worship

A Little Time With The 1689: Day 266

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Day 266

Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day.

Chapter 22, Paragraph 2.

“…nor in the Mediation of any other but Christ alone.”

Scripture Lookup

1 Timothy 2:5

Reflection

True worship of God requires a mediator. We are not righteous on our own, and cannot approach God in our sinful state. Attempts to worship Him on our own results in disaster.

Thankfully, God has been pleased to provide a mediator for His people. Jesus, the Son of God become flesh, has become the mediator between God and men. Being a man, He can sympathize with our weaknesses, yet He can also approach God, for He is without sin. As God, He can offer endure the punishment due to sinners, so that His sacrifice on our behalf is accepted. With His righteousness imputed to us, the barriers that impede our worshiping God in spirit and in truth are broken. Christians are freed in Christ to worship God rightly.

No other being can serve as mediator between God and man. Jesus alone can successfully intercede for us. Who else can do what He does? Who else has such credentials, in who else does “the fullness of deity dwell” (Colossians 2:9)? Who else has perfectly fulfilled the Law? Who else bore the punishment due us? Who else has risen from the dead and ascended into heaven? Who else has revealed our need for a savior, intercedes at God’s right hand for the elect, and rules and preserves His people?

There truly is no other name under heaven by which men and women must be saved. To worship God the way He has commanded, we must go through the perfect mediator, Christ Jesus. Solus Christus: Christ Alone.

Questions to Consider

  • Is there any need for other mediators beside Jesus? What about “co-mediators”? Why would any other mediator be an affront to God?

 

A Little Time With The 1689: Day 265

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Day 265

Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day.

Chapter 22, Paragraph 2.

“…and since the fall, not without a Mediator,…”

Scripture Lookup

John 14:6

Reflection

Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. – Hebrews 4:16 (NASB)

 

“God is my co-pilot.”

“God is my best friend.”

Many people in today’s culture treat God as if He were their #1 fan. According to them, He’s always there to tell you how awesome you’re doing, how pretty you look, and how blessed you are. You and He are best buds, and you can ring Him up whenever you need to. Repentance? Awe? Not needed with God, so goes the popular thinking. He can be worshiped face-to-face. Such a view distorts God and ignores His holiness.

In order for God to be worshiped rightly, such worship must be done through a mediator. Before the Fall, Adam and Eve had unfettered access to God. They could commune with Him because they had not sinned. However, when they chose to transgress God’s command, they plummeted all of humanity into a life of sin and misery. The corruption that each one of us born by ordinary means is a chain that keeps us from freely communing with God. In order to hold an audience with the holy God, we must go through a mediator, someone who intercedes on our behalf.

Knowing that true worship must be through a mediator reminds us of our sinful condition. Humbly do we remember that we are not worthy of approaching Him, and gratefully acknowledge the work of the mediator on our behalf. As Christians, we can run boldly to the throne of grace. But only because of the High Priest who intercedes on our behalf.

…we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens,… – Hebrews 4:14 (NASB)

Questions to Consider

  • Have you ever considered that true worship necessitates a mediator?

 

A Whole Church Endeavor (Defining Evangelism)

/ William F. Leonhart III / 2 Comments

You can listen to the audio lesson here.

You can also find the “Working Definition of Evangelism” here.

_______________________

 

DEFINING EVANGELISM

PART II – THE MESSENGERS AND THE RECIPIENTS

Lesson Four: A Whole Church Endeavor

“so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,’” (Philippians 2:15; NASB).

 

An endeavor. Making disciples from every nation is not something that happens by osmosis. It takes work on the part of the church. It’s something we pursue as a church, not merely something we hope will happen. It is an endeavor that starts with our view of Christ.

If we do not already have a high view of Christ in our everyday lives, we will not seek to bring His gospel to the world. We must, then, work to sanctify Christ—set Him apart as precious and holy—in every aspect of our lives. Only then will we as a church truly desire to commit ourselves to the work of evangelism in our community.

“but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence,” (1 Peter 3:15; NASB).

As the Apostle Peter wrote, one of the effects of sanctifying Christ in our hearts will be that we will be always ready to make a defense to everyone who asks us to give an account for our hope. Another effect will be that our defense will be with gentleness and reverence. We will recognize that it is not our message, but the message of God Himself.

