St. Augustine taught that that people are, by nature, born sinners and not inclined or even able to love God, but rather all are inclined by nature to serve their own sinful wills and desires and to reject that of the rule of God, because of the Fall, (Gen 3:1-24). This is taught all throughout Scripture as well, both in the Old Testament, (Gen 6:5; 8:21; Prov. 22:6), and the New Testament, (Eph 2:2-3; Matt 15:19).

This is unique to Christianity, since every other religion, from Buddhism to Hinduism to Islam, etc, is based on some sort of idea that someone can perform for the pleasure of his or her god. There are also many sacrifices in these other religions as well, in an effort to appease their god’s wrath. This leaves no room for a personal God of grace and love.

As Christians we know that this wickedness cannot be overcome on our own, (John 6:44). As the youth and I continue to walk through the Gospel of John I am continually reminded of my own sinfulness. This is quite humbling to say the least. In John 1:17 the apostle John tells us that, “the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ, (1:17). A little later, in 5:45 Jesus tells the Pharisees “your accuser is Moses. On whom your hopes are set.”

The Pharisees thought they could earn their own right standing before God, based upon their performance and adherence to the Law. When in actuality the Law was given to show us our sinfulness and direct us toward the holiness of a pure and righteous God, full of grace and compassion. Add to that our need to for a Savior to redeem us. Jesus came to fulfill the Law on our behalf and offer Himself as a sacrifice for our sins, (Gal 2), once for all, (Heb 10:10). As a result He offers us to partake in His righteousness, (Romans 5:1-2).

With that having been said it is impossible for us to earn grace or impress God with our actions, (Is. 64:6). This is because our whole lives have been marred by sin, (Romans 8:22). We were born into a sinful world and conditioned by that sinful world, (Gen 6:5). Therefore all we have ever known was sin. How then could we ever be able to choose that which is good, since we do not even know what good is, when even our standards of what is good are sinful standards?

Yet He chose to save us, while we were yet enemies with Him, (Rom 5:8). If you are in Christ you have been chosen by the God of the universe (Eph 1:4) and bought with a price (1 Cor 6:20), by grace. (Eph 2:9). The real question is not why has He only chosen to save some, but why has He chosen to save any at all? What we deserve is hell. Everything else is a gift.

Blessed be the name of the LORD.

As the youth and I continue to study the Gospel of John, in our ongoing attempt to effectively communicate the gospel to those around us, I have noticed a common trend. In the first 5 chapters alone there are several instances of people having an encounter with Jesus, which prompted a response that is, sadly to say, uncommon for many today. I have challenged the youth to think about their own personal meeting with Jesus and their own response.

First there was John the Baptist’s testimony, which Pastor Greg touched on in his sanctity of life message. John was filled with the Holy Spirit, when he heard about the coming of the Lord, (Luke 1:40-41). As a result of his encounter with Jesus, his whole life was devoted to proclaiming the coming of the Lord, (Isa. 40:3; John 1:23). As Jesus began to reveal Himself to others, when calling out His disciples, they began to see that He was the “One who Moses wrote about in the Law”, (John 1:45).

Then when Philip realized he had met the Messiah he sought out Nathanael, who then believed, (John 1:49). When Jesus had the encounter with the Samaritan woman, at the well, (John 4:7), she was so overwhelmed that she left her water jar, (John 4:28) and went and went and told others that she had found the Christ, (4:29). She had went to draw water from the well, which was a very important task in Ancient Near Eastern history, which underscores the significance of her leaving the jar. Her testimony resulted in the salvation of many others from her town, (John 4:39).    

This is also seen in Jesus’ encounter with the royal official, who met with Jesus and testified to his whole family about the encounter, (John 4:53). Finally in the healing of the man at the pool of Bethesda, (John 5:1-14), we see the same thing. The man was healed, and when Jesus revealed Himself to him, he went and sought the Jews to tell them it was Jesus, (v. 15).  

