This is Who We Are: What a Baptist Is and Believes - The Kingdom

There is a lot of talk today about the Kingdom of God and rightfully so.  Perhaps no other phrase is more foundational to the message and ministry of Jesus than the Kingdom of God.  Unfortunately, too many confuse what Jesus means by the Kingdom or distort it to fit their own theological, political, social, or economic prejudices.   The Baptist Faith & Message 2000 says:

The Kingdom of God includes both His general sovereignty over the universe and His particular kingship over men who willfully acknowledge Him as King. Particularly the Kingdom is the realm of salvation into which men enter by trustful, childlike commitment to Jesus Christ. Christians ought to pray and to labor that the Kingdom may come and God's will be done on earth. The full consummation of the Kingdom awaits the return of Jesus Christ and the end of this age.*

The BF&M 2000 seeks to strike a balance between two extremes when discussing this issue.  Here’s the question.  Is the Kingdom of God here already or still in the future?  Are we to build the Kingdom now or await the Kingdom at the return of Christ?

Consider the biblical evidence.  Jesus speaks of the Kingdom as already present.  In Luke 16:16 Jesus notes that the law and the prophets were in effect until John came; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is proclaim.  Likewise, both John the Baptist and Jesus both began their ministries by proclaiming, Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand! (Matthew 3:2; 4:17).  Jesus is always seen building the Kingdom and His followers are portrayed as working for the Kingdom, building the Kingdom.

But the Kingdom is also portrayed as future.  In Luke 19 Jesus tells a parable about a man in a far off country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return (Luke 19:2).  The man is undoubtably Jesus Himself who will leave in order to return as King.  In fact, Luke notes that this is the very purpose of the parable.  Verse one notes that Jesus told the parable because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.

So which is it and why does it matter?  Is the Kingdom of God present or future?  The answer has to be both and we must affirm both.  This is not a contradiction, but a paradox.  The Kingdom of God is both here and not yet and to emphasize one over the other is to fall into dangerous ground.

Liberalism has traditionally emphasized the present reality of the Kingdom and thus turn the gospel into social justice.  The gospel has nothing to do with the substitutionary work of Christ on the cross, instead the cross becomes an example for us to follow.  Thus Christianity is about humanitarian aide, not about repentance from sin.

Fundamentalist Christians, on the other hand, emphasize the future hope of the Kingdom and thus become obsessed with end times prophecy & escapism.  As a result, they refuse to see the needs around them.  The cross, then, is only about saving our souls and not about regeneration.  The gospel is about getting ourselves into heaven and oftentimes fails to change the person to meet the needs around them.

It is against these two extremes we must emphasize both the present reality and the future hope of the Kingdom.  The gospel of the Kingdom means that we have been redeemed and transformed and the work of the Christ on the cross and resurrection changes who we are now in the hopes we will be finally changed at the resurrection.  The Kingdom is both and, not either or.  The gospel is both here and now and, at the same time, future.  We are saved (past), being saved (present), and will be saved (future).  The Kingdom is the same.

Our responsibility, then, is to both build the Kingdom by calling on souls to repent trusting in the work of the gospel to change the person and to change the community, &, at the same time, we long for the day that Christ recreates this imperfect, fallen, depraved world and restores it.  Thus we must look for the work of the gospel here and at the same time long for the gospel to be completed at Christ’s return.  We long to be with Christ, but in the meantime, we have work to do.  Let us then build the Kingdom knowing that one day the King will return and we will give account for how we have been serving Him.

Thus let us pray, Your kingdom come.  Your will be done.  On earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10).


*  Gen 1:1; Isa 9:6-7; Jere 23:5-6; Matt 3:2; 4:8-10,23; 12:25-28; 13:1-52; 25:31-46; 26:29; Mark 1:14-15; 9:1; Luke 4:43; 8:1; 9:2; 12:31-32; 17:20-21; 23:42; John 3:3; 18:36; Acts 1:6-7; 17:22-31; Rom 5:17; 8:19; 1 Cor 15:24-28; Colo 1:13; Heb 11:10,16; 12:28; 1 Peter 2:4-10; 4:13; Rev 1:6,9; 5:10; 11:15; 21-22.


This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Introduction
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Scripture
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God
This is Who We Are  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God the Father
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God the Son
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God the Spirit
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Man
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Salvation
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes -  God's Purpose of Grace
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Church
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Baptism
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - The Lord's Supper 
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - The Lord's Day  

May 2011 Newsletter Available

Here is the link for the May 2011 newsletter for those who failed to pick one up this past Sunday.  It is free to download and as always, there will be a permanent link to the left where one can download the newsletter all month.


May 2011 Newsletter 

This is Who We Are: What a Baptist Is and Believes - The Lord's Day

Sunday is not the Sabbath.  But before you think I’m a heretic, let me explain.  Saturday is the Sabbath – the last day of the week. Just check your calendars.  The Jewish day of rest in Scripture is Saturday. After a week of work, the Jews, as commanded in the Old Testament, rested on Saturday, the Sabbath. So what is Sunday all about?  Why do we, as bible-believing Christians, worship & rest on Sundays if the Sabbath is on Saturday? Are we breaking one of the Commandments?