As such, we will not seek our own ends in the methods and message we use, but we will seek His ends. We will be careful with how we handle the gospel of Christ, because it is not our gospel. It is rather like a car we have borrowed or a home we’re watching for a friend. As we handle it in the world, we will handle it with great care and great reverence, because it is not our own.

Another motivating factor that will drive us to our rightful duty of evangelism is the recognition that the world is a dark place. As we look around this world, even in our own nation, we see such deep darkness and misery. We see the depths of depravity, and how man’s heart is only, continually turned against God.

Seeing this great problem in our world should not drive us merely to social justice or political solutions. The problem of pain and of evil should drive us to shine our lights even greater in this dark and fallen world. It should not cause us so much to see solutions in activism or the promotion of this political candidate or another. Rather, it should cause us to recall the pure light of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the fact that we have been called to reflect that light.

“14Do all things without grumbling or disputing; 15so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, 16holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain,” (Philippians 2:14-16; NASB).

We have been shown great mercy in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have been granted the very word of life! As we hold forth that great word of life in this world, we hold forth a light that pierces the darkness and, where the light shines, no darkness can remain.

We know that “From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more,” (Luke 12:48; NASB). We who have been granted much light are expected to shed much light into the darkness of our fallen world. Consider then how dreadful a thing it is that many churches that enjoy a high theology of God and sit under such a wealth of biblical preaching would be called “the frozen chosen.”

Our endeavors to make disciples then are not for the sake of achieving a closer relationship and more accurate view of God. Instead, they should spring from having received such a pure light. The Calvinist rightly decries the non-Calvinist who thinks he is earning anything from God for all the work he does. However, because the Calvinist recognizes Christ has already earned everything he needs from God, it should find all the more joy in his labors for Christ!

A whole-church endeavor. There has long been much debate over who is responsible to accomplish the work of evangelism in the life of the church. The short answer with which most can agree is that it is the endeavor of the whole church. Some might say that every member has a responsibility to do evangelism in much the same way as everyone else. Others might say that, with the support of the whole church, the officers and a few other chosen men are to shoulder the bulk of the responsibility of evangelism.

While both of these views would agree that evangelism is the endeavor of the whole church, I would disagree with both of these extremes. The Bible nowhere offers one cookie-cutter approach to evangelism or, much less, commands that everyone follow such a cookie-cutter approach. Nor does the Bible anywhere restrict the work of evangelism to a select group of ordained or recognized men within the church.

What we see instead is that every member within the church of Christ is called to be about the spread of the kingdom of Christ. For some this will mean a much more overt, visible teaching labor than for others. Some are called to go into the highways and byways and preach the gospel of Christ. These are the men that Paul means when he says that some must be sent.

“And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:

‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,

Who bring glad tidings of good things!’” (Romans 10:15; NKJV).

There is great wisdom in churches coming together under the direction of the elders to recognize godly men who are suited for the work of pulpit preaching, street preaching, teaching from house to house, teaching Sunday Schools, etc. As the preaching, teaching, and evangelism ministry of church elders allow, other godly men will arise who demonstrate the willingness, qualification, and ability to join and support them in their efforts. The Baptist Confession makes specific mention of such men.

“Although it be incumbent on the bishops or pastors of the churches, to be instant in preaching the word, by way of office, yet the work of preaching the word is not so peculiarly confined to them but that others also gifted and fitted by the Holy Spirit for it, and approved and called by the church, may and ought to perform it,” (The Baptist Confession, 26.11).

Were the work of evangelism to be so narrowly defined as to only include that public teaching and preaching marked by the above definitions, we might be inclined to agree with those who say that all men must be recognized by the church in order to do evangelism. However, the work of evangelism is much more thorough than just the public ministries of teaching and preaching. Under this definition, workplace conversations, family worship, a mother catechizing her children, and discussions in the marketplace would all be considered something other than evangelism.

Used in its most general sense, evangelism is simply gospel preaching. That is what is meant in the biblical use of the term. When Paul told the church in Rome that he wished to “preach the gospel” to them (Romans 1:15), he used one word for “preach the gospel”: εὐαγγελίζω. He did not mean in the sense of making converts, but rather in sense of continuing the work of discipleship among them.

