Oct 23
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Baptist Catechism 101
Q. 101. What is the duty of such who are rightly baptized?
A. It is the duty of those who are rightly baptized to give up themselves to some particular and orderly church of Jesus Christ, that they may walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. (Acts 2:46,47; Acts 9:26; 1 Peter 2:5; Heb. 10:25; Rom. 16:5)
Scripture Reading: Romans 16:1–15
“I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae, that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well. Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia. Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles, and they were in Christ before me. Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them. Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.” (Romans 16:1–15, ESV)
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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.
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So why have I tortured myself with the task of reading all of these unfamiliar and hard to pronounce names that are found at the end of Paul’s letter to the church in Rome? The reason I’ve done this is to remind you that those who have faith in Christ are to be baptized and join themselves to churches. These names are names of real people who believed in Christ, were baptized upon their profession of faith, and were members of the church in Rome. Isn’t that awesome to think about. These hard-to-pronounce names represent people — real people, who lived real lives, a long, long time ago. They lived in a very different time and place from the time and place we live in today, but we share this in common — our faith in Christ, or baptism, and our membership in Christ’s church. They were members of the church in Rome. They heard the word read and preached there, and they celebrated the Lord’s Supper there, much in the same way that you and I do in this place today.
The question that we are considering from our catechism today reminds us of the same thing. Those who have faith in Christ are to be baptized, and those who are baptized are to join themselves to a local church where they will be taught to obey all that Christ has commanded us.
Let’s consider question 101 of the baptism catechism piece by piece. First the question: “What is the duty of such who are rightly baptized?” In other words, what are those who are baptized then to do?
That is a really important question. Baptism is to be applied near the beginning of the Christian life. It marks one’s entrance into the kingdom of God and shows that we are partakers of the Covenant of Grace. It should be applied not long after someone makes a credible profession of faith. So baptism is applied at the beginning of the Christian life… but what then?
Our catechism is right to say that “[i]t is the duty of those who are rightly baptized to give up themselves to some particular and orderly church of Jesus Christ…
What does “particular” mean in this context? Here “particular” refers to a local, or visible, church.
Is there such a thing as the universal, or catholic, church? Yes, of course, there is. When we speak of the universal church we are speaking of all who have true faith in Christ throughout the world. The universal church is sometimes called the invisible church because we cannot see it with our eyes. God sees it, but we cannot. The universal church cannot assemble on earth. It assembles in heaven now, spiritually speaking. And it will assemble for all eternity in the new heavens and earth after Christ returns. But it cannot assemble on earth today, for the universal church is too large, and it is separated by geographical distance, not to mention language and even culture. When a person places their faith in Christ they are automatically joined to this universal and invisible church by virtue of their Spirit-wrought union with Christ. All who have faith in Christ are joined together in him.
But that is not the church that our catechism is talking about. No, our catechism is teaching that the one who has faith in Christ out to join themselves to a particular church, a local church, a visible church, consisting of officers and members, where the Word of God is preached and Sacraments are administered as the church assembles each Lord’s Day. That is what the word “particular” means in this context.
You know, as you read the New Testament, you’ll find that references to particular, local churched are everywhere. You just need to look for them. The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were to be circulated amongst the churches and they contain instructions for life in the church. The book of Acts is all about the local church. We hear of churches being planted, of elders and deacons, and of members. Most of Paul’s letters were written either to local churches — churches in Rome, Ephesus, Colossi, etc. — or to men who were serving as ministers within these churches. Even the book of Revelation was addressed to seven particular churches.
The topic of the local church is so pervasive in the NT that it is really hard to imagine the Christain faith being practiced apart from it… and yet so many try in our day and age. Many claim to love Jesus, but they want nothing to do with the church. These seem to have forgotten that Jesus did not merely die for them individually — no, he laid down his life for the church. It is the church, and not you and me as individuals, that he calls his bride (see Eph 5:25ff.).
So, we must acknowledge that this is what the Scriptures call us to do. After believing upon Christ, we are to be baptized. And having been baptized, we are to join ourselves to a particular church (preferably the one we were baptized in, but people do move, don’t they?).
