3 comments

1. Dr. Clark,

   Thank you for the kind response! Very helpful indeed.

   Having only been in the reformed world for about 5 years, I may be able to briefly shed some light on the issue at hand.

   Many, many, many churches in America (mega church/non-denom/etc), play very fast and loose with the sacraments.

   I.e. the altar call is a sacrament, baptism is nothing more than a public procession of faith, and communion is simply a memorial meal.

   So you get a bunch of new converts, in their late 20’s, who are generally skeptical of authority and commands, or who may not like being in the spotlight (like the friend I asked about in this question). These skeptical types also view the altar call as “just another man centered idea,” and would likely say “I don’t need to walk down the aisle to get saved.” So when they’re told baptism is simply a “public profession of their faith”, they just look at it like another act for people to put the spotlight on themselves and say “look at me!”

   Fundamentally, it’s a lack of basic Christian teaching by the pastors and elders of whatever congregation that un-baptized believer is apart of.

   Just my $0.02, but what do I know, “is everybody dumb?” No, no, just me.

   God bless

   Reply ↓

2. Hey Dr. Clark,

   I recently ran into an interesting article on being “Reformed Baptist” without denying the “one substance, multiple administration” of the CoG. I was wondering if you’ve ever read it as you are referenced multiple times. I think your critiques could be another good series on the Heidelblog.

   Here’s the link:

   https://jbtsonline.org/reforming-credobaptism-a-westminster-alternative-for-reformed-baptist-identity-by-jordan-l-steffaniak/

   Reply ↓

   • Hi Jackson,

     Yes, I am aware of this line of thought. My colleague Harrison Perkins has addressed it as have I.

     https://heidelblog.net/2022/09/engaging-confessional-baptists-on-covenant-theology-part-1-typology/

     https://heidelblog.net/2022/09/engaging-confessional-baptists-on-covenant-theology-part-2-unity-of-salvation-in-the-old-and-new-testaments/

     I believe he also engages it in his new book on covenant theology.

     I addressed something like Jordan’s view in my survey in this article:

     https://heidelblog.net/2018/02/engaging-with-1689-1/

     Reply ↓

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