Christian discipleship is rooted in the gospel. In that sense, all who endeavor to aid in the work of discipleship are aiding also in the work of evangelism. For Christians who are hearing the gospel for the thousandth time, the work of the gospel on their hearts is be the power of God unto their sanctification, drawing them afresh to the bosom of Christ. For those who have yet to draw near to Christ in true discipleship, the gospel will hopefully be the power of God unto their regeneration, justification, and adoption into the family of God.

For this reason, sermons, Sunday School lessons, workplace conversations, family worship, daily instruction of children, etc., ought always to be done with a view toward supporting the gospel of Jesus Christ. They will not always overtly hit on the exact same elements of the gospel of Christ, but they must be conducted in such a way that they do no injustice to the true gospel of God. The whole life of the Christian, then, will be seen as a life lived in support of evangelism.

This evangelistic life should impact every aspect of how we view church. When pastors come to the pulpit, they should be mindful that the people need to be hearing the preached gospel and learning how to convey that same gospel. The people also, as active listeners, should come ready to learn how to take they gospel they are receiving and convey it to the lost and dying world in which they sojourn. For this reason, Christ gave pastors and teachers to the church: “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ,” (Ephesians 4:12; NASB).

Teaching Obedience to Christ’s Commands (Defining Evangelism)

/ William F. Leonhart III / 1 Comment

You can listen to the audio lesson here.

You can also find the “Working Definition of Evangelism” here.

_______________________

 

DEFINING EVANGELISM

PART I – THE GREAT COMMISSION

Lesson Three: Teaching Obedience to Christ’s Commands

“ teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you [a]always, even to the end of the age,’” (Matthew 28:20; NASB).

 

Defining a disciple. What is it to be a disciple. Discipleship means learning. That’s what the term in the Greek means: “to learn.” Christian disciples are first and foremost disciples of Christ. They will have to answer directly to Him on the day of judgment. However, they will not be the only ones answering for their souls. The author of the epistle to the Hebrews was very clear that teachers, too, will have to give an account for every soul they have been commissioned to teach.

“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you,” (Hebrews 13:17; NASB).

This was the practice of the early church. They gave themselves regularly to the teaching of the apostles (Acts 2:42). Teaching was so paramount in the early church that the apostles even requested that men be set aside from the church to aid in the administrative matters of the church so that they could more fervently devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word (Acts 6:1-5). This is a vital role within the church. Deacons are necessary for the freeing up of elders for prayer and the ministry of the word, and as the word is preached, new disciples find their place in the economy of Christ as true, teachable disciples.

When Christ makes disciples, He does not leave them as orphans. Rather, He gives them the Holy Spirit as a Helper, a Comforter, and an Advocate. When Christ ascended to the right hand of the Father, He sent the Spirit to us to guide us into all truth (John 14:16-26; 16:5-15). This same Spirit gives gifts to the church that are necessary for her unity in the faith (Romans 12:3-8).

Christ told His disciples on the night in which He was betrayed that it was for their benefit that He go. Why? In the giving of His Spirit, He was also giving godly men to the church for their preservation in the unity of the faith. He was giving them, and all subsequent teachers, to the church for her edification, refreshment, admonition, exhortation, and sanctification. The Spirit of God does His work primarily through the teaching ministry of the church.

“7But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8Therefore it says,

‘When He ascended on high,

He led captive a host of captives,

And He gave gifts to men.’

9(Now this expression, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.) 11And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ,” (Ephesians 4:7-13; NASB).

If a disciple is one who learns, then what is a disciple of Christ? What kind of disciples are we to be seeking to “make”? A disciple of Christ is one who submits to the teachings of Christ in His present teaching ministry, and Christ presently teaches through the teachers He has given the church through the Spirit.

What are disciples to be taught? Disciples are those who are to be taught to obey all that Christ commanded. They are not mere converts left to their own devices with no expectation of growth in holiness. They are meant to be brought into the church and taught the statutes of Christ. It is through the preaching and teaching ministry of the church, then, that we come under subjection to Christ. Outside the auspices of the local church, then, growth in godliness is not to be expected.

 “The bottom line is that God has designed the church to be the context in which we move from sinfulness to holiness. Attempting to grow in Christ outside of the church is like trying to learn to swim without ever getting into the pool!” (Mack and Swavely, Life in the Father’s House, pg. 29).