No.

For one, we must be careful in turning the Sabbath into a legalistic rule that offers salvation or threatens us with separation from God post-salvation.  The 10 Commandments primarily identify idols & aren’t just rules.  In this case, the primary idol identified here is work, greed, accomplishment, & unhealthy drives.

Secondly, we must ask why the change has taken place?  Why did the “Sabbath” go from Saturday in the Old Testament & Sunday in the New Testament?  The answer is simple: the resurrection.  Since the founding of the Church, Christians have always set Sunday aside as a day of worship.  When the first Church was made up primarily of Jews they still rested on Saturday as the Jewish law required, but made Sunday a day of worship whereby they would remember & commemorate the day of Resurrection.

This is an important point.  The resurrection was & is so central to the Christian gospel & the Christian Church that it has altered our calendars.  The substitutionary death & the triumphant resurrection of our Lord is central to Christianity & without these events there would be no Christianity, no salvation, & our faith would be in vain.  Jesus is not dead, but alive!  And that is worth worshiping.

This fundamental fact forces us to make a slight shift in our understanding of the day of rest.  I do believe we ought to rest on Sundays (especially since our schedules are so full that Sunday may be the only day to take a nap!), but in a post-resurrection world, Sunday should be a day of resurrection.  Sunday is the day we commemorate & remember the historical fact that Christ died in our place for our sins & was raised for our justification three days later.  Thus we worship, not as a ritual, but with joy.  Sunday is more than a day to sleep, it is a day to celebrate.  Easter – Resurrection Sunday – ought not to just be a holiday, but an everyday reality whereby live as raised souls.  Like Christ, we are not dead.  Christ has raised us & will raise us.

In this light, the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 says regarding the Lord’s Day:

The first day of the week is the Lord’s Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead & should include exercises of worship & spiritual devotion, both public & private. Activities on the Lord’s Day should be commensurate with the Christian’s conscience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.*

The point made in the confession is the same as made above.  Notice that the Lord’s Day is an institution not a law that points us to Christ.  It ought to be regularly observed not in the hopes of salvation, but because of our salvation. 

It’s the last sentence that could cause trouble for some: Activities on the Lord’s Day should be commensurate with the Christian’s conscience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  In other words, each person’s conscience ought to dictate what is & isn’t work on the “Sabbath.” The point here is to avoid being Pharisees-like with endless religious rules regarding the Sabbath. What the BF&M 2000 does is guard against such legalism.  The Lord’s Day ought not to be a burden, but a joy.

So what ought we do in terms of rest on Sunday?  Again we must be careful not to turn a day into a law.  Sunday is a day of rest for sure, but it ought to primarily be a day of worship.  We are encouraged in Scripture to gather together with other brothers & sisters in Christ & celebrate our risen Lord.  Let that set the tone for the rest of the week.  We are a resurrected people who serve a resurrected Lord.  We must guard against both legalism & libertarianism & the gospel offers the right balance.

All of this is to say that Sunday ought not to be a burden on the people of God, but a day in which to look forward to by the people of God.  Certainly we ought & better rest, but more fundamentally let us worship.  In fact, the rest we enjoy on the Lord’s Day is itself an act of worship wherein we trust in the Providential care of our Father who has given us His Son.  Why worry about tomorrow?


*  BF&M 2000 offer the following references:  Exodus 20:8-11; Matthew 12:1-12; 28:1ff.; Mark 2:27-28; 16:1-7; Luke 24:1-3,33-36; John 4:21-24; 20:1,19-28; Acts 20:7; Romans 14:5-10; I Corinthians 16:1-2; Colossians 2:16; 3:16; Revelation 1:10.


This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Introduction
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Scripture
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God
This is Who We Are  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God the Father
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God the Son
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God the Spirit
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Man
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Salvation
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes -  God's Purpose of Grace
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Church
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Baptism  
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - The Lord's Supper 

April 2011 Newsletter Now Aviailable Online

Another month, another newsletter.  Here is this month's newsletter for April 2011 which can be viewed online for free.  As always, a permanent link is available at the left.


April 2011 Newsletter 

This is Who We Are: What a Baptist Is and Believes - The Lord's Supper

Last month we discussed the first of two ordinances – Baptism.  The second & equally important ordinance is the Lord’s Supper also known (in other traditions) as Communion (Protestantism) or the Eucharists (Catholicism).  As Baptists we understand that baptism is the public symbol of salvation while the Lord’s Supper follows & serves as a reminder of the work of Christ.  In other words, the Lord’s Supper reminds us of the grace & restoration baptism symbolizes.

Regarding the Lord’s Supper, the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 says:

The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread & the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer & anticipate His 2nd coming.*

There are two main aspects of the confession highlighted.  The first regards the memorial aspect of the Lord’s Supper.  Throughout Scripture, God’s people are commanded to remember.  The Jewish Passover was given as a means to remember the Exodus. Jews  repeatedly laid out 12 stones to remember great works of God.  And in the New Testament we are given the Lord’s Supper to be constantly reminded of what Christ accomplished on the cross. 

