Old Sandals

Not for weight of glory
Not for crown or palm
Enter we the army
Raise the warrior psalm
But for love that claimeth
Lives for whom He died
He whom Jesus nameth
Must be on His side
By thy love constraining
By thy grace divine
We are on the Lord’s side
Savior, we are thine!

Frances Ridley Havergal

“She was baptized on Sunday!” my friend said joyously, referring to her little granddaughter.

But what was she really saying? Certainly much more than, “My granddaughter had some water sprinkled on her head on Sunday”. I can’t speak for my friend, of course, but after some reflection I believe she was saying something like:

“She belongs to God now. The holy God of the Bible. The God of the Church. It’s a kind of validation. She is not a pagan, or a heathen having no God. She is not alone in life. She is baptized. Baptized into the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. She is a part now of all that is good, lasting, hopeful, meaningful.”

Her baptism was a sign—more than that—a seal that her sins have been forgiven. The Lord God has done something for her, something she could never do for herself. Although a little baby, she is a citizen of heaven now, a daughter of the King of glory.  Faith has been created in her, or at least a capacity for faith has been created.

Faith is a gift, like everything else. As the Apostle Paul reminded the Corinthians, “What do you have that you did not receive?” (I Cor. 4:7)  And yet, more fully understood, faith is both a gift and a response. She has been given something very valuable.  She was baptized.  She has an objective, personal assurance of God’s love and care for her.  She was not given a good luck charm to carry around with her.  She was given a gift she must keep on receiving.  She must grow in the grace and the knowledge of her Savior, Jesus Christ.

“‘Christ died for your sins.’ That’s not a statement of how bad you are; that’s a statement of how valuable you are to God. He loves you.”

I find troubling these words from a pentecostal preacher.  ‘Christ died for your sins’ is a statement of how lost we are, how blind we are:

Ye who think of sin but lightly
Nor suppose the evil great
Here may view its nature rightly,
Here its guilt may estimate.

Moreover, it tells us how loved we are, but not how valuable we are.  “But God demonstrates His own love (not our value) toward us, in that while we were still sinners (with no value), Christ died for us!” Romans 5:8

We meet to part, but part to meet
When earthly labors are complete,
To join in yet more blest employ,
In an eternal world of joy.

Written for the first commencement of SBTS by Dr. Basil Manley, Jr.  in 1860 and sung at every commencement since.

Of the Last Judgment

The end of God’s appointing this day, is for the manifestation of the glory of his mercy in the eternal salvation of the elect; and of his justice in the damnation of the reprobate, who are wicked and disobedient.

From the standpoint of human reason, the scriptural teachings that God has objectively justified (objective justification) the whole world through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ and wants all people to be saved through faith in Him (subjective justification), and that He elected by grace from eternity those who are saved, cannot be resolved. We must say with the Apostle Paul when he contemplates the mystery of our election, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!”

Of the State of Men after Death, and of the Resurrection of the Dead

The bodies of men, after death, return to dust, and see corruption: but their souls, which neither die nor sleep, having an immortal subsistence, immediately return to God who gave them.

I do not believe the soul is, by nature, immortal, or inherently immortal. The soul is immortal by the grace of God. The Christian’s hope is not centered on the immortality of the soul, but rather on the resurrection of the dead. “And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God.” (Job 19:26)

Physical death is the separation of the soul from the body, until the appointed time of the resurrection.  “The hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” (John 5:28-29)

When Jesus refers to death as “sleep”, He does so phenomenologically.  “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up….However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.” (John 11:11,13)

“We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.”  (2 Corinthians 5:8)  Hallelujah for that, whatever it means!

“I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.” Nicene Creed

Of Synods and Councils

Amen.

Of Church Censures

To these officers the keys of the kingdom of heaven are committed; by virtue whereof, they have power, respectively, to retain, and remit sins; to shut that kingdom against the impenitent, both by the Word, and censures; and to open it unto penitent sinners, by the ministry of the Gospel; and by absolution from censures, as occasion shall require.

The “Office of the Keys” is that special authority which Christ has given to His church on earth to forgive the sins of repentant sinners, but to withhold forgiveness from the unrepentant as long as they do not repent. It is based on Christ’s words to the apostles in Matthew 18:18, words which have historically been interpreted to apply to the ministerial office in the church through the ages, and not exclusively to the apostles to whom the words were first addressed.

“Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Luke 5:21)  The answer, of course, is no one.  Yet for our benefit God has ordained that the forgiveness of sins have an objective ground. “Thus it is written…that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations.” (Luke 24:46)  A public declaration of God’s forgiveness, or holy absolution, as it is sometimes called, while not a sacrament in the strict sense of the term, i.e., it has no visible element, has Christ’s own institution. It is a means of grace, as is holy baptism and holy communion.

