paedobaptism

A Public Execution

by Ben Zornes · Nov 28, 2023

Every baptism is a public execution. By this ordinance, this little one is joined to the death of Christ for her. When Christ died, she died. That is what baptism means. The charge to these parents and the congregation as we walk alongside this child, is to labor together to assist her in daily dying, daily putting to death the desires of the flesh, daily reckoning that as those who are united with Christ we are crucified with Christ.

But Christ’s public execution was followed by a public resurrection & ascension. There’s life on the far side of the cross. That life is described as a Christ-filled life: it is no longer I who live, but Christ. So this baptism both symbolizes the flesh’s mortification as well as the surpassing glory of the Spirit’s power at work in this child, to cause her to walk in His ways all the days of her life.

So welcome, our sister, to Jesus Christ…

The Constellation Maker

by Ben Zornes · Aug 31, 2023

God invited Abram to gaze at the stars & desert sand. This was how God indicated the potent grandeur of His covenant mercies. The sin which tainted everything with the filth of degeneracy, and the misery which it had introduced to every human interaction would not be the end of the story. Rather, one by one, from Father Abraham down to this present day, God has been ornamenting the darkness of this fallen world with a brilliant galaxy of believing saints.

Baptism is God’s way of hanging a new star in the constellation of His redeemed people. The Word spoken by the sign of baptism, which those who bear it must heed, is to believe the promise of God. That promise is glorious in its simplicity: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved, you and your household.”

So welcome our sister to Jesus Christ…

Deep Waters

by Ben Zornes · Jul 20, 2023

Our Lord Jesus, after His resurrection and right before His ascension, commanded His disciples to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, & Holy Ghost. Let us draw up a small cupful from that deep well of glory. The vindicated, incarnate Christ gives this sign of washing as an assurance that your sins are washed by His blood. This washing is done so in the triune name, teaching us that we’re bound to the Father as a beloved child; united to the Son in His redemptive Work, sealed by the Spirit that we might truly live & persevere in righteousness.

And so, as these parents bring this infant brother to the waters, an ocean of glorious theology is here. Even the most learned saint here has only scratched the surface. All of us are brought to the saving life of Christ not by the greatness of our understanding, but by the greatness of God’s grace. Indeed, the water of baptism is deep, not shallow.

So welcome our brother to Jesus Christ…

New Covenant Glory

by Ben Zornes · Mar 14, 2023

The New Covenant promise, as articulated in Ezekiel 36:25-27, is that the Lord will cleanse us from our filthiness & idolatry. He will take out the stony heart, and give a heart of flesh. He will put His Spirit within us. As if all that wasn’t good enough, He will cause us to walk in His statutes.

Baptism into Christ is this promise made visible. Cleansing from sin. A new heart. The Holy Spirit indwelling. And grace to keep God’s holy law. Under the Old Covenant the Law was a schoolmaster demonstrating our complete inability to fulfill God’s law. Now, Christ is the eternal sacrifice that truly cleanses your sin, but He also dwells in you, by His Spirit, imparting strength to live uprightly. Grace in your justification and in your sanctification. And, as the charge puts it, this little one still knows nothing of it. This is the glory of the New Covenant.

So welcome our sister to Jesus Christ…

Faith in Bright Lines

by Ben Zornes · Mar 7, 2023

Too often, faith is painted in faint pastels, producing a painting with no distinct lines, no vivid shape to what the painting actually is. But that light pink feels nice, we think. But true faith isn’t watered down reality. Faith is the iron grip on Reality Himself.

When the saints of God receive the sign of baptism in faith, we are planting our feet, shoulder wide, on the firm ground of the reality which Christ established. Christ came to redeem all who come to Him by faith. This isn’t the stuff of wistful daydreams.

This baptism, done by faith in Christ’s redeeming work, is a fresh incursion of the reality of Christ’s resurrection. Christ makes His claims upon mankind manifest once more, as this covenant child receives the sign of True Reality. And that reality is this: Christ died, was buried, and arose. And those in Him partake of this reality for themselves.

So welcome our brother to Jesus Christ…

The Peril of Paedobaptism

by Ben Zornes · Feb 21, 2023

The practice of paedobaptism is glorious, but perilous. The greatest peril is that of presumption. Both the Old & New Testament are emphatic that the just shall live by faith. Not by presumption.

Our nation, once Christian, is now running on the fumes of covenant presumption. We’re like a boy trying to ride his bike uphill, even though the chain fell off a mile back. Peddling harder won’t help. A child that is brought up in a home or culture of presumption will come to find no heat of love for God, no desire for holiness, no compulsion for obedience, no yearnings after glorifying God.

Which is why it is utterly necessary to accompany this sign with the Gospel call, to this child and all in my hearing, “You must be born again.” God calls you, if you would be justified in His sight, to believe in Christ by faith, all the days of your life.

So welcome our sister to Jesus Christ…

The Authoritative Word of Baptism

by Ben Zornes · Feb 14, 2023

God never speaks an indecisive Word. What He utters comes to pass. What He speaks is what becomes. He doesn’t stammer. He doesn’t lie. He doesn’t cross His fingers behind His back. His Word made all things & upholds all things.

So, when He speaks in a Christian baptism, He speaks truly. This water, poured out in the Triune Name, upon this child, is a visible Word. It is God’s Word made visible. He washes away our sin, in Christ. He gives us a new heart of flesh, & removes our heart of stone, by His Spirit. He regenerates us, transferring our fatherhood from the devil unto our Heavenly Father. This is what God says here.

This all is true regardless of all we have to say about it. But we’re commanded to see & hear God’s Word to us in Baptism, and then confess & believe what He says.

So welcome our brother to Jesus Christ…

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