Consider then what a horrible thing it is to assure someone of his or her salvation outside of regular attendance to the preaching and teaching of the church. To offer a person such assurance is like assuring a blind man that he is in no danger as he walks toward a 500-foot cliff. Such assurance would be terribly unloving. Yet, this type of assurance is offered regularly by well-meaning Christians in the name of evangelism.

Disciples, then, are to be taught two main things:

“what man ought to believe concerning God, and what duty God requireth of man,” (The Baptist Catechism of 1693, Q.6).

This means that the disciple is to be trained thoroughly both in right doctrine and in right practice, orthodoxy and orthopraxy. We are to believe what God has said about Himself and, at the same time, walk in accordance with that belief. The word of God has given us sufficient testimony to both. As such, the role of the church in the life of the new disciple is to be one of pointing him or her to the word of God.

This is not just the job of the pastor in the pulpit. Other Christians are to be committed to the task of training up the new disciple in what we ought to believe concerning God and what He requires of us. The pastor cannot be everywhere at once. The whole church is required for the teaching of new disciples.

A further requirement for disciples is that they be teachable. After all, that is what a disciple is: a learner. The moment a disciples ceases to learn in accordance with Christ’s ordained means, he ceases to be a disciple of Christ. We must labor, then, to remain teachable at every turn of our Christian lives.

A Little Time With The 1689: Day 264

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Day 264

Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day.

Chapter 22, Paragraph 2.

“…not to Angels, Saints, or any other Creatures;…”

Scripture Lookup

Romans 1:25

Colossians 2:18

Revelation 19:10

Reflection

Angel statues, angel art prints, “Angels in the Outfield”, “Touched By An Angel”…angels are quite popular.  Are they worshiped? You don’t see many church buildings devoted to bowing down before angels. Yes, people might pray to angels and seek their help, but is that actually worship? Look at this prayer I remember reciting from my Roman Catholic childhood:

“Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here, ever this might, be at my side, to light, to guard, to rule and guide.”

This prayer calls upon the angel to rule and guide the supplicant. Isn’t that the work of God alone? This prayer is an act of worship.

Spiritual beings are being feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served by many who deny they are worshiping them. Yet they are giving angels the the glory that is due God alone. The same goes for saints. Stories of miraculous men and women who forsook all for the sake of piety, who supposedly have the ability to help us from heaven. Once again, they are called upon, trusted in, and given the glory that is God’s alone. Such worship of angels, saints, or any other creature is repugnant to Him. “My glory I will not give to another.” (Isaiah 48:11, NASB)

God alone is to be worshiped. He makes that very clear in Scripture: “I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God…” (Exodus 20:5, NASB) Worship is not to be given to angels, saints, or any other creature. As followers of the true and living God, we should guard God’s honor and not let it be given to another. To God alone be the glory!

Questions to Consider

  • Is “venerating” a creature the same as worshiping them? How would you respond to someone who says they don’t worship a creature because they don’t bow down to it?

 

A Little Time With The 1689: Day 263

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Day 263

Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day.

Chapter 22, Paragraph 2.

“Religious Worship is to be given to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and to him alone;…”

Scripture Lookup

Matthew 4:9,10

John 5:23

Matthew 28:19

Reflection

God alone is to be worshiped. Pretty simple, right? Why would anyone disagree about that?

A popular view of God is that He loves everybody and is super forgiving, bending over backwards to affirm you and be there for you. With such a view of God, it becomes easy to move to the logical next step, which is allowing other things to be worshiped. Since God is loving and forgiving, why would He be upset with other things getting praise and adoration? Aren’t we supposed to build up, not tear down?

Such a view distorts the true God, the God who has revealed Himself through creation and Scripture. God is love, that is correct, and He is most gracious and merciful. But He is also good and holy. Allowing glory to be given to another when it is due Him alone is not right. God cannot do wrong, so He naturally demands that He only be worshiped. “I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to graven images.” (Isaiah 42:8, NASB)

Not only is God to be the sole object of worship, all three persons of the Godhead are to be worshiped. This is why Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and other trinity-denying groups are not considered Christians. Decry the divinity of Christ or the Spirit, deny that the Father continually exists with the Son and Spirit, and you are worshiping a completely different god than the One who has breathed out the Scriptures.