Holy absolution, following confession of sin, is a proper ministration of the Keys (as is a stern warning to those who resist repentance).  In the Lutheran tradition, it takes the following form:  “Upon this your confession, I, as a called and ordained servant of the Word, announce the grace of God to all of you, and in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”  The pastor has no power or authority of himself to say “I forgive you all your sins”, just as he has no power or authority of himself to say “I baptize you”, or to say, “The body of Christ for you”. Rather, the power is ecclesiastical, i.e., it is vested in the office by the authority of Jesus Christ.  And yet the pastor’s declaration of forgiveness is, in Martin Luther’s words, “just as valid and certain, even in heaven, as if Christ our dear Lord had dealt with us Himself.”

“Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us…” (2 Corinthians 5:20)

The benediction too is a means of grace.  It is much more than an expression of hope and goodwill, a kind of pious goodbye.  Rather it is a declaration of God’s blessing through God’s minister to and upon His (forgiven) people.

“To all those that repent of in this wise, and look to Jesus Christ for their salvation, I declare that the absolution of sins is effected, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”  Calvin’s Strasbourg Liturgy

Of the Lord’s Supper

Worthy receivers, outwardly partaking of the visible elements, in this sacrament, do then also, inwardly by faith, really and indeed, yet not carnally and corporeally but spiritually, receive and feed upon, Christ crucified, and all benefits of His death: the body and blood of Christ being then, not corporeally or carnally, in, with, or under the bread and wine; yet, as really, but spiritually, present to the faith of believers in that ordinance, as the elements themselves are to their outward senses.

Concerning the Lord’s Supper, it is easy to say too much or too little.  To say the bread and the wine are only signs or symbols is to say too little.  The Lord’s Supper is a sacrament, i.e., it is both a sign and a seal. As a sign it points to our Lord’s gracious, propitiatory sacrifice.  As a seal, it also somehow participates in, validates, conveys to us the reality of the grace to which it points.  And yet to say the Lord’s Supper is some kind of magical meal that assures us of eternal salvation irrespective of our faith is to say too much.

To say the elements are “merely bread and wine” is to say too little.  The unanimous testimony, belief, and doctrine of the entire Christian church for the first fifteen hundred years was that those who receive the bread and wine really receive Christ’s true body and blood, the same body that died on the cross and the same blood that was shed for our salvation. But to say the presence of Christ in the Eucharist is a crass physical presence like that taught by some eleventh-century theologians who insisted that if “you bit the the bread you have bitten the body of Christ” is to say (way) too much.

I do not disparage the Lutheran phrase, “in, with or under”, recognizing that it is an imprecise way to profess our belief that, in some manner, Christ is present.  Objectively present, not merely subjectively “present to the faith of believers”. This objectively-real presence is the reason for the Apostle Paul’s admonition: “Whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 11:27)

And yet (lest I say too much), the Lord’s body and blood are not present in the same way as the elements themselves, occupying space and bounded by it.  Rather, the body and blood are present supernaturally.  The Formula of Concord speaks of “the incomprehensible, spiritual mode of presence according to which He neither occupies nor yields space but passes through everything created as He wills … He employed this mode of presence when He left the closed grave and came through closed doors, in the bread and wine in the Supper .”

This is certainly a great mystery.  “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness.” (1 Timothy 3:16)  The bread and the wine remain bread and wine, but they also become the body and blood of our Lord and Savior.  It defies explanation, in a way paradigmatic of the Incarnation itself.

“For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Savior, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh.” Justin Martyr

“The Eucharist is the self-same body of our Savior Jesus Christ which suffered for our sins and which the Father in his goodness afterwards raised up again.”  Ignatius of Antioch

I do not believe in transubstantiation, as formulated by Thomas Aquinas, for it “overthroweth the nature of a sacrament”. Nevertheless, I do like his poem, Pange Lingua:

Word made flesh, the bread He taketh,
By His word His flesh to be;
Wine His sacred blood He maketh,
Though the senses fail to see;
Faith alone the true heart waketh
To behold the mystery.

Fides quarens intellectum (Latin: faith seeking understanding) was Anselm’s motto. It is mine too.  If I have said too much concerning the Lord’s Supper, or too little, Lord forgive me, teach me.

Of Baptism

Baptism is a sacrament of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ, not only for the solemn admission of the party baptized into the visible Church; but also to be unto him a sign and seal of the covenant of grace, of his ingrafting into Christ, of regeneration, of remission of sins, and of his giving up unto God, through Jesus Christ, to walk in the newness of life. Which sacrament is, by Christ’s own appointment, to be continued in His Church until the end of the world.

The outward element to be used in this sacrament is water, wherewith the party is to be baptized, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, by a minister of the Gospel, lawfully called thereunto.

Dipping of the person into the water is not necessary; but Baptism is rightly administered by pouring, or sprinkling water upon the person.

