Episode Summary

This paragraph confronts modern attempts to soften sin, redefine guilt, or separate God’s law from His judgment. Yet it also prepares the way for the gospel by showing us why Christ’s saving work is so necessary and so glorious. When the law speaks clearly, grace shines brightly.

This episode calls listeners to humility before God’s law, gratitude for Christ’s finished work, and holy watchfulness in the Christian life.

“Every sin, both original and actual, being a transgression of the righteous law of God, and contrary thereunto, doth, in its own nature, bring guilt upon the sinner, whereby he is bound over to the wrath of God, and curse of the law, and so made subject to death, with all miseries spiritual, temporal, and eternal.”

Pastor Tim Beauchamp has served in pastoral ministry since 2010 and has been preaching regularly since 2008. He is the pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Guam and the host of Confessional Moments, a podcast devoted to helping Christians grow in faith by anchoring their hearts in the truths of the Reformed confessions.

Visit Trinity Presbyterian Church: https://www.trinitypca.org

Confessional Moments

Confessional Moments – WCF 6.5 | Sin Still Dwells Within Us

“This corruption of nature, during this life, doth remain in those that are regenerated; and although it be, through Christ, pardoned and mortified; yet both itself, and all the motions thereof, are truly and properly sin.”

Though believers are regenerated and fully forgiven in Christ, sin has not yet been removed from their nature. In this episode of Confessional Moments, we examine WCF 6.5 and the sobering doctrine of remaining corruption—the ongoing presence of sin in the Christian life.

Drawing from Scripture and the Puritan tradition, this episode explains why indwelling sin remains, how it is pardoned and mortified through Christ, and why even the inward motions of sin—the first stirrings of sinful desire—are still truly and properly sin in God’s sight. Far from leading to despair, this doctrine humbles the believer, sharpens spiritual watchfulness, and directs us again to the sufficiency of Christ.

Scripture Readings

Theological Themes

Authors Referenced

About the Host

Pastor Tim is a teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in America and serves at Trinity Presbyterian Church. He has been preaching and teaching Reformed theology for over two decades and hosts Confessional Moments, a podcast devoted to anchoring hearts in the doctrines of the Reformed faith through the Westminster Standards.

Westminster Confession of Faith 6.4

Why do sins arise so naturally—even after we know better?

In this episode of Confessional Moments, we consider WCF 6.4, which explains the biblical relationship between humanity’s fallen nature and the actual sins that flow from it. Scripture teaches that sin is not merely the result of poor habits, bad environments, or momentary weakness, but proceeds from a heart corrupted by Adam’s fall.

This study helps us understand why self-effort cannot resolve the problem of sin, why Scripture speaks honestly about human inability, and why the gospel must address more than outward behavior. By exposing the root of sin, the Confession directs us to Christ, who alone forgives sinners and renews hearts.

This episode calls believers to sober self-examination, genuine repentance, and renewed dependence on God’s grace as we continue to battle remaining corruption in this life.

Scripture Readings

Referenced

About the Host

Pastor Tim is the pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church and host of Confessional Moments, a podcast devoted to exploring the Westminster Standards with clarity, conviction, and pastoral faithfulness—anchoring hearts in Reformed truth.

Guilt Imputed, Corruption Inherited

In this episode of Confessional Moments, we continue our study of Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 6, paragraph 3. This paragraph explains how the guilt of Adam’s first sin is imputed to all his descendants and how the same corrupted nature and spiritual death are conveyed to them by ordinary generation.

Drawing from Romans 5, we consider why Adam stood as the root of all mankind, how covenantal headship shapes our understanding of sin and salvation, and why the imputation of guilt in Adam is essential for grasping the hope of imputed righteousness in Christ.

Westminster Confession of Faith 6.3

“They being the root of all mankind, the guilt of this sin was imputed; and the same death in sin and corrupted nature conveyed to all their posterity descending from them by ordinary generation.”

