I've been working lately on a concise and pastoral statement on the nature of baptism in the framework of covenant theology. That right there may turn off some readers, but I trust this will be helpful. I decided to put this on the blog just to see if people find it clarifying. (for the one or two out there who read this!) This will be in two parts.
Children of the Covenant
People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Mark 10: 13-15
Children are a wonderful blessing, not only to families, but to churches as well. It is a great joy to see in our church a nursery that is full. An empty nursery in a church is a sure sign that the church has no longer the same attitude toward children that Jesus had, when he welcomed little children and said, of such is the kingdom of God. The Bible clearly teaches that children are a precious gift from God.
PR 17:6 Children's children are a crown to the aged,
and parents are the pride of their children.
Secondly, it is the God appointed responsibility of parents to teach their children God’s commands and to lead them to the knowledge of His grace revealed in the glorious gospel. This faith is always expressed and nurtured in the context of a believing community – the covenant people of God, called the Church.
DT 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
PS 78:6 so the next generation would know them,
even the children yet to be born,
and they in turn would tell their children.
The Bible views children with infinite value and not as something to shut away until they can be more responsible or contribute to society. God gives us many promises that our faith and God’s blessings run through families to effect future generations. Righteousness gives a wonderful legacy to our children and grandchildren. Something we would want to pass along. But, we know that none are righteous and that it is Christ’s perfect righteousness found in faith alone that we desire to be passed to our children.
PS 103:17 But from everlasting to everlasting
the LORD's love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children's children--
So, does this mean we should wait until our children have faith before we welcome them into God’s family? One Puritan stalwart answers this in saying, “But Christ never meant to say that the kingdom of heaven was only for the immaculate and stainless. If converted men receive it, in spite of many a haunting appetite and recurring lust, then the frailties of our babes shall not forbid us to believe the blessed assurance that the kingdom is also theirs” (Chadwick).
Do Not Hinder Children from Coming to Christ
"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Vs. 14
The question about this passage is whether it gives us any indication that the Bible sanctions the baptism of infants. Objections concerning this passage not having anything to do with baptism, point to the fact that Jesus did not baptize these children, nor was there any reference to water. This was a simple blessing and Christ was placing his hands on the children.
Again, the proof of the biblical validity of baptism both for believers and their children belong to the whole testimony of scripture. Certainly here Jesus is not baptizing children or anyone else. In fact Jesus never baptized anyone in the Bible. Secondly, the use of baptism as a sign of belonging to Christ was used after his resurrection and ascension (Matt. 28:18-20).
What this passage clearly shows is the same attitude toward children that God reveals in the Old Testament. God knows our children even before birth and claims them. “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.” Ps. 139:13
Children of believers were always included in the covenantal blessings of God (Acts 2:39). The children of Israel were not considered pagans until they reached some mysterious age of accountability. What an unbiblical thought that somehow children are not accountable for their sin. They come out of the womb as rebellious sinners, telling lies, the Psalmist tells us (Psalm 58:3). By nature they are all “children of wrath” (Eph. 2:3), not a sweet Precious Moment kind of picture we imagine, even though they bear the indelible mark of God’s image.
To believe that baptism as a New Testament sign of God’s forgiveness and new life only belongs to those who exercise a professed belief, is to introduce something new and out of character with the whole Bible.
John Calvin was right when he said that the only difference between circumcision of the Old Testament Church and the baptism of the Church under Jesus Christ is only in the externals.
It is true that we have no command in the New Testament to baptize children of believing parents. But, the burden of proof does not lie on those who believe Scripture teaches us to do so. The burden of proving otherwise falls on those who say, “Now God acts differently and the sign of God’s covenantal family belongs only to adults or to those who can sufficiently make the appropriate response of faith”.
John Calvin asked these questions to those who would deny baptism to little children:
“If it is right that children should be brought to Christ, why should they not be admitted to baptism, the symbol of our communion and fellowship with Christ? If the kingdom of heaven is theirs, why should they be denied the sign by which access, as it were, is opened to the Church, that being admitted into it they may be enrolled among the heirs of the heavenly kingdom?” (Commentary on Mark)
We must ask, “What does baptism represent?” And we must ask what makes baptism effective?