Notice also the word “orderly”. “It is the duty of those who are rightly baptized to give up themselves to some particular and orderly church of Jesus Christ…” An orderly church is ordered (organized) according to the Scriptures. No church is perfect. But a church that is well ordered will have officers and members. The Scriptures will be faithfully taught there, and the Sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper will be faithfully administered. And lastly, an orderly church will be disciplined. And by this I mean that the church — its elders and members together — will be faithful to do what is commanded in Matthew 18 and described is 1 Corinthians 5. Those who are struggling with sin will be lovingly and patiently called to repentance, and those who persist in sin will, in an orderly manner, be removed from the church.
“Orderly” means properly ordered. And properly ordered implies that there is a standard to which we are to conform. I’m afraid that many churches have forgotten this. So many take it upon themselves to decide how they should “do church”, but that is not our place. Some decisions are naturally left to us, but our main concern should be to conform ourselves to the order prescribed by Christ which is found in the Scriptures. If I can offer a word of wisdom to my brothers and sisters in Christ who are outside of this local congregation who may happen to be listening in: stop looking for a hip church, and start looking for a faithful church — one that is well ordered according to the Scriptures.
The words “give up themselves” are also important. “Church” is not a service to attend, but a body to join. Are you following me? When someone joins a church they make a commitment to that congregation, and the congregation makes a commitment to them. And what is that commitment? Well, in brief, we commit to be the church together, to assemble for worship, to receive the word together, to partake of the ordinances, and to do, and even be subject to, discipline. When someone joins a church they make a commitment to love the members of that congregation, and they receive a commitment to be loved. The Scriptures teach that new members are to be received (Romans 14:1), and that does imply some formality. Please remember this: Christains are not merely to attend church, as if attending a conference, or worse yet, a concert or comedy club. Christians are to give themselves up to a local church. They are to entrust themselves to the elders, deacons, and members of that church, and they themselves are to endeavor to use whatever gifts God has given to them for the building up of the body of Christ in that place, for we are all members one of another (Romans 12:5).
Lastly, our catechism says, “that they may walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.”
The Christian life is a walk. It is a journey. Where we end up matters more than where we begin. And Christians are to walk with others. They are to walk by faith in the church.
And in this walk, we are to be concerned with keeping the commandments of God. Remember what Jesus said when he commissioned his disciples? “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18–20, ESV). One of the primary responsibilities of the church, with elders at the lead, is to teach Christians to observe all that Christ has commanded them. This is a process. Sometimes it is a grueling process. We must be patient and kind towards one another.
God’s commands are to be obeyed, and Christ’s ordinances are to be kept. Here we are to think primarily of baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
You know, the Reformers had to wrestle with the question, what constitutes a true church after breaking from Rome. For those in Rome, that question was easy to answer. Rome is the true church. Anything outside of its structure with the Pope at the head is to be rejected. The Reformers were right to reject this organizational approach and to put the stress elsewhere. True churches are those churches that preach and teach the Word of God accurately, administer the Sacraments of the Lord’s Supper and baptism faithfully, and some would also add, are disciplined. True churches may be strong or weak, pure or impure, relatively speaking. But these three marks characterize true churches. And I think they were right.
Remember, this catechism that we are working our way through was compiled by Particular (Reformed) Baptists. Isn’t interesting that they did not say, it is the duty of those who are rightly baptized to give up themselves to some particular and orderly Particular Baptist Church, that they may walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. My point is this: our Particular Baptist forefathers felt and thought strongly about their particular church tradition, just as we do. But they were also charitable. They knew that there were many churches outside of their tradition that were true churches of Jesus Christ, and we should rejoice whenever a person turns from their sins, is rightly baptized, and gives themselves up to one of these true churches to walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
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Conclusion
Q. 101. What is the duty of such who are rightly baptized?
A. It is the duty of those who are rightly baptized to give up themselves to some particular and orderly church of Jesus Christ, that they may walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. (Acts 2:46,47; Acts 9:26; 1 Peter 2:5; Heb. 10:25; Rom. 16:5)
