And I believe that it is good and right to feel a certain sort of disgust and outrage when such persons say such things. Often when they do, they skew the truth, promote falsehoods, and lead others astray in the process. But as with all areas of life, I think that the motivations behind our disgust, outrage, etc. must be tested to show whether or not they are right in and of themselves and promote the truth. For though one reacts to the negative act of one, that reaction is not necessarily positive. In fact, it is probably more often the case that the negative acts of a person inspire and produce negative acts in another.

So then, what are appropriate motivations that inspire such hostile feelings in response to the blatherings of our modern village idiots? A few of these might include a desire to see the truth rightly taught and proclaimed, a desire to dissuade confusion in the church, and others like it.

What then are some inappropriate motivations? Perhaps the chief of these is our concern of being associated with such persons by those who are not in the church. Friends, coworkers, etc. who know that we are Christians see these persons who also claim to be Christians and therefore lump us (or so we think) into the same category as them. If this a motivation of our disgust, etc., then it is likely driven by our pride more than it is by our aspirations to sanctify the truth. And, truth be told, if this is our motivation, there are dozens of more true and orthodox doctrines that the world views as loonier than those of the date setters and the judgment declarers.

Another is the belief that these puny, nutty men can thwart the purposes of God. This is a negative motivation because it is simply untrue. Much is said about our witness to the world, but somehow, between the time the apostles penned the New Testament and now, our “witness” became not about Jesus Christ and his work but it became about the façade that we put up in front of the world. In other words, the church has adopted the witnessing practices of the Pharisees. If our appearance to the world was really supposed to be such a concern, I doubt that the Apostle Paul would have written publicly to the Corinthian church about their incestuous relationship problem or to the Galatian church about how easily they turned away to a false religion of works. The church has always been a messy thing, and she will remain so until Christ actually returns.

When people such as Harold Camping go about sharing their “prophecies” on billboards, one of two things happen to those outside the church who see them: either they are hardened in their unbelief, or they are not. And it is the Spirit of God who controls this reaction, not the supposed free will of person viewing it. As the apostle Paul writes:

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ (2Cor. 2:14-17)

In other words, it is not the sanity or reasonableness of our Gospel that saves, but it is the Spirit who saves. And being that this is the same Spirit who raised Christ Jesus from the dead, you’d best believe that he can overcome Harold Camping to call one of his own.

The true light, which enlightens all men, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:9-13).

In the opening verses to his Gospel, the apostle John gives us some of the most well-known verses in Scripture. And though they are well-known by themselves, they point to a text that is even more well-known, namely the first verses of the Scriptures found in Genesis 1. And what I believe the apostle is doing in writing these verses is that he is giving us a commentary upon the Genesis 1 account of the Creation in light of the revealed Person of Jesus Christ. And I say commentary and not revelation, because what the apostle is saying is not something that is new, but it is something that is seen more clearly in Jesus Christ.

To explain what I mean, let’s consider the first verses of the Genesis account in light of John 1. In Genesis 1, Moses writes, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). One thing I love about this text is the way by which the Holy Spirit had revealed it to Moses. For the phrase, “In the beginning” (which has been argued by non-Christian Jewish scholars before and after the coming of Christ), is a purposely ambiguous phrase in the Hebrew. For while it does convey the meaning of “In the beginning,” the same words are used later in the book of Genesis to refer to Jacob’s firstborn son, Reuben. These Jewish scholars, ironically, have shown that these first words in Genesis can be alternately rendered, “Through the Firstborn, God created the heavens and the earth.” Now, granting that is true and granting what the apostle Paul has written elsewhere concerning Jesus Christ, namely that he is the Firstborn of all creation, we have in the Genesis account precisely what the apostle John is saying in his Gospel, namely, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made” (John 1:1-3).

Furthermore, what is interesting is what the apostle John calls Jesus Christ in his preincarnate state, namely “the Word”. For when we consider how God created the heavens and earth, how did he do it? He spoke it into being. He used Words. (e.g. God said, let there be light, and there was light). Now does this mean that God said some magic words and that things magically popped into existence? Well considering John’s argument, I would say that is probably not a full understanding of what really happened. What is likely the proper understanding is that which can be seen in the Gospels, namely that God the Father decrees something and the Son carries out the will of the Father. And just as Jesus Christ when on this earth did everything in submission to the will of the Father, so too at the Creation the Father willed something to take place and the Son carried out his Father’s will. And so, when the Father willed that the universe and all that is in it be created, the Son, the Word, carried out the will of the Father, and thus through the Son all things were created.

The apostle goes on to say: “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” In other words, in the Son–in Jesus Christ–everything that has life and being has it through him alone. The apostle Paul makes a more precise statement in his letter to the Colossians, writing: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” “In Jesus Christ all things hold together” (Col. 1:15-17). In other words, if there is something that exists and maintains its existence, it is because Jesus Christ created it and holds its together. The apostle to the Hebrews says also, “Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds everything by the word of his power.”

Now, an interesting and geeky side-note concerning this reality, namely that Jesus Christ holds all things together by the Word of his Power is a theory in secular physics called the God Particle. Scientists have observed fascinating things at the molecular level, but the one thing that they cannot and have not figured out is why all these things hold together and do not fly out of control. Therefore, many have guessed that there is some yet undiscovered part of atoms (that which they call the God Particle) that has mass or weight, because mass (the same thing that causes gravity) is supposedly the force that holds all things together. And yet they have not found this particle. I doubt that they ever will find this supposed God Particle because this particle does not exist, because I believe what the apostle Paul says is true, namely that it is Jesus Christ (not some particle) who upholds everything by the Word of his Power, even every single atom in the Universe. That, brothers, is the greatness and the vastness and almightiness of the God we serve.

Therefore in this text, before John tells his account of the earthly life of Jesus Christ, he wants us to understand who Jesus is and who he has always been. Before he shows us that Jesus is the carpenter’s son, the man who turned water into wine, the man who beckoned children to come to him, and the man who died upon the cross, John wants us to know that this Jesus Christ is the God of the universe. And John wants us to know that Jesus is not a God who is like a watchmaker who created the world and spun it into self-existence, but he is the God who created all things and in him all things have life and existence, and, if he so pleased, he could let all things go and they would be annihilated into absolute nothingness. In him is life, and without him there is no life.

Now this life of which the apostle speaks, namely “In him was life, and the life was the light of men,” points to a life that is more than just purely existing. This life of which the apostle speaks is a life that is a light to men. Now, we know what the apostle is speaking of, and we’ll see that more clearly in our verses, that this life, this light of men, is what the apostle Paul calls in his second letter to the Corinthian church, “The light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2Cor. 4:4). In other words, this life is not simply breathing, but it is coming to the Father as his friend and his child and not as his enemy. The apostle John writes later the words of Christ, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to Father except through me” (John 14:6). And so Jesus Christ, being the life that holds all things together by the Word of his power, is also the life that is the light of men whereby men come to Father as justified and not condemned.