Like the Passover lamb whose shed blood redeemed the Israelites, so too the shed blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, redeems those who believe.  Communion forces us to recall not just what Christ did but why He did it.  He is the Divine Passover Lamb who took away the sins of the world – our sins.  His body was broken (the bread) & His blood was shed (the fruit of the vine) on our behalf.  Without His death (& resurrection) we would not be redeemed.  We would not have hope.  We would not be restored.  We would not be reconciled.  We would not be saved.  The cross is central to everything Christians believe & affirm.  The Lord’s Supper forces us to turn back to the cross & look at the One in whom stands in our place.

The second aspect mentioned by the confession regards anticipation.  The Apostle Paul commands believers to continue to remember Jesus’ death & resurrection through this ordinance until Christ’s certain return.  At that point, we will not need to remember for we will stand before the Trinity for eternity.

Believe it or not, this issue was the mostly hotly debated among the Reformers in the 16th Century.  They all agreed on the gospel, on Christ, on Scripture, & the salvific doctrines of the faith, but when it came to the Lord’s Supper, they were deeply divided.  One of the issues that remain with us today (& still divides denominations) is the substance of the bread & juice/wine.  Catholicism teaches that upon the blessing of the priest, they become the literal body & blood of Jesus (transubstantiation).  Lutherans modify this some (consubstantiation).  Baptists & others hold that the bread & the juice are just that: bread & juice.  There is no miraculous blessing or special presence within the bread/juice.  They are just bread & juice.  Baptist have understood that the debate need not be over such things.  What they are is not as important as the purpose the serve & the symbol they represent.  In all of this we have forgotten the cross.

At the end of the day, however, let us see in the Lord’s Supper, not a religious ritual we just do, but an opportunity to reflect, to remember, & to rejoice in what Christ has done.  The Lord’s Supper will not save you & it will not keep you in the Father’s arms.  Christ accomplished that at the cross.  Let us never forget that. So as we participate in the Lord’s Supper moving forward, let us not complain that the service may go long or that the crackers taste bad.  Instead, let us rejoice that though we were lost, we were found.  Though we were blind, we now see.  Let us then share with one another, as a redeemed community, at the Lord’s table & rejoice in His work on the cross by which we have been saved.


*  The BF&M 2000 cite the following verses:  Matt 26:26-30; Mk 14:22-26; Lk 22:19-20; Jn Acts 2:41-42; 20:7; 1 Cor 10:16,21; 11:23-29.
**  The above picture is one of the most famous in history painted by Leonardo Da Vinci.  And for all of you Da Vinci Code fans, no I don't think that is Mary Magdalene in there.



This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Introduction
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Scripture
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God
This is Who We Are  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God the Father
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God the Son
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God the Spirit
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Man
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Salvation
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes -  God's Purpose of Grace
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Church  
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Baptism  

March 2011 Newsletter Available Online Now

The newsletter for March 2011 has been posted online and can be viewed here or as always you can click on the link to the left.

The article in the newsletter can be read here.

This is Who We Are: What a Baptist Is and Believes - Baptism

Like most Protestant traditions, Baptist practice two ordinances (we avoid the word sacrament in an effort to avoid the connotation that these practices are salvific): Baptism & the Lord’s Supper.  These two ordinances were instituted by Christ who commanded all believers to practice them.  Regarding baptism, the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 says:

Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord's Supper.*

The confession makes clear several points.  First, baptism is by immersion.  For centuries, Christians sprinkled baptismal candidates, but Baptist have avoided this primarily on the grounds of the meaning of the word.  “To baptize” in Greek means “to immerse” or even “to drown.”  The act of sprinkling primarily came as a result of the practice of infant baptism.

Secondly, Baptist affirm believers baptism.  This is among the Baptist distinctives.  We only baptize those who have made a public profession of faith by which the local church recognizes God’s work in salvation and follow up with the public ordinance of baptism.  Many traditions within both Catholicism and many Protestants traditions baptize children.  Baptist have always rejected this position on biblical grounds.  No infant in Scripture was ever baptized nor is there any trace of the practice of infant baptism in the early Church.

Thirdly, baptism is a symbol illustrating the work of Christ in the believer.  Contrary to some traditions, baptism only gets a person wet and nothing else.  Some Christians have held throughout the centuries that baptism contributes to our salvation.  Baptist reject this on the ground that salvation is by grace through faith alone apart from any works on our behalf.  If one must be baptized to be saved, then salvation is not by faith alone.

But what does it symbolize?  As the confession reveals, baptism is about the death, burial, and resurrection of both the Redeemer and the redeemed.  It is through the substitutionary work of Christ on the cross (whereby He absorbed the full wrath of God in our place) and the resurrection (whereby we are given His righteousness) that we are saved.  Thus baptism reminds every witness of the work of Redeemer who has saved us by dying in our place and being raised from the dead. 

