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent… I received mercy… in Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 1:13-14); and
Whereas, instead of considering himself as a drunkard or an adulterer or a homosexual, the Christian is commanded to have a different self-conception: “You must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 6:11); and
Whereas, the Christian may continue to struggle with the same sins all his life long; such a believer should not consider himself a drunkard or an adulterer or a homosexual but rather a Christian who struggles with the temptation to drunkenness, adultery, or homosexuality; and who is repentant if or when he succumbs to such temptations; and
Whereas, BCO 16-1 reads, “Ordinary vocation to office in the Church is the calling of God bythe Spirit, through the inward testimony of a good conscience, the manifest approbationof God’s people, and the concurring judgment of a lawful court of the Church;” and
Whereas, BCO 16-2 reads, “The government of the Church is by officers gifted to representChrist, and the right of God’s people to recognize by election to office those so gifted isinalienable. Therefore no man can be placed over a church in any office without the election, or at least the consent of that church;” and
Whereas, BCO 16-3 reads, “Upon those whom God calls to bear office in His Church He bestows suitable gifts for the discharge of their various duties. And it is indispensable   that, besides possessing the necessary gifts and abilities, natural and acquired, every one admitted to an office should be sound in the faith, and his life be according to godliness. Wherefore every candidate for office is to be approved by the court by which he is to be ordained;” and
Therefore, be it resolved that BCO 16 be amended by adding 16-4 as a new paragraph with the following wording (underlining for new wording):
16-4. Those whom God calls to bear office in His Church shall demonstrate maturity of faith and growing conformity to Jesus Christ. While these office bearers will see spiritual perfection only in glory, they will continue in this life to confess and to mortify remaining sins. Thus, those who identify or describe themselves according to their specific sins, or who teach that it is acceptable for Christians to identify or describe in such a manner, shall not be approved for service by any court of Christ’s Church.
Approved by Southeast Alabama Presbytery on March 31, 2022.Attested by TE Kevin Corley, Clerk

Christians can rejoice, even in times of discipline, that they are God’s children and their adoption into the family of God is secure. All Christians receive the double benefit of justification and sanctification by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

Knowing the difference between the biblical categories of justification and sanctification is key for resting in Christ and understanding our duties as God’s children. Following is a basic definition of each word:
Justification
Without understanding how they are justified in Christ, Christians may wrongly think their own works, good or bad, could keep them in or out of God’s kingdom. The Bible says that we are declared righteous in Christ—this is a legal verdict and not something that God sees inside of us:

And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness. (Rom. 4:5)
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom. 5:1)
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. (Rom. 5:8-9)

Christ has taken upon himself the punishment we deserve, and he has earned life for us by his perfect obedience to God’s law:

For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. (Rom. 5:17)

Even our faith is God’s gift to us (Eph. 2:8-9). Believers will never have to face God’s just sentence for their sins and spend eternity in hell separated from God.
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