Despite these positive statements about Jesus Christ, the apostle John highlights two problems that exist in the world in these verses. The first is seen in the need of the life which is the light of men. In other words, something happened in time that made it so that men needed a Light that would grant them life. We know well what that was, namely Adam eating the forbidden fruit of the tree and plummeting the whole human race into sin and darkness and to judgment. A second problem is seen in v. 5, namely that “The light shines in the darkness (i.e. the darkness of men’s hearts and understanding), and the darkness has not comprehended it, has not understood it, had not perceived it.” In other words, the light has existed and it has been shining into the darkness that was created by sin, yet the darkness, namely those who lived in darkness, did not see it or understand it. And it is in this context that we come to our verses tonight.

The true light, which enlightens all men, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:9-13).

Now, this is a very deep and rich text, and so I am going to try to the best of my ability to unpack what the apostle through the Holy Spirit is saying in it. And because of its depth, we’re going to pay special attention to the different nouns and verb tenses that the apostle uses to compose it.

The apostle begins with what I believe is an introductory statement to this section. He begins saying, “The true light (which we know from v. 4 is the life of men, i.e. Jesus Christ and his Gospel) which enlightens all men, was coming into the world.” Now I believe it is an introductory statement because he clarifies everything that he is saying in this verse in the verses that follow. In the later verses, he clarifies what this “enlightenment” is, he clarifies what this “all men” is, and he clarifies what he means by saying that this light “was coming into the world.” Among these things, I think we can see from the text that the chief idea of this text is the nature of the enlightenment of this True Light, and everything else in the text hinges upon that enlightenment.

When we think upon the word “enlightenment” and what enlightenment is, we find that it has multiple meanings. First, enlightenment can have the idea an internal enlightenment, of a mental or spiritual type, whereby men understand things more clearly. What comes to mind is what we call the Age of Enlightenment which is called thus because it was supposedly a transition in human history from the Dark Ages of a lack of understanding to the Age of Science and Reason and Knowledge. Now, whether that is true or not in history can be debated, but that is one way which we understand the term. Another way is external enlightenment, like that of a light bulb enlightening a room, where light shines in and fills a room and has nothing to do with human perception. If a blind man were to walk into a room enlightened by a light bulb, the room would be no less enlightened simply because he could not perceive it. The light is there, he just does not have the ability to see it.

The apostle John, I believe uses both senses of this term, i.e. both external enlightenment and internal enlightenment. First, in these verses we see the external enlightenment of Jesus Christ. In v. 10, he writes, “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.” Now, to understand what the apostle is saying, I think it would be helpful to understand what he means by the terms that he uses. First, by using “world” I believe he is meaning to convey the notion of “all nations” or “Gentiles” because of the context here (“world” being set against “he came to his own people” in the next verse) and the way that John uses it in the rest of his Gospel. For example in John 3:16 which clearly parallels Psalm 2, the psalmist writes, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you, ask of me and I will give you the nations as your inheritance and the ends of the earth your possession … Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled; blessed are all who take refuge in him,” and later the Pharisees say, “Look the world has gone after him,” when they see that even the Greeks are seeking Jesus.” So, what does it mean that he was (past tense) in the world before his incarnation and the peoples did not know him? Well, I think John is saying what the apostle Paul says in Romans 1, namely:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God his plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes namely his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made, so they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in there thinking and there foolish hearts were darkened (Rm. 1:18-21).

In other words, the state of existence of all men is such that they know God and yet do not know God. For the way that sin has so corrupted the world makes it so that everyone who is born of the seed of Adam can perceive God in the things that have been created since Jesus Christ is stamped upon everything that has been made, and yet they do not know him and therefore rebel against him and their foolish hearts are darkened. As Charles Spurgeon has rightly said, “The same sun that melts the wax hardens the clay.” Those in the world think that they are wise, but in reality they are fools, and they exchange the glory of the immortal God for idols and are therefore hardened. For this reason, everyone is without excuse, for as the apostle writes later, “For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.”

Now the problem that is in the world because of Adam’s transgression is so great and so pervasive that it not only covers the Gentiles in darkness, but it also covers the Jews. The apostle John writes in the next verse, “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.” So we see in the flow of the text that the apostle John is saying that the natural state of man in Adam is such that the Gentiles who saw Christ clearly in the creation did not see him, and even his own people, the Jews, to whom he had given the law through Moses did not receive him but rejected him. In Matthew’s Gospel, the apostle quotes Christ quoting Isaiah concerning the Jews, saying, “Seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear” (Mt. 13:13). In other words, though they had the law and, as Christ said, the law’s chief purpose was to testify about him, yet those who had the law, even the Pharisees who had memorized it, did not see or receive Christ. In other words, the law by itself can never save a soul. It’s for this reason that the apostle John writes a few verses later, “The law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).

The apostle Paul in Romans addresses the same issue in chapter 3, considering the advantage that the Jew might have over the Gentile. His final conclusion is this: “What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all, for we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin. As it is written, ‘None is righteous, no not one. No one understands, no one seeks for God. All have turned aside, together they have become worthless. No one does good, not even one’” (Rm. 3:9-12). Now if this is the state of everyone, namely that none is righteous, no one understands, and no one seeks for God, then what hope is there for any man?

The hope is in Jesus Christ and the second form of enlightenment. For all have received the first form of enlightenment, the external form, whether in the created world or in the law, yet all that enlightenment is able to do is to condemn men, for as we have already seen in the Romans, “All who live apart from the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law” (Rm. 2:12). When it boils down to it, it is just as the apostle Paul says in the preceding verse, God shows no partiality between men (cf. Rm. 2:11).

Therefore the only hope that men have is not in the revelation in created things or in the law, but it is in the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit of God. We see this in the following verse. The apostle begins that verse, saying, “Now to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to be children of God.” The problem is, as we have already seen, is that the Gentiles did not know him and the Jews did not receive him, and, as the apostle Paul says, “No one understands, no one seeks for God.” So, then, what good is this declaration if no one, not even Jesus’ own people are going to receive him? The good comes in the latter part of the verse. He writes, “Who were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. Concerning this same matter, Jesus says to Nicodemus in John 3:8, “You must be born again (or, alternately translated, you must be born from above). The wind blows where it wills, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” In other words, the hope that there will be those who believe in Jesus, that there will be those in a world where there is darkness that does not comprehend Jesus Christ or receives him, is being born again, being given new life from God. And as John has said before, Jesus Christ gives life, and that life is the light of men.

And this being born of God, this impartation of new life, is not accomplished by blood, or by the will of the flesh, or by the will of man, but it is accomplished by the will of God. In other words, this understanding that gives us the ability to believe in Jesus and to receive him–we who were of those do not understand and who do not seek for God–is not accomplished by our bloodline or our genealogy, it is not accomplished by the works of our flesh, and it is not accomplished by our wills, but it accomplished by God and his will alone. The apostle Paul says this same thing in his letter to Romans, saying “Not all Israel is Israel” or in other words, not everyone who is of the physical bloodline of Abraham are God’s people, and later in that same chapter, “So then salvation depends not human will or exertion but on God who has mercy.” John the Baptist says the same thing to the Jews, “Do not presume to say to yourselves ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham” (Mt. 3:9).

