Baptism
Youth and Church Membership—Or, Stop Baptizing Children into the Ether
By Alex Duke | 9Marks Journal: Church Membership: Following the Lord Together | 05.07.2019A church should not baptize young people apart from church membership. To do so is unbiblical, unhelpful, and unloving.
Mailbag #77: How Much Agreement with a Statement of Faith Should Be Required for Membership?
By Brad Wheeler | 03.08.2019A man who was baptized as a believer wants to join our credobaptist church, though he is paedobaptistic and cannot affirm the church’s statement of faith on believer’s baptism. Should the elders of the church recommend this man to the church for membership?
Episode 72: On Baptism (with Bobby Jamieson)
By B. Jamieson, J. Leeman, M. Dever | 01.22.2019In this episode of Pastors’ Talk, Mark and Jonathan are joined by Bobby Jamieson to discuss practical questions about baptism and its connection to the local church.
An Open Letter to Baptist Pastors Considering Open Membership
By Sam Emadi | 01.14.2019Baptism is an authorized declaration of the credibility of someone’s confession, not just a private judgment about whether we think someone is a Christian.
Practice Charity, Pursue Credibility: How to Respond to a Child’s Profession of Faith
By C. Greggsen, S. Emadi | 01.07.2019In every case, a church ought to be careful, weeding through words to attempt to discern the motivation behind a profession of faith―in other words, its credibility.
A Strategy for Delaying the Baptism of Young Children
By Scott Daniel | 08.24.2018What should you say to the family of a young child who wants to be baptized?
How the Exodus Connects to Baptism & the Lord’s Supper
By Andrew Wilson | 05.07.2018The task of the church can be described in all sorts of ways, but one of the most evocative is this: we are called to live the exodus.
Episode 39: On “Mere Christianity”
By J. Leeman, M. Dever | 02.13.2018Is “mere Christianity”—the conviction that we should focus on only what’s essential to being a Christian—really the path toward true Christian unity? Does it guard the gospel over time?
Mailbag #71: A Pastor and Pre-Conversion Sins . . . Young Children, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper
By Jonathan Leeman | 02.09.2018— To what degree should a man’s past life—perhaps even before his conversion—affect how we consider his qualification for ministry? — Should young children who have been baptized but left out of church membership be given the Lord’s Supper?
The Reformation’s Restoration of the Sacraments
By Bobby Jamieson | 9Marks Journal: The Reformation and Your Church | 09.26.2017The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century restored the gospel to the sacraments and the sacraments to the congregation.
Four Ways the Reformation Changed Church History
By Alex Duke | 9Marks Journal: The Reformation and Your Church | 09.26.2017Luther and his fellow Protestant reformers changed the course of church history. How so? Let me name four.
You Can’t Plant a Church If You Don’t Know What a Church Is
By Nathan Knight | 9Marks Journal: Church Mergers and Plants | 06.19.2017Ecclesiology can’t be assumed nor should it be considered a distraction to the church planter’s “mission.”
Mailbag #62: How to Encourage Attendance at Members’ Meetings; The Relationship between Baptism & Church Membership
By Jonathan Leeman | 05.19.2017— Could you provide some wisdom for how to handle situations where members are consistently neglectful of attending members’ meetings? — I understand that baptism should precede church membership. But must membership always follow baptism?
A New Resource to Teach People about the Church
Review by Vergil Brown | 05.17.2017These resources will give both church leaders and church members a clear and compelling vision of their role in God’s work.
Mailbag #59: Two Questions on “Re-Baptism”; The Importance of a Church’s Architecture
By Jonathan Leeman | 04.14.2017— What are some of the pastoral principles, pitfalls, and guidelines when dealing with church members who doubt their baptism took place after their conversion? — A church member wants his daughter to be baptized twice, in two different churches. How should I respond? — As a church considers planting or revitalizing, how much should they take into account a building’s architecture?
