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Lutheran and Reformed Christians have always understood the sacraments in terms of God’s condescension to poor and helpless sinners in need of grace. For a recovering Baptist, I’ve experienced the ravaging effects of memorialism in the life of the church. The memorialism taught in my Baptist milieu teaches that the Lord’s Supper exists for the exlusive purpose of self-examination and remembrance of the gospel. This might seem fine and dandy at first sight, but the error is subtle. The Zwinglian/Baptist understanding of the Lord’s Supper excludes the condescending action of God, and focuses entirely upon the remembering and self-examining work of mankind. In their extreme reactions against Rome, they have come to embrace an erroneous position devoid of the efficacy of divine grace in the sacraments. For Luther, we feed upon the physical body and blood of Jesus Christ contained “in, with, and under” the substantive reality of the bread and wine, by faith, and through the work of the Spirit. Through the mass, God seals our forgiveness, strengthens us in the faith, and confirms our position as children of God. Similarly, Calvin taught that God condescends to us in grace, and enables us to feed upon Christ as He is glorified in heaven. What’s common to these positions is God’s gracious condescension to us within the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. Much more than a memorial, it’s a means of grace given for our salvation. Luther’s thoughts have been immensley helpful to me in this area. Here are a few I found encouraging.
“From this you will see that nothing else in need for a worthy holding of the mass than a faith which rests confidently on this promise, believes Christ to be true in these words of his, and deos not doubt that these infinite blessings have been bestowed upon it. Hard on this faith there follows, of itself, a most sweet stirring of the heart, whereby the spirit of man is enlarged and enriched (that is love given by the Hly Spirit through faith in Christ), so that he is drawn to Christ, that gracious and bounteous testator, and made a thoroughly new and different man. Who would not shed tears of gladness, indeed, almost faint for joy in Christ, if he believed with unshaken faith that this inestimable promise of Christ belonged to him? How could he help loving so great a benefactor, who of his own accord offers, promises, and grants such great riches and this eternal inheritance to one who is unworthy and deserving of something far different?”
“If the mass is a promise, as has been said, then access to it is to be gained, not with any works, or powers, or merits of one’s own, but by faith alone. For where there is the Word of the promising God, there must necessarily be the faith of the accepting man. It is plain therefore, that the beginning of our salvation is a faith which clings to the Word of the promising God, who, without any effort on our part, in free and unmerited mercy takes the initiative and offers us the word of his promise.”
“Where there is the Word of the promising God, there must necessarily be the faith of the accepting man. It is plain therefore, that the beginning of our salvation is a faith which clings to the Word of the promising God, who, without any effort on our part, in free and unmerited mercy takes the initiative and offers us the word of his promise…In no other way can man come to God or deal with him than through faith. That is to say, that the author of salvation is not man, by any works of his own, but God, through his promise; and that all things depend on, and are upheld and preserved by, the word of his power, through which he brought us forth, to be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.”
-Martin Luther, The Babylonian Captivity of the Church
Why did Martin Luther nail his 95 theses to the door of the Church in Wittenburg? What compeled this Augustinian monk and professor of theology to boldly decry the Church-honored practice of indulgences, through which men could free souls from purgatory through financial gifts to the church? Luther had dedicated his life to finding peace witih God as a monk within the confines of a cloister. Inner turmoil drove him to question the very existence of a just God, who seemingly brought men forth into this world only to terrify them with the reality of his justice and wrath against sin. Yet Luther did not abandon hope. Finding joy and comfort in the Scripture, God revealed to Luther the necessity of a mediator through whom peace with God could be found. This mediator was Jesus Christ the Son of God, who had satisfied the righteous demands of God’s holy law for all time. Now, through faith alone in the Mediator Christ Jesus, we are declared rigtheous before the throne of God’s awful majesty, clothed in the blood and righteousness of His precious Son. Justification by faith alone was precious to Luther. It dominates his many writings, and extends to all areas of his life and thought. For Luther, Christianity could not be rightly understood apart from this Biblical reality, nor could the Church stand amidst the world, flesh, and devil without its unfettered proclamation. On this new Reformation Day, may all Christians realize the enormous debt they owe to the great Reformer. Let us also rejoice anew in the Savior, who “for us and for our salvation” lived and died that we might be reconciled to God. May our faith ever be strengthed as we look to Christ, treasure Christ, exult in Christ, embrace Christ by faith, and proclaim Christ to a crooked and perverse generation. May we be crushed by the law, only then to find strength and new life in the gospel.
“Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.” –Col. 1:28
In the text before us, the apostle Paul explains the particular object of the great gospel he preached. In previous verses, Paul has doxologically rehearsed the glories of Jesus Christ in his various attributes, explaining that Christ Himself is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, the Divine author of all existence, the pre-eminent Son of God glorious in His eternality, the head of the church, the first-born from the dead, the fullness of God in bodily form, the incarnate Son of God who has purchased redemption for mankind. Paul proceeds to tell of his afflictions and his apostolic responsibility of making the word of God fully known. Yet the question before us runs thus: “What primary theological thrust do we see emphasized in Paul’s message? If Paul’s apostolic task is to “make the word of God fully known”, then what is the word of God really about? What are Paul’s priorities? What message did Paul preach?” We find the answer beautifully described in verse 28.
The essential task of Christian teaching is to reveal the glories of Jesus Christ through the explication and application of God’s divine testimony in the Scriptures. Christian preaching involves Christian content, and any other substitute misses the divine mark and exalts a torch of false prophecy. It should be obvious that Christ Himself must dominate all Christian teaching. Still, the sad fact remains that many Christian teachers have dethroned Christ from his central place of supremacy in their exposition. Some teachers look at the Bible as though it were a fortune cookie, moralistically applying “principles” from the Bible to lives of their hearers. Others tack Christ on to the end of their sermons, using the gospel as a good way to conclude a moralstic message of despair disguised by smiles. Yet in the midst of these troubles, the apostolic testimony stands as a mountain of brass. For Paul, nothing was more important than the task of holding forth Christ to sinners. Paul understood that moral precepts provide no remedy for the profound depravity of our nature. In the recent broadcast of the White Horse Inn, Michael Horton explains that this is only a softer and more gentler form of legalism. It’s still legalism, there’s no doubt about that! Any exposition of the Bible which commands a sinner to do, without telling the sinner what’s already been done, can justly be termed “legalism” because of its insistence upon obedience apart from the finished work of Christ. This isn’t a unique feature of the “health, wealth, and prosperity gospel.” This kind of preaching can be founnd in a variety of movements and denominations. What’s so sad about this kind of preaching is that it radically underestimates the profound depravity of all men. “7 steps to living your best life now” isn’t a gospel. In fact, its the worst news that any sinner could ever hear! It’s a message which refuses to offer a remedy for sin, an answer to the problem of human existence, the need for atonement, the beauty of forgiveness, and the joys of justification. It can’t because it never rises high than a person’s individual self-motivation. It never sees sin for what it is, and consequently, never experiences grace for what it is. Grace becomes law, law becomes grace, and Christ is dethroned. What’s the answer? The great indicative of Jesus Christ and Him crucified must always precede moral exhortation.
“Why do we argue so much about the five points of Calvinism? We should just set them aside and worry about more important things. God chose us before the foundation of the world because he saw that we were valuable and could use our ministries for his glory.” Thus runs a rough rendering of a remark I heard in chapel today by a former BBC graduate. In light of this obvious heresy, I thought I’d comfort myself with a bit of Calvinistic orthodoxy. So I turned to the beloved Confession and was encouraged by these words of truth.
V. Those of mankind that are predestinated unto life, God, before the foundation of the world was laid, according to His eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of His will, has chosen, in Christ, unto everlasting glory,[9] out of His mere free grace and love, without any foresight of faith, or good works, or perseverance in either of them, or any other thing in the creature, as conditions, or causes moving Him thereunto;[10] and all to the praise of His glorious grace
XXV. Of the Sacraments.
Sacraments ordained of Christ be not only badges or tokens of Christian men’s profession, but rather they be certain sure witnesses, and effectual signs of grace, and God’s good will towards us, by the which he doth work invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken, but also strengthen and confirm our Faith in him.
There are two Sacraments ordained of Christ our Lord in the Gospel, that is to say, Baptism, and the Supper of the Lord.