It seems as though the only thing that mattered to any of these people was that they had met Jesus and wanted to tell others about that awesome encounter, at any cost. I haven’t even mentioned the miraculous encounter of the apostle Paul, (Acts 1:9-19). My point is this, Jesus rocks our world and we should remember how it felt when He called us out of the darkness into His glorious light and want other to share in that with us, like these examples we have in Scripture.
If not we need to ask ourselves if we have ever met with Jesus and if so I now challenge you to revisit your own personal meeting with Jesus, in the same manner I have challenged the youth.

Ask yourself how has your encounter with Him affected your life? When was the last time you shared that wonderful experience with others?  Do you want to others to have that same feeling of love, acceptance, commitment and fulfillment?

This is my review of John Hammett’s new book Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches: A Contemporary Ecclesiology, Kregel: 2005

Hammett, John S. Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches: A Contemporary Ecclesiology Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2005. 368 pp. $13.99

Introduction
John Hammett is the Associate Dean of Theological Studies at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he is also a professor of Systematic Theology and where he earned his Doctor of Ministry. He has also received a Bachelor’s of Arts from Duke University, a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and a Ph.D. from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has contributed to articles in A Theology for the Church and The Baptist Faith and Message and is currently working on Those Who Must Give An Account: A Study of Church Membership and Church Discipline with Benjamin L. Merkle, scheduled to be released in April 2012.

In his book, “Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches: A Contemporary Ecclesiology”, John S. Hammett outlines the nature, essence and marks of the church, as laid out in scripture. He emphasizes the historical Baptist perspective in churches and contrasts this perspective with that of other churches. The book is broken down into five different parts that defines what and who the church is, how the church is governed, what the church does and looks at the future of the church in the US and globally.

Summary
In part one of his book, Hammett specifically addresses the nature of the church. Using biblical foundations to make his point, the author describes the people of God, as God’s called
out people. He says the call of Abraham is the conception of the church, (33). In doing so he draws a connection between the people of the Old Testament, with those of the New Testament, found in the church. He further illustrates his point by explaining that the local church is part of a bigger universal church, consisting of all believers from all time, united by the gospel. Hammett says that these believers are united to one another, in the body of and under the authority of Christ, who provides for the needs of His church, (43). He points out that the church is a worshipping community of believers, where the Holy Spirit dwells, creating fellowship. Part one concludes with Hammett’s description of the essence of the church as being God’s organized, purposeful, assembly, highlighting the importance of the proclamation of the gospel and fellowship.

After establishing that the church should be composed of God’s called out people, Hammett, in the second part of his book, takes an in depth look at who makes up the church. Here he emphasizes that the Baptist belief is that the church must be composed of believer’s only, (81). He traces the history of the church back to its inception, through the reformation and English Separatism, concluding that this history helped shape the Baptist view of regenerate church membership as meaningful church membership, involving only those with a genuine commitment to Christ.

The book goes on to explain that despite safeguards, ie. believer’s baptism, closed communion and church discipline, set in place by Baptist churches to ensure in regenerate church membership, the Baptist church, specifically in North America, has done a disservice in not practicing such safeguards and allowing non-regenerate members in, similar to a social club. Hammett says that one can live a life with no visible difference from the surrounding non-regenerate world and be a member in good standing of a Baptist church, (109). The book then lays out reasons why it is important for Baptist churches to recover a meaningful membership and gives practical suggestions for instituting them. Hammett argues that regenerate church membership can be obtained through commitments to church covenants, and reforms to baptismal practices and by carefully reinstating church disciplinary practices.