Likewise, baptism is a picture of the redeemed.  We have been crucified with Christ.  We have put to death our old selves only to be raised as new creatures in Christ.  Salvation, then, is more than a ticket to heaven when we die, but regenerates us into new persons.  We are not what we once were.  We are washed.  We are renewed.  We are restored.  We are made righteous.

It is for these reasons, among others, that baptism is central to the Christian faith.  It is not merely a ritual, but a testimonial symbol reminding us of the gospel.  It is through baptism that Baptist welcome new believers as members into the local church.  It is a testimony of the work of Christ in the lives of sinful men.  It is the gospel put on displayed. 

It is important for Christians to see in baptism more than merely a religious rite.  Baptism ought to be a moment of celebration and a reminder.  The work that Christ began at the moment of our conversion remains with us today.  When people look at our lives, do they see the fruit of what baptism illustrates, or must we point to a certificate hanging on our wall. If all we have is a certificate, then we do not have Christ.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul raises the question of can believers continue in sin after embracing the gospel?  His answer is no.  He grounds this conviction on two points.  First, we were once slaves of sin, but are now slaves of Christ thus we must obey our new Master.  Secondly, Paul points to baptism.  To remain in our sin is to remain dead.  But we who have been saved are not dead just as Christ is not dead.  We have been raised.  We have been changed. Let us therefore worship our risen Lord living in light of His righteousness imputed onto us as a testimony of what He accomplished at the cross and resurrection.  Baptism is all about the gospel.


*  The following Scriptural reference are given:  Matt 3:13-17; 28:19-20; Mk 1:9-11; Lk 3:21-22; Jn 3:23; Acts 2:41-42; 8:35-39; 16:30-33; Rom 6:3-5; Col 2:12.


Just for Fun:





This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Introduction
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Scripture
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God
This is Who We Are  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God the Father
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God the Son
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God the Spirit
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Man
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Salvation
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes -  God's Purpose of Grace
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Church  


For more:
Hardinsburg Controversy:  Some Links
Theology - Online Baptism:  The First, But Certainly Not the Last 
Theology - Cannonball!!!

A Word From the Pastor - February 2011

Obviously I'm really late, but I forgot to post this the first of this month.

Alert to the men of the congregation: Valentines Day is almost here.  Buy your chocolates.  Buy the roses.  Buy the bears.  Buy whatever it is she expects you to buy.  Valentines Day is a big deal these day and rightfully so.  To set aside a day to focus on the one you love is crucial.  But then again, why aren’t we doing this everyday? If we understood what love – real love – is, we wouldn’t need a holiday to remind us.  The Christian worldview begins with the cross and ends at the resurrection and it is there we find the true meaning of love.  Just as Christ died for us as a servant submitting His wants and needs for ours, so too we ought to do the same for each other – especially our spouse.  Sacrifice, service, submission, and selflessness are central to any definition of love.  We dare not confuse this sort of love with infatuation.  Infatuation is conditional and temporal, but the love Christ exemplified at the Christ is unconditional and eternal.  This means that Valentines Day is everyday to the Christian couple as everyday is a reminder of what the Savior did for us and what we ought to do everyday for each other.  Let the cross be the center of your marriage.  Then again, let the cross be the center of your life in all that you do.

February 2011 Newsletter Available Online Now

Every month we make a newsletter available to everyone at Goshen to keep them informed on the upcoming events of the month.  If you have not been able to grab one at church, you can download it here for free.  Either click on the link below or as always, there will be a link on the left for the most recent newsletter.

See ya Sunday!


February 2011 Newsletter 

This is Who We Are: What a Baptist Is and Believes - The Church

The Baptist Faith & Message 200 moves from discussing God, the Bible, & salvation, to talking about the community in which newly redeemed believers fellowship: the Church.  Here, the BF&M 2000 makes two distinctions of the church.  The first regards the local church:

A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith & fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, & privileges invested in them by His Word, & seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. In such a congregation each member is responsible & accountable to Christ as Lord. Its scriptural officers are pastors & deacons. While both men & women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.

Here the confession says several things. First, the local church is autonomous & made up of regenerated, baptized believers. This is one of our distinctives as Baptists. Each church is responsible for its own business. The various conventions & associations connected to the church have no authority over the church.  The Southern Baptist Convention does not & cannot hire or fire staff or build a new gym.  That is the business of the local church. This is unique among denominations. Unlike Roman Catholic, Methodist, or Presbyterian who have a hierarchal system, Baptist do not. 

But who makes up the local church?  Regenerated, baptized believers dedicated to & shaped by the gospel.  This is the basis of church membership & why Baptists take church membership so seriously.  We do not baptize babies, we baptize believers (this separated us from other denominations like Catholicism, Presbyterianism, & Methodism).  The New Testament speaks of only baptized believers who have made a confession of faith, have repented of their sins, & are redeemed by Christ.  These believers, as the confession says, joins the local church, participates in its fellowships, grows & disciples in the faith, becomes ambassadors for Christ, & observes two ordinances of Christ: baptism & the Lord’s Supper (Catholics add to this list what they call Sacraments including such things as marriage, confirmation, & extreme unction among others).

