1994 issue 4 - sermon on luke 3:21-23 - the baptism of jesus - counsel of chalcedon

8/12/2019 1994 Issue 4 - Sermon on Luke 3:21-23 - The Baptism of Jesus - Counsel of Chalcedon

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(fl:l?e ~ p t h m t of Wesus

Luke 3:21-23; Matthew 3:13-17;

Mark 1:9-11

INTRODUCTION13

In Luke's account of the baptism of

Jesus the emphasis is on four events

connected with His baptism: (1). The

praying of Jesus

during His bap

tism; (2). The

opening of the

heavens; (3). The

descent of the

Holy Spirit

on

Jesus;and(4).The

voice of God from

heaven. AtJesus'

baptism the

opened heavens,

the

descending

Spirit and the

voice of he Father

alike

bore

testi

mony

to

the perfection of the

Son. -G.c. Morgan,

THE CRISES OF

THE CHRIST, pg. 86.

THE TIME OF JESUS' BAPTISM

The

crisis

separatingJesus'

private

and

public life

The baptism ofjesus separated his

thirty years of private life from his

three years of public life. Between

these two phases of Jesus' life stands

His baptism

by

John, which at once

divided

and

united those phases. "As

Jesus left that in His life which was

preparatory, and entered upon the ac

tual work of the ministty, He devoted

Himself to the ultimate issue of His

work, that rtamely, of an identification

with men even to death. His being

baptized was an act by which

He

con

sented to take His place among sin

ners. - s

in

the act of baptism He

yielded Himself, a sacrifice

and

an

of-

fering; the opened heavens, the de

scending dove, the living voice, each

having its own significance, unite in

the attestation of the perfection ofthe

One so yieldingHimself, to the mighti

est phase in the purpose ofGod, thatof

redemption by way of sacrifice. --

Thus the thirty years of privacy merge

into the three years ofpUblicity, by the

way of solemn and significant cer

emony. (G.c. Morgan, THE CRISES

OF THE CHRIST, pg.

82f.

The prayer-life ofJesus

Of all the synoptic Gospel writers,

only Luke brings out the fact thatJesus

was praying while He was being bap

tized:

.

.j

es

us also

havingbeen

baptized,

and praying . While Jesus was en

gaged in deep communion with the

Father

in

prayer, the heavens opened.

Jesus attached great importance to

prayer. He loved

to

prayand therefore

He loves for us to pray He not only

prayed

in

connection with His bap

tism, he also prayed while the crowds

were gathering,

5:

15,16; before choos

ing the twelve apostles,

6:

12; before

and after the feeding of the 5000, Mk.

6:41,46;Mat.14:19,23;whenheques

lioned the disciples, Lk.

9:

18;

at

His

transfiguration, Lk. 9:28;

just

before

is iIivitation

to

come toHim and find

rest, Mat. 11:25-30; Lk. 10:21; before

He taught His diSCiples the Lord's

Prayer, Lk. 11: 1; atthe tombofLazams,

In. 11:41, 42; for Peter, LIe 22:32;

during the night of the institution of

theLord'sSupper,Jn . 17; 14: 16;

in

the

garden ofGethsemane,Mk 14:32,35,

36,39; Mat. 26:39, 42, 44; Lk. 22:42;

on the cross, Lk. 23:34; Mat. 27:46;

Mk.

15:34; Lk. 23:46; and after His

resurrection, Lk. 24:30.

A study of Jesus' prayer life is

an

edifying study. He turned aside to

pray: (1). In the

midst of

an

almost

incrediblybusy ife

and

while

sub-

jected to a con

stantly high pres

sure of work, Lk.

6:12; Mk. 1:35;

(2). When He, as

man,

was

sub-

jected,aswe, to the

upsurges of deep

emotion, espe-

cially the emotion

of profound sor

row and great joy,

Mk.

8:11; (3). In the midst of spiritual

conflict and death, In. 12:20-28.

Prayer to Jesus was: (1). Thanks

giving,

Lk.

10:21; Mat. 15:36; (2).

The

taking of solemn counsel with the Pa

ther, asking Him for help

in

making

important deCisions,

Lk. 6:

12; (3). In -

tercession, In. 11: 15;

and

supremely

communion with God,

Lk. 9:28.

It is obvious that prayer is impor

tant to Luke

as

well. He records many

of the prayers ofJesus, seven of which

occur in Luke alone, showingJesus at

prayer before each great crisis of His

life, 3:21;

5:

16;

6:

12; 9:18; 9:28f;

10:21; 11:1; 22

:4lf

; 23:46.

The

baptism of all the

people

Th

e

Identification of e

s

us

with

sinnel'5

Nowitc

ame

aboutwhenall the people

were

baptized, that]esus also

was

bap-

tized.... In the midst and

at

the height

of]ohn's baptizing ministry,Jesus was

May, 1994 ;. THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon ;.