Scripture Reading

Resources Mentioned

About the Host

Pastor Tim Beauchamp has served in pastoral ministry since 2010 and is the founding pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Guam. This podcast is part of his ongoing commitment to teaching and applying the Reformed confessions for the life of the church.

Learn more at: www.trinitychurchguam.org

Confessional Moments is a short-form devotional podcast designed to anchor hearts in Reformed truth by walking through the Westminster Confession of Faith—one paragraph at a time.

Westminster Confession of Faith 6.2

“By this sin they fell from their original righteousness and communion with God, and so became dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts of soul and body.”

In this episode of Confessional Moments, we continue our study of Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 6, paragraph 2. This paragraph explains the immediate consequences of the fall: the loss of original righteousness, the breaking of communion with God, spiritual death, and corruption that extends to every part of human nature.

Using Genesis 3, we consider how sin first manifests itself not merely in disobedience, but in alienation—fear replacing fellowship, hiding replacing communion. This doctrine humbles us, warns against shallow views of sin, and directs us to Christ, the only Savior who restores communion with God and gives life to the dead.

Scripture Reading

Resources Mentioned

About the Host

Pastor Tim Beauchamp has served in pastoral ministry since 2010 and is the founding pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Guam. This podcast is part of his ongoing commitment to teaching and applying the Reformed confessions for the life of the church.

Learn more at: www.trinitychurchguam.org

Confessional Moments is a short-form devotional podcast designed to anchor hearts in Reformed truth by walking through the Westminster Confession of Faith—one paragraph at a time.

Westminster Confession of Faith 6.1

“Our first parents, being seduced by the subtilty and temptation of Satan, sinned, in eating the forbidden fruit. This their sin, God was pleased, according to his wise and holy counsel, to permit, having purposed to order it to his own glory.”

What does it mean to say that “it pleased God to permit the fall”? Did sin catch God by surprise? Does God’s sovereignty make Him responsible for evil?

In this episode of Confessional Moments, Pastor Tim walks through Westminster Confession of Faith 6.1, addressing the fall of our first parents, the subtlety of Satan’s temptation, and the careful biblical balance between God’s sovereign permission and human responsibility. Drawing from Scripture and the wisdom of the Reformed tradition, this episode is both apologetic and devotional, guarding against error while calling believers to humility, vigilance, and dependence on Christ—the second Adam.

Scripture References (ESV)

Resources Mentioned

About the Host

Pastor Tim Beauchamp has served in pastoral ministry since 2010 and is the founding pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Guam. This podcast is part of his ongoing commitment to teaching and applying the Reformed confessions for the life of the church.

Learn more at: www.trinitychurchguam.org

Confessional Moments is a short-form devotional podcast designed to anchor hearts in Reformed truth by walking through the Westminster Confession of Faith—one paragraph at a time.

Westminster Confession of Faith 5.7

“As the providence of God doth, in general, reach to all creatures; so, after a most special manner, it taketh care of His church, and disposeth all things to the good thereof.”

In this episode of Confessional Moments, Pastor Tim concludes Chapter 5 of the Westminster Confession of Faith by exploring the deeply comforting doctrine of God’s covenantal providence toward His church.

While God sovereignly governs all creatures, WCF 5.7 teaches that He exercises His providence after a most special manner toward His people. This episode draws out the Reformed conviction that God’s providence toward the church is not cold or abstract sovereignty, but fatherly, covenant faithfulness worked out in time.

Grounded in Romans 8 and enriched by the pastoral wisdom of Thomas Watson, this episode distinguishes covenantal good from shallow optimism and calls believers to trust the faithful hand of a covenant-keeping God—even in suffering.

Scripture Reading (ESV)

Resources Mentioned

About the Host

Pastor Tim has served in pastoral ministry since 2010 and is the founding pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Guam, planted in 2015.

