You Shall Likewise PerishPeter Leithart has posted a response from Joe Rigney concerning the meaning of Luke 12-13. We had a look at the structure of these chapters here recently (See 666 in the Gospel of Luke), so I thought it would be interesting to see how these two approaches “speak to each other.”
Abraham’s BookendsIn his book Why Baptize Babies?, Mark Horne writes:
The apostle Peter makes it clear that God’s Covenant still involves the promise to our children:
For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” (Acts 2:39) We who now profess Christ are among those who are “far off,” whom the Lord has called to himself. Just like those to whom Peter first preached, the promise is not only for us but for our children as well. (p. 23)
So much that has been written about baptism is nebulous and confused. My friend Mark’s short book, however, is an excellent summary of this doctrine. Having his points honed into silver bullets makes them easier to discern, and easier to deflect!
“This is where he picks up the fivefold Covenant structure and turns ‘the right hand of fellowship’ into a set of holy knuckledusters.”
This post has been refined by fire and included in a new book, The Shape of Galatians.
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“Every conception and form of liturgy that focuses on man will eventually degenerate into intellectual or psychological manipulation.”
More from Jeff Meyers on The Lord’s Service.
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Paul’s ExodusTo highlight what Paul is doing in the shape of his letter to the Galatians, I’ve updated the subtitle of yesterday’s post to Paul’s Genesis. The second cycle is thus Paul’s wilderness journey, concerning the “veil” of unknowing that remained between Paul and the apostles, and also between Paul and the churches in Judea. The “packaging” of his argument in the structure of the history of Israel is interesting. Like the birth of Israel as a nation under Moses, Paul’s ministry was not a product of the earlier apostles: his commission came directly from Christ. There is also the undertone that he has re-enacted the pattern of “prophetic” training in the wilderness, which was always a preparation of an “Israel” to minister to the nations.
Here is the first of a few excerpts from the condensed version of Jeff Meyer’s The Lord’s Service: The Grace of Covenant Renewal.
When you come together as a church. . .
1 Corinthians 11:18
What is the purpose of our Lord’s Day assembly? Why do we come to a church service on Sunday? The answer to this crucial question will help explain why certain words and actions are included in the church’s worship and also determine the way in which the service is ordered from beginning to end.
Is the book of Revelation a “Covenant lawsuit”? It certainly follows the fivefold legal Covenant pattern. However, its prophetic warnings are not addressed to the Jewish leaders. It was too late for them. The book does describe the destruction of Jerusalem through “the testimony of two witnesses,” but Gary DeMar suggests it was more like a libretto for the Christian spectators. He writes:
There’s a new Press Release and some chapters from the free ebook over at the 3D blog.
Jean flipped one page back and realized he had contradicted himself once again. This was tricky stuff, working out salvation, but at least he was showing his workings. “Oh well,” he thought. “One day they will invent word processors.”
In a post called Baptism Is Not Faith, Shane Lems points out where the Federal Vision guys depart from the “historic Reformed/Presbyterian confessions.” He writes:
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