Do we as believers worship all three persons of the Trinity? In theory we do, but how does that play out practically? Do we acknowledge all three in their respective roles regarding salvation? Do we place greater emphasis on one over another in our prayers? If we are to fear, love, praise, call upon, trust in, and serve the Triune God, let us make sure that we do so, not neglecting any member of the Trinity.

Questions to Consider

  • Do you tend to acknowledge one person of the Trinity over another?

 

A Little Time With The 1689: Day 262

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Day 262

Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day.

Chapter 22, Paragraph 1.

“… and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be Worshipped according to the imaginations, and devices of Men, nor the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representations, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures.”

Scripture Lookup

Exodus 20:4-6

Reflection

How are we to worship the true and living God?

I cannot choose my own method of worshiping Him. Setting the terms of how He is to be worshiped is akin to insubordination: “Oh, yes, God, You’ve said how to worship You in Your Word, but I think this will work better so…”  If He is truly to be feared, loved, obeyed and praised, than the right to determine how these acts are to be performed rests solely with Him.

Humanity – even redeemed humanity – cannot be the final authority on how to worship God. Such ideas originate with men, not God. How can such services, then, be forced onto believers? Christians are free from following the doctrine and commandments of men, and churches should take heed they do not bind a believer’s conscience. When churches have “Children’s Sunday” with lots of cute kids but no sermon; when a “message” includes playing clips from popular movies; when time is set aside during the service to light candles, all these are not methods of worship given by God. Such sights, smells, and sounds not prescribed by Him tend instead to draw focus away from the very God they are supposed to glorify!

God sets the terms of how He is to be worshiped. Through Scripture alone the elements of true worship are revealed. When we follow God’s instructions regarding worship, we know with certainty that our worship is acceptable to Him.

Questions to Consider

  • Can you think of some elements of worship in churches today that are not what God has prescribed?

 

A Little Time With The 1689: Day 261

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Day 261

Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day.

Chapter 22, Paragraph 1.

“….But the acceptable way of Worshipping the true God, is instituted by himself;…”

Scripture Lookup

Deuteronomy 12:32

Reflection

All humanity knows from the general revelation of nature that God is to be worshiped. What does such worship look like? Because of the Fall, the knowledge of how to worship God has been corrupted. The world does not enjoy communion with God, so how can it begin to properly worship Him? Numerous religions have arisen throughout history, with different methods of worship. Are such methods acceptable to God?

A popular notion today is that there are many paths to God. You worship Him your way, and He will be pleased; I worship Him my way, and He will accept that as well. Such worship of God is extremely convenient, as the individual’s preference ultimately determines the design of worship. However, there are ways of worshiping God that are not pleasing to Him. In fact, all ways but one are unacceptable to Him! Only one practice of worship is pleasing in His sight, and that is the one that He Himself has instituted.

It is not enough to think, “I want to worship God”, and then dream up a way of worship that suits myself. God alone has revealed how He is to be worshiped. He has told what type of worship is acceptable to Him. As believers who have been regenerated by His Spirit, enabled to obey His commands, we should earnestly desire to obey and please God. If we learn how He is to be worshiped, yet decide we will worship Him our own way, how can we think that is even remotely acceptable to Him?

God, through nature, reveals He is to be worshiped. God, through the Scriptures, reveals how He is to be worshiped. May we be careful to worship Him in the way He has prescribed.

Questions to Consider

  • Does God value good intentions over what He has prescribed for worship? Does it matter how we worship Him, as long as “our hearts are in the right place”?

A Little Time With The 1689: Day 260

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Day 260

Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day.

Chapter 22, Paragraph 1.

“The light of nature shows that there is a God, who has lordship and sovereignty over all; is just, good and does good to all; and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served, with all the heart and all the soul, and with all the might….”

Scripture Lookup

Jeremiah 10:7

Mark 12:33

Reflection

Creation and providence tell the world quite a bit about God. Although not enough to know Him is a saving way, the light of nature nevertheless reveals numerous truths about God. Such truths call us to properly respond.