Learn more about the church at:

Westminster Confession of Faith 5.6

As for those wicked and ungodly men whom God, as a righteous judge, for former sins doth blind and harden; from them He not only withholdeth His grace, whereby they might have been enlightened in their understandings, and wrought upon in their hearts; but sometimes also withdraweth the gifts which they had, and exposeth them to such objects as their corruption makes occasion of sin; and withal, gives them over to their own lusts, the temptations of the world, and the power of Satan: whereby it comes to pass that they harden themselves, even under those means which God useth for the softening of others.

In this episode of Confessional Moments, Pastor Tim explores Westminster Confession of Faith 5.6, a sober and carefully worded doctrine concerning God’s righteous judgment on persistently wicked sinners.

This paragraph addresses how God, acting as a just judge, may punish sin by withdrawing restraining grace and giving sinners over to their own corruption, while never being the author of sin and never removing human responsibility. The episode distinguishes judicial punishment from fatherly chastisement, responds to common objections, and grounds the doctrine firmly in Scripture.

Scripture Reading (ESV)

Resources Mentioned

About the Host

Pastor Tim has served in pastoral ministry since 2010 and is the founding pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Guam, planted in 2015.

Learn more about the church at:

Westminster Confession of Faith 5.5

“The most wise, righteous, and gracious God often leaves his own children, for a time, to manifold temptations and to the corruption of their own hearts. He does this to chastise them for their past sins, to humble them by making them aware of the hidden strength of the corruption and deceitfulness of their hearts, and then to raise them to a closer, more constant dependence upon himself for their support, to make them more watchful against all future occasions for sinning, and to fulfill various other just and holy purposes.”

In this episode of Confessional Moments, we consider God’s fatherly chastisement as taught in Westminster Confession of Faith 5.5. Scripture teaches that the Lord, in wisdom and grace, may for a season leave His children to themselves—not to condemn them, but to humble them and train them in watchfulness and dependence upon Him.

Scripture Reading (ESV):

Resources Mentioned:

About the Host

Pastor Tim Beauchamp is the pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Guam and has served in pastoral ministry since 2010. Trinity Presbyterian Church was planted in 2015 and is committed to proclaiming Christ through the faithful preaching of God’s Word and the teaching of the Reformed faith.

Visit the church: www.trinitychurchguam.org

Confessional Moments is a short-form devotional podcast designed to anchor hearts in Reformed truth by walking through the Westminster Confession of Faith—one paragraph at a time.

Westminster Confession of Faith 5.4  

“The almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and infinite goodness of God manifest themselves so completely in his providence that it extends even to the first fall and all other sins of angels and men—not by a bare permission, but by a permission which has joined with it a most wise and powerful limiting, and otherwise ordering and governing of them in a varied administration, for his own holy purposes. However, the sinfulness comes from the creatures alone and not from God, who, because he is most holy and righteous, neither is nor can be the author or approver of sin.”

Episode Summary

Does God merely allow sin—or does He still govern history when evil is truly present?

In this episode of Confessional Moments, we reflect on Westminster Confession of Faith 5.4 and its careful, biblical teaching on God’s providence in relation to sin. Rejecting the idea that God “steps back,” the Confession teaches that God remains actively sovereign—limiting, directing, and governing even sinful actions—without ever becoming the author or approver of sin.

Drawing from Isaiah 10:5–7, the story of Joseph, and insights from R.C. Sproul and John Calvin, Pastor Tim addresses ancient and modern errors that portray God as distant or passive, and offers steady pastoral encouragement to trust God’s holy purposes even in difficult providences.

Scripture Readings (ESV)

Resources Mentioned

About the Host

Pastor Tim is the pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Guam and has served in pastoral ministry since 2010. Trinity Presbyterian Church was planted in 2015 and is committed to proclaiming Christ through the faithful preaching of God’s Word and the teaching of the Reformed faith.

Visit the church: www.trinitychurchguam.org

Confessional Moments is a short-form devotional podcast designed to anchor hearts in Reformed truth by walking through the Westminster Confession of Faith—one paragraph at a time.

Next episode: Westminster Confession of Faith 5.5 — God’s providence toward His children.