This entry in the series of Gospel Coalition booklets is co-authored to provide explanations of distinct views concerning the Lord’s Supper and Baptism. In turn, Anyabwile and Duncan helpfully discuss the origins and various interpretations of these ordinances and then expound how they are used in churches today. While solid, this is a mere introduction to these issues and will only rehash old ground for all but the newest of initiates into this area of study. 

Baptism reminds the church and the individual Christian of Jesus’ cross, where Jesus took away and nailed our sins and where Jesus’ triumph becomes our triumph. Baptism reminds us that Christ has suffered our judgment and made peace with God for us. [10]

Without in any way diminishing the importance of baptism of its necessity for Christian obedience, we deny that water baptism regenerates of that it causes the new birth. In the Bible, uniformly, covenant signs, sacraments, or ordinances signify and confirm the spiritual realities that they represent; they do not produce those realities. [16]

The Lord’s Supper belongs to the weak Christian. No one comes to the Table in unblemished worthiness or undiminished strength. We come to the Table in need. We come to the Table fresh from battles with sin, discouragement, unbelief, and the world. We need to be fed again. We need to receive the sustenance that Christ affords. By faith we receive the nourishment we need as we imbibe the benefits of Jesus’ atoning work for sinners and weaklings. [20]

The bread and wine do not change in any real way. Yet the Supper represents more than mere commemoration. In calling the statements figurative or symbolic, this view does not downplay the reality and importance of the thing signified. The Lord’s Supper combines tremendous mystery and genuine spiritual blessing. [24]

A sacrament is an action that God designed to sign (symbolize) and seal (ratify) a covenantal reality that the power and grace of God accomplished; the Word of God has communicated its significance, and people received or entered into its reality only by faith. [27]

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This book contains the messages presented at the 2009 Ligonier Ministries National Conference: ‘The Holiness of God.’ Each of the contributors approaches that topic from varying angles. Some of the chapters likely flowed more smoothly as oral messages, but the content is solid (which is to be expected when the list of authors reads like a ‘who’s-who’ of Reformed theology). We too often neglect God’s holiness, thus this collection is especially helpful in refocusing our thoughts.

The scariest thing in the world to me is that people dare to live as if there is no danger associated with sin and God’s wrath. False assurance must be the scariest state an unregenerate person can live in. False assurance occurs when people basically think they are OK with God, despite having no saving, covenantal relationship with Him. They delude themselves into thinking that God accepts them even though they live in rebellion. I can’t think of a more dangerous situation than that. [61]

God is no teddy bear. He is sharp. He has edges. His wrath pierces. His holiness consumes. Those who would commit treason against this God will have this God to deal with on that great day of reckoning. Sin is so treasonous, God pronounced a death penalty against it. [62]

We are to be consumed with love for God and the desire to worship Him, but because we’re sinners and misshapen in our sin, our contempt for Him manifests itself at the most basic level of not thinking about Him, but delighting in sin. That is why sin is treasonous. [65]

To care most about anything less than the glory of God is itself treason. To care most about anything other than the supremacy, the glory, and the honor of God is itself treason. It is to abandon God’s own agenda for Himself, namely, to be glorified among the nations, and to choose some lesser end than what God Himself has appointed. [68] 

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In the tradition of Preaching The Cross, this book features the collected transcripts of the messages given at the 2008 Together for the Gospel conference. Each speaker focused his sermon on the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ and what his death means in terms of both doctrine and application. Although the variety of writing styles occasionally disrupts the continuity of the book, the overall message is coherent and their unified proclamation of the Gospel remains clear. 

The emphasis in the Old and New Testament wherever the Bible speaks of creation of humankind is mankind’s common biological descent from Adam. Our common ancestry is underscored. The most fundamental recognition is not our difference labeled “race” but our oneness; not our discontinuity but continuity with one another and with Adam and Eve, our first parents. [64]

If all people are not descended from Adam, then (a) not all people inherited Adam’s sin, and (b) the atonement of Christ is limited in an unbiblical and unhelpful way, since he atones only for the race of Adam. Fall and redemption are theologically pushed to a corner of humanity rather than attributed to the whole. Race undermines the gospel. [69]

Even the natural ethnic distinctions, which are real and to be valued, are vastly secondary to this union that God has so wonderfully wrought in Christ. Our doctrine of man, which is to say, our understanding of ourselves and our true identity, must be determined and informed by our union with Christ in his person and work. [74]

The serious limitation of so many well-intentioned racial reconciliation efforts [is that they] seem to major on race and to minor on Christ and his work, in too many cases. Some approaches seem to suggest that merely embracing the “other’s” ethnicity and culture somehow enhances our embrace of Christ. I think the opposite is the way forward. It’s as we tightly cling to Jesus that we find ourselves embracing other people clinging to the Savior. The cross reconciles men to God and men to each other. [74] 

All of human history is headed to this one reality—a new kingdom of priests, one in Christ, redeemed by his blood, serving the one true and living God. If that’s where we’re headed, why not live more like that now? [79]

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Although much discussion has been given to what makes a healthy church, most of it tends to be abstract and general in nature. What Anyabwile does in this book, however, is focus on what makes church members healthy. The premise is that when members are healthy, the church will function and grow as it should. Anyabwile includes the way church members should listen to sermons, share their faith with others, and be sincerely devoted to prayer.

When we listen to the preaching of the Word, we should not listen primarily for ‘practical how-to advice,’ though Scripture teaches us much about everyday matters. Nor should we listen for messages that bolster our self-esteem or that rouse us to political and social causes. Rather, as members of Christian churches we should listen primarily for the voice and message of God as revealed in His Word. [19]

Too many Christians have neglected their first great calling: to know their God. Every Christian is meant to be a theologian in the best and most intimate sense of the word. If churches are to prosper in health, church members must be committed to being biblical theologians in whatever capacity they can. [27]

Conversion is a change of life, not merely a decision. This change is not a matter of moral rectitude, self help, or mere behavior modification. It is not accomplished by outward displays or religious practices like ‘walking the aisle.’ It cannot be accomplished by human effort but only by the power of God. [50]

The entire process of discipline, from the formative work of the Word to the corrective work of the church in sometimes removing an unrepentant member, should be undertaken with hope and the goal of repentance that leads to rejoicing and comfort. We are endeavoring to win our brothers and sisters to the truth, and when that happens we are to rejoice along with the courts of heaven. [81]

Leadership in the local church is established by God for the blessing of His people. However, for leadership to be effective, it needs to be encouraged and supported by the members of the church. Many faithful men have shipwrecked on the rocky shoals of incorrigible and resistant members. It ought not to be so among God’s people. [103]

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