by Richard Bacon 

CHAPTER ONE: Children of the Covenant.
Creation, Fall, and Redemption in Christ

Children are a gift to us who belong to God.
God made man in his image and gave him dominion over the earth.
Because of the Fall, the only hope for man, adult or infant, is through our redeemer.
All mankind has fallen in Adam and is totally depraved.
Arminians have no doctrine of original and see sin originating in man’s free will.
But free grace, which is necessary because of original sin, means that the atonement can be imputed to a baby.

The Seed of the Covenant of Grace

Noah and his family knew grace, yet Ham would be cursed because of his children’s  upbringing.
Abraham was promised seed, through whom grace would work.
Not only did Abraham believe God, but he believed that his offspring would be blessed.
The promises were not just limited to seed who had come to maturity (as is possible in Gen 17:7), but seed in infancy (17:12).
Gen 17:14 shows that the child is held accountable for breaking the covenant through not being circumcised.

Holy Before Baptism

Baptists see circumcision merely as a national sign.
But circumcision marked inclusion into the covenant community, not simply that they were of the same blood.
John Calvin emphasised that children become participants of the blessings of the covenant through the visible church (see IV.16.5).
Covenant infants are saveable because they are electable, atoneable, and vocable by the Spirit, so should be given the rights and privileges.
We maintain that children have become members of the visible church.
As such they have rights.
At baptism, it is the parents who are dedicated to obedience of the raising of the child to which it has a right.
Children are baptised because they are already holy (1 Cor 7:14).
Berkhof: “…children can be regarded as believers before baptism, and as such ought to be baptised.”
God elected Jacob but not Esau, but both were in the pale of the church so were circumcised. Though Esau despised it, it did not mean it did not exist. Circumcision did not depend on election or profession of faith. Esau was in the covenant but not of the covenant.
Baptism is tied to regeneration, though it may take place before during or after.

The Doctrine of Infants in the New Testament.

What does baptism rather than circumcision mean for infants in the NT?
In the numerous household baptisms, the household was baptised because of the head of the household.
1 Cor 7:14 - the unbelieving spouse is set aside (sanctified) for the sake of raising children. The children are therefore sanctified and to be baptised.

Two reasons for writing this book:

The simple reason: there has been a great deal of scholarly work in recent years which needs to be brought to the attention of a wider readership.

The complicated reason: The dominant approaches to the parables of the 20th century are misguided and require rethinking.

The following assertions are often found in textbooks

1. In the history of the church the dominant way of interpreting has been to treat them as allegories. So, the details have spiritual significance.

2. Modern scholarship has rightly rejected the allegorical in favour of “one main point”.

3. Nevertheless, there are some allegorical elements, but are the exception not the rule.

4. Thus the occasional explicit interpretations of parables are exceptions and not normative

5. Apart from these allegories most of the parables and parts of parables are indisputably authentic.

The problem is that the only interpretations of Jesus use allegory! Moreover they do not account for the enigmatic statement that the parables are for the disciples, not outsiders. The consensus is being challenged. A minority affirm the following:

1. The parables in the gospels are more allegorical than realised.

2. This makes the parables more authentic sayings of Jesus (because we do not have to explain away the allegorical parts).

3. Many parables make more than one point.

The newest work advocates neither “one point” or allegorical approaches, but that the parables stand as metaphors and cannot be divided up.

Notes from Todd Heistand:

The context of mission is the Trinity. The Father sends the Son and the Father and Son send the Spirit. F, S & HS send the church. 

Congregations are sent rather than go. Go churches are detached from community and retreat when finished.  Sent churches are in the world and part of its history. John 17.

Contextualisation is necessary. 

Suburbia.

It is a post-war phenomenon of seeking a place of safety and security. The struggles are not about survival, but about other things: image, relationships.

Individualism and escapism leads to consumerism since in suburbia family units are not self sustaining. 

Christian Response

Four areas: 

Reject individualism

The gospel has been reduced to individual salvation.

Fishing is not done with a rod but with a net. The latter is communal. 

Deconstruct comfort

Safety and comfort were not features of NT witness! Seeking these quashes risk-taking and therefore witness. Debt is a good indicator of a comfort mentality. 

Confront Consumerism

Consumerism works against the gospel. 

Consumerism is related to the acceptance of Darwinism and a materialist worldview.

This may have been unwittingly adopted by many Christians. 

Christians are often not very distinctive in terms of debt and consumerism.

Pursue Justice

Suburbia makes it easy to ignore poverty and injustice.

What Now?

Be “loving disrupters of the sinful status quo rather than comfortable clubs of conformity”.