Those five commonly called Sacraments, that is to say, Confirmation, Penance, Orders, Matrimony, and Extreme Unction, are not to be counted for Sacraments of the Gospel, being such as have grown partly of the corrupt following of the Apostles, partly are states of life allowed in the Scriptures, but yet have not like nature of Sacraments with Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper, for that they have not any visible sign or ceremony ordained of God.
The Sacraments were not ordained of Christ to be gazed upon, or to be carried about, but that we should duly use them. And in such only as worthily receive the same, they have a wholesome effect or operation: but they that receive them unworthily, purchase to themselves damnation, as Saint Paul saith.
XXVI. Of the Unworthiness of the Ministers, which hinders not the effect of the Sacraments.
Although in the visible Church the evil be ever mingled with the good, and sometimes the evil have chief authority in the Ministration of the Word and Sacraments, yet forasmuch as they do not the same in their own name, but in Christ’s, and do minister by his commission and authority, we may use their Ministry, both in hearing the Word of God, and in receiving the Sacraments. Neither is the effect of Christ’s ordinance taken away by their wickedness, nor the grace of God’s gifts diminished from such as by faith, and rightly, do receive the Sacraments ministered unto them; which be effectual, because of Christ’s institution and promise, although they be ministered by evil men.
Nevertheless, it appertaineth to the discipline of the Church, that inquiry be made of evil Ministers, and that they be accused by those that have knowledge of their offences; and finally, being found guilty, by just judgment be deposed.
XXVII. Of Baptism.
Baptism is not only a sign of profession, and mark of difference, whereby Christian men are discerned from others that be not christened, but it is also a sign of Regeneration or New-Birth, whereby, as by an instrument, they that receive Baptism rightly are grafted into the Church; the promises of the forgiveness of sin, and of our adoption to be the sons of God by the Holy Ghost, are visibly signed and sealed, Faith is confirmed, and Grace increased by virtue of prayer unto God.
The Baptism of young Children is in any wise to be retained in the Church, as most agreeable with the institution of Christ.
XXVIII. Of the Lord’s Supper.
The Supper of the Lord is not only a sign of the love that Christians ought to have among themselves one to another, but rather it is a Sacrament of our Redemption by Christ’s death: insomuch that to such as rightly, worthily, and with faith, receive the same, the Bread which we break is a partaking of the Body of Christ; and likewise the Cup of Blessing is a partaking of the Blood of Christ.
Transubstantiation (or the change of the substance of Bread and Wine) in the Supper of the Lord, cannot be proved by Holy Writ; but is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture, overthroweth the nature of a Sacrament, and hath given occasion to many superstitions.
The Body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten, in the Supper, only after an heavenly and spiritual manner. And the mean whereby the Body of Christ is received and eaten in the Supper, is Faith.
The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was not by Christ’s ordinance reserved, carried about, lifted up, or worshipped.
XXIX. Of the Wicked, which eat not the Body of Christ in the use of the Lord’s Supper.
The Wicked, and such as be void of a lively faith, although they do carnally and visibly press with their teeth (as Saint Augustine saith) the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ; yet in no wise are they partakers of Christ: but rather, to their condemnation, do eat and drink the sign or Sacrament of so great a thing.
XXX. Of both Kinds.
The Cup of the Lord is not to be denied to the Lay-people: for both the parts of the Lord’s Sacrament, by Christ’s ordinance and commandment, ought to be ministered to all Christian men alike.
XXII. Of Purgatory.
The Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory, Pardons, Worshipping and Adoration, as well of Images as of Relics, and also Invocation of Saints, is a fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God.
XXIII. Of Ministering in the Congregation.
It is not lawful for any man to take upon him the office of public preaching, or ministering the Sacraments in the Congregation, before he be lawfully called, and sent to execute the same. And those we ought to judge lawfully called and sent, which be chosen and called to this work by men who have public authority given unto them in the Congregation, to call and send Ministers into the Lord’s vineyard.
XXIV. Of Speaking in the Congregation in such a Tongue as the people understandeth.
It is a thing plainly repugnant to the Word of God, and the custom of the Primitive Church to have public Prayer in the Church, or to minister the Sacraments, in a tongue not understanded of the people.
