The ages before the birth of Christ are called BC, before Christ. The years after are called AD, which does not mean after death. Rather, it stands for a Latin phrase: anno Domini (the year of the Lord). We are now counting years since the arrival of Christ. And though He died, He did not …
This is not an easy question to answer, especially whenever we consider the church local or universal, visible or invisible. Thankfully, this answer applies to both. God chooses and preserves for himself a community elected for eternal life. Those opening words contain terms that can be uncomfortable for some Christians, but this is simply language …
This question builds on the previous one, which answered: What is the Lord's Supper? Now, just like with baptism, we have a clarifying follow-up. Baptism is a beautiful picture of our saving faith in Jesus Christ, but it does not wash away sin itself. Baptism is necessary for the Christian life but not for salvation. …
Continue reading Question 47: Does the Lord’s Supper Add Anything to Christ’s Atoning Work?
After addressing baptism over the past two questions, we now come to the second ordinance: the Lord's Supper. The catechism's answer begins by grounding the Supper in Christ's command, which again is what makes it an ordinance. Just as baptism is commanded by Christ in the Great Commission, so the Lord's Supper was instituted at …
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17 ESV What does the final phrase of this verse mean? The ESV footnotes that shadow due to change could also be rendered a shadow of …
After question 44 answered for us, What is baptism?, question 45 takes up another essential issue: Now, again, we believe that baptism is a sign of Christ’s death and resurrection, His work on our behalf. So when we affirm that baptism does not wash away sin itself, this should not be taken as diminishing baptism …
Continue reading Question 45: Is Baptism with Water the Washing Away of Sin Itself?
Baptism is the washing with water. Of course, different denominations practice different modes of baptism. As a Baptist, we practice baptism by immersion. But whatever denomination one might belong to, baptism always involves water. It is a washing with water that represents the spiritual washing in Christ. The waters of baptism do not literally wash …
The catechism now turns from the disciplines of prayer and Scripture to the sacraments or, as we Baptists most commonly call them, the ordinances. These two practices, baptism and the Lord's Supper, were instituted by Christ Himself and given to His church as what Thomas Watson calls visible sermons that proclaim the gospel. They are …
Continue reading Question 43: What Are the Sacraments or Ordinances?
After addressing how we are to speak to God in prayer over the past four questions, the catechism now turns to the other chief spiritual disciplines: the intake of Scripture, hearing and reading the Word of God. Don Whitney rightly calls it Scripture intake because, while we often only think of reading the Bible, hearing …
Continue reading Question 42: How Is the Word of God to Be Read and Heard?
Many Christians have the Lord's Prayer memorized, but few take the time to regularly meditate and prayer from it. Our familiarity can so easily become our peril. We cognitively know the prayer's contents, but has it entwined itself into our very DNA? When considering this most excellent of all prayers, we should note three things. …
B. C. Newton 