2006/03/05
How I ended up a Paedobaptist. Part 3
Category: Tartan Talk :
Author: tartanarmy (10:48 pm)
I will try and wrap all of this up in this final post.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jer 31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will cut with the house of Israel: After those days, declares Jehovah, I will put My Law in their inward parts, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
Jer 31:34 And they shall no longer each man teach his neighbor, and each man his brother, saying, Know Jehovah. For they shall all know Me, from the least of them even to the greatest of them, declares Jehovah. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
As a reformed Baptist, and that because it was the first Church I went to after my conversion, I had accepted the whole idea of a regenerated Church and a New Covenant made up of believers only. It made sense to me.
There were some tensions in the Church. For example, most if not nearly all wanted to maintain this concept of regenerate Church, and there would be confusion about “whom” exactly is considered “in” the Church.
It became quite obvious to me, that the only people who really had a right to be considered in the Church, were those who had been baptized. Those who had made a credible profession of faith and had submitted to believers baptism, and had given a good testimony.
In hindsight, I now look back and cringe a little, at just how individualistic and man centered all of this really was.
I do not say that lightly, for the people engaging in these matters were very Godly Saints and sincere to the hilt.
Then there is the whole concept of Church Membership to try and really get a grip on.
I was a Church member and did not even know it. I was thinking that perhaps some time down the road I would be asked to become a member of my Church. I did not attend the “Member” meetings, for I did not think I was invited!
Now this was “before” and “after” my actual baptism. It was an issue in the Church that seemed to confuse others also.
Had it not been for a casual conversation with my Pastor, I might never have got more involved with these “member” meetings.
Then there were the secret/delicate discussions and voting and a whole lot of other issues regarding these meetings, that the “outsiders” enquired about cautiously.
Anyway, the whole thing never really sat well with me for many reasons and in fact even caused me to be shunned a little bit. I guess I was never really part of the “inner” crowd, even when I was one of them!
I could see the methodology behind it all though. Because the New Covenant is made up of regenerate believers (The Elect) I could understand why having a “Membership” was a good safeguard for the Church.
It would allow the regenerate Members a vote on all issues regarding the Local Church, and it would “exclude” all others. Namely those who had never been baptized or given a profession of faith. Made sense to me. Good management, right?
Now I started this 3rd post with a quotation from the Prophet Jeremiah. The passages talk about the New Covenant and who are in it. The passages are a real treasure, and as a Credobabtist, I thought I understood them and Paedobaptists were in error about them. That was that.
Now, during this time of wrestling with the whole debate, I took a fresh look at these passages, and once again, much light was given to me. God was stripping away my presuppositions and prejudices again and again.
The first thing I was struck with was the idea that in the New Covenant, believers apparently did not need to be taught to know the Lord, for having been regenerated and in the New Covenant, they already knew Him!
Yet, I was forced to admit that “believers” are in fact “still” required to be taught! Why do we have preaching and teaching and Church etc etc!
Was Jeremiah really talking about a time here upon the earth in the Visible Church? Or was he referring to the time all the believers are gathered and united in Heaven itself?
Until I considered that question, I thought I knew the obvious answer. My New Covenant ideas were being dismantled before my very eyes. It was not very pleasant for me personally, but exciting at the same time.
I re-read those scriptures with a definite eschatological view to the consummation of the heavenly Jerusalem and so interpret verse 34 and verse 40 as defining the inhabitants in Heaven at the end of the age.
Therefore, having seen Abraham come to faith and then commanded to circumcise his own regardless of their own spiritual state, and then understanding the promises of the New Covenant, which are nowhere revoked in the New Testament, I was gaining a much larger and God centered perspective on the nature of the Church, the New Covenant and Christianity as a whole.
It became clear to me that the Baptist ideal of a pure Church started to crumble all about me, and what exactly was it based upon?
Well, for one thing an incorrect understanding of Jer 31:34 was part of the puzzle.
But it was a huge part of the jigsaw for me personally. I had been systematically putting under the microscope my reformed Baptist beliefs regarding New Covenant and in the end there was nothing left to really cling to.
I came to see very quickly that the distinctions from reformed orthodox Christianity in the past about Visible and Invisible Church are well laid out systems of thought and practice, rather than some kind of theological construct that is simply given a bare nod.
So what is the bottom line for me? What am I saying?
I no longer worry about the Church becoming infected with unbelievers, but rather encourage everyone to come to Church and be part of it. That is the visible Church, as I understand it. I believe God shall raise up wise leaders in His Church to maintain order and wisdom, and that will be more accomplished with a plurality of elders, where there is more wisdom in numbers, rather than the lone Pastor kind of model that so much exists today, particularly in smaller to medium Churches.
I still believe in Church membership and I affirm that a Church should have a good statement of faith, preferably a good reformed confession.
I am more inclined to a congregational understanding of Church government rather than Presbyterian or any other Protestant Ecclesiology,
It is interesting for me, how Covenant theology impacts all of these areas of Christian thought, including an area that I had never given much interest in previously, namely that thing called eschatology, the study of the last things!
For example, before all of this going on in my life I was what could be called an optimistic A-mill kind of guy, but with Post-mill leanings. I can safely say that I am now Post Mill and my views regarding this whole study of Covenant theology has shed light here also! More could be said.
I deliberately wrote this article with personal and often subjective comments for the benefit of the ordinary layman/believer, but I hope I provided some scripture at key points, and how the Word challenged me more than anything else about these matters.
I could quote all the passages that Paedobaptists can quote in defense of their position, but as good as they are or bad as some might be, I decided others have done that and could be read quite easily for further inquiry.
I decided to just tell my story and how it evolved over a relatively short period of time. I was one like Paul, on the very road to opposing Paedobaptism, when suddenly I was struck off of my high horse and made to take a much closer look. After my sight was given back to me of course!
Please feel free to make any comments or ask questions etc. I know I will definitely be re-editing this article in the days ahead, in order to improve upon what I have written. It is being written off the cuff at present and I know the subject deserves a far better treatment than what I have so far offered here.
Could I debate my new position with a scholar? Yes, I could do that, but my love and appreciation of these truths have caused me to re-evaluate the significance of my future as an apologist in this particular area.
I will never make my Paedobaptism a dividing line with other Christians, and I hope grace can be extended between all that differ on this subject.
My favorite living teachers are reformed Baptists and Spurgeon is my all time favorite preacher, so I am not about to abandon those convictions because of my shift to Paedobaptism and my Covenant convictions.
Does the New Covenant include the infants of believers? Yes absolutely, for they also have the very same promises given to them, and their inclusion by way of baptism, is the visible sign that points to those sure and certain promises of God to all generations.
Once the promise of salvation is received by faith in the New and better Covenant (Mediated and fullfiled in Christ) then the sign can be looked back upon as a seal as well as a sign of the thing signified by baptism.
That is why Peter could say the following.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1Pe 3:21 Which antitype now also saves us, baptism (not a putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ;
Blessings
Mark