When we think about it, how could salvation be any other way? For if what the Scriptures say is true about our condition, namely that we are all naturally under sin because of Adam and our state in Adam is such that we are dead in our trespasses and are naturally blind to who Jesus Christ is, whether we have his Word and law or not, how could our salvation that is based upon believing in and receiving Jesus Christ not be anything less than a New Creation? The apostle Paul picks up this very idea in his second letter to the Corinthians. Answering the questions why he doesn’t peddle the Gospel as a salesman, why he doesn’t leave out the hard parts of God’s Word, or why he doesn’t dim the lights and play soft music at the end of a sermon, he writes, “And even if our Gospel is veiled (not seen) it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2Cor. 4:3-6).

So in this, we are brought back to John 1 and the Word through whom everything was created. For the same Jesus Christ who created the heavens and the earth is the same Jesus Christ who says, “Let light shine out of darkness” in our hearts. For as the apostle John as shown, and others like him, the chief problem in the world is not that people haven’t heard of Jesus Christ, but it is that they haven’t heard Jesus Christ. Everyone in the world to some extent, no matter who they are or where they’re from, has heard and seen Jesus Christ. And yet by themselves they are all deaf and blind. The apostle Paul picks us this very topic concerning the unbelieving Jews in Romans 10, saying: “But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for ‘Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the earth” (Rm. 10:18). Here Paul quotes Psalm 19, which argues the same thing that John and Paul argue in their writings, namely that “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork; Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge; Yet there is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard” (Ps. 19:1-3). And so the chief problem, as the apostle Paul argues, is not that there is no faith, but it is that there is no hearing, for which reason he says in the preceding verse, “So faith comes from hearing, but hearing by the Word of Christ” (Rm. 10:17). In other words, our faith comes from us hearing the Lord and his Gospel, but where does our hearing come from? Our hearing comes from the Word of Christ. The very same Word that spoke the worlds into existence is the same Word who speaks our hearing into existence. As John records Christ later as saying to the Jews:

“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice…” So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not part of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:14-16, 24-27).

Now these are some deep truths that go beyond what we typically call the simple proclamation of the Gospel. They are a behind-the-scenes look at the Gospel that God has revealed to us through his Holy Spirit. And we are not given these things so that we can see around with a cup of coffee and debate things, but they are meant to transform our lives. How does this teaching do this?

1. First, these things make us thankful people. In fact it should make us the most thankful people in the world. For if we understand that everything that we have in this life that is good is a gift of God, we should be thankful to God. Moreover, if we understand who we are, namely that we are wretched sinners who deserve nothing good but deserve nothing but death and evil, the very fact that we are still breathing is cause enough to thank God for the rest of our days. But even more than that, if we understand that our sin has afforded for us an eternity in hell and that we in ourselves could find no real escape from this hell, then the fact that Jesus Christ has shown himself to us by his power and the Father’s good pleasure and not only has saved us from judgment but has brought us into the family of God so that we are not only his children but we share in his Inheritance, well, brothers, that is life-changing.

2. Second, these things should make us humble people. Several times in their writings, the apostles talk about salvation in Jesus Christ and say immediately that because of this salvation all boasting is removed. In other words, the Gospel of Jesus Christ was designed by God in such a way that saved men would have no grounds to boast in themselves. One of my favorite expressions of this is at the beginning of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians:

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord” (1Cor. 1:26-31).

Therefore, let us understand these things and boast in nothing except in Jesus Christ.

3. Third, these things should make us understand that no one is too far from God. No one. For if what the apostle argues is true, namely that there is no difference between the Jew who has the law of Moses and the Gentile who does not have it because they are both under sin, then we have no basis to judge whether or not someone is closer to believing the Gospel than someone else. There are no degrees of salvation–a person is either in Christ or he is not, and God, if he so pleases, can remove the veil of blindness from anyone he pleases.

I’ve heard a lot of people quote from 1 Timothy 2, but it’s not usually with the purpose I believe the apostle Paul is writing it. He says:

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time (1Tim. 2:1-5).

Well to skip any potential theological debate and jump directly into what Paul is writing here, what is he saying? Well, chiefly he is telling Timothy to tell the church to pray, to intercede, and to give thanks for all people, even those whom he describes as “kings and all who are in high places.” Why does he tell them this? Well, as hard as it may be to understand, it is possible that the Christians in Paul’s day lived under such a terrible government that it would make them not want to pray for, to intercede for, and to give thanks for their political leaders. Even more, not too long after Paul writes this letter, the greatest persecutor in the history of the church, Caesar Nero, would take the throne in Rome, and would kill thousands of Christians, crucifying them and feeding them to lions as Romans cheered in the Coliseum, and whose name in Hebrew just happens to add up to 666. But that is neither here nor there. Yet despite all this persecution and despite the wickedness of the kings and leaders, Paul urges the church to pray for them? Why? Because, first, he wanted Christians to treat their leaders in such a way that the church could “live a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” Secondly, they were to pray because God can save anyone. And while it can be argued that God does prefer to save the weak and the foolish and the nothings for the purpose of shaming the strong, the wise, and the somethings, God is not above saving anyone (cf. 1Cor. 1:27-29).

Therefore, when it comes to the grace of God, there is no lost cause on our side of the matter. For as the apostle Paul writes, “God has consigned all to disobedience [both Jews and Greeks], so that he might have mercy on all” (Rm. 11:32). Therefore, the nice lady who bakes pies for her neighbors and helps at the soup kitchen because she’s a Jehovah’s Witness is sitting in the exact same boat as the lesbian woman who volunteers at the Planned Parenthood clinic in San Francisco. Both are under sin, and both deny that Jesus Christ is the God of the universe because they are both dead, blind, and deaf to him and his Gospel. Therefore there is no prayer for any person’s soul that is prayed in vain, there is no preaching of the Gospel that is preached in vain, and there is no tear shed for a lost loved one that is shed in vain. No one is beyond the reach of the saving hand of God, for our God is not only a savior, but he is an Almighty Savior.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light (John 1:6-8).

It is interesting how the apostle John interjects this short snippet on John the Baptist into the theology of Christ, especially when he gives a fuller account of John’s ministry in the latter part of the chapter. What is its purpose? Why here, why at this point?

The point can be gathered, I believe, by looking at the verbal emphasis of these few verses. Of John the Baptist, the apostle writes, “[John] came as a witness, to bear witness about the Light … [John] was not the Light, but he came to bear witness about the Light.” The term “witness” is used three times, whether in its noun or verb form, and it is an important part of the apostle’s discourse.

Why? From the law it is written, “A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established” (Deut. 19:15). Though the law on witnesses is concerning crimes committed, the principle can be established that, where truth is found, there will be a plurality of witnesses to it. And since the apostle John is making some extraordinary claims, namely that Jesus of Nazareth is not merely a man but is the Son of God through whom the universe was made, a witness outside of Jesus himself is necessary to validate his claims.

In the first chapter of the Gospel of John, we are given these multiple witnesses. Most obviously we are given the testimony of the Apostle John in his writing of the account of Jesus Christ. Secondly, we are given our present text which validates the claim that the apostle has made, namely that Jesus Christ is the Light of men (cf. v. 4). John the Baptist came, as the latter part of the chapter intimates, baptizing with water and bearing witness to the Coming One who would baptize with the Holy Spirit. At that point, John the Baptist is given another witness, namely the visible manifestation of the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus and remaining, to which fact John responds, “I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God” (v. 34).

