Kahawa katika Kanisa
Sijui kwa hakika ni jinsi gani ya kutathmini suala hili kutoka kwa mtazamo wa Biblia. Kwa upande mmoja, inaonekana kama inaweza kuwa njia nzuri ya kuongeza mahusiano, na kwamba inaweza hata kuwa…
Methodists and Roman Catholics
There are some significant differences between Methodists and Roman Catholics, though Methodism is more similar to Roman Catholicism than are many forms of Protestantism (such as Calvinism). Some…
Is the Sabbath Saturday or Sunday?
The argument for Sunday observance of the Sabbath which I find most compelling is as follows: We begin with the premise that the Bible doesn't actually teach that we are to meet on the seventh day of…
Baptism vs. Dedication
There are a couple important differences between dedication and baptism in general. First, the Bible instructs us to baptize people but it does not instruct us to dedicate them. There are examples of…
Invoking God's Presence
You've raised several different points: 1. The Holy Spirit indwells believers and God is omnipresent. The Holy Spirit did not indwell old covenant believers. Yes, the Holy Spirit indwells believers…
Women and the Lord's Supper
The Bible doesn't teach that a person must hold a particular position or office in the church in order to qualify to distribute the elements. The PCA Book of Church Order also does not dictate who…
Baptism as a Seal?
Baptism is a sign and a seal. The circumcision made without hands is symbolized by actual circumcision in the Old Covenant (Rom. 2:28-29) and actual physical baptism in the New Covenant (Col.…
Do the Elements of Communion Matter?
On the wine vs. grape juice issue, I wrote a brief Q&A on that subject that you can find here: Protestant Transubstantiation (History of) . Also, Keith Mathison wrote a four-part series on that…
Grudem on Baptism: Meaning and Mode
Grudem presents three main arguments for immersion as the biblical mode of baptism: " Baptizo means 'to plunge, dip, immerse.'" There is no single instance in the New Testament in which it is stated…
Pre-Apostolic Succession ???
There was an exchange of numerous e-mails regarding this topic. This one somewhat summarizes what has been discussed "so far." This is actually an edited (spelling, formatting, etc., not content)…
Infant Baptism
I know this can be a really tough subject -- I myself was a Baptist for 25 years or so! In fact, most Presbyterians I know used to be Baptists. I also agree that much of what has been written over…
Anti-Paedocommunion
In Reformed circles there are different positions on peadocommunion. There is the "pro" (P-PC) and the "anti" (A-PC) positions. Ra McLaughlin, a trusted and scholarly theologian at IIIM, endorses the…
Is church membership necessary?
The teaching of Reformed theology has always been that not every member of the visible church is a member of the invisible church. As you stated, a lot of people are church members but don't belong…
Re-Baptism?
At IIIM we embrace baptism as a sign and seal of the covenant. We embrace the Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF), which outlines what we believe biblically. The WCF states in chapter XXVII, " The…
Women Pastors
As I understand the Bible, women are not supposed to be pastors. I base this understanding on 1 Timothy 2-3, where Paul argued on the foundation of creational ordinances that women ought not to be…
Children at the Lord's Table
Actually, I agree with the minority position favoring paedocommunion (though this is not Third Millennium Ministries' official position), not so much as an argument from paedobaptism, but rather as…
Infant Baptism
The Bible does not explicitly mention infant baptism, but there are many things that the Bible does not mention that Christians rightly believe. Perhaps the most obvious of such doctrines are those…
Exclusive Psalmody, No Instrumentation
The short answer is that we believe the Bible nowhere prohibits or even hints at prohibiting the use of musical instruments in worship. Further, while the Psalms are wonderful, inspired, perfect…
Who's Holy?
As you probably know, various branches of the church have struggled over this issue for centuries. Here's my take on it: Everyone who is part of the visible community of the people of God (i.e. the…
Sacraments, not Just Signs
Insofar as the sacraments are not just signs but also seals, they really promise/offer to us the benefits they depict. That promise/offer is a gracious one. Because the seal is the means by which God…
Communion and Nursery Workers
This is a fairly difficult question because the Bible really doesn't tell us very much about the way the Lord's Supper was observed in the early church, or even about the nature of the meetings of…
Auricular Confession
It's helpful in understanding Roman Catholicism to realize that its dogma is the result of a steady accretion of practices that were implemented to deal with recurring problems, as well as to make…
Are Holidays Unholy?
Paul was instructing the Galatians (Gal. 4:10) not to engage in false religious practices. While he did not identify these practices specifically, it seems logical to conclude that he was speaking of…
Sacred and Secular Leadership
If I understand you correctly, you are asking why we should have different standards in church than in the secular world. I think the root reason lies in the distinctions that God makes between…