Notes from Richard Gaffin’s paper, Challenges of the Charismatic Movement to the Reformed Tradition, Part I.

1.1
Pentecost is part of the historia salutis, not the ordo salutis.

1.2
There needs to be clear understanding of the relationship between the Lord and the Spirit for sound theology of the Spirit.

1.3
1 Co 14:45
1) the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
2) The “becoming” happened at his resurrection and exaltation.
3) This verse anticipated the future action of christ in giving life.
4) there is joint action now between spirit and Christ
5) similar statements in 2 Cor 3 :17, Rom 8:2

1.4
the work of Christ and the work of the spirit are correlated closely. Eph 3:16-17

1.5
The spirit is ‘vicar’ of Christ. Jn 14:12ff.

1.6
Pentecost as part of historia salutis.
Without it there can be no salvation - the work of Christ is incomplete.
Christ ascends in order that he may be the giver of the spirit.
Pentecost demonstrates a change for Christ, not individual believers.
In this sense the before and after of Pentecost differ as night and day.
In terms of Ordo salutis, scripture does not spell this out, except by using terms like “fuller”, “greater”, “better” etc.

1.7
Maintaining the once-for-all nature of pentecost denies subsequent experience. But this is far from the truth. Baptism in the spirit happens at conversion (1 Co 12:13). Christians go on being filled with the spirit. They must not grieve the spirit.

Pentecost brings the full range of the Spirit’s activity.

1.8
Pentecost as a once-only event does not mean that there is no benefit for the new believer, any more that the once-only death of Christ has no benefit.
There is no need for a back-to-pentecost movement.

Notes from Sinclair Ferguson’s The Holy Spirit, chapter 10.

Love of Christ to the church is expressed through the sacraments. These are expressions of unity.

However, unity is strengthened by the provision of gifts. The ascension and the sending of the Spirit and giving of gifts marks the victory over his enemies and their ultimate downfall. It marks the building of the church and the adornment of His bride.

Two principles:
1) The lists of gifts show that, whether by apostle, prophet or scripture, the ministry of the word is foundational.
2) Love is foundational. The gifts speak of the gracious giver not the recipient.

Apostles - appointed to bear witness to the resurrection.

Prophets - appointed by God to speak words of revelation to the churches alongside the apostles. Some (Grudem) have argued that apostles and prophets were one and the same. However, this is no a natural reading of the lists.

Preachers and Teachers - these gifts may spread beyond the officially recognised people.

Healing - see work of the apostles in Acts.

Words of wisdom and knowledge.

Body-wide giftedness was expected.

Difficulty comes in understanding the gifts of prophecy and tongues for the modern day. Two circumstantial factors: the decline after the apostolic age, and the resurgence in recent times. Restorationists give two possible reasons for their absence in interval:
1) faith was not exercised in the right way, or
2) the resurgence anticipates the end

Problems: 1) hardly stands up to scrutiny. 2) is bound up with a particular eschatological scheme.

Tongues
Mentioned in three places in Acts (chapters 2, 10, 19) and in one letter (1 Cor 12-14)

Questions arise:
why found in NT and not OT?
why is there mention in only one letter?
is it the same phenomenon in each place in the NT?

It is difficult to believe that Acts 9, 19 instances are different from Acts 2. The difference between Jerusalem and Corinth was that in former, they knew how to interpret, but in Corinth they do not.

Real languages? The reference to tongues of ‘angels’ (1Co 13:21) could be Paul repeating a claim of the Corinthians (i.e. an over-realised eschatology - they are in heaven already, speaking like angels).

Paul uses a quote from Isa 28 in 1 Co 14:21 to show that tongues are a judgement on the people of Israel and a welcoming of ‘foreigners’. Angelic speech would not be an appropriate medium. Interpreted tongues are equivalent to prophecy (1 Co. 14:5).

Prophecy
A prophet is a mouthpiece of God.
With the completion of the scriptures there is the widespread conviction that prophecy should be equated to preaching.

Grudem argues for two levels of prophetic ministry:
1) infallible ministry of the apostles
2) divinely inspired insight though not infallible utterance
The Hellenistc thinking about prophecy held to different levels. However, says Ferguson, Hebraic thinking was much more clear.

Grudem claims that there are two levels of authority. The first, infallible, apostolic and therefore non-continuing. The second is not infallible and continues.

Grudem makes much of Agabus in Acts. He appears to speak fallibly and infallibly, yet in both cases he says “the Holy Spirit says”.

Grudem argues that the prophecies in Ephesus (Acts 19) were less significant and there fore in the second level of prophecy. But this confuses significance with accuracy. Was the prophecy any less accurate?

