Body of Christ

David Field (unsurprisingly) has read The Baptized Body by Peter Leithart and is enthusing about it, so I had better get my comments in!

I ought to begin by admitting that in the past on this ‘blog. I have made some ignorant comments on what is known as the Federal Vision, of which Dr. Leithart is a proponent, for which I am sorry.

Federal Vision theologians are speaking a different theological language than their counterparts. As I understand it, they are focusing on the outworking of God’s acts of salvation in history, rather than from the perspective of eternal decrees and systematic theology. For a helpful introduction to the issues, reading the conclusions of the Louisiania Presbytery of the PCA in America following an investigation into Steve Wilkins, as David Field reports it HERE.

Leithart is keen to make it clear that this different perspective is not to undermine Reformed theology. For example, he declares his agreement with the Reformed tradition on the doctrine of eternal election and its insistence that God elects and reprobates before the foundation of the world. Leithart and others are concerned to uphold the sola Scriptura principle of the Reformation and make the Bible, not even Reformed tradition, their rule of faith. And as it turns out, what Leithart is saying seems an awful lot closer to Calvin and chums that a lot of what we get today anyway.

The Reformed tradition has tended to distinguish between the visible church (to which baptism admits the recipient) and the invisible church. The visible church is in an external covenant relationship with God; the invisible church is internally in covenant with God. Leithart affirms the value of this distinction: not everyone who is part of the historical community of believers will finally be saved. The problem comes when this is taken to undermine the reality of the visible church as the church of Jesus Christ, as his people. Leithart therefore prefers to distinguish between the historical church and the eschatological church. Actually, as I see it, this complements, rather than contradicts, the classical Reformed distinction. Leithart himself seems to use “visible” and “historical” interchangeably, and the members of the invisible church will only finally be revealed when Christ returns. It can be problematic when reading the epistles to work out whether the elect within the community are being addressed or the community as a whole. But it is much easier with the historical-eschatological distinction to discern what is going on. Anything dealing with a church as a mixed community, with structures, institutions and government, rites and cermonies, is dealing with the historical church. And where “body of Christ” refers to the church, with the possible exception of Ephesians 1.23, it refers to the “visible, historical community of professing believers.” (p. 60) See for example, Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 2 and 4, Colossians 1 and 3. It is this visible historical church which is the body of Christ, united to Christ, the “head” by one Spirit. Leithart writes of the Trinitarian structure of Paul’s description of the unity of the church in Ephesians 4:

“The visible church is united together by its union with the Triune God, by its unity in the Spirit with the Son of the Father.” p. 63

It is into this church that we are incorporated by baptism. So:

“Those who are baptized into the church share in Jesus Christ, and in Him they are introduced into the Triune fellowship of Father, Son and Spirit.” p. 73

In considering what benefits membership of the historical church brings, and thus what baptism brings, Leithart focuses on the issue of soteriology. Again, the difference between the classical Reformed approach and Leithart’s approach is a linguistic issue, and while Leithart affirms the traditional emphasis on our relationship with God and the change in status and nature that occurs when the Spirit works on a person, he also finds that the Bible is much broader in what it says about salvation. To be saved is to be priests and kings to God (Revelation 1.6), a participant in the global mission of the church (Matthew 28.18-20), gifted to edify the church (1 Corinthians 12), to become part of Abraham’s family (Galatians 3.27-29). In that baptism incorporates one into all that, baptism is “saving” in all these senses. He also writes:

“Those who minister in the church have been caught up in the work of the Spirit of Jesus, the saving work of the Spirit of Jesus. They are participating in the salvation of the world. Some who do this might eventually fall by the wayside… but while they are in the church they are sharing the life that is the church’s salvation. When Korah rebelled, the earth opened up and swallowed him, but before that he was a Levite who enjoyed the blessing of salvation from Egypt, drank from the water, ministered before Yahweh, and participated in the life of the redeemed people of God.” p. 75

In the New Testament, baptism is linked to justification (Romans 6.1-7) sanctification (1 Corinthians 6.11?), adoption (Galatians 3) and regeneration (Titus 3.5), inclusion into the renewed humanity and renewed cosmos of Mt. 19.28 which is the body of Christ. To have Christ means to have him and all these elements are facets of our personal union with him. “Righteous” describes an inherent quality of Jesus and a verdict delivered by the Father in the resurrection, and this quality and this verdict becomes ours as we are united to Christ by his Spirit.

The sociology of baptism is “co-involved” with its soteriology. So:

“To be justified… is to share in the life of the justified community, the people whom God regards, because they are in Christ, as “righteous” in his sight. To be a saint is, in this view, to share in the life of the communion of saints. To be adopted is to be among the sons and daughters of the Father, and to be regenerated is to share in the life-in-the-Spirit that simply is the life of the body of Christ. Baptism delivers us from one “culture,” the culture of Adam into a new “culture,” the culture of the Last Adam. Baptism strips off the culture of flesh and inducts us into the culture of the Spirit.” p. 78

Leithart gives us the example of a Muslim convert, which bears repetition in full:

“He comes to baptism with all sorts of familial and religious loyalities. He has lived in a twisted socio-religious world throughout his life, and this has patterned him with certain habits of conduct, and grooved his mind in certain channels of belief and thought. The Spirit works on Him to break through those grooves and to begin regrooving his mind and heart, and the Spirit also empowers him to break through the behavioural habits that have dominated his life and to resist the demonic encouragements that may well go with those habits. But the Spirit does all this through means. The Word is one means; the Spirit re-tools his heart and mind through the Scriptures and preaching. Baptism is another of these tools. Baptism drowns his old loyalities, and as he lives out his baptism, the Spirit progressively kills his old self and renews his loyalities, his commitments, his desires. Remembering his baptism, he remembers that he belongs to Jesus, not to Allah; he remembers that he is called to righteousness, not to sin. The Spirit uses that reminder in his maturation. Baptism also engrafts him into the fellowship of the church, where, led by the Spirit, believers live in humility, gentleness, joy, patience, love. Through the Spirit’s power, he begins to catch the feel of living as a member of the baptized body, begins to breathe the air of joyful liberty and forgiveness, begins to imitate the gentleness and humility of his brothers and sisters. Baptism is one of the means the Spirit uses to regenerate him, to renew him in the image of God.” pp. 79-80

Does baptism require a response from us? Yes – faith. Faith is the proper response to the undeserved favour of being baptised and privileges that it brings. “It is only by faith that we remain in the body of Christ, and only by faith that the water of baptism poured out on the earth of our bodies will bear fruit” (p. 84)

Faith is trust and entrustment, expressing itself in a life of loving, worshipping and following Jesus. It is allegiance to the Son, keeping faith and believing what God says. It is a gift of God and only those who have faith until the end will be saved.