I’ve had a few people ask questions about my last post, so I wish to briefly clarify my position regarding what Griffith calls “sacramental regeneration.” First, I don’t not believe that baptism is spiritually regenerative in any way. Nor do I believe that baptism efficaciously creates a seed of faith within the infant. Baptism, according to Griffith, regenerates a covenant child (or adult) insofar as it ushers them into the visible church through the sovereign working of the Holy Spirit. They do indeed possess new life, in that they now exist within the covenant community of the faithful and are heirs to the spiritual blessings of regeneration, union with Christ, remission of sins, and everlasting glory. Baptism therefore, is a sacramentally regenerative act in that it introduces a covenant child into a new sphere of life wherein they enjoy the blessings of the covenant. Does this mean that baptism is inseparably linked with spiritual regeneration? Absolutely not! Does this mean that baptism is inseparably linked with entrance into the visible church and a new life lived in the company of the redeemed? I would answer in the affirmative. Therefore, I’m not a sacrerdotalist, Romanist, or Federal Visionist. I’m simply recognizing that the apostles, Reformers and Puritans possessed a very high view of the sacrament of baptism, and saw it as regenerative in some respects. And although baptism is not spiritually regenerative, it remains the duty of Christian parents to presume the regeneracy of their children based on God’s covenant promises to them. Dr. Matthew McMahon over at A Puritans Mind, does a great job of explaining this truth from Scripture. In conclusion, baptism is a sacramentally regenerative rite in that it ushers the covenant child (or adult) into a new sphere of life and blessing, that which we understand as the visible church. Yet baptism is not only the means whereby we enter the visible community of saints. Baptism is also a sign and seal of God’s covenant promises. As a sign, baptism is a visual attestation of God’s favor to us. Yet even more astounding is that baptism is a seal of God’s grace. What does this mean? Much like a king or monarch signing a document to attest to its authenticity and reality, baptism authenticates and confirms God’s gracious promises to believers and their children. Therefore in this respect, God attests that his covenant promises to be a God to believers and their children are grounded in reality and confirmed by his authority. Eventually, covenant children must embrace this promise as their own. Even within God’s covenant of grace, conditions are laid out which must be fulfilled. Like every other creature under heaven, covenant children are responsible to embrace Christ as their righteousness by faith, turning away from their sin and wickedness. This does not invalidate the special relationship which really does exist between God and the covenant child. It only confirms God’s promises and presents the covenant child with the joyful duty of embracing the covenant through faith in Christ. As in the nation of Israel there were those who were ethnic Jews and spiritual Jews (both groups Jews and heirs to the covenant promises), so in the church we see a visible and invisible church (both groups covenant citizens and heirs to the covenant promises.) I hope this clarifies my position a little more carefully. If there are any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.
XVIII. Of obtaining eternal Salvation only by the Name of Christ.
They also are to be had accursed that presume to say, That every man shall be saved by the Law or Sect which he professeth, so that he be diligent to frame his life according to that Law, and the light of Nature. For Holy Scripture doth set out unto us only the Name of Jesus Christ, whereby men must be saved.
XIX. Of the Church.
The visible Church of Christ is a congregation of faithful men, in which the pure Word of God is preached, and the Sacraments be duly ministered according to Christ’s ordinance, in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same.
As the Church of Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Antioch, have erred, so also the Church of Rome hath erred, not only in their living and manner of Ceremonies, but also in matters of Faith.
XX. Of the Authority of the Church.
The Church hath power to decree Rites or Ceremonies, and authority in Controversies of Faith: and yet it is not lawful for the Church to ordain any thing that is contrary to God’s Word written, neither may it so expound one place of Scripture, that it be repugnant to another. Wherefore, although the Church be a witness and a keeper of Holy Writ, yet, as it ought not to decree any thing against the same, so besides the same ought it not to enforce any thing to be believed for necessity of Salvation.
Here are a few sections from Griffith’s masterly exposition of the 39 Articles. His sacramentally regenerative understanding of baptism is both Biblically faithful and congruous with the teaching of the Reformers. Notice how he employs “regeneration” in different ways. Notice also his insistence that the Reformers never abandoned a particular form of baptismal regeneration which avoided both the heresy of Rome, and the extremism of the Anabaptists. As Protestants, must we abandon a doctrine of baptismal regeneration as defined by Griffith in the section below?