When we think upon it, Christianity is a religion of witnesses. It is not a blind faith, as so many profess it to be, but it is a faith based upon strings upon strings of witnesses throughout human history—these bearing testimony that they have seen, have heard, and have experienced the risen Lord. Jesus’ final words to the apostles was a prophetic one, proclaiming, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). These apostles were sent out into the world (the word apostle meaning, “One who is sent out”) with the primary task of bearing witness to the Gospel of our Lord. And because of their witness, we, who are two-thousand years removed from them, have heard their witness and have believed by seeing and hearing the truth through them and through the witness of the Holy Spirit so that we now bear witness about Jesus Christ to the world.

This principle of multiple witnesses to the truth is essential to evangelism. For if it were by our singular witness alone, we would be viewed by all who heard our witness as kooks and crackpots. Indeed we are viewed as thus by many who hear our witness. Yet to those who receive a second witness, that is the Witness of the Holy Spirit, our testimony is viewed and validated as truth, and they believe the Gospel that we proclaim. The same Spirit who descended upon our Lord and settled upon him testifying that he was the Christ, the Son of God, is the same Spirit who descends upon the heart of the unregenerate and in them bears witness to the Son and creates new life therein.

We praise you, our Father, that you have not left us without a witness to the Gospel of the glory of your Son. We thank you, Holy Spirit, for bearing witness in our hearts to the truth that was proclaimed to us by some faithful witness of man, and for giving us new life at the belief of that witness. We pray that we would be faithful witnesses to what we have seen concerning Jesus Christ and that your Holy Spirit will go before us, proclaiming the truth of the Gospel to those we encounter. Amen.

To appreciate the differences of opinion within Baptist circles on the proper time to administer the sign of baptism, you would have to understand the diversity within those who are labeled Baptists. To put it succinctly, imagine it this way: If you were to throw all of the Methodist denominations and all of the Presbyterian denominations into a single denomination and labeled it Paedobaptists and were to force them to work together and to throw money into a single pot, you would begin to see a bit of the diversity that exists among those who call themselves Baptists. Anyone who believes in believer’s baptism is a Baptist, be he a Calvinist or an Arminian, Reformed or Dispensational, an advocate of an elder-ruled church government or of congregation-ruled, alcohol connoisseur or teetotaler, etc., and it is for this reason that nobody cares to go to the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention unless it is known beforehand that something like Calvinism or alcohol is going to be discussed, and then members flock to it by the droves. It is sort of like looking at a wreck; you know that you shouldn’t, but you just can’t help yourself.

I say this because I know beforehand that there is going to be some Baptists and perhaps some Reformed Baptists who disagree with me on this subject. And I obviously believe my view is biblical and therefore right, but so does Joe Blo Anabaptistlover down in Dallas. So then, I will attempt to draw my argument from what I said in the previous post, because that would be the most faithful and consistent way to deal with topic.

The Covenant Sign and Its Administration
It is important to understand what baptism is before we speak on its proper administration. Baptism by water, that which we simply call baptism, is a sign and a seal of the New Covenant after Christ’s ascension. We see this in the final command given by our Lord to the apostles, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt. 28:19). And I contend that baptism is the sign of the Covenant after Christ’s ascension, because it was not until the Holy Spirit was poured out on Pentecost that the sign was preached by the apostles and had its full significance fulfilled. Now we see the first-fruits of baptism’s significance at the baptism of Jesus Christ where the Spirit descended upon our Lord and rested on him, but baptism as a Christian practice and as a sign of the Covenant in Christ’s blood was not realized until the promised Holy Spirit had been poured out (cf. Ez. 36:25-27). The reason for this is that baptism as we practice it now, post-Pentecost, is a sign and a seal of baptism by the Holy Spirit by our risen and reigning Lord (cf. Mt. 3:11). Through the Spirit, we are buried with Christ into his death and are thereby “born again” to a “living hope” so that “we might walk in newness of life” (cf. 1Pt. 1:3; Rm. 6:4). Baptism by water therefore is a picture, a sign, and a seal of the real baptism by the Spirit of God, and thus it carries with it no merit, no salvific weight, and no grace (aside from the grace of that to which it points). It is also for this reason that Baptists call the practice of baptism by water an ordinance and not a sacrament, because we believe that the grace rests in the real baptism by Spirit, not in the sign, and that further grace is given upon the remembrance of the real baptism through the ordinance of baptism by water (For more on baptism, see Baptism Now Saves You).

Therefore, when we as Baptists consider the ordinance of baptism, we consider it as a seal administered to those who have been brought under the New Covenant by him who baptizes with Holy Spirit (cf. Mt. 3:11). We as Baptists view the administration of the Covenant consistently with every other instance of administration of covenant signs in that it is granted to those who are under the covenant. For this reason, Abraham was circumcised after he had been counted righteous by faith in the Promise of God as a “seal of [that] righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised” (Rm. 4:11). Likewise, every other sign of a covenant is administered to those who are under the covenant to which that sign points. For this reason, God gave to Noah the universal sign of the rainbow for it was to be a sign of the covenant between God and “all flesh” that he would not again destroy the earth by water (cf. Gen. 9:16, 17), and why every Jewish child was circumcised by requirement of the Mosaic Code in order to seal that child under the stipulations of the Mosaic Code. Furthermore, it is for this reason that Peter, at the Council at Jerusalem, denounced the circumcision of the Gentiles, because it would bring the Gentiles under the weight of the Old Covenant / Mosaic Code, thereby “placing a yoke on the neck of the [Gentile] disciples that neither [the Jewish] fathers nor [the Jewish disciples] had been able to bear” (Acts. 15:10). Therefore, covenant signs are given to those who are under the covenant to which it is a sign.

Therefore, when we consider the question, “When and to whom do we administer the sign of baptism by water,” we must ask, “Who falls under the New Covenant?” Many paedobaptists will answer that it is Christians and their children who fall under the New Covenant, for “the promise is for you and for your children” (Acts. 2:39). Now, I am not sure how many honest, biblical paedobaptists will answer with that reference from Acts 2, but to those who do, that answer is proof-texting of the worst sort. It is thus, first, because it truncates the declaration of the apostle Peter, for he says in full, “This promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off.” In other words this “promise” of which the apostle speaks is one that is for them, their children, and even to those who are far way, expressly the nations. It is for this reason that our Lord commands the apostles in the previous chapter, saying, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). In other words, this promise is to be preached to Jews, to half-breed Jews, and to non-Jews, for it is a promise for them all. Secondly, this promise of which the apostle speaks is not the sign of baptism, but it is the gift of the Holy Spirit. The apostle declares, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the names of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38; cf. Acts 1:8). Thirdly, this promise that is for all is restricted by election. In other words, this promise of the Holy Spirit is for all nations, but it is not for every single person who inhabits the nations. For the apostle declares, “The promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself (Acts 2:39). In other words, this promise is for all those who inhabit the earth whom the Lord our God chooses to bring to himself. Therefore the promise is not restricted to a particular nation, neither is restricted by whose child one is, but it solely “depends on him who calls” (cf. Rm. 9:11).

Therefore, when we ask the question, “Who is under the New Covenant,” we must answer, “It is those whom God has called to himself.” How then do we know that God has called one unto himself? We know this because they believe in Jesus Christ, they repent from their sins and worldliness, and they obey the commands of Jesus Christ. In other words, they become a disciple of Jesus Christ. It is for this reason that our Lord gives his final command in this way:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you (Mt. 28:19, 20).