Not only those that do actually profess faith in and obedience unto Christ, but also the infants of one, or both, believing parents, are to be baptized.

Although it is a great sin to contemn or neglect this ordinance, yet grace and salvation are not so inseparably annexed unto it, as that no person can be regenerated, or saved, without it: or, that all that are baptized are undoubtedly regenerated.

The efficacy of Baptism is not tied to that moment of time wherein it is administered; yet, notwithstanding, by the right use of this ordinance, the grace promised is not only offered, but really exhibited, and conferred, by the Holy Ghost, to such (whether of age or infants) as that grace belongs unto, according to the counsel of God’s own will, in His appointed time.

The sacrament of Baptism is but once to be administered unto any person.

Baptism is a sacrament, i.e., it is a physical, tangible means by which God’s grace is conveyed.  Accordingly, holy baptism is not a mere sign pointing to the faith of the catechumen.  Rather, it is both a holy sign and seal.  A sign in that it points to the God whose gracious gift is there on display (and not to the individual who is but the passive though reverent recipient of that gift),  and a seal because it participates in, attests to, confirms and ratifies the reality to which it [the sign] points.  Thus baptism is a sign-act, both pointing to and effecting one’s ingrafting into Christ, regeneration, and the remission of sins.

I believe in baptismal regeneration.  This does not mean I deny justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Baptism is not a work;  it is not something we do. “Whether of age or infants”, we are the passive recipients of God’s gracious work in baptism, wherein we are ingrafted into Christ, and our sins are forgiven.  It is not the water by itself that does these things, rather, it is the water connected to the Word of God, a baptism in the name [and for the glory] of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Baptism is a God-ordained means of grace.

So hear ye all, and well perceive
What God doth call baptism,
And what a Christian should believe
Who error shuns and schism.
That we should water use, the Lord
Declareth it his pleasure;
Not simple water, but the Word
And Spirit without measure.
He is the true Baptizer.”  Martin Luther

“For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” (Galatians 3:27)

“Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:3-4)

“…He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” (Titus 3:5)

Baptism, because it is a sacrament, has both an historical and an eschatological aspect, i.e., baptism is not something that just happens in a single moment. Baptism is something that is sealed in a single moment, but that then works upon us throughout our lives to change our hearts, to renew our faith, and to make us holy. Baptism does not save us per se. It is Christ who saves us. Baptism gives and strengthens our capacity to believe. It is the visible gospel, delivering the promise which faith clings to.

In the case of infants, the Confession implies that baptism is effectual for the elect only (“to such…as that grace belongs unto”).  Eschatologically speaking, this is of course true. “The Lord knows those who are His.” (2 Timothy 2:19) But I am not living in the Eschaton, where “I shall know just as I am also known”. (1 Corinthians 13:12)  My weak faith needs more objective ground on which to stand. The sacrament of Baptism is intended to be that objective ground for each of us.  “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:22)  Martin Luther, in his Large Catechism, wrote, “To appreciate and use Baptism aright, we must draw strength and comfort from it when our sins or conscience oppress us, and we must retort, “But I am baptized! And if I am baptized, I have the promise that I shall be saved and have eternal life, both in soul and body.” In this sense—on this side of eternity—I hold that baptism is truly effectual for all, but all are responsible to respond to the grace of God freely given at baptism.  Faith is both a gift and a response.

I do not believe baptism is absolutely necessary for salvation. Since God works through both word and sacrament, the word is sufficient to regenerate and save. Baptism is not a human work that God is going to condemn someone for not doing; rather it is a divinely appointed means of grace. Adults who hear the spoken Word and believe eagerly seek to be baptized, not because it is a human rite symbolic of one’s commitment or something to that effect, but because of what God promises in and through baptism.  However, the lack of baptism is a sign of unbelief. Thus, it is not the lack of baptism that condemns but the rejection of baptism.  “He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16)

I do not believe that everyone who was ever baptized will be saved. If one does not continue in the faith given and/or strengthened at baptism, his baptism becomes a means of judgement rather than salvation.

And finally, (and more than of passing interest in my opinion) the Church fathers speak with almost one voice concerning baptism, of which the following quotes are representative:

“It was not for nothing that Naaman of old, when suffering from leprosy, was purified upon his being baptized, but it served as an indication to us. For as we are lepers in sin, we are made clean, by means of the sacred water and the invocation of the Lord, from our old transgressions; being spiritually regenerated as new-born babes, even as the Lord has declared: ‘Except a man be born again through water and the Spirit, he shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.'” Irenaeus

“The Church has received from the apostles the custom of administering baptism even to infants. For those who have been entrusted with the secrets of divine mysteries, knew very well that all are tainted with the stain of original sin, which must be washed off by water and spirit.” Origen

“The custom of our mother Church in baptizing infants must not be counted needless, nor believed to be other than a tradition of the Apostles.”  Augustine

“I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins.” Nicene Creed