The second point of the confession regards the Universal Church (which prior to the Great Reformation was referred to as the catholic church.  The word “catholic” means, “universal”).  The confession says:

The New Testament speaks also of the church as the Body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages, believers from every tribe, & tongue, & people, & nation.

The church isn’t just limited to the local body of believers, but extends to the universal body of redeemed souls both living & dead. The language of body is important & taken directly from Scripture (see 1 Corinthians 12ff).  The Church is the Body of Christ making Christ its Head.  He is the Head & stands as its Lord & Sovereign leader.  True redeemed believers submit fully to the Lordship & Headship of Christ.

But the concept of the universal church ought to make us rejoice.  The gospel transcends all time, cultures, race, gender, nations, languages, age, & people.  We rejoice with the same salvation in Glenn Dean as do those in the village of Dargol in Niger, Africa.  The same Lord rules over all & offers the same grace to all.  This means that one day, when united with our Maker, we will worship our Savior.  The we here isn’t limited to middle-class white Americans, but will include every person from every nation & race.

This ought to lead us to rejoice in our great God of salvation & it ought to drive us towards evangelism.  May we work to grow the body of Christ to see unity in the midst of diversity. Baptist have a rich heritage in supporting missions & celebrating the diversity of the body of Christ.  Only the gospel can bring such diversity into a unity under the Headship of Christ.

The question, then, is how will we serve in the body of Christ?  Will we act like the head & demand from Christ or will we be the body that we are, & serve at direction of our head so that our Savior might be glorified & the souls of men & women everywhere be redeemed.


This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Introduction
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Scripture
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God
This is Who We Are  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God the Father
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God the Son
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God the Spirit
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Man
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Salvation 
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes -  God's Purpose of Grace 

This is Who We Are: What a Baptist Is and Believes - God's Purpose of Grace

At this point, the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 has discussed God, man, salvation, & so much more.  Now we turn to God’s work in salvation & our security.  Many today continue to debate & despair over the question of assurance.  What assurance do we have that right now that we are still  reconciled with God, called into His kingdom, & adopted as His child?  Am I still saved?  Have I squandered my salvation?  What assurance do I have?

The despair over the uncertainty of one’s salvation can be devastating.  And it is at this point that one of the Baptist distinctives come to our aid: the perseverance of the saints.  The BF&M 2000 reads:

Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. It is consistent with the free agency of man, and comprehends all the means in connection with the end. It is the glorious display of God's sovereign goodness, and is infinitely wise, holy, and unchangeable. It excludes boasting and promotes humility.

All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end. Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, and bring reproach on the cause of Christ and temporal judgments on themselves; yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. [1]

So what assurance do true believers have that we are still in the loving arms of the Father?  One word: God.  That is the argument put forward above.  Salvation is not the work of man, but of God.  God is the One who put on flesh.  God, in the Person of the Son, bore our sins as our atoning substitute.  God satisfied His own wrath, redeemed a people, & saves souls for His own glory.  Man plays no role in any of it.  All our “righteousness” is like filthy rags.  Even the most noble of works is tainted with sin.

This means that our security is determined by God.  And being that God makes no mistakes (He is perfect & cannot lie), never changes (He is Immutable), & His wrath is fully & completely satisfied for the repentant due to the saving work of Christ on the cross, believers – true believers – cannot & will not lose their salvation.  This is the point in the first paragraph.  It is God – & God alone – who regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners.  Sinners cannot accomplish such glory.  Only God can.

However, this does not mean that salvation is a get-out-of-hell-free-card.  It is more than fire insurance.  It involves more than saying a prayer, walking an aisle, and getting baptized.  No.  Salvation is much bigger than that.

Salvation regenerates us changing us from the inside out.  Though none of us are what we ought to be yet, praise God, we are not what we once were.  The reason is because God is working in our lives.  That which God begins, God will accomplish.  Making us more like Him is one of God’s greatest works.

This is what is meant in the second paragraph:  All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end.  This is the wonderful doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints.”  Words like “eternal security” or “once saved always saved,” though true, are misleading.  It implies that persons can “accept Jesus” superficially and then live however they want to.  Perseverance of the Saints implies that true believers – saints – will live godly lives that reflects their Savior and will persevere to the end in obedience to their saving Father.  Everyday, for such believers, is another opportunity to be more like Christ.

Certainly Christians sin, but not with glee.  Our goal is to be more like Christ, not less like Him.  Believers will persevere to the end with this ultimate goal.  Though we have not attained such glorification yet, we look forward to the day that we do.

This all comes down to where we began.  Do we have assurance of our salvation?  Every religion in the world offers an emphatic no.  The reason is because they are built on what man does, instead of what God has done.  If God is the author and finisher of our faith, then rest knowing that you are safe in the arms of God trusting in the saving work of the cross.  But assurance works both ways.  Trust in yourself and your self-righteousness and I can assure you that you are lost and will remain so.  Salvation is of God, not of man and so long as you strive for grace you will never achieve it. Instead, come to the cross in full humility, and embrace the gospel.  Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!