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Why I need Grace and not Free Will
For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. Romans 6:14
The biggest difference in most theologies and understandings about God is how one understands human freedom and divine grace. It is because of my own need for grace and my sense of the power of sin in my life that I find Calvin to win this debate every time. Calvin was indebted to Augustine and Augustine was indebted to Paul.
“He who is a slave to sin is free to sin” said St. Augustine. No one holds a gun to our heads and forces us to do wrong things. We choose them freely. And we do them because they hold an attraction to us. “Take away the love of sinning”, says the old hymn. We love it because it is our nature to do so.
Pop singer Tom Petty put this irony of human freedom, several years ago in his song, “Free Fallin”. It reflects the idea that sin has the “feeling” of being free. The problem however, is that a person who jumps off a tall building to assert their freedom suddenly submits themselves to a greater law, the law of physics, which says objects fall with increasing speed to the ground. Such freedom is short-lived.
She's a good girl, loves her mama
Loves Jesus and America too
She's a good girl, crazy 'bout Elvis
Loves horses and her boyfriend too
It's a long day living in Reseda
There's a freeway runnin' through the yard
And I'm a bad boy cause I don't even miss her
I'm a bad boy for breakin' her heart
And I'm free, free fallin'
Yeah I'm free, free fallin'
This is why we call the original sin of Adam and Eve as “the Fall”, because as a race we have been falling ever since. What appears to be freedom, or looks so innocent – “just a little sin”, is in reality another jump into a greater bondage, from which there is no escape. C.S. Lewis helps us to see how the Fall is relived in each of our lives on a daily basis.
“From the moment a creature becomes aware of God as God and of itself as self, the terrible alternative of choosing God or self for the centre is opened to it. This sin is committed daily….it is the fall in every individual life, and in each day of each individual life, the basic sin behind all particular sins: at this very moment you and I are either committing it, or about to commit it, or repenting it.” (The Problem of Pain.)
It is why on a moment to moment basis, I need to trust in the mercy of God and the grace He gives me in Christ Jesus. I am a bad boy, who needs grace in the form of Christ’s righteousness given to me freely. Falling into Christ is true freedom.
The biggest difference in most theologies and understandings about God is how one understands human freedom and divine grace. It is because of my own need for grace and my sense of the power of sin in my life that I find Calvin to win this debate every time. Calvin was indebted to Augustine and Augustine was indebted to Paul.
“He who is a slave to sin is free to sin” said St. Augustine. No one holds a gun to our heads and forces us to do wrong things. We choose them freely. And we do them because they hold an attraction to us. “Take away the love of sinning”, says the old hymn. We love it because it is our nature to do so.
Pop singer Tom Petty put this irony of human freedom, several years ago in his song, “Free Fallin”. It reflects the idea that sin has the “feeling” of being free. The problem however, is that a person who jumps off a tall building to assert their freedom suddenly submits themselves to a greater law, the law of physics, which says objects fall with increasing speed to the ground. Such freedom is short-lived.
She's a good girl, loves her mama
Loves Jesus and America too
She's a good girl, crazy 'bout Elvis
Loves horses and her boyfriend too
It's a long day living in Reseda
There's a freeway runnin' through the yard
And I'm a bad boy cause I don't even miss her
I'm a bad boy for breakin' her heart
And I'm free, free fallin'
Yeah I'm free, free fallin'
This is why we call the original sin of Adam and Eve as “the Fall”, because as a race we have been falling ever since. What appears to be freedom, or looks so innocent – “just a little sin”, is in reality another jump into a greater bondage, from which there is no escape. C.S. Lewis helps us to see how the Fall is relived in each of our lives on a daily basis.
“From the moment a creature becomes aware of God as God and of itself as self, the terrible alternative of choosing God or self for the centre is opened to it. This sin is committed daily….it is the fall in every individual life, and in each day of each individual life, the basic sin behind all particular sins: at this very moment you and I are either committing it, or about to commit it, or repenting it.” (The Problem of Pain.)
It is why on a moment to moment basis, I need to trust in the mercy of God and the grace He gives me in Christ Jesus. I am a bad boy, who needs grace in the form of Christ’s righteousness given to me freely. Falling into Christ is true freedom.
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