In our Lord’s final command, he gives the evidence of those who are under the covenant, viz. they will be disciples, and he gives the sign of the covenant that is to be administered to them, viz. baptism. Now I say evidence rather than requirement, because we learn elsewhere that this discipleship, this obeying the commands of our Lord, is an evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit (cf. Rm. 6-8:17). All those whom the Lord calls to himself and baptizes by the Holy Spirit walk in “newness of life” which is the fulfillment of the law of Christ (cf. Rm. 6:4, 8:1-4). So then, the New Covenant is as we said it is in our previous discourse, namely the Covenant of Grace, for God fulfills all of the requirements on our behalf, and we bear the fruit of his work (cf. Ph. 2:12; Rm. 7:4). And it to these, namely those who have been baptized by the Holy Spirit and made to walk in newness of life as Christ’s disciples, that our Lord commands the apostles to give the sign of the covenant, viz. baptism. It is for this reason that the call of the apostles is never merely, “Be baptized,” but it is, “Repent and be baptized” (Acts 2:28), or, “Believe and be baptized” (cf. Mk. 16:16; Acts 8:12, 13; 34-38). No one in Scripture is given the sign of baptism apart from belief and repentance, for it those who believe and repent who are called by God under the New Covenant in Christ’s blood.

Considering the Age of Those Who are to be Baptized
Therefore, when we come to the question of age with regard to the giving of the New Covenant sign of baptism, it is almost an irrelevant question. For if the question is one of those whom the Lord baptizes by his Spirit and calls to be his disciples, then we must admit our Lord is free to do as he pleases. Where the question does find relevancy is in the ability of the soul to comprehend his state under the law and sin and is thus able to recognize his own condemnation by it and is therefore able (if the Spirit so wills) to believe and to repent from his lawlessness and throw himself upon Jesus Christ. Some call this state the age of accountability, however, I am not comfortable with calling it an age but a state. For not all men are the same, and the ability to comprehend the law and thereby die by its comprehension is an individual matter not a universal one (cf. Rm. 7:9-11, see also On the Scope of Adam’s Universal Condemnation and Its Implications on the So-Called Doctrine of “The Age of Accountability”). Thus, when a soul is presented or presents himself to be baptized, it is not his age that must be considered, but it is his own recognition of his destitute state and his repentance from it and his belief on Christ. Of course, this will take on far less sophisticated verbiage when expressed by a young child, however, if a child can rightly comprehend these things and believes upon his Lord, the waters of baptism should not be refused to him.

However, with that said, a child should only be put forth for baptism if he understands his salvation biblically. I am thinking particularly of the countless times I have heard a child (bless his heart) say before a church that he has “let Jesus Christ into his heart.” Now, it is his teachers who are to be blamed for such unbiblical language spilling forth from his mouth, however, despite this, the child must understand his lawlessness and the Remedy for his lawlessness, namely Jesus Christ. He must understand that his disobedience to his parents, his cheating in school, his pulling his sister’s hair, etc. are all sufficient enough to condemn him eternally, and he therefore needs Someone who has never disobeyed his parents, never cheated in school, and never pulled his sister’s hair to bear his guilt for him. The child must know that it is not because of his not praying a prayer that he is condemned to hell, but it is because of his willful breaking of the commands of God. If he cannot comprehend this (even in the most simple of language), we cannot say that he has repented and become a disciple of our Lord by the baptism of his Spirit, and therefore we should not administer the covenant sign to him. Now, this is not to say that that child might not be under the care of God’s Spirit, however, I think it safe and wise to withhold the sign of the Covenant from that child lest he unwittingly bear false witness by entering into the waters of baptism (cf. 1Cor. 11:27-31).

Conclusions
All this is to say that the Covenant sign of baptism belongs to those who have been baptized by the Spirit of God and have thereby believed on Christ, repented from their sins, and have covenanted to follow our Lord by denying themselves and taking up their crosses. The covenant sign should only be restricted upon those terms, and even if the youngest of children can comprehend this (their parents being the chief ones to observe such a comprehension), then the Covenant sign should be granted to them. It therefore falls upon the shoulders of a child’s parents to know their child, and it falls upon the shoulders of their pastors / elders to teach the child’s parents the evidences of the New Covenant. It is not something that should be taken lightly, neither is it something that should be denied to those upon whom the Lord is pleased to rest his Spirit.

Upon coming to Jesus, Nicodemus said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him” (Jn. 3:2). Nicodemus’s confession to Christ is an astounding one, and it places him in direct opposition to his Pharisee brothers. Yet, despite the greatness of Nicodemus’s confession, Christ does not respond to his confession with a “Thank you,” or a “You are right,” or even the response he gave to Peter upon his confession, “Blessed are you!” Christ does none of these things but seems to ignore the Nicodemus’s statement altogether.

Instead of responding directly to Nicodemus’s bold confession, Jesus says to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again [or from above] he cannot see the kingdom of God” (v. 3:3). Now, where in the world did that response come from? It seems that Nicodemus said one thing to Christ, and Christ simply decided to ignore Nicodemus’s statement and simply chose to say what was on his mind.

In spite of this appearance on the surface, it would likely be a bit of a misunderstanding to say that Christ’s response had nothing to do with Nicodemus’s declaration. What we are seeing here, I believe, is the Rabbi, whom Nicodemus declared was from God, teaching the Pharisee something that he had somehow missed in his studies of the Scriptures. For Christ, after teaching Nicodemus these truths, says to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? (v. 3:10). Jesus scolds Nicodemus for his lack of understanding in his position as a Pharisee, a teacher of Israel, for apparently this what Christ is teaching to Nicodemus is something that he should have already known.

This teaching, this fundamental doctrine that Nicodemus should have known is that a man must be born again or born from above to see the Kingdom of God. In other words, for a man to be saved and to inherent eternal life, he must be born a second time in a supernatural and heavenly way. We know this because the word translated “again” is ambiguous in that it does mean “again” but it also carries with it the connotation of being “from above.” Therefore, salvation is contingent upon this “second birth from above,” and not to be born again means that one has not received God’s salvation.

Nicodemus, understanding the gravity of this teaching, naturally asks how this second birth comes about. He asks, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” (v. 3:4). Nicodemus’s response to the claim of Christ is about as natural a response as they come. When Christ declares, “You must be born again to be saved,” Nicodemus asks what he must do. “How can I cause myself to be born again?” he asks. “Must I find my mother and be born from her again?”

This, of course, is a ludicrous response, for what man can be born of his mother twice especially when he is a grown man? However, what is more ludicrous than the image of a grown man being born again by his mother is the question, “What must I do to cause myself to be born?” This question is thus because of the image of birth, for no one has ever caused himself to be born of his mother, but it was an act that happened totally irrespective of the man’s work or will. For, how many of us determined that we would come into existence? How many of us commanded our parents to perform the duty of marriage so as to cause ourselves to be conceived? How many gave direction to God to knit us in our mother’s wombs? The answer to these questions is an obvious, “None of us,” for we had no part in our birth. The passive tense of the construction is evidence enough, for we do not bear ourselves, but we are born.

