Thinking Biblically About Abortion

Preliminary Issues for Preaching on Baptism in 2015

Sunday I will begin a 3-4 week preaching series on the subject of baptism. We will be surveying the doctrine and practice of baptism in the Bible as well as examining the question of infant or household baptisms. Since our congregation began baptizing the children of believers this year, the elders and I feel it is important to spend time explaining and demonstrating from Scripture why we regard this to be biblical. Before we begin this study, however, there are three preliminary issues I wanted to address.

First, we need to be clear on definitions. Paedo refers to infants, and credo refers to belief. So paedobaptism is the baptism of infants, and credobaptism is the baptism of believers only. Covenant baptism refers to the baptism of a believer’s children based on the fact those children are set apart to God in the visible covenant (1Cor. 7:14). This latter definition is what separates infant baptisms at RBC from those administered by the Roman Catholic Church, for example, the latter practicing infant baptism based on their belief it remits original sin.

Second, we need to address the question of modes, i.e. how baptism is to be administered. Contrary to the insistence of many credobaptists, immersion is not the only mode of baptism taught in the New Testament or likely exemplified in it. This is an important but separate issue. I have previously written on this subject (here and here), and questions regarding the mode of baptism are welcome during Wednesday night’s Q&A.

Third, we need to emphasize the scope of Scripture. Credobaptists who insist on sola Scriptura (Scripture alone) sometimes neglect tota Scriptura (all of Scripture) on this topic. But the Bible is one book, with one God, one covenant people, and one covenant of grace running throughout. Unless something in Scripture is explicitly limited or set aside (e.g. civil and ceremonial regulations in the Mosaic Law), it still counts. We must form our understanding of baptism, and all other doctrines, based on the total teaching of Scripture, not just one part of it.

I am excited and thankful for the opportunity to deliver this teaching series, and I encourage you to be praying about it. Our aim is to glorify God and to faithfully follow His word. There is no agenda other than that. I never expected two years ago how my view of baptism would change, but I don’t regret it either. Soli Deo Gloria! –JME

Worshiping the God Who Is

More than once, and most recently just a couple of weeks ago, I have read or been told, “If the god you believe in exists, I would not worship him because he would be a moral monster.” Interestingly, while such statements are made by atheists decrying the “Christian” god, I have more often heard this from angry Arminians who are offended I believe God chose certain people to save before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4), gave them to the Son (John 17:6), wrote their names in the Book of Life before creation (Rev. 17:8), irresistibly draws them (John 6:37), and both justifies and glorifies them despite their manifold faults and the Devil’s interference (Rom. 8:29-30). Moral monster, indeed.

There is a larger issue at stake here, one more basic than the topics commonly claiming attention. The question is whether believing in God—the true and living God, the only God that is, the One who is unchanging, all-powerful, and does whatever He pleases in heaven and on earth (Psa. 135:6)—the question is whether believing in that God is up for debate. Do you believe in the god you worship because you like what you know of him (or her, for all of you goddess worshippers who are not reading this)? If your approval of god’s personality and program is the basis of your faith in him, then let me urge you with great fervency to repent, because you are an idolater. It is not the true God that you serve but one re-made in your own image. You may call him by the same names (e.g. Yahweh, El Shaddai, Lord, Jesus Christ), but so do the cults. You worship the god you want, not the God that is.

We worship God because He is God: almighty, creator, sovereign, and holy (Psa. 96). We love God because He is good: gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy (1John 4:8-10). Woe to us if we reverse the two. We do not choose to worship God because we approve of Him. He is GOD, and He does not need (or crave or even show interest in) our approval (Psa. 50). Thanks be to God that He is loving, He is kind, He is good, because He did not have to be. If He were a tyrant, we would still be obliged to bow before Him. But as it is, we have been brought near to a loving Father who forgives our sins.

If you reject certain doctrines because you do not like them, because they offend your sensibilities or violate what seems right and fair to you, then it is not God that you worship, but a god made in your own image. It is idolatry. God’s reality is objective, not subjective. His character is immutable, not provisional. His work is always right, whether it seems right to us or not. We are called to recognize and worship the God that is, not pretend He is other than what He has revealed. –JME

Staying Ahead of the Pain

Anyone who has ever had to take prescription pain medicine after surgery has probably heard the expression stay ahead of the pain. Usually this refers to taking pain medicine on a schedule, before you need it, in order to keep the pain at a manageable level. If you wait until you are hurting to take the medicine, the pain may become overwhelming, and the medicine may be unable to overcome it or take longer to do so.

