Category: Sacramental Theology
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Lord’s Supper: Hors D’Oeuvres of the New Creation
The Lord’s Supper shows us that creation participates in Christ’s death and resurrection. By identifying his body and blood with bread and wine, Jesus shows that he came to redeem the whole world. This fallen creation will be set free. Grace crucifies and resurrects nature. The kingdom is not an escape from this world, nor…
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The Original Paedofaith Essay
PAEDOFAITHA Primer on the Mystery of Infant SalvationBy Rich LuskAugust, 2004 In Psalm 22:9-10, David asserts that he had faith as an infant. He sees continuity between the faith he possesses now as an adult and the faith he had as a child, even in the womb. He explains that he had a God-ward orientation…
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Baptismal Exhortation: Infants and the Exodus
We have the great privilege today of witnessing a baptism. I say “witnessing” because anytime you see a pastor baptize someone, Jesus himself is truly the baptizer. When a pastor baptizes someone one, young or old, Jesus is the one who actually performs the act. Sometimes it is said that there are no examples of…
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Two Baptismal Exhortations
Welcome to the baptismal service of T. It is Christmas and during the season of Christmas, we celebrate a birth. We celebrate an infant. Christmas is a pro-child holiday because it’s about the coming of The Child into our world. It’s no surprise children love Christmas so much because Christmas is about a very special…
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Baptismal Exhortation: Jesus Loves the Little (Covenant) Children
In Psalm 71, the psalmist says “You are my trust from my youth. Upon you I have leaned from birth.” In Psalm 22, David says, “You made Me trust while on My mother’s breasts.” In Luke 18, believing parents bring their infants to Jesus for a blessing. Jesus laid hands on them and said, “To such belongs the kingdom of God.” In…
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What Mark Dever Gets Right and Wrong about Paedobaptists
A friend sent me a link to this clip, which is making the rounds. I know next to nothing about Mark Dever, but I do want to give a quick threefold response to his claims about baptism. First, Dever claims that paedobaptism and baptismal regeneration have historically gone together. On that point, he is exactly right.…
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God Wants His Rainbow Back (Baptism Exhortation)
The D family is a covenant household and so today they bring R for covenant baptism. We have probably seen more rainbows this month than we care to. Why? Because the symbol of the rainbow has been hijacked. God gave the rainbow as a sign of his promise but man has turned it into a…
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Baptismal Exhortation: Baptism as Divine Gift
The Bible makes astounding claims for baptism. For example: In Acts 2, Peter says baptism is for the forgiveness of sins. In Titus 3, Paul calls baptism the washing of regeneration. In Romans 6, Paul says we are united to Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection in baptism. In Galatians 3, Paul says in…
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Baptismal Exhortation: Another Link in the Chain
Infant baptism is a sign of God’s multi-generational faithfulness. God’s covenants always include the next generation. We Presbyterians call this “covenant succession.” The promise God makes to believing parents is, “I will be your God and the God of your children.” The hope, based on this promise, is that the faith will be passed on…
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Baptismal Exhortation: Grace Restores the Family
There are many arguments we can derive from Scripture in favor of the practice of baptizing children. This is the eighth day of Christmas, the day of Christ’s circumcision. We could look at circumcision as a precursor to baptism. If the sign of the righteousness that comes by faith could be applied to children in…
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