In spite of the image of birth, our answer to the question is typically as absurd as Nicodemus’s, for, instead of conceding that our births had happened apart from us, we criticize Nicodemus for his ridiculous response and say, “Of course you cannot crawl back into your mother’s womb and be born again. To be born again you must accept Jesus as your personal Savior and let him into your heart.” We, misunderstanding the image birth just as badly as Nicodemus did, still attempt to make our being born again something that we cause by performing some act. It would be as ridiculous as saying that before we were born physically we accepted our mother as our personal mother and were thereby conceived and born by her.

But how does Jesus respond to Nicodemus’s question? He responds, saying:

Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.” The wind [or Spirit] blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (v. 3:8).

In other words, Christ responds to Nicodemus concerning the image of second birth just as the image demands, namely by saying that just as no man was born of his mother by his own will, so no man is born of the Spirit by his own will. The Spirit blows where he wishes and wills, and he, like the wind, cannot be captured or directed, and so everyone who is born again is born apart from man’s will or work and by the will of the Spirit alone (cf. Rm. 9:16).

Nicodemus’s response to Christ’s claim is telling, because as a Pharisee he had been living his whole life willing and working his way to God. You can almost hear the devastation in his voice when he cries out, “How can these things be?” (v. 3:9). And yet Christ responds, asking, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?” (v. 3:10). Christ is declaring to Nicodemus that these claims he is making are not new claims, but they are found clearly in the Law and Prophets. Christ is rebuking Nicodemus for his ignorance, for he, being a teacher of God’s people, should know these things well, for they are fundamental doctrines to the faith. Indeed, we find these declarations numerous times in different renditions of the New Covenant where God, by his will and work, causes his people to come into his Kingdom. As indeed he writes in Ezekiel:

“I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and [I will] cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules” (Ez. 36:26, 27; cf. Jer. 31:31-34).

These writings of the prophet declare that this being born again, this New Covenant that God will establish with his people, is unlike the Old Covenant in that God alone does the work and he alone receives the honor and the glory for it. Indeed, we find this fulfilled by Christ’s work where he, taking the cup of wine, says, “This cup that is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my blood” (Lk. 22:20).

Christ makes this point clear later in the discourse with Nicodemus, saying, “No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man” (v. 3:13). The apostle Paul explains this same Scripture in this way:

For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) or “‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim) (Rm. 10:5-8).

In other words, Paul is saying that righteousness and eternal life comes one of two ways: it either, one, comes from living according to the Law (which is impossible), or, two, it comes from faith in Christ alone. And lest we be confused into thinking that the apostle is declaring that we merit our righteousness by some faith that is our own, the apostle writes a few verses later, “So faith comes from hearing, but hearing by the word of Christ” (v. 10:17). To clarify the apostle’s meaning, he is saying that our faith comes from hearing the Gospel proclaimed (v. 10:15), but our ability to hear the Gospel and believe comes from the spoken and creative Word of Christ. Just as God caused us to see the glory of the Gospel by creatively declaring, “Let light shine out of darkness” (2Cor. 4:6), so too does our hearing the Gospel unto faith comes from God alone (cf. Jn. 12:36-43).

Christ makes this very point later in John’s Gospel, saying to the Jews:

I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (vv. 10:25-30).

In other words, Christ is declaring that belief in him comes from being a part of his flock. If one is not of his flock, they will not believe, because they do not hear his voice. And this flock is ordained by God and is accomplished, if you will, by the free will of the Spirit of God. For Christ testifies earlier, “I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice” (v. 10:16).

So to summarize the teaching of Christ to Nicodemus concerning being born again, the reality is that our second birth by the Spirit of God is, like our physical births, not caused by the work or the will of man, but it is caused by the will and ordinance of God alone. In this way, the apostle Paul is validated in his claim that “[God] has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills” (Rm. 9:18). Therefore, the Gospel is not a matter of selling a religion to men so as to create converts, but it is the matter of sowing the seeds of Christ and allowing God to cause the growth (cf. 1Cor. 3:6). For this reason, when the apostle Paul gives an analogy of evangelism, he does not give a picture of a salesman peddling a product, but he gives the picture of a victory parade. He writes:

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ (2Cor. 2:14-17).

In other words, the apostle is saying that as a preacher of Christ, his primary concern is not preaching the Gospel for the sake of saving souls, but it is to spread the aroma of Christ around the world. If some hear and believe, the fragrance of Christ is spread; if some hear and reject Christ, the fragrance of Christ is spread. Either way, the name of Christ is proclaimed, and he is glorified.

The questions that remain for you to ask yourself is, “Do you respond like Nicodemus did to the Gospel and look at what work or act of will that you must do to be saved, or do look upon Christ alone as the Author of your faith? And when you evangelize, do you look at the Gospel as something to be distorted and sold to the unwitting, or do you proclaim it boldly with all its offenses trusting that God will call his sheep to himself?” These are not trivial questions, for how you answer these will determine how you think of the Gospel and will greatly influence your methods and preaching of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit (2Cor 3.18).

Listening to a rather enlightening sermon this weekend, I came to the realization that in my personal warring against the deeds of my flesh by the Spirit (cf. Rm. 8:17), I have been praying for the wrong things and searching for the wrong remedies. And though it is indeed comforting that in spite of my ignorance of how I ought to pray that the Spirit of God intercedes for me with groanings that accord with the will of God (cf. Rm. 8:26, 27), it is nevertheless wonderful and helpful when the Spirit shares his groanings with me either through his Word or through expositors of it.

My wrong prayer essentially was this: “Lord, make that which I desire in my flesh undesirable to me.” Looking back upon that request (which I have made many times in my young life), it is a very weak request. It essentially asks for something unnatural to happen in me that takes away my desires for fleshly things and requests nothing to fill their place. If such a request were granted to me, I would be devoid of those fleshly desires and would naturally and eventually return to them. For humans are by nature passionate creatures, and removing one desire and not replacing it is not an option. Men must desire.

Instead, I should have prayed this way: “Lord, show me your glory.” For it is in the beholding of the glory of God that we are changed from one degree of glory to another and thus conformed to image of Christ (cf. 2Cor. 3:18), and it is in the beholding the glory of God that we put to death the deeds of the body, for when we behold the glory of God, that which we desire in the flesh becomes petty and trite in comparison. And this is done by the Spirit. Therefore, that which is declared in Roman 8:13, expressly, “If you, by the Spirit, put to death the deeds of the body,” is clarified by 2 Corinthians 3:18, “For this (i.e. the beholding of the glory of God) comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. For this reason, if we are to have any victory over our flesh, we must by the Spirit behold the glory of God.

Therefore, from this point forward my prayer shall be that Moses: “Lord, show me your glory” (Ex. 33:18).

And because of this turmoil that captivates our souls when we fall into sin and by it turn from our God, we long to jump up quickly and turn back onto the path of obedience. However, despite our desire, the path back to obedience is not always as quick and easy as we would like it to be. And I have found this to be the case in my life, where I have walked the path of obedience and then, seemingly out of nowhere, fell into temptation and then found that the obedience that I desired to have was even more difficult than it was prior to my fall.

