Baptism

In places with a Christian heritage the weightiness of baptism can easily be underestimated. Many people get baptized, or baptize their children, out of impulse, or as a matter of custom. It isn’t usually a sobering decision. Believers under persecution understand baptism differently. Immediately...

Jonathan Gibson has gifted the church a wonderful book titled, I will build My Church: Selected Writings on Church Polity, Baptism, and the Sabbath , published by Westminster Seminary Press (2021). I say that Gibson has gifted the church, but he is the editor and not the author. Who is the author?...

The Federal Vision speaks a lot about the objectivity of the covenant. What does that mean? Doug Wilson puts it somewhat crassly when he says, “It can be photographed and fingerprinted.” [1] For Wilson, the fingerprint is baptism. [2] Baptism, though an external sign, is like that of circumcision...

His Sacramental Theology - Baptism I n our last post, we looked at Tyndale’s covenant theology, which contributed to the development of a mature Englished Reformed theology in the following century. This time, we will treat Tyndale’s sacramental theology in general and then baptism specifically...

Eating disorders can fall towards two extremes. Some abuse God’s good gifts by eating too much food or bad food; others starve themselves, perhaps attempting to lose weight or control their body in some other way. Similarly, baptism is often either abused or neglected. For example, some treat it as...

If I could preach only one sermon, I would preach my one allotted message to the visible church. I would preach with the weighty concern that the baptized are on an irreversible course toward eternity. And the baptized, those well-ordered around the outward expressions of the covenant, are most...

Monica of Tagaste – A Persistent Mother Augustine was a difficult teenager, the kind that keeps parents up at night. The restlessness he would later describe in his Confessions was already evident at a young age, especially to his mother Monica. But she never gave up. She upheld him constantly in...

Word, Sacrament, and Discipline You’ve moved to a new area, and are looking for a church. What are the main things you should consider in your search? As a visitor, what are the visible signs that indicate you’re in a true church? Barry York is a pastor…president of Reformed Presbyterian...

Sinclair Ferguson is associate minister at Saint Peter’s Church in Dundee, Scotland. He’s a long-time professor of theology, a former member of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals council, and author of numerous works, including Some Pastors and Teachers, which is the subject of today’s...

When studying the history of the Church, we tend to jump from the apostolic era right to the third century and beyond, where theological controversies were taking shape and ecumenical councils were being called. What about the second century? Was anything significant happening then? Michael Kruger...