[1]  See Gen 12:1-3; Ex 19:5-8; 1 Sam 8:4-7,19-22; Isa 5:1-7; Jer 31:31ff.; Matt 16:18-19; 21:28-45; 24:22,31; 25:34; Luke 1:68-79; 2:29-32; 19:41-44; 24:44-48; John 1:12-14; 3:16; 5:24; 6:44-45,65; 10:27-29; 15:16; 17:6,12,17-18; Acts 20:32; Rom 5:9-10; 8:28-39; 10:12-15; 11:5-7,26-36; 1 Cor 1:1-2; 15:24-28; Eph 1:4-23; 2:1-10; 3:1-11; Col 1:12-14; 2 Th 2:13-14; 2 Tim 1:12; 2:10,19; Heb 11:39–12:2; Jam 1:12; 1 Pet 1:2-5,13; 2:4-10; 1 John 1:7-9; 2:19; 3:2.


This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Introduction
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Scripture
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God
This is Who We Are  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God the Father
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God the Son
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God the Spirit
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Man  
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Salvation 

This is Who We Are: What a Baptist Is and Believes - Salvation

What is the gospel? That is one of the most important questions we can ever ask.  Unless we answer this question, nothing else we think about, ask about, focus on, believe in, or do will matter.  The gospel identifies the Church, redeems the Church, and is the rock by which the Church is built on.  What is the gospel?

That’s essentially what the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 discusses next.  How is a person “saved?”  How does one get right with God?  What is the gospel?  The BF&M 2000 offer a rather theologically robust and technical answer to that question that at first glance appears rather difficult to understand.  Words like regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification aren’t exactly words we use in everyday conversation, but they are important nonetheless.  The BF&M 2000 says:
               
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.

A. Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God’s grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace.

Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and Saviour.

B. Justification is God’s gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ. Justification brings the believer unto a relationship of peace and favor with God.

C. Sanctification is the experience, beginning in regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God's purposes, and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual maturity through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him. Growth in grace should continue throughout the regenerate person's life.

D. Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is the final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed. [1]

This confession of faith is well written and defines the issue pretty well, the problem is that to the average Christian, much of what is laid out here is difficult to understand even though each issue raised here is imperative and very much part of the gospel.  So what is the gospel? It begins with God’s holiness and our depravity.  We cannot save ourselves because our God is infinitely holy and we finite beings are depraved to our core.  Even the “good” things we do are tainted with sin, thus if we were to rely on our works alone, we would present God a filthy rag of righteousness (Isaiah 64:6).  God is so holy that He cannot ignore our rebellion.  What we need, then, is a substitute.  What we need is grace.

The gospel offers such grace through the substituting work of Christ on the cross by which our sins are imputed (there’s a big word) onto Him and at the resurrection of Christ His righteousness is imputed (there it is again) onto us.  In other words, “[God] made [Christ] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).  Christ took upon Himself our sin so that when God sees us, He sees the righteousness of Christ.

The cross and resurrection does not just give us a clean slate for us to dirty up again, but a new self, a new life.  This is what we mean by regeneration.  God, through Christ, makes us “new creatures” (vs. 17) whereby we become more like Christ.  Therefore, the gospel says that we are both “saved” now (justification) and are in the process of being “saved” (sanctification) meaning that we are growing in Christ becoming more like our Savior.  Unfortunately man approach the gospel as fire insurance whereby after saying a prayer or getting baptized we’re promised heaven after we die.  That is only part of it.  The gospel is a reformation of who we are at our core.  We are no longer the old man, but a new man that seeks to be more like our Savior.  This means that to be a Christian we both are redeemed at the cross and live by the cross.  Look to the cross and resurrection in everyday life trusting that God will use us for His glory.  We need to seek to reflect Him who bought us at the cross making us children of God, siblings of Christ.  Look to the cross.  Repent.  Believe.  And you will be saved. 

That is the gospel.  Do you believe in this gospel?


[1]  See the following references:  Gen 3:15; Ex 3:14-17; 6:2-8; Matt 1:21; 4:17; 16:21-26; 27:22-28:6; Luke 1:68-69; 2:28-32; John 1:11-14,29; 3:3-21,36; 5:24; 10:9,28-29; 15:1-16; 17:17; Acts 2:21; 4:12; 15:11; 16:30-31; 17:30-31; 20:32; Rom 1:16-18; 2:4; 3:23-25; 4:3ff.; 5:8-10; 6:1-23; 8:1-18,29-39; 10:9-10,13; 13:11-14; 1 Cor 1:18,30; 6:19-20; 15:10; 2 Cor 5:17-20; Gal 2:20; 3:13; 5:22-25; 6:15; Eph 1:7; 2:8-22; 4:11-16; Phil 2:12-13; Col 1:9-22; 3:1ff.; 1 Thess 5:23-24; 2 Tim 1:12; Titus 2:11-14; Heb 2:1-3; 5:8-9; 9:24-28; 11:1-12:8,14; James 2:14-26; 1 Pet 1:2-23; 1 John 1:6-2:11; Rev 3:20; 21:1-22:5.