The reason for this reality, I believe, is because of the nature of our lives in this age. For whether we would acknowledge it or not, we are at war every moment of our lives, and our obedience unto righteousness is the weapon by which we stave off the enemy. And when we fall into temptation and sin, we are wounded and knocked to the ground by our Adversary, and, because of our wounded state, we must be healed before we can rise and walk upon the path of obedience again. And since we are wounded and find ourselves in enemy territory, the darts of the Adversary are more able to strike us so as to make us fall again. Therefore it is in these times that we must hunger and thirst for righteousness all the more, for it is in these times that righteousness seems so far away and beyond our grasp.

How then are we to fight our way back onto the path of righteousness? One way not to do it is to forget the Gospel and thereby be overcome by guilt. For I believe that such guilt is one of the devices of the Adversary that he uses to attempt to overcome the saints of God. For it is one thing to fall into sin and to be convicted by that sin so that we run to Christ and seek for his aid and forgiveness, but it is another thing entirely to fall into sin and to allow our guilt to so overcome our souls that we are ashamed to run to Christ. The apostle John puts it this way:

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1Jn. 1:8, 9).

What the apostle is intimating is that it is foolish and contrary to God’s revelation to think that we will never fall into sin as believers, however, when we do fall into sin, we have an Mediator in our Lord Jesus Christ who will cleanse us from our present sins just as he cleansed us of our past sins.

However, we must run to Jesus. We cannot forgot the Gospel that first brought us to Christ now that we have come to Christ. For the Gospel is not something that we need at the beginning of our walk with Christ and then from that point we are on our own, but we need the Gospel every day of our lives. That is why the apostle Paul in his letter to the saints at Rome wrote, “I am eager to preach the Gospel to you also who are in Rome” (Rm. 1:15). For the Gospel is not a message meant only for the unsaved, but it is a message to be preached to the saints of God continually until Christ returns.

If then we are to repent and to turn back onto the path of righteousness, how are we to do it?

1. We Must Preach the Gospel to Ourselves
Though I have already made this point before, it is a point that cannot be emphasized enough. Before we can be about the work of defeating the sin in our lives, we must remember the Gospel of the Righteousness that comes from God alone. For if we think that we have anything in ourselves that would merit for us a right standing before God, we will be overcome by our guilt and be defeated by our inability to be righteous on our own. We must understand that just as we did not come to Christ on our own and were not justified by anything that we did, we cannot be righteous and obedient apart from Christ. The very moment we believe that we can do anything apart from Christ is the very moment that we will fall. Therefore we must run to Christ all the days of our lives, knowing that our righteousness and obedience comes from him alone.

2. We Must Walk by the Spirit
The apostle Paul writes, “If you live according to the flesh you will die, but if, by the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body you will live” (Rm. 8:13). If we are to have any success against our flesh, we must fight it by the Spirit of God alone and in his power alone. For apart from the Spirit we have no power to be obedient, and apart from the Spirit all men are fleshly and are condemned to death. We who are in Christ, however, have the blessed gift of the Holy Spirit, and, we, by that gift, have the power to put to death the deeds of the body and live. We, therefore, must be constantly in prayer, seeking for him whom God has given to us, and pleading his power when we in our frailty fail.

3. We Must Despise Our Sin
In the same letter of the apostle John referenced above, the apostle exhorts:

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world–the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions–is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever (1Jn. 2:15-17).

The apostle exhorts us not to love the things of the world, and to put it negatively, we must despise the things of the world. For what are our failings except a turning from God to love the things of the world? For whether it is loving possessions, boasting in them, or the lusts of the flesh, all of our sins fall into these things. The remedy then is to cultivate a heart that loves God above all things that in turn despises the world and the things in it. For if we do not love God, it is impossible to turn from our sins to him.

And to do this, we must put this life into its proper perspective. The apostle writes, “The world is passing away with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (v. 2:15). We must look upon this life as it truly is, as a vapor that quickly disappears and as a drop in the ocean of Eternity, and by that recognition be quick to forfeit this life so that we might gain true life (cf. Lk. 9:24). For if we regard this life as more than it is and esteem it as worth preserving, we will turn away from God to worldliness and therefore turn away from the Life that is truly worth preserving.

Final Thoughts
I hope that these thoughts we aide you when fall, as you inevitably will, into temptation and sin. I hope that you will remember the Gospel that saved you who were unable to save yourself, that you will strive to live by the Spirit of God, and that you will despise this world and the things that it offers and that you will groan inwardly as you wait eagerly for your adoption, the glorification of your body (cf. Rm. 8:23). May God grant us success in our battles against the flesh and the Adversary. Amen.

And because of our focus on the physical ordinance of baptism and our neglect of the reality of baptism, we as Baptists are terribly confused by such declarations as that of the apostle Peter, who wrote, “Baptism now saves you” (1Pet. 3:21). For we have so ritualized and despiritualized the practice of baptism that we have become unbiblical in our understanding of it despite our denomination’s title. And instead of doing as we ought and running to the Scriptures to discover what true baptism is, we do as many have done with other doctrines by forming our doctrines and then explaining away passages that do not fit our doctrinal understanding rather than explaining them.

And the reality of baptism is not a trite reality. For if what the apostle Peter says of baptism is true, namely that it saves us, we who claim to have salvation should be eager to understand it. And if we do not understand baptism, we should by way of the apostle’s declaration not be so eager to proclaim that we have understood our salvation. For if salvation comes by baptism, and we declare, as most Baptists do, that no one is saved by baptism, we have much explaining to do.

If then baptism is not merely the immersion of a person under water, what is baptism? To form my answer, I am going to use two sections of Scripture, Romans 6-8:17 and 1 Peter 3:18-22. For while these two passages were penned by two different authors, their testimony to baptism is singular, and it is not, as Peter writes, “The removal of dirt from the body” (1Pet. 3:21).

1. Baptism is Identity in the Death of Christ
The apostle Paul writes concerning baptism, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Rm. 6:3,4). What the apostle is speaking of in this passage is not a physical occurrence in the life of the believer, but he is speaking of a spiritual reality of all those who are in Christ. All who are in Christ, irrespective of the depth to which they were plunged or the amount of water that was poured upon their heads, have been baptized into the death of Christ.

This baptism, this identification in the death of Christ, happened so that we who were once slaves of sin would be set free from our slavery to sin, for, “One who has died has been set free from sin” (Rm. 6:7). The apostle Peter calls this what Christ has done, “the preaching to the spirits in prison” (1Pet. 3:19), for apart from Christ all men are prisoners to sin and disobedience (cf. 1Pet. 3:20).

This slavery to sin has come through the Law of God, for men who are slaves to sin are at their core rebellious to God and therefore rebel when they comprehend the law of God. Romans 7 is a full exposition of this reality, and there the apostle writes:

What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin seizing an opportunity through the commandment produced in me all kinds of covetousness. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me (Rm. 7:7-11).

And the remedy for this condition brought about through sin’s utilization of the law is not law-keeping in the flesh, as the speaker of Romans 7:14-25 demonstrates the futility of such an attempt, but it is baptism into the death of Christ. For through baptism into the death of Christ we have been set free from our bondage to the law and therefore have been set free to obey God. The apostle puts it this way:

Do you not know, brothers … that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? … You also have died to law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code (Rm. 7:1, 4-6).

