A High-Definition, Flat-Screen Reformation

On this very day, October 31, Protestants are remembering their past. One of the chief points of the Reformers was to draw our eyes back to the ministry of the Word—the expository sermon, and to the sacraments and the work of the visible church. The Reformers unearthed God’s sharper focus by grabbing the TV remote and pointing at the Word to teach us what it means to see the kingdom of God.

As part of the work of church reformation, the Genevan pastor, John Calvin, along with others, blew the whistle on the radical spiritualists and subjectivists of his day, these subjectivists were known as the Anabaptists.

A primary concern of the Anabaptists was to pursue all-out holiness and piety—to a near perfection—in the church. So, they taught: no church offices, no order, and little traditional structure to ministry. Such structures inhibited holiness. It was akin to the Costa Mesa, California early 1970s Jesus Movement, and as such, a Jesus Movement precursor. Conversions, one on one ministry and Christian communal body life were premium. There were several doctrinal strengths for the Anabaptists, one of which was encouraging a corporate practice of the faith.

There’s a correct seeing that Calvin and other Reformers taught; it’s a faith that sees with and through church-based Christianity. That is, piety flourished most faithfully in the corporate and visible worship of the church, in addition to the lock, stock and barrel of ordained officers, a liturgical order, preaching and the administration of the two sacraments—Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. This chiefly promoted the church’s way of unity, holiness and witness.

Contemporary writer, historian and OPC ruling elder Darryl Hart suggests that classic 16^th and 17^th century Protestant faith busied herself with a churchly Christianity. He notes how the Reformed were church-driven, and in being church-driven, they continue to offer correction to us who are given to our own private, spiritual subjectivism. To make a point about this, Hart cites the Westminster Shorter Catechism, question and answer 85:

Q. 85. What doth God require of us that we may escape his wrath and curse due to us for sin?
A. To escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin, God requireth of us faith in Jesus Christ, repentance unto life, with the diligent use of all the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption.

Hart comments:
"In question and answer eighty-five [the Westminster teachers] elaborate three responses to the gospel required of true believers. The first two, faith and repentance, are standard fare. But the third, “the diligent use of all the outward means,” is often a surprise to low-church Protestants of the revival-friendly variety, an unexpected response because of the new Protestant assumption [in our day] that genuine belief is virtually independent of the ministry of the church."

Hart stands on historic Reformed teaching that sees with the eyes of faith, that God has ordained the means of addressing the world, calling His people unto Himself, and feeding the body of Christ through the churchly work of the exposition and teaching of the Word and the faithful administration of the sacraments. I usually think of seeing God in a personal, individualistic way. The Reformers called us to God’s appointed, visible means through His church. As Calvin put it, “There is no other entrance into life, save as she may conceive us in her womb, give us birth, nourish us from her breasts, and embrace us in her loving care to the end.” (Book IV:I of his Institutes)

G. Mark Sumpter

Hands Raised

"Then Ezra blessed the LORD the great God. And all the people answered, 'Amen, Amen!' while lifting up their hands; then they bowed low and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground." Nehemiah 8:6

The following is a one-question quiz with multiple choice answers. Go for it.

Why do confessional, historic Presbyterians neglect to follow the example of Nehemiah 8:6?

A. We don't want to be confused with Pentecostals.

B. We raise our hands in our hearts, on the inside.

C. We've never had a pastor who's courageous enough to lead the way, to be an example.

D. 1 Timothy 2:8 allows for men to raise hands during prayer, but it's no command.

E. We'd feel funny about it, in fact a little embarrassed, so our feelings rule.

F. Nehemiah 8:6 is in the Old Testament, public worship is regulated by the New.

E. Since we don't bow nor kneel, and perhaps since we neglect to stand for the reading of the Word, it makes no sense to raise hands.

G. None of the Above.

G. Mark Sumpter

Why Baptize Babies, Does it Matter?