Day to day pours forth speech,
And night to night reveals knowledge. -Psalm 19:2 (NASB)

The light of nature shows there is a God. The intricate beauty and design of creation proclaims the existence of its Designer. The laws of nature and the course of providence demonstrate the lordship and sovereignty of this God. There is an order to this universe that keeps the earth spinning, continues to drop apples on the ground each Autumn, and brings rain and sunshine. Observing all this, we see that the world is governed by this God. Through history, learning how seemingly small events affect great change, we understand that this God has authority over all things. His justice and goodness are displayed in His care and keeping of creation.

For it is written,

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me,
And every tongue shall give praise to God.” -Romans 14:11 (NASB)

We know that the unbeliever has no desire to do good. Due to the corruption of sin, humanity does not have any interest in God. That does not mean the unbeliever is let off the hook for her behavior. All men and women, everywhere, are shown there is a God they are to love, praise, and serve.  In other words, all humanity knows God is to be worshiped.

Questions to Consider

  • Do you treat unbelievers as though they have an excuse when it comes to worshiping God?

Baptizing in the Triune Name (Defining Evangelism)

/ William F. Leonhart III / 1 Comment

You can listen to the audio lesson here.

You can also find the “Working Definition of Evangelism” here.

_______________________

 

DEFINING EVANGELISM

PART I – THE GREAT COMMISSION

Lesson Two: Baptizing in the Triune Name

 

“baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,’” (Matthew 28:18-19b; NASB).

Why baptism? For many Christians today, baptism has no place in any discussion of evangelism. That is because many Christians do not believe evangelism and discipleship to be intrinsically linked. In fact, to consider their practice, many Christians today do not even consider discipleship and baptism to be intrinsically linked. Yet, when Christ commissioned His church to make disciples, baptism was the first step He listed in which these new disciples were to take part.

The whole of the Great Commission is a corporate effort. The church goes, the church baptizes, and the church teaches. It also has an individual aspect, though. After the church goes and makes a new disciple, that disciple submits to baptism and submits to the teaching of the church.

For the new disciple, then, there are two aspects to discipleship: the one-time submission to baptism and the ongoing submission to teaching. Both of these two aspects of discipleship require a common denominator: the local church. The local church is essential for the carrying out of the Great Commission. There is no sense in which baptism and teaching in the New Testament was expected to occur outside of the authority of local congregations.

The very nature and structure of the New Testament testifies to this fact. All but three of the epistles and Revelation (itself an epistle to the seven churches) were written either to local churches or to be circulated among local churches. The other three epistles were written to church leaders for the benefit of local churches. The other five books of the New Testament are the Gospels and Acts, in which must instruction is given for a godly ordering of local churches.

“The New Testament is a church book, a book for Christians in the context of a local church. The New Testament knows nothing of a churchless Christianity. There can be no ‘teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you’ or no continuing ‘in the apostles’ doctrine, fellowship, and breaking of bread and prayers’ unless a Christian is a member of a visible body of Jesus Christ (see Matthew 28:20 & Acts 2:41,42 & 47),” (Earl Blackburn, Denominations or Associations? pg. 28).

Our subjects this week (baptism) and next week (teaching) only make sense within the context of the local church. The commands will necessarily be fulfilled by a Christian if he or she is truly disciple of Christ, and these commands are only fulfilled within the auspices of the local church. This fact makes membership within the local church absolutely necessary for the Christian. “Far from being only one of many options for the Christian, the church is the primary means through which God accomplishes His plan in the world,” (Mack and Swavely, Life in the Father’s House, pg. 21).

Baptism is an absolutely necessary part of Christian discipleship, because church membership is an absolutely necessary part of Christian discipleship. If we are to be discipled by Christ, it will occur within the body of Christ. The first step in Christian discipleship, and the first step in church membership are the same: baptism.

“[Baptism] is what the Bible presents as the first step for the Christian, and the assumption in the New Testament is that all Christians have been baptized,” (Mark Dever, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, pg. 160).

Baptism, as a public admission of a person into the church, accomplishes two things. The first thing it accomplishes is to recognize the disciple’s willing submission to the authority of the church in his or her life. This is a countercultural concept, especially in America. We don’t like to think of any human being as having authority over us. However, the Bible is very clear that we are to subject ourselves to one another in Christ (Eph. 5:21). When I submit myself to a local church through baptism, I am declaring my desire to be submitted to that local congregation for admonition, teaching, exhortation, rebuke, edification, and training in righteousness.