Hammett goes on to underscore different types of church government, emphasizing the Baptist model of congregationalism, and discusses the emergent role of elders and the role of deacons in the Baptist church, in part three of his book. Here he concludes that elders, overseers and pastors are described as one and the same throughout the New Testament and there should not be a separate office for each. He says that deacons should serve in a support ministry, by enabling the elders to minster, in accordance with Acts 6. According to Hammett, a distinction between, elders, pastors overseers and deacons could negate the case for congregational government, (157). Thus, he concludes that there need be only two categories of leadership in the church, that of leaders and deacons, governed by a regenerate congregation of believers devoted to the Lord’s service.

In describing what the church does, in part 4, Hammett outlines five distinct roles of the church as being that of teaching, fellowship, worship, service and evangelism. Here he also emphasizes the importance of baptism and the Lord’s Supper in the church, detailing how through these ordinances believers are united to Christ, (263). He specifies the proper administration of these symbolic ordinances and explains how they should be properly viewed, as a form of worship.

The book concludes with a look at the future of the church, both in North America and globally, in part five. Here Hammett examines the role of “seeker” churches, who use innovative marketing methods to attract non church members, the increasing popularity of mega churches in the US and how the church should deal with the postmodern generation and the emergent church. He also takes a look at the church’s role in the past and how the church today can benefit from her previous efforts to bring people to Christ and teach them the truths of the Bible, while not being transformed by the current cultural trends, (333). He adds that the church should continue to expand globally into unreached people groups, in accordance with Matthew 24:14.

Critical Evaluation
I strongly agree with Hammett’s view of the church as God’s called out people and draw no distinction between people called in the Old Testament, contrasted with those in the New Testament. There is one God who has acted on behalf of His people throughout history and He is consistent in how He deals with them and His promises remain the same for all. Furthermore, we are all united to Christ, apart from time. I am exceedingly grateful to the author for bringing much needed attention to these issues.

Hammett emphasizes that the Baptist belief is that the church must be composed of believer’s only, (81). This is another aspect with which I agree with the author. I also agree that the church has set in place precautions to ensure that membership be of only regenerate believers and that regenerate church membership is meaningful church membership, involving only those with a genuine commitment to Christ. After all how can unbeliever’s congregate in whom they do not believe? I believe that Christ is calling out His people through and to establish His church. He is not calling unbeliever’s to form a social club on His behalf, through a watered down message of belief. Hammett addresses this well when he says the New Testament is clear that the church must not become a club of one type of people, (48). This is extremely important. Today people treat the church more like a country club, rather than a place of worship.

Hammett also addresses the importance of teaching in the church well in his book. He says that on the whole, churches in America do not seem to be doing a very good job of teaching, (232). I emphatically agree. If the church were doing her job, specifically in regards to teaching, but in other areas as well, there would not be any need for seminaries. I would assert that if the teaching in the church were more structured, there would be less unregenerate members as well. Along those same lines, the teaching the in the church would be of better quality if the members seen their responsibility as that of service to a King, whom they were called out by, for a specific purpose. Because there are few regenerate members trying to accomplish the task, and they cannot do it all, the church falls short. Furthermore, if there were more regenerate members, there would be more teachers, and a better quality of teaching for that matter. Nonetheless many have been taught a watered downed gospel and do not feel the conviction to teach and fellowship or minister with one another because they are not saved, nor do they have a love for serving a great and mighty God, who is Lord of their lives.

Conclusion
In Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches, John S. Hammett has given a clear and concise presentation of who the church is and how it is supposed to function. I agree with Hammett on many of the issues outlined in this book. He has cleared up many questions I have often had about the role of the church and that of God’s people therein. One of the most important distinctions Hammett makes is that the church should be made up of regenerate believers, who are devoted to the service of the Lord Jesus. He argues that the Baptist perspective of the church is founded on regenerate church membership and that everything else the church does flows out of this understanding. I would recommend this book to pastors and congregations alike who are serious about regenerate church ministry.

We are having another meeting on Tuesday, April 19. There will be food/fellowship at 6ish. Study begins promptly at 7p. We will be discussing Joel 2. There is currently a discussion topic for Joel here.

The blog is launched