“The Reformers undoubtedly held a doctrine of “baptismal regeneration”, but it was not identical with that of Rome. The controversy which is now called “baptismal regeneration” was waged under the name of the “opus operandum theory.” They all believed baptism to be the sacrament of regeneration, but this was not so by the rite itself, but always as conditional and associated with the gospel…They used sacramental language, that is, they employed interchangeably the name of sign and thing, teaching that while all received blessing sacramentally, not all received it really. They thus distinguished between sacramental and spiritual regeneration…(Therefore) baptismal regeneration is twofold. Regeneration is birth into the visible church; conversion is birth into the church invisible; death is birth into the Church of Paradise; ressurection is birth into the church of Eternity. So that baptism is the introduction of the recepient, whether adult or infant, into a new condition or relation. It must not be overlooked that since the Puritan age regeneration has come to mean renovation or conversion. But this was not the meaning of the Reformers, nor has the idea been changed in the Prayer Book…They key to the right interpretation of the sacramental service is that the terms are to be understood in a sacramental sense, just as legal terms are to be understood in a legal sense. Baptismal regeneration means regeneration as related to baptism. We have only to substitute “sacramental” to see this quite clearly. But to make it mean spiritual regeneration is to overlook the fact that the adjective is “baptismal.” And to be sacramentally regenerate is to be regenerate “in foro ecclesiae”, while to be spiritually regenerate is to be regenerate “in foro coeli.” So that “wherein I was made regenerate” means sacramentally put into possession of the privileges of the Christian Church, and this is exactly what the Article says when it speaks of baptism as “a sign of regeneration or the New Birth….” So that in the theology of the Reformation the controversy did not turn on the question of whether there was or was not a true doctrine of baptismal regeneration, for the Reformers never hesitated to admit that baptism was the sacrament of regeneration. The controversy hinged on whether there was or was not an inward and spiritual efficacy apart from its connection with the gospel of Christ, with the reconciliation of the soul to God, and the conversion of the heart to Christ. To this question the theology of the Reformation answered with a very decided negative.
XV. Of Christ alone without Sin.
Christ in the truth of our nature was made like unto us in all things, sin only except, from which he was clearly void, both in his flesh, and in his spirit. He came to be the Lamb without spot, who, by sacrifice of himself once made, should take away the sins of the world; and sin (as Saint John saith) was not in him. But all we the rest, although baptized and born again in Christ, yet offend in many things; and if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
XVI. Of Sin after Baptism.
Not every deadly sin willingly committed after Baptism is sin against the Holy Ghost, and unpardonable. Wherefore the grant of repentance is not to be denied to such as fall into sin after Baptism. After we have received the Holy Ghost, we may depart from grace given, and fall into sin, and by the grace of God we may arise again, and amend our lives. And therefore they are to be condemned, which say, they can no more sin as long as they live here, or deny the place of forgiveness to such as truly repent.
XVII. Of Predestination and Election.
Predestination to Life is the everlasting purpose of God, whereby (before the foundations of the world were laid) he hath constantly decreed by his counsel secret to us, to deliver from curse and damnation those whom he hath chosen in Christ out of mankind, and to bring them by Christ to everlasting salvation, as vessels made to honour. Wherefore, they which be endued with so excellent a benefit of God, be called according to God’s purpose by his Spirit working in due season: they through Grace obey the calling: they be justified freely: they be made sons of God by adoption: they be made like the image of his only-begotten Son Jesus Christ: they walk religiously in good works, and at length, by God’s mercy, they attain to everlasting felicity.
As the godly consideration of Predestination, and our Election in Christ, is full of sweet, pleasant, and unspeakable comfort to godly persons, and such as feel in themselves the working of the Spirit of Christ, mortifying the works of the flesh, and their earthly members, and drawing up their mind to high and heavenly things, as well because it doth greatly establish and confirm their faith of eternal Salvation to be enjoyed through Christ as because it doth fervently kindle their love towards God: So, for curious and carnal persons, lacking the Spirit of Christ, to have continually before their eyes the sentence of God’s Predestination, is a most dangerous downfall, whereby the Devil doth thrust them either into desperation, or into wretchlessness of most unclean living, no less perilous than desperation.
Furthermore, we must receive God’s promises in such wise, as they be generally set forth to us in Holy Scripture: and, in our doings, that Will of God is to be followed, which we have expressly declared unto us in the Word of God.
