Church History

The Historic (Reformed) Theology of Baptism & the Lord’s Supper in Baptist Confessions & Catechisms

Kirk E. Miller

The following examples demonstrate that the historic Baptist position on Baptism and the Lord’s Supper was essentially a credobaptist version of the Reformed view. This contrasts with the views of many Baptists today who conceive and speak of the ordinances as mere acts of the believer (e.g., acts of remembrance, public declarations of faith) as opposed to also being signs and confirmations of God’s promises to us, and thereby means of his grace in the life of the believer.

The Belgic Confession and The Westminster Confession (to be clear, neither of which are Baptist) can be cited as representative of the Reformed view:

“Our gracious God, taking account of our weakness and infirmities, has ordained the sacraments for us, thereby to seal unto us His promises, and to be pledges of the good will and grace of God towards us, and also to nourish and strengthen our faith; which He has joined to the Word of the gospel, the better to present to our senses both that which He declares to us by His Word and that which He works inwardly in our hearts, thereby confirming in us the salvation which He imparts to us.” (Belgic)

“Sacraments are holy signs and seals of the covenant of grace, immediately instituted by God, to represent Christ, and his benefits; and to confirm our interest in him.” (Westminster)

Even The Augsburg Confession (not Reformed, but Lutheran) overlaps with this Reformed view on at least this point: “[The Sacraments] were ordained, not only to be marks of profession amongst men, but rather that they should be signs and testimonies of the will of God towards us, set forth unto us, to stir up and confirm faith in such as use them. Therefore men must use Sacraments so, as to join faith with them, which believes the promises that are offered and declared unto us by the Sacraments.”

So our church, CrossWay Milwaukee (Reformed Baptist), expresses our convictions this way in our statement of faith: “We believe that baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ordinances instituted by God for the Church as signs to represent Christ and His benefits, and pledges to confirm believers’ interest therein. In this way, they serve our spiritual nourishment when received in faith—the signs themselves not to be confused as actually becoming those things signified nor as having any saving effect in and of themselves. We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion of a professing believer into water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and is properly connected to conversion and inclusion in the church. We believe the Lord’s Supper is a memorial administered with bread and wine designed to commemorate Christ’s death and exhibit believers’ communion with Him as well as each other.”

The First London Confession of Father (1644)

“To this Church He hath made His promises, and giveth the signs of His covenant, presence, acceptation, love, blessing and protection. Here are the fountains and springs of His heavenly graces flowing forth to refresh and strengthen them.”

“That the way and manner of dispensing this ordinance, is dipping or plunging the body under water; it being a sign, must answer the things signified, which is, that interest the saints have in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ: And that as certainly as the body is buried under water, and risen again, so certainly shall the bodies of the saints be raised by the power of Christ, in the day of the resurrection, to reign with Christ.”

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Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther by Roland Bainton (Book Recommendation)

Kirk E. Miller

On October 31st, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his famous 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany—so beginning the Protestant Reformation. This book tells the story of Luther’s life, how he came to discover the gospel of justification by faith alone for himself, and how he then sparked a movement of gospel recovery across Europe.

On the Incarnation by Athanasius (Book Recommendation)

Kirk E. Miller

*In the video, I misspoke and said, “I use that term lightly,” instead of, “I don’t use that term lightly.”

This “must read” Christian classic is perfect reading for advent season. Writing in the 4th century, Athanasius, one of the greatest thinkers of the early church, argues why the Son of God became human (i.e., the incarnation) — namely to rescue us from our corruption and raise us to restoration with the risen Christ.

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God (Jonathan Edwards)

Kirk E. Miller

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God (Jonathan Edwards)
CrossWay Community Church
October 31st, 2021

Podcast link.

Among others, two thoughts I’ve had while spending time in this sermon:

It would be easy to see how so many in our context will have misunderstood this sermon, and Edwards, if they didn’t attend to its actual meaning carefully. The expression “being in an angry God’s hands” is actually meant as something positive for the sinner, as Edwards uses it. Why? Because it is the very “hands” of this God who otherwise has every right to damn the unregenerate person that keeps them from immediately entering that fate. It is the very God who rightfully abhors you in your sin that nonetheless is forebearing with you to this very hour. As Edwards argues in the sermon (his thesis, if you will), “There is nothing that keeps wicked people at any given moment out of hell except the mere pleasure of God.” For all the talk of God’s anger towards sin, it’s meant to point us to God’s forbearance and his offer of mercy in Christ.

Secondly, Edwards’ descriptions of God’s wrath undoubtedly will rub against our current contemporary sentiments, where we don’t like to think that God is angry with sinners; or if God were to be angry towards the unsaved, that would be reflective of some sort of defect in him. (This probably has something also to do with our loss of the doctrine of divine simplicity, which results in us thinking of certain of God’s attributes pitted against others–but that’s another topic.) However, Edwards doesn’t care about our contemporary sentiments. He presents God’s righteous indignation with sin in unbridled, blunt terms–language I imagine many of us will question or find abrasive, but which is only indicative of the fact that we need to hear it. We’re apt to soften the holiness of God. Edwards’ isn’t. But for as stark as Edwards gets, even he admits: it’s probably not stark enough; he’s really only scratching the surface of God’s ineffable holy hatred of sin.

“Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.” (Romans 2:3-4)

Romans 2:4-5

The Helvetic Confession’s High View of Preaching

Kirk E. Miller

“The preaching of the Word of God is the Word of God. Wherefore when this Word of God is now preached … we believe that the very Word of God is proclaimed, and received by the faithful … and that now the Word itself which is preached is to be regarded, not the minister that preaches….”

—The Second Helvetic Confession (Chapter I)

“Concerning the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven which the Lord gave to the apostles … all properly called ministers possess and exercise the keys or the use of them when they proclaim the Gospel; that is, when they teach, exhort, comfort, rebuke, and keep in discipline the people committed to their trust. For in this way they open the Kingdom of Heaven to the obedient and shut it to the disobedient. … Christ’s ministers discharge the office of an ambassador in Christ’s name, as if God himself through ministers exhorted the people to be reconciled to God. … Therefore, they excercise the keys when they persuade [men] to believe and repent. Thus they reconcile men to God. Thus they remit sins.”

—The Second Helvetic Confession (Chapter XIV)

“Ministers, therefore, rightly and effectually absolve when they preach the Gospel of Christ and thereby the remission of sins, which is promised to each one who believes, … and when they testify that it pertains to each one peculiarly. … The remission of sins in the blood of Christ is to be diligently proclaimed, and that each one is to be admonished that the forgiveness of sins pertains to him.”

—The Second Helvetic Confession (Chapter XIV)