Therefore, our baptism into the death of Christ afforded for us two things, release from the slavery of sin and the ability to bear fruit for God. The apostle calls this ability to bear fruit to God slavery (Gr. doulein) in the new way of the Spirit (Rm. 7:8), and previously slavery to obedience (Rm. 6:16), to righteousness (Rm. 6:18), and to God (Rm. 6:22) leading to sanctification and eternal life (Rm. 6:22,23). It is for this reason that Peter is able to write, “Baptism now saves you” (1Pet. 3:21), for our baptism into the death of Christ sets us free from our bondage to sin and puts us into bondage to God, which is true freedom (cf. Jn. 8:36, where Christ speaks of slavery to sin).

In light of the fleshly inability of the speaker of Romans 7:14-25 to keep the righteous requirement of the law while bound to sin, the apostle writes:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done, what the law weakened by the flesh could not do, by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Rm. 8:1-4).

The seemingly ironic reality that we who have died to the law and set free from it participate in is that we have not died to the law in order to be rid of it, but we have died to the law so that we would be released from the bondage of sin and, by that release, obtain the ability to keep the law. For apart from baptism into Christ and transfer under the slavery of the Spirit, all men who esteem the law are as the speaker of Romans 7:14-25 is, desirous to do what is right, but unable to do it (cf. Rm. 7:18). But now, we who have been baptized into the death of Christ Jesus have the ability to fulfill the righteous requirement of the law (Rm. 8:4), and now are able, as the apostle Peter writes, “[To] appeal to God for good conscience” (1Pet. 3:21). For we who have been baptized have not been merely made wet, but we have been brought under the very Spirit of God so that we now do the requirement of the law that we desire to do, and we put to death the deeds of the body which we were formerly unable to do (Rm. 8:13).

2. Baptism is Identity in the Resurrection of Christ
Because of our union in the death of Christ, we who have been baptized have the hope that we will have eternal life. The apostle Paul writes, “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. … Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him” (Rm. 6:5; 8). This hope that we have in our identity with Christ in his resurrection is not some unfounded doctrine of “once saved, always saved,” but it is based upon our union with Christ in his death and our ability to keep the law and put to death the deeds of the flesh because of that union. For, “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rm. 8:8), and, “If you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live” (Rm. 8:13). And, “Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him” (Rm. 8:9), and, “All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God” (Rm. 8:14). Therefore our salvation and hope of resurrection rests in our baptism, for apart from baptism we are fleshly and unable to do the righteousness of the law (cf. Rm. 7:14; 18), for those who are fleshly are hostile to God and do not submit to God’s law because they cannot, and therefore they cannot please God (Rm. 8:7,8).

Final Thoughts: Baptism is Salvation
What is all this to say but that baptism is salvation? For no one is saved apart from baptism, for no one is united with Christ apart from baptism. That which we call baptism, be it by immersion, sprinkling, or pouring, is merely a shadow and a picture of the reality of baptism, and to focus so heavily upon the mode of the shadow and to neglect the reality is a great atrocity. Are some modes of physical baptism a better illustration of the reality of baptism than others? Of course, but at the end of the day, the picture is still a picture. It saddens my heart greatly that those among us who have been baptized into Christ feel as though we must divide over the mode of the picture when we all are partakers in the reality. The picture of baptism will one day pass just as the equivalent picture of circumcision passed, but the reality of baptism will remain forever. Why cannot we who will fellowship for Eternity in the presence of him who baptized us by his Spirit not fellowship now? I hope that by God’s grace we one day will, recognizing that despite our divisions there is yet, “One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Eph. 4:5,6). Amen.

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness (Rm. 12:4-8).

The language that is used to describe the elect of God is that of single person, viz. a bride, though, by his grace, the elect of God are far more in number than one, single person. The purpose is multi-faceted. One facet is the picture of God’s love for his elect, demonstrated most clearly in shadow of healthy human marriage where one man and one woman are joined in a life-long intimacy that transcends any other relationship in human experience. Another facet, which is the that of the apostle presently, is the creation of the image of the Church as one body, who though comprised of many members are one single body performing distinct and vital functions. Each one in the Body might, pictorially, fulfill the function of a heart, another a hand, and another a foot, but each member is dependent upon the whole of the others to function properly.

For this reason, the apostle declares that God has assigned to each differing measures of faith, so that no member of the Church would act precisely in the manner of another. This allotment of faith is manifested in particular gifts such as prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation, giving, leadership, and mercy. Each of these are crucial in the function of the body, and no church, be it local or universal, will exist as she ought apart from this diversity.

Therefore, the apostle admonishes those in the Roman church not to think more highly of themselves than they ought, but to remember that God is the giver of all things. He who prophesies should not esteem himself more highly than he who serves, for God has assigned to the prophet and the servant the faith required to live out his God-ordained role. Neither should a teacher think of himself more highly than the one who exhorts, nor should the giver think of himself more highly than the leader or the merciful. For God alone is the giver of gifts, and none would possess gifts apart from his giving them.

Because of God’s ordination of gifts, none should aspire to be what he is not. Each member must recognize that God has called some to be leaders and some to be followers. He has called some to be prophets and some to be the recipients of prophecy. He has called some to be givers and some to be the recipients of gifts. He called some to be givers of mercy and others to be the recipients of mercy. This giving and taking within the Body creates unity and dependency within the Body, making each member a giver of some crucial thing and the receiver of another.

It must be noted, however, that these gifts of which the apostle speaks are not the same as the fruits of the Spirit described in Galatians 5. Because of the Spirit who dwells richly in each member, each should evince “love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Gal. 5:22, 23) within in their particular allotment of faith. No gift, be it prophecy, teaching, exhorting, etc. can be done properly within the Body apart from the fruits of the Spirit, and neither should they be attempted. Each one who would aspire to function within the Body with particular gifts must first prove himself to be a bearer of the Spirit of God by his fruits. To do otherwise would prove destructive to the Body, for it would be done without regard for the health of the Body.

Chief among those considerations which have further solidified my stance is that of the third person of the Trinity–the Holy Spirit. Though I will cover this consideration of him in much more detail in the ensuing treatment, I have, in short, seen both in Scripture and in my own experience how absolutely fundamental the Holy Spirit is in the life of the Christian. And though the apostle is dealing with multiple concerns in our present section of Holy Scripture, I believe the chief among those is the demonstration of life apart from the Spirit of God. This concern of the apostle is a valid one indeed, for all we have to do is simply look around us. All about us, in what we call our conservative evangelical churches, there exist either two extremes–either on the hand the charismatic extreme that places great emphasis on the manifest gifts of the Holy Spirit while ignoring the Spirit’s sanctifying work in redemption, and on the other hand, the anti-charismatic extreme that forfeits the redemptive work of the Spirit in favor of a high view of the freedom of the will of man. Both extremes greatly misunderstand the great work which is the Spirit’s and thereby rob the Spirit of the praise that he is rightly due.

My chief hope in this study is that you, with an open mind and heart, will consider with me this passage in Romans 7:7-25 and will with me glorify the Spirit of God who has caused us who are in Christ to be born again to a Living Hope by the eternal decree of the Father through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (cf. Jn. 3:6,7; 1Pet. 1:3). To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.