chuckd
Puritan Board Junior
I found this thread helpful in understanding what a Christian is "before the church." (then I realized I participated in it )
If an outward profession of faith, baptism, church membership make an individual a Christian before the church, what are the "reasons for supposing there is a false profession?"
MW said:Some qualifications need to be made, but basically, yes, baptism functions as a mark of profession before the church. Reformed theology considers that there is an outward sign and an inward grace. Ideally the outward and inward should never be divorced. They only come to be separated because of the sad reality of false profession. This reality practically forces us to separate the two and to speak of baptism as only marking the external profession before the church. Where there is no reason for supposing there is a false profession there is no basis for separating the external and internal, and so the outward sign of baptism may be spoken of as if it marked the internal possession of the grace signified. There is no doubt that the New Testament regularly speaks in this way through the "judgment of charity." At the same time it issues warnings to impress on individuals that they must come to a "judgment of certainty" in relation to their own personal possession of grace in Christ, and directs the believer to trust in Christ rather than their outward privileges. It also uses the outward privilege as a basis to exhort "believers" to walk worthy of their calling.
If an outward profession of faith, baptism, church membership make an individual a Christian before the church, what are the "reasons for supposing there is a false profession?"