13


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baptized. He was baptized as one of a

great crowd of people, thus identifying

Himselfwith a rebellious generation in

need of redemption and repentance.

From the

very

beginning

of His

public

ministry Jesus shares the heritage and

predicament of he

people.

-Lane,

THE

GOSPEL ACCORDING

TO

MARK,

NICNT.

The

occurrence, (his baptism with

the rest

of

the people), was toJesus one

of remendous sig

nificance: by sub

jecting Himself

to

the baptism, He

fi

nally and openly

took the sin of

mankind upon

Him and placed

Himself on the al

tar for the sake of

the redemption of

the guilty ones. He

Himself

had

no

need to be bap

tized, but He of

fers Himself

as

the

Substitute and Representative ofsinful

mankind and so

He, the Sinless One,

also undergoes this humiliation.

Through this

He

shows

His

solidarity

with the guilty human race

for whose

salvation He

came. He who

is Himself

without sin takes upon Himself the

sins ofmankind in orderto bring about

reconciliation and redemption. So,

because the baptism ofjesus meant to

Him the final acceptance of he work of

redemption which would

have to be

completed throughsufferingand death,

it was a most momentous occurrence.

For this reason

He was

now pray

ing ...

-

Geldenhuys

he

relation of esus baptism to

the

people s baptism

The Bible does not cut

loose

John s

baptism ofJesus

from

John s baptism

of the people. John did not administer

two

totally different baptisms---one

for

the people in general and the other for

only

Jesus. It is

NOT

accurate

to say

that, because Jesus was sinless, not

needing to repent, and the

people

were

sinful needing

to

repent, that

the two

baptisms had nothing in common. On

the other hand we must not go to the

other

extreme

and deny the unique

ness

ofjesus baptism

orHissin1essness,

Mat. 3:13f. Jesus baptism wasinsepa

table from the people s baptism by

John, but there was also something

unique about it by which it differed in

principle from the

rite performed

on

the average

Israelite. -G.

Vos.

By submitting to John s baptism of

repentance, Jesus is expressing

as

clearly

as

possible under those circum

stances

is

vicarious relation

to

the

people of God. Jesus identification

with the people in their baptism had

the proximate end of securing

for

them

vicariously

what the sacrament

(John's

baptism of repentance)

aimed

at, the

forgiveness ofsin.

Even

with regard

to

repentance we may reason analogously;

for

if Jesus bore sin

vicariously,

and

received forgiveness vicariously,

then

there

can be

no objection on prtnciple

of saying that He repented for

the

people

vicariously. -

Vos, BIBLICAL

THEOLOGY,

pg. 319f. Inotherwords,

Jesus took upon Himselfas our substi

tute and representative the

responsi

bility for our sins, Le., the punishment

4 THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon May, 994

our sins

deserved

that we might be

forgiven, and the responsibility

for

our

obedience.

He not only

died

in our

place,

He lived in our place. He not

only

suffered

and died for us,

He

be

lieved, repentance and lived in perfect

righteousness for us, so that by His

passive

and

active

obedience, we

who

believe in

Him

might

be saved

and

accepted

into

the family of

God.

he

age

of

Jesus at his baptism

Jesuswasthirty

years

old when

He

was

baptized by

John, Luke 3:23.

This

was

the age

of Joseph when

he became the

gyptian

Pharaoh s prime

minister, Gen.

41:46, and the age

of David when he

became

King

of

Israel,

II

Sam. 5:4.

More imponantly

forunderstandingthemeaning9fjesus

baptism, this was the age

at'

whiCh

Levitical priests began their priestly

service

in

the Temple,

Num.

4:3, 47.

In fact, the

requirements for priests

were that they be thiny years of

age,

called of

God,

and anointed with

oil

and sprinkled with

sacrificial

blood,

Exod. 29:21, upon their public inau

guration into office. CenainlY Luke

makes this reference to Jesus age to

make

us think of the O.T. priesthood,

so that

we

will understand Jesus bap

tism

as His public inauguration as

our High Priest, the Mediator

of

the

New Covenant, Who

would,

as

Priest,

offer

Himself

as Victim, for the salva

tion of His people. The statement of

God

made

from the heavens at

His

baptism--- This is My beloved Son in

Whom

I am

well pleased

--is

drawn

from Psalm 2 and

Isaiah

42,

the first of

which

speaks ofJehovah inaugurating

and installing His

Son upon

Z i O ~ My


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holy mountain,

Le., holy because that

is where the Temple was located, and

where the Lord's

PRIESTS

ministered.

All the ingredients required by O.T.

law forthe irumguration of a pliest are

present

in

the baptism ofjesus: (1).