For more:
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Introduction
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Scripture
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God
This is Who We Are  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God the Father
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God the Son
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God the Spirit  
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Man  

A Word From the Pastor - December 2010

Have your Christmas listed written yet?  You’ve got less than a month to buy all of the gifts, go to the parties, and “enjoy” this Christmas season.  All of us will be exhausted, more busy than usual, and probably a little in debt.  It is so easy to get distracted by the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season that we forget why we as Christians celebrate it in the first place.  Unless we are focused on the gospel all of our celebrating, planning, and giving are in vain.  Christmas is about the Incarnation, the moment when the eternal Son put on human flesh in order to become a substituting, atoning sacrifice for us not because we deserved it but because He is a Jealous God who loves us with an unconditional love.  Christmas is about Christ and that means more than a bumper sticker can deliver.  Let every holiday, song, present, and moment of celebration throughout the year be about the gospel.  Let us be motivated and driven by a love for the God of the gospel who became one of us so that we might be called children of God.

A Word From the Pastor - November 2010

I know I'm a little late. 

November means one thing: another excuse to overeat and watch football!  Thanksgiving is a great holiday full of history and meaning.  As Christians, especially, we have much to be thankful for beyond the birth and history of our nation, friendship, peace, and family.  As Christians, we must always be thankful for the fact that the holy God we have been exploring stooped down from Heaven, in the person of the Son, became one of us and died in our place.  Thankfulness ought to be naturally a characteristic of the Christian that must go beyond turkey and sports once a year.  Thanksgiving itself opens the door to other spiritual truths like humility, joy, contentment, peace, love, goodness, and prayer.  How can we who deserve nothing and yet have been righteousness and have been adopted by our Heavenly Father not be grateful?  Only when we have a right view of ourselves – filthy, sinful, in constant rebellion who seek to oust our Creator – and a right view of God – righteous, holy, sovereign, and just – can we truly be thankful.  John Newton, the author of the hymn Amazing Grace and a former slave trader prior to his conversion, summed it up perhaps the best:  “My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things, that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior.”  Amazing Grace that saved a wretch like me . . . and for that we ought to be more than grateful; we ought to be in constant worship.

November 2010 Newsletter Available Online

Just to let everyone know that the newsletter for this month has now been posted.  So if you failed to pick one up the other day at Sundary morning worship, you can still download it for free online by clicking the link below or (as always) by clicking on the link on the left hand column.  See ya Sunday!

November 2010 Newsletter 

A Word From the Pastor - October 2010

Here is the Word From the Pastor from the October newsletter.  Sorry I'm a little late.

Two hundred and two years is a long time.  At the founding of our church, America had been a nation for only 32 years.  Thomas Jefferson was President.  And Kentucky had been a state for only 18 years.  If we really believe in Divine Providence then we must accept that God, in His Sovereignty, has been using our church for His glory.  Without a doubt, Goshen has been a place of faithful gospel ministry for over two centuries.  The challenge we face today concerns not the past, but the future.  After celebrating yet another anniversary of our church, let us be reminded that we stand on the shoulders of giants.  Will we continue the legacy of gospel proclamation or will we become consumed with programs, church politics, personal agenda’s, divisions, and selfish pride?  As we go forth let us stand on the firm foundation of the gospel and as a member of Goshen, founded by God, let us use our gifts and take advantage of the opportunities God gives us everyday to further His Kingdom and proclaim the gospel of Christ.  Let this be a time of celebration of the past & anticipation of what God will do, through us, in the future.  Let us be a church formed by God for His glory and not a church centered on our own glory with our own message.

October 2010 Newsletter Available Online

I just posted the October 2010 newsletter and you can view it online now.  As always, it will be available all month on the column on the left.  To view the newsletter, click here. 

This is Who We Are: What a Baptist Is and Believes - God the Spirit

Perhaps the Person most neglected in the Trinity is God the Holy Spirit.  There are many reasons for this, and time prohibits much depth here.  One should note, however, the hesitancy of many Christians, including Southern Baptist, on saying much about the Spirit is partially due to the continued rise of the Charismatic movement.  Pentecostals like Benny Hinn, Kenneth Hagin, and Todd Bentley have given Christianity a bad name and unbiblical practices like uninterpretted and ecstatic tongues, being slain in the Spirit, and holy laughter are so prevalent by those who abuse the doctrine of the Holy Spirit have led many Christians to the other extreme of ignoring Him.

Let us then offer a brief, yet biblical understanding of the third member of the Divine Trinity.  The Baptist Faith & Message 2000 says:

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Saviour, and effects regeneration. At the moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service. [1]

The BF&M 2000 is right to begin by pointing out the full deity of the Spirit.  Just as God the Father and God the Son are fully Divine, separate yet unified, so too the Holy Spirit is equal with the Father and Son yet separate from the Father and the Son.  Those who deny this doctrine are walking on dangerous heresy.