…and some other arguments.

Grudem is to be praise for his attempts to bridge the gap between continuationist and cessationist proponents. However his arguments are flawed.

Continuation?
The signs and wonders appear to have died out, except for occasional claims by people through the ages. The claims seem to have no controlling principle.

The last century has seen widespread claims. Four reasons for continuationism:
1) the fact of modern experience
2) The NT does not say that they have or will stop.
3) cessation would mean two ages inaugurated by the Spirit. But there is only one.
4) Paul recognises that prophecy will cease (13:10), but only when Christ returns.

Cessation?
The arguments for cessation:
1) Restorationism gives no theological explanation of the absence of gifts to the church between the early centuries and the 20th century. “Lack of faith” is inadequate. Saying that “there is no NT text that teaches cessation” is not the same as saying “the NT teaches gifts continue”.

2) The scriptures limit the miraculous to a few epochal periods which are accompanied by new revelation. This is seen in the prophets, the ministry of Jesus and that of the apostles. Therefore they are impermanent.

3)? (it seems to be missing!)
1 Co 13:10 - when perfection comes the imperfect disappears. Cessationist have taken this to mean that with the coming of the completness of scripture, tongues and prophecy must disappear. Continuationists say this points to the eschaton and therefore t & p must continue to the parousia.

Ferguson argues that the continuationists too easily make the connection of perfection with parousia. Carson (moderate continuationist) is more careful. Gaffin, argues that though parousia is in view, this does not mean continuation. The presnt age is recognised to be split into apostolic and post-apostolic, with the former a foundation laying period (Eph 2:20).

4) Tongues speaking in NT is most naturally read as understandable languages. This is not the view of modern tongues-speakers. Also the later letters do not seek to regulate the phenomenon. (Tim. Tit.) The NT treats translated tongues as prophecy (2 Tim 2:7)

Distinction between revelation and illumination. The former results in scripture, the latter understanding of that same scripture. The question in continuation is the sufficiency of scripture. There is no need for new revelation.

Lower level prophecy (Grudem) cannot be called prophecy with the preface, “Thus says the Lord”. Yet illumination should not be rejected just because someone uses the preface! There is a difference in interpreting the experience.

The “tongues” of the modern day are not those of the NT, though they are not necessarily demonic. They can be misused and misinterpreted.

Explanation?
Continuationists have to explain the absence of gifts down the ages.
Cessationists have to explain the experience of 350m people!
The gifts are not self interpreting. The problem lies here. There is a need to anchor experience in biblical categories.

The Spirit and Preaching
Preaching is to take a central role (see Timothy). The Spirit becomes clothed in the preacher.

H. Richard Niebuhr described liberal Christianity thus:

”A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross.”

I don’t know the source of this quote!

Therefore, discipline is like a bridle to tame and restrain those who rage against the doctrine of Christ; or like a spur to arouse those of little inclination; and also sometimes like a father’s rod to chastise mildly and with the gentleness of Christ’s Spirit those who have more seriously lapsed.

Calvin, Institutes, 4.7.2

Of the alternative routes from Hellenistic antiquity to modern times, it might well have seemed that it was the Islamic civilization of the Arabs, rather than those of Greek or Latin Christendom, that offered the greater promise of advancing towards a modern and universal civilization.

Yet it was the poor, parochial, monochrome culture of Christian Europe that advanced from strength to strength, while the Islamic civilization of the Middle East suffered a loss of creativity, of energy, and of power. Its subsequent development has been overshadowed by a growing awareness of this loss, the search for its causes, and a passionate desire to restore its bygone glories.

Bernard Lewis, The Middle East, London: Phoenix Press, 1995, p. 270.)

Lord help us to worship Thee in life as well as lip. May our whole being be taken up with Thee. As when the fire fell down on Elijah’s sacrifice of old and licked up even the water that was in the trenches, so may the consuming fire of the Divine Spirit use up all our nature, even that which might seem to hinder, even out of that may God get the glory by the removal of it. Thus would we adore.

(Prayer V, C.H. Spurgeon’s Prayers, p.26, Grand Rapids:Baker reprint 1978.)

Remember our land in this time of need. Do thou be pleased by some means to relieve the distress prevalent. Quicken the wheels of commerce that the many who are out of employment in this city may no longer be crying for work and bread. Oh! that thou wouldst make wars to cease to the ends of the earth, or, when they break out break Thou the slaves fetter thereby, and though desperate be the evil, yet grant that Satan may cast out Satan, and may his kingdom be divided, and so fall.

(Prayer IV, C.H. Spurgeon’s Prayers, p.23, Grand Rapids:Baker reprint 1978.)