Jesus was 30 years old; (2). He was

called of God when the heavens opened;

and

(3). He was anointed, (possibly

splinkled with hyssop ) by John

in

baptism, Le., both water from John's

hand and the Spili t from God's hand

WERE POURED OUT on Jesus at His

baptism

in

O.T. fashion.

THE PLACE OF JESUS' BAPTISM

in the wilderness

The

wildemess

theme

in

the old

testament

John the Baptist was

a

voice crying

in

the wilderness, whose preparation,

preaching and baptizing ministlY was

in the wilderness. The people of

Jerusalem were called out into the wil

derness t hear him, repent and be

baptized

by

him. SeeMat. 3: 1 4; Lk.

3:2 4; 7:24;Jn. 1:23. And immedi

ately after His baptism the Spilit dlives

Jesus Himself in to the wilderness,

Mk. 1:12,13; Lk. 5:16.

The reference to the wilderness as

the locale of John's ministry is not a

merely a geographical statement. The

Gospel writers are preserving the em

phasis on the wilderness found in the

O.T. prophedes, [Isaiah 40:3], allow

ing that emphasis to shame their own

theological understanding

of

the gos

pel

of

Jesus. In Exodus 23:20 God

promises to send Hismessenger, Moses,

before the people on a first exodus

through the wilderness to the Land

of Promise in Canaan. In Isaiah 40:3

we see the divineandmessianic proph

ecy that there will be a sec,?nd exodus

through the wilderness to the final

deliverance prepared for God's cov

enant people. In both the citation

from the Law and from the Prophets

the theme of an exodus through the

wilderness is dominant. . . The blended

citation, (of Luke 3:4f and Mark 1:3D,

functions t draw attention t three

factors . . . :the herald, the Lord, and

the wilderness. -Lane, pg. 46. In the

Synoptic Gospels the significance of

each of these elements is emphasized:

the coming

ofjohn

and

Jesus into the

wilderness is the fulfillment of the

promised salvation of which the proph

ets spoke.

The Significance of the appearance of

John the forerunner in the wildemess

The biblical concept of repentance

is deeply rooted

in

the wilderness

theme of he O.T. IntheO.T. prophets

the call to tum signifies a return to

the oliginal relationship with the Lord.

This means a return to the beginning

of God's histOlY with His people, a

return

to

the wilderness. Essential

to

the prophetic concern with repentance

in Hosea, Amos, and Isaiah is the con

cept ofIsrael's time in the wilderness as

the peliod of true sonship to God, a

status into which the Lord is going

to

lead his people once again in a future

time. --- The correlation between the

wilderness and repentance was not

John's innovation and must have been

understood by his contemporaries.

John's call to repentance and his call

to

come out to him

in

the wilderness to be

baptized are two aspects of the same

reality.

ltis

a call

torenewedsonship

in the

wilderness. The peculiar ur

gency in the call lies in the fact that the

crisis of God's final act is close at hand.

The same correlation should be

seen between baptism and the wilder

ness. The summons to be baptized in

theJ ordan meant that Israel must come

once more to the wilderness.

As

Israel

longago hadbeen separated from Egypt

by a pilglimage through the waters

of

the Red Sea, the nation is exhOlted

again

to

expelience separation; the

people are called to a second exodus in

preparation for a new covenant with

God. Both John's call to repentance

and his baptism are intelligible as as

pects of

the prophetic tradition which

expected the final salvation

of

God to

be unveiled in the wilderness.

Repentance in John's proclama

tion is conditioned by the action of

God, who is about

to

enter history

in

a

definitive fashion. The opportunity

and urgency for repentance lie

in

the

fact that

the one who will baptize with

the Holy Spirit is close at hand.

As

the

people heed John's call and go out to

him in the desert far more is involved

than contlition and confession. They

return to a place of

judgement the

Wilderness,

where the status

of Is

rael as God's Beloved Son must be

re-established

in the

exchange

of

pride

for humility.

The

willingness

to return to the wilderness signifies

the acknowledgment of Israel's his

tory

as

one of disobedience and re

bellion, and a desire to begin once

more. John's proclamation of the for

giveness of sins provides the assurance

that God extends grace as well asjudg-

ment. I t is

in

the context

of

judgnlent

and grace that the people ofJerusalem

and Judea

go

out to the wilderness to

be baptized

by

John. - Lane, pg. 49-51

The prophet, Isaiah, described

Israel's trek in the wilderness as a march

under the leadership of he Spilit of he

Lord, Isa. 63:11. He Wlites also that it

was the Holy Spirit who gave the cov

enant people rest

in

the wilderness,

Isa.

63:14. John

the

Baptist links the

bestowal of he Spirit

to

theminisny of

Christ, who comes to him to

be

bap

tized

in

the wilderness.

