COVENANT AND ESCHATOLOGY

For some fun reading before next semester I picked up Michael Horton's Covenant and Eschatology: The Divine Drama. His basic thesis is that the content of the Bible should determine the method for doing theology, rather than developing a prolegomenon before coming to the text.

Some notable quotes so far:

Furthermore, the covenant itself is stable, though hardly static; historical, though not historicist. The vertical "intrusions" keep redemptive history from being "one damned thing after another," while the horizontal stride keeps eschatology from being subsumed into some ahistorical event. The "new thing" is a true novum, yet not "wholly other." The new creation is both new and creation--that is, both that which transcends creation and that which renews and therefore has some considerable continuity with it.

Peter Berger as quoted by Horton says,

"In a culture where religion is functional both socially and psychologically, Chrsitian preaching itself ought to call men to a confrontation with the God who stands against the needs of society and against the aspirations of the human heart." We need to recover that sense so pervasive in other periods; namely, that even Christians do not know what they really need or even want--and that attending to their immediate felt needs may muffle the only proclmation that can a ctually satisfy real needs. Berger judges that "the more general personal consequence of the abandonment of theological criteria for the Christian life is the cult of experience...Emotional pragmatism now takes the place of the noest confrontation with the Christian message.

ROBERT REYMOND ON THE TIMING OF CHRIST'S INCARNATION

"When the time had fully come, that is to say, at God's appointed time--when the Jewish diaspora had spread throughout the Roman Empire and the Old Testament had been translated into Greek, opening the eyes of the Greek world to its theological power and beauty, when the pax Romana extended over most of the known world with great roads and the Greek language linking the empire of the Caesars and making travel and commerce possible on a scale formerly impossible, when Greek philosophical thought had atrophied into skepticism, offering no hope in human wisdom to improve the ancient world (1 Cor. 1:19-21), when the so-called civilized world as a result had sunk so low morally (Rom. 1:21-32) that even pagans were crying out for relief from the rampant immorality all around them--in keeping with the Old Testament 'promises, prophecies, sacrifices...and other types of ordinances..., all foresignifying Christ to come' (Westminster Confession of Faith, VII/v), 'God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law' (Gal. 4:4) as the Messiah and Mediator of the covenant of grace."

A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith, 545

Ps. This book is, in my humble opinion, the best Systematic Theology around. He's a presbyterian cat, so the chapters on baptism and church polity are off, but it is pretty helpful to see such a level-headed and clear cat propose such flat arguments for paedo-baptism and presbyterian church polity. Reading those chapters has made me feel even better about being baptist.

It's going for $23 (includes shipping) on abebooks right now if anyone wants to snag it.

ANTHONY HOEKEMA ON ESCHATOLOGY

"From first to last, and not merely in the epilogue, Christianity is eschatology, is hope, forward looking and forward moving, and therefore also revolutionizing and transforming the present. The eschatological is not one element of Christianity, but it is the medium of the Christian faith as such, the key in which everything in it is set...Hence eschatology cannot really be only a part of Christian doctrine. Rather, the eschatological outlook is characteristic of all Christian proclamation, and of every Christian existence and of the whole Church."

HOLY PLACES

"Neither prayer, nor any other part of religious worship, is now, under the gospel, either tied unto, or made more acceptable by any place in which it is performed, or towards which it is directed."

Westminster Confession of Faith 21:6

D. MARTYN LLOYD-JONES ON PERSEVERANCE

Martyn Lloyd-Jones was a Welsh pastor in London in the first half of the Twentieth Century. His books (which are basically just his sermons) have helped me to read the Bible better. I would recommend anything with his name on it.

In his sermons on Philippians he notes the following:

"Thank God, my hope of that day of Jesus Christ and his glory does not rest upon my own will power or upon my own desire or understanding. It rests upon this fact that he would never have started the work if he had not decided to finish it...What Paul means (in Rom. 5:10) is this: if Christ died for you when you were an enemy and a rebel and hated him, if he died for you in that condition, how much more, then, will God keep and sustain and hold you, and finish the work by the love of Christ--it is unanswerable logic. The character of God guarantees the completion of the work."

MODE OF BAPTISM?

For Baptist churches the mode of baptism has been viewed as a very important part of the ordinance. By-in-large we believe that Scripture is clear enough that immersion--that is, submerging the candidate under the water-- (as opposed to effusion or sprinkling) is the proper way to be baptized. As a result, Baptist elders have encountered a handful of tricky theological and ecclesiological questions. For instance, when do you consider someone's previous 'baptism' as invalid and thus require a "rebaptism"?

EASY SITUATIONS:

1. He/she was baptized before conversion.
2. He/she believed the baptism was saving.
3. He/she was baptized by a non-Christian “church”.

In all of these situations I would say that his/her "baptism" (if the quotation marks haven't given it away) wasn't a genuine baptism at all. He/she should be baptized.


A DIFFICULT SITUATION

He/she was baptized as a believer by sprinkling as opposed to immersion. Here's a hypothetical situation. We have a girl named Libby Brighton who wants to join our Baptist church. She was baptized upon conversion in a PCA church by sprinkling. She had a proper understanding of the ordinance as a symbol representing a spiritual reality. Everything about her baptism fits the biblical description except for the mode. Should she be ‘rebaptized’?