In the discussion of the administration of the water of the rite of Christian baptism, the question about the subjects of baptism gets most of the attention. To whom should the sacrament of baptism be administered? Does the Bible teach that covenant children are to be baptized or only those of age, based on their profession of faith? But soon in the conversation another question comes: What does it matter anyway if we baptize at a very early age? Don't we both, Baptists and Presbyterians, as church-going families with children, give ourselves to training the children in the love and grace of Christ? Don't we both teach our kids to pray? Don't we both teach our kids to sing to Jesus, memorize specific Scriptures and the catechism? Aren't all faithful parents in earnest working at correcting and training their kids in obedience unto the Lord? So, whether baptized or not the kids of the church and Christian home get Christian nurture, right? Does it matter?

It does:
1. Its administration is obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ in His great commission (Matthew 28:19).

2. Signs in the Bible are directly associated with a teaching ministry, and in particular, a teaching ministry to children (Josh. 4:21-22).

3. Our children fundamentally need the security of belonging, of being included. They are kids. Baptism includes them in God's Kingdom, under His ownership (Acts 2:39).

4. Baptism is a witness and summons to the parents to carry out their responsibilities to train, correct, nurture and admonish their children (Matt. 28:19; Gen. 17:7; Gen. 18:19). Just as a wife and husband have responsibilities to one another, respectively, according to one's role in faith, so are parents called to faithful responsibility to the child who is set apart for Christ--holy in Him (1 Cor. 7:14).

5. Baptism includes the child in God's story of the out-working of history--the story of the Old Testament, the New and beyond (Acts 2:39; and note the persons included in God's story of grace in Hebrews 11, for example, Noah and his sons 11:7; Abraham and Issac 11:17-18, et al, and Hebrews 12:1-2). The child knows that he, like his parents and his grandparents, and other senior generations, shares in the generation by generation work of God. Baptism includes the child in God's tale.

6. Baptism mirrors the societal relations that we know in the biological family and city of man. Just as our children bear a surname in God's institution of the family and just as they hold a certificate of citizenship testifying to membership in God's institution of the state, so he's associated with God and His people with entitlement, expectations and opportunity in the institution of the church (Eph. 4:4-6; see Paul's welcome into membership in the church Acts 9:19, 26-28). All three institutions ordained by God are rightly represented, starting with the child's birth.

7. Water baptism of children unites them to the visible, historic body of Christ, distinguishes them from the world and reminds them to take up the tangible practicalities of weekly public worship and congregational service in the life of the church. They help to make up of the recognized body of Christ today, not merely the church of tomorrow (The Book of Ephesians). The historic marks of the church, specifically the administration the sacrament of water baptism, cover the younger generations of the church. The marks are not merely for the older generations.

8. Baptism includes children in the conquering work of the epoch or era of Christ's earthly glory (John 17:4). It's the day of the great glory of the One who is the express image of God, who has brought about His regenerating work. The Book of Hebrews denotes the superiority of Christ over the prophets, the angels and Moses, and specifies that this age is under His triumph and finished work (Heb. 2:5). The coming of Jesus signals the dawn of the era of fulfillment, and thus, water baptism, associated with Christ's atoning, cleansing work, is their basis for claiming the promise of salvation.

9. Baptism of children keeps the corporate, historical identity of the covenant people of God in view (Acts 2:39). The materiality of water, as a means of grace, reminds the church of her glorious ways of ministry, preaching, fellowship, meal-sharing, prayer, evangelism, diaconal work and more, and it helps to keep at bay the notion that the secret work of the doctrine of election is all that matters. We must not allow the secret work of God to eclipse the tangible, revealed things, especially the means of grace (Deut 29:29).

10. Baptizing children is the gospel in miniature. Helpless, dependent children display the mark of discipleship in the kingdom (Matt. 18:3). Fleshy works fail; complete dependency on God, the granting of the gift of faith in Christ, secures life (Eph. 2:8-10). Man's strength does not save, only God (Rom. 5:6).

11. Baptism is the seal, the stamp of God's love for all ages, all generations of the church--from birth to death. His care doesn't skip over anyone (John 3:16; 1 John 2:12-14).

G. Mark Sumpter