This willing submission assumes a second desired end. It assumes that a church desires to corporately come alongside the new disciple and provide him or her with godly admonition, teaching, exhortation, rebuke, edification, and training in righteousness. For those who have left everything to follow Christ, it means even more. It means that the church will provide him or her with “a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms,” (Mark 10:30; NASB). This submission, then, is necessarily reciprocal, and baptism is the rite through which we enter this relationship of mutual submission.

“[Baptism] ratifies our union with those who are saved by Christ (1 Cor. 12:13-26). It is therefore often called the rite of initiation into the Christian Church,” (J. Aspinwall Hodge, The System of Theology Contained in the Westminster Shorter Catechism, pg. 138).

Christian disciples today are rightly skeptical of joining themselves to churches, because many if not most churches are either ill-equipped or unwilling to join themselves to new disciples. This is one of the great tragedies of our day. Churches have forgotten, if they ever knew, how to be churches to those who come through their doors.

“Biblical membership means taking responsibility. It comes from our mutual obligations as spelled out in all of Scripture’s one another passages—love one another, serve one another, encourage one another. All of these commands should be encapsulated in the covenant of a healthy church,” (Mark Dever, What Is a Healthy Church? pp. 95-96).

One reason we don’t often think about what we owe to one another and, specifically, what we owe to new disciples among us, is because we have forgotten the solemnity of baptism. We have forgotten the fact, or perhaps were never taught the fact, that baptism is the sealing of a covenant bond between Christ’s disciples. Baptism is a solemn vow between new members and churches, a commitment to mutual submission and a reciprocal consideration of one another’s welfare.

Baptism is not merely an individual decision. It is not merely the decision of a believer to join himself or herself to a church. Rather, it is the mutual decision of the church and the believer to enter into vital union with one another. The church is not the church without her members, and Christians are not living as true Christians apart from the church. As such, baptism is just as much a submission of the church to the member as it is a submission of the member to the church (Mack and Swavely, Life in the Father’s House, 48).

The mode and formula of baptism. In Baptist churches, we teach that new members who enter into the covenant community through faith are the only rightful recipients of the sacrament of baptism. According to An Orthodox Catechism, “Those who do actually profess repentance towards God, and faith in and obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ” are the “proper subjects of this ordinance,” (Hercules Collins, An Orthodox Catechism, Q.69). This is well known among Baptist churches. What though, are the proper mode and formula for baptism?

Before discussing mode we must note that the mode, though important, is of far less importance than the order and formula of baptism. Many of the first generation Particular Baptists, though baptized as believers, were nonetheless baptized by pouring or sprinkling, not immersion. When considering the authenticity of a baptism, I am far less concerned about the mode than I am about the order and formula. Nonetheless, Baptists have historically recognized immersion as the true mode of baptism.

This was the preferred mode of the early church. Pouring or sprinkling were only used in instances were immersion was not an option. The early church clearly understood, as we see in the Didache, that immersion was the proper mode employed by Christ and the apostles.

“The procedure for baptizing is as follows. After rehearsing all the preliminaries, immerse in running water ‘In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost’. If no running water is available, immerse in ordinary water. This should be cold if possible; otherwise warm. If neither is practicable, then sprinkle water three times on the head ‘In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,’” (The Didache, 7).

Finally, as new disciples are added to our number through baptism, they are to be baptized in a Trinitarian formula. This practice, as we see in the above quote, was clearly the practice of the church from the earliest times. It is also a practice that the church has continued to this day.

Why do we baptize in the Triune name, though? We baptize in the name of our Triune God to signify baptism in His authority. Remember that we go forth in Christ’s authority to make disciples. Christ further commands that we baptize in the authority of the Triune God any who enter into discipleship with Him. Baptism being the entrance point into the church, and baptism being divinely commanded of all who enter into the discipleship of Christ in the authority of the Triune name, all who would come to Christ as Lord must also submit themselves to the local church through baptism.

As such, it is proper to follow in the apostles’ footsteps in our discussion of baptism. Just as they preached baptism as a part of their evangelistic message (Acts 2:38; 10:48; 22:16), so ought the church today. If we are not baptizing we are not making disciples, and if we are not making disciples we are not being faithful to our King. Let us, then, reconsider the importance of baptism for the work of evangelism.