During Elijah’s recent hospitalization, Kirstie and I have been reminded of God’s palliatives for the soul: Scripture, prayer, and the worship of the saints (including the preached word and sacraments). The word of God sustains us in times of trouble (Psa. 119:71, 92, 114), prayer reminds us our Father knows and cares (Php. 4:6-7; 1Pet. 5:6-7; 1Jn. 5:14-15), and the worship and fellowship of the Church reaffirms the Lord’s promises and that we are not alone in waiting and watching for His return (Psa. 122; 1Cor. 11:26; Heb. 10:19-25). Stress and trouble is always easier to bear when we avail ourselves of the means of grace. Trials are not easy, but God’s grace makes them bearable and sanctifying.

It is especially important in seasons of trial to be diligent in using God’s means of grace to sustain our souls and strengthen our faith. We can easily be distracted by the urgent concerns troubling our hearts at such times. Daily Bible reading is certainly less urgent than physical crisis. Prayer may not seem imminently practical. And so we focus more on what is pressing than on what is important. We neglect the word and prayer and the worship of the saints, and we find ourselves increasingly overwhelmed by the emotional pain of the moment.

We must learn to stay ahead of the pain, to apply God’s medicine for the soul before the distress has become urgent, before our sorrows are so great they obscure the brilliance of God’s glory shining above and around us. We must discipline ourselves before the trial comes, and even as we walk through the trial, meeting God in His word, seeking His blessing in prayer, worshiping His holy name and being reminded of what is true, what is real, what will last, and what will not. Do not wait until the pain is so great you can no longer focus on Scripture. Do not wait until you have no words left to pray. Be diligent each day to feed and nurture your soul using the means God has provided. Stay ahead of the pain, and watch God use your pain for His good purposes. –JME

Fretting Over Evildoers

“Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers!
For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb.
(Psalm 37:1-2)

Elijah has been asking to lead prayers with the family, and lately every prayer has included three requests: (1) that our nation will repent, (2) that our government will make good decisions, and (3) that daddy will not lose his job. His concern about these issues is so great that he has reminded us when we “forgot” to pray for our nation. Elijah put together his three-point prayer almost entirely from observing adult conversations between his mom and dad and brethren in the church. We have talked to our kids about current events and the potential implications for Christians and churches—though we have not discussed it with the boys in the same detail as with their older sisters—but very little time has been spent conversing about it, and we have not had the kind of “serious conversation” that might make them fearful or worried about the future. Nevertheless, Elijah has picked up enough of the larger conversation to be concerned, and so he is praying earnestly about it every day.

This morning I opened my Bible and came upon Psalm 37 once again. The Hebrew word translated fret in the ESV might better be translated be angry (cf. Gen. 4:5; 30:2; 31:6; 34:7). There is a proper, even necessary, anger the righteous should feel toward evil and evildoers. Jesus was angry when he saw religious hypocrisy and the abuse of the Temple (Mark. 3:1-5; 11:15-17). John the Baptist was stirred up by Herod’s immorality (Luke 3:19) as Paul was by Athens’ idolatry (Acts 17:16). The Bible commands us to hate evil (Psa. 97:10; Prov. 8:13; Amos 5:15); we cannot be passive towards it. But, as Psalm 37 affirms, our indignation toward evil should not unsettle our souls. We know evil will not ultimately triumph because Christ already won the victory (Col. 2:15).

We must balance righteous anger against sin and human sinfulness with the joy and peace that comes in trusting the Savior, Jesus Christ. We grieve because of the ungodliness around us, but to adapt Paul’s language concerning the dead, we do not sorrow as those who have no hope. We know the victory is already won; we simply await the arrival of the conquering King. Each day we watch and pray, waiting and hoping with great anticipation for the coming of our Lord in glory.

At the same time, we must be faithful while we live in this fallen world. Our dreams of heaven and hope of the parousia must not take us from the responsibilities of discipleship and stewardship here and now. Paul addressed this kind of error in his letters to the Thessalonians, and he exhorted them “to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one” (1Thess. 4:11-12). We must be faithful to Christ today, even as we live in anticipation of that day when we see Him coming again to claim His own. –JME