Perhaps what the Spirit is most known for is His work in inspiring Scripture.  The Spirit, via the will of God, has granted us a text that points us to Christ which utilizes the personalities of various writers throughout a vast time of human history (from the days of Moses to the Apostle John) to reveal the will and words of God.  But that is not all that the Spirit has done or continues to do. 

Perhaps most central to the Spirit’s work is His work in salvation.  Only the Spirit can soften the hard hearts of men leading them to the cross and repentance.  Only the Spirit can regenerate the believer to be more like Christ.  And only the Spirit is present within the believer offering guidance and assurance.  The Son saves, the Spirit sanctifies.  In the realm of salvation, perhaps we can sum up the work of the Trinity as follows: The Father initiates.  The Son propitiates.  The Spirit regenerates.

The Holy Spirit is central to all that we are.  Each member of the Trinity was involved in Creation (including our creation) and each member of the Trinity has worked to bring about our salvation.  But it is the Spirit, under the authority of the Father and the work of Christ, that guides us towards holiness.  Therefore, we are commanded to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18), to walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16), to produce the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:16), pray in the Spirit (Jude 20), be poor in the Spirit (Matthew 5:3), be in the Spirit (Romans 8:9), serve in the Spirit (Romans 12:11), be joyful in the Spirit (Romans 14:17), love by the Spirit (Romans 15:30), and be unified in the Spirit.

In all of this the Spirit is pointing us to Christ, the author and finisher of our faith.  In an act of humility and submission, the Spirit submits to the will of the Father pointing us to the Son.  The Spirit seeks the glory of the Father through the praise of His creation.  The Spirit is always pointing us to Christ and the Father.  Let us, then, look to Christ, guided by the Spirit, being conformed to the image of Christ in our daily lives.  The Spirit is not someone that leads us into utter nonsense so commonly portrayed on TV, but is a working Person of the Trinity actively involved in our lives pointing us to our Savior.  God is Spirit (John 4:24) and let us worship Him, as Jesus said, in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).


[1]  The BF&M 2000 offers the following references:  Gen 1:2; Judges 14:6; Job 26:13; Ps 51:11; 139:7ff.; Is 61:1-3; Joel 2:28-32; Matt 1:18; 3:16; 4:1; 12:28-32; 28:19; Mark 1:10,12; Luke 1:35; 4:1,18-19; 11:13; 12:12; 24:49; John 4:24; 14:16-17,26; 15:26; 16:7-14; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4,38; 4:31; 5:3; 6:3; 7:55; 8:17,39; 10:44; 13:2; 15:28; 16:6; 19:1-6; Rom 8:9-11,14-16,26-27; 1 Cor 2:10-14; 3:16; 12:3-11,13; Gal 4:6; Eph 1:13-14; 4:30; 5:18; 1 Thess 5:19; 1 Tim 3:16; 4:1; 2 Tim 1:14; 3:16; Heb 9:8,14; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 John 4:13; 5:6-7; Rev 1:10; 22:17.


For more:
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Introduction
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Scripture
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God
This is Who We Are  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God the Father
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God the Son 


*  Regarding the above picture.  The Holy Spirit is often portrayed in the image of a dove.  This is common even in Scripture.  When Jesus was baptized, the Spirit descended like a dove (see Matthew 4).

A Word From the Pastor - September 2010

Sorry I'm a month late, but here is last month's A Word From the Pastor as found in our newsletter:

Amanda has a bachelor’s degree in Art.  As a result, I have been exposed to various styles of art throughout history.  One of the most fascinating styles of art is pointillism – perhaps the most tedious form of art.  A pointillistic artist would paint their masterpiece not with brush strokes but with small dots.  Each dot, though small, contributes to the whole  painting.  Thus the viewer can see the entire piece from a distance, but when you get up close, every little dot comes into view.  Christianity is very much like pointillism.  We’re caught up into the points of the painting, but miss the portrait of the masterpiece.  What we see is abortion, marriage, good works, and false teachers, but when we do, we oftentimes miss the whole picture.  What we are missing is God.  I believe it is time for us to step back and look at the whole painting and when we do, we’ll be able to more clearly appreciate each individual dot.  The gospel consists of dots that contribute to the painting. The painting is of God.  So for the next several weeks, we will begin our look at the grand masterpiece: God Himself.  When we understand God, we will then understand every dot and how it contributes to the masterpiece.  The doctrine of God is practical.  All of theology is practical.  Who God is shapes what we believe and how we live.  A right view of God leads to a right view of everything else.  Join us for the next several weeks as we discuss God.  Who He is in His nature and why that matters to us.  Prepare to meet thy God (Amos 4:12).

September 2010 Newsletter Available Online

This month's newsletter has been uploaded and available online.  As always, the newsletter will be available in the left-hand column near the top.  I will continue to try to update it monthly.  To read the newsletter for September 2010, click here.