MY REASONS TO SEE LIBBY'S PREVIOUS BAPTISM AS VALID

1. We wouldn’t say the Lord’s Supper is invalid simply because the mode isn't precise: grape juice instead of wine.

2. There is no EXPLICIT command in Scripture to be immersed--the Lord could have used more explicit language. We take our practice from what we consider to be very strong implicit evidence, from the physical accounts in the Gospels and Acts and the symbolism of baptism as going down into the grave and being raised with Christ. But even so, immersion isn’t explicitly commanded in Scripture.

3. She was baptized under the care and authority of her Gospel-believing elders. As a young believer she was submitting to her leaders, which in any case, we would say is the proper default (Heb. 13:17). I believe for this reason alone, this baptism was a true and genuine baptism with which the Lord was pleased.

4. There were baptisms in the first century when candidates were sprinkled because of a lack of water and these were seen as valid. Historically, immediacy has been given priority over precision of mode.

5. Out of all the details for a Christian baptism given in Scripture, mode seems to be the most inconsequential:
a. Baptized by a Gospel-preaching church under the authority of elders.
b. Had proper understanding of the ordinance as not saving, but symbolic of a spiritual reality
c. Was a believer when baptized
d. Baptized by immersion

6. A 're-baptism', even with an explanation could cause unhelpful doubt among the other members of a congregation.

7. Scripture seems to deal less severely with those lacking in knowledge: Luke 12:47-48, Matt. 11:20-22, James 3:1.

In my opinion Libby's situation is not preferable, but not enough to overturn a one-time ordinance. One caveat however: It is important to remember that conscience is key and while a good conscience doesn’t necessarily mean one shouldn’t be baptized again, a consistently guilty conscience over time would necessitate this.

CORRECTIVE CHURCH DISCIPLINE

I come to two different passages of Scripture teaching in detail on the process of church discipline: Matthew 18 and 1 Corinthians 5. On a simplistic reading, the two don't seem to fit neatly together. Jesus in Matthew 18 outlines very clearly that a brother/sister shouldn't be excommunicated until three levels of intervention have occurred: A single individual approaches the brother, a group of 2 or 3, and finally, the entire local congregation. Only at that point should the sinner "be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector." Paul in 1 Corinthians 5 however seems (on a simplistic reading) to bypass both initial steps and moves directly to step 3: instant excommunication. Some would argue that Paul's 'bypass' is because this particular sin (a man sleeping with his father's wife) is in a different class than some other sins--namely because it was a 'public' and 'heinous/gross sin'. I don't think the text warrants this distinction. My reasons:

1. Matthew 18 is clear and didactic, whereas 1 Corinthians 5 is situational and relies in part on information that we aren't privy to (5:9's "I wrote to you...")--namely, a previous letter to this church. In any case, Paul's direction in this specific case when we aren't given all the details isn't reason enough to bypass the clear teaching of Jesus in Matthew 18.

2. Corrective discipline is a potentially disastrous tool. 2 Corinthians 2 says about a man who was under such discipline: "For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him." Corrective discipline is designed by the Lord to shame and sorrow the sinner. Therefore, this is one topic where local churches should be particularly careful in their proceedings.

3. Every other example of the process of discipline or potential discipline in the New Testament stresses these initial steps.

a) Revelation 2:20-21: "But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality."

The text is particularly helpful because this sin is the same kind as that of the man in 1 Corinthians 5--gross public and heinous sexual sin. However, John in this text makes it clear that he had given her "time to repent" and presumably would have discontinued the process of corrective discipline if she had. Important verse for this discussion!

b) 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15: "If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn his as a brother." (Next post will be on what it means to "have nothing to do" with "your brother"... Kind of confusing)

This instruction follows the commands of Paul in his first letter to the Thessalonians in which he says, "And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all" (1 Thess. 5:14) He also notes his public teaching from his last visit to them: "For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat" (2 Thess. 3:10). What we see in the case of these rebellious Thessalonians is that they had at least two previous rebukes/appeals by Paul and the Thessalonian Christians. There is more reason to believe that in this way the steps of Matthew 18 had been taken than not.

c) 1 Timothy 5:19-20: "Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear."

Once again, there is no exception given which would lead to instant discipline. It is only when the offender "persists in sin" that discipline (in this case the public rebuke of an elder) takes place.

d) Titus 3:9-11: "But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned."

Same as above.

4) Finally, it's instructive to see where Matthew, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, places Jesus' teaching on church discipline--between the parable of the lost sheep and the unforgiving servant.

18:10-14 is the parable of the lost sheep--the point being that the shepherd will leave the ninety-nine, symbolizing his willingness to do anything to gain this sheep back. 18:21-35 is Jesus' parable of the unforgiving servant--the point being that a Christian should forgive their brother 'seventy times seven times' and "forgive your brother from your heart."

These parables corroborate the teaching in the rest of the New Testament that a believer is never to delay in any way forgiveness to a brother or sister as long as he/she is repentant.