I want to briefly entertain the similarities  of postmodernism and anti-legalism.

Postmodernism is the world we live in. Truth is relative, “what’s true for you is true for you” and the three year old mentality of “you’re not my mom” is pervasive in our society.

In a less harsh sense, I think this same mindset is in our churches. It’s an anti-legalism mindset.

Anti-legalism refuses to impose anything on to a believer that is not explicitly contained in the Word. I think there is some fault to this thinking. The emphasis on biblical wisdom in all areas is incredibly important!

To give an example of what I’m talking about, it’s a stretch to tell someone that reading your Bible every day is what you should do. It’s a stretch to tell anyone that bar-hopping  isn’t the best idea. It’s a stretch to suggest anything that is extra-biblical.

What is the point of elected elders in your church? Preaching, teaching, prayer–yes. But, are they not your spiritual guidance? They are certainly God-imposed. They know the Word and how to apply it. There is much wisdom to be found in the men of your church. Seek it out.

To combat anyone who may say that I’ve fallen into legalism myself, let me assure you that’s not the case. I think there needs to be a strong emphasis on the Law and Gospel that is readily exposed in Scripture. However, I also believe that the Word has given us “everything we need for life and godliness”. I think it has a lot more implications and applications that we can add to our lives that we aren’t.

Let’s think critically of what we can tweak, as well as completely change, in our lives.

Frankly, the Bible never implies, hints, or suggests that we should “live the gospel”. Why? Because living the gospel isn’t possible. There is only one Person who has existed that actually lived (and was) the gospel. The gospel, defined by 1 Corinthians 15:3, 4, states that  Jesus died, was buried and rose again. Are you able to live that gospel? No.

You are, however, called to obey God’s law, believe the gospel and preach the gospel. So go do those things with the same gusto that prods you to “live the gospel”.

1) Hundreds of thousands of people have died for me to be able to do so

2) The saying goes, “If you’re not willing to rule yourself, someone will be more than glad to do it for you.” Not voting allows others to call the shots, leaving yourself completely helpless to everyone else’s decision.

How often do we look over a month of our life? I find myself traveling through each day with the same schedule. I drink coffee, I squander the first half hour of work looking busy, on Monday’s I discuss the previous Sunday’s NFL games, and eventually I jump into my work.

Will November change as far as my little schedule goes in the so-called “daily grind”? Likely not. But one thing that can change is the amount of time we spend doing right and abstaining from sin.

Spend time in the Word. Spend time Praying. This is the key to growth.

Let’s have a great November.

Being Reformed, to me, doesn’t involve a flippant love of the current authors and pastors that
are Calvinists (and love of their writings). But being Reformed, to me, comes from loving,
embracing, and acting on those doctrines that tore us from the Roman Catholic church. If
they can’t embrace those documents (HC, WCF, etc.) before they accept the latest Driscoll,
Piper, or Challies book/blog post, then are they truly Reformed?

HC: Heidelberg Catechism

WCF: Westminster Confession of the Faith

Silence of the New Testament. Does this fact prove problematic for the paedobaptist? I would say that it’s only problematic for the paedobaptist if it’s problematic for the baptist. Why? Because the same argument of silence the baptist lays upon the paedobaptist can easily be turned on to the baptist. Let me try to explain.

In my experience, people have a very difficult problem with NT silence when it comes to paedobaptism. I find it interesting because they continue to place assaults on the paedobaptist even when they don’t have any Scripture for the way they treat their children when it comes to baptism.

The baptist often exclaims, “There is no verse in the Bible to prove infant baptism!” To which the paedobaptist can easily reply, “There is no verse in the Bible to prove children are born to Christian parents, raised till age 7 or 8, and then they eventually ask Jesus into their hearts and are baptized.”

So, when it comes down to it, the baptist can’t lay that charge against the paedobaptist. The burden of proof is not on the paedobaptist to prove there should be a sign for children, but the burden of proof lays upon the baptist to prove that there is no longer a sign for children. Jeremiah 31 is often thrown at the paedobaptist to prove there is no longer a sign for children. A proper exegesis of the Jeremiah 31 would render their argument useless, but that exegesis will have to wait till a later date.

Grace. To you and your children.

He’s awesome. Here’s a couple free downloads:

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2010/10/11/psalms-111-and-24-nathan-clark-george/

http://biblos.com/

Covenant Theology really isn’t difficult to grasp. If you ever came across a chart of Covenant Theology, amillennialism, or the like, you really wouldn’t have a hard time seeing how they came to their position. Start messing with this or this, and you’ll probably get a headache pretty quickly.

From the covenant of old to the New Covenant we now live in as believers, there are similarities. Not the least of which is the community of believers that God has allowed to be. Parents and their children have always made up God’s community.

From covenant to covenant, God has always had a community of believers. From covenant to covenant, the community has always involved the children of believers. Our Baptist brothers may be correct, the explicit command to include children does not appear in the New Testament. However, neither does the explicit command to exclude children appear in the New Testament. If God included the children of his people in the Old Testament and commanded it to be so, would not that command be relevant toward his people today? If he never revoked his command to have children as part of the covenant, then that command must still stand for today. Are we to change God’s mind? Are we supposed to just stop doing something he commanded in the Old just because we live in the New?

Tomorrow: Silence of the New Testament

Disclaimer: I did say this wouldn’t be all too in depth. However, I hope it provokes thought and discussion which will help aid our understanding of God and his covenantal relationship to his people.

When doing personal Bible study, we’re forced to reckon with certain doctrines. Hiding from different “ologies” is not good for our overall understanding of God’s purpose in redemption (presupposition made: the purpose of God is the redemption of men). One particular doctrine that seems to be diminished by Baptist’s or baptistic brothers and sisters is the doctrine or theology of children. In all honesty, they don’t do it on purpose. They don’t see the intention of God with children and the unity of the Covenant of Grace.

Have you thought about your theology of children? Any Christian parent that I have watched treats their child as though there is something different about him/her. They raise them in the church. They teach them Bible stories. They have them pray. Why is this? Frankly, they realize there is something different about their child’s position to God than other children. They are raising them in the “nurture and admonition of the Lord.” The Israelite children were not born Amalekites or Amorites.

Yes, the children of the Israelites were pagan until they exemplified faith; however, they were still considered Israelites. (Warning: some of you may need to sit down for this next statement) In like manner, the children of Christians are pagan until they exemplify faith. However, they are considered Christian and holy by nature of their birth to Christian parents.

What is a Christian? A follower of Jesus. Are you not training your child to be a follower of Jesus? Just as an infant was trained to worship Yahweh, you are training your child to worship Him as well.

Are your children Christians or Hittites? Christians.

Tomorrow: Covenantal Consistency–>One Covenant of Grace