As

the first

exodus had been a going forth into the

wilderness

under

the leadership of

God's Spirit, the prophet announces the

second exodus as a time when there we

be a fresh outpouring of the Spilit, lsa.

32:

15;

44:3. With this concept in mind

John calls the people

to

thewildemessin

antidpation of the fulfillment ofthe pro

phetic promise.

-Lane,

pg. 52

May,

1994

TIlE COUNSEL of

Chalcedon

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The significance ofJesus' baptism in

the

wilderness

By submitting to John's baptism of

repentance with all the people, Jesus

is acknowledging the judgment ofGod

on Israel, and

at

the same time, He is

signifYing that He will endure the judg

ment of

God

in

the

place of His people.

'Jesus comes to J

ohn

as the true Israel

ite whose repentance is perfect. He

IS

the beloved Son, but He comes to the

wilderness because sonship must be

reaffirmed in the

W ilde rne s s

John'sappearance

in the wilderness,

his call to repen

tanceandhis bap

tism signify that

the time has come

when God will

execute a decisive

judgment from

which a new Is

rael will emerge.

--- He comes to

John

as one will

ing

to

assume the

brnnt of

his judgment. The bearing of

its burden constitutes His mission.

Lane, pg.

54

in the Jordan

river

Just

as

John

the Forerunner steps

out ofobscurity into a public ministry,

so Jesus the Messiah now does the

same. He leaves Galilee, (Nazareth),

where he had lived in obscurity all

these thirty years

and

appears publicly

at the Jordan River.

THE PERSONWHO BAPTIZED

JESUS:

JOHN

THE

FORERUNNER

he

ministry

of

John

John

the Baptist is a crucial figure

in the history of revelation and re

demption. In retrospect, his appear

ance

in

the wilderness was the most

important event

in

the life of Israel for

more than three hundred years.

--

The

very fact of]ohn's appearance was an

eschatological event of he first magni

tude, and signified that the decisive

turning point in the history of salva

tion was

at

hand. It was John, th

preacher of radical repentance, who

initiated the messianic

crisis. To

speak

of the gospel ofjesus is to speak of the

good news

which began

with

John' -Lane,

MARK,

pg. 47.

john

is

not

introduced

in

Luke's

narrative because he is important for

his own sake. He is important because

he is the beginning of the unfolding

drama of redemption which centersin

jesusofNazareth. -Lane. Hisministry

was the result of Divine appointment

infulfillmentofO.T. prophecy; and he

bore witness to the supremacy and

dignity of the Lord's Christ, whose

coming was near.

Luke reports jesus' baptism in two

words in Greek----by means of a

genitive absolute participial construc

tion. The report of the actual baptism

with water seems almost incidental to

the record of the descent of the Holy

Spirit and the declaration of the Divine

Voice out of he opened heavens. Since

john and his baptism of repentance

has just been presented to the reader,

it

must be taken for granted that Luke

assumes John is the baptizer ofJesus.

But it

s

extraordinary

that

exactly

at the baptism

of Jesus, where one

16 THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon May, 1994

might expect John

at least to share

some of the limelight withJesus, he

isnotmentionedatall. -Stonehause.

The point is this: John the Baptist is

brought into Luke's historical narra

tives because of the light his ministry

castsuponthe meaningofjesus Christ.

The introduction ofjohn the Baptism,

and of Simeon, for that matter, into the

account of the origin and early history

of Christianity has as its purpose: to

interpret authoritatively

the

mean

ing of the stupen

dous event repre

sented by the

birth

of

Christ

and

His presence

in

the world.

-

Stonehouse

Thefocus

of

John's preaching

]ohn'smessage

is telescoped to

fo-

cus

upon

a single

theme, the procla

mation of the Per

son still to come

who will baptize the people with the

Holy Spirit. -Lane, pg. 51. There is

coming a New Baptizer, whose dignity

will far overshadow thatofJ ohn.

John

introduces Christ as

The

Coming

One , which reflects Israel's messianic

expectation that God Himself will

come

to earth to bring salvation to

His covenant people,

Mal.

3:

4:5f.

He who comes in the name of the

Lord,

Psa.

118:26, will bring salva

tionandsudden,siftingjudgment,

Mal.

3:1;

4:5f.

The post-baptismal testimony

of

John regardingJesus

John 1:15, 30

john distinguishes in the life and

ministry of Christ

two

phases:

(1).

The

phase of ministry which

FOLLOWS

the ministry of John the Baptist; and

(2). The phase which precedes the life

of]

ohn. John

bore witness of

Him, and


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cried out,

saying,

"This was

He ofwhom

J said, 'He who comes after me has a

higher rank

thai J,

for

He existed before

me.

' --

This

is He on behalf

of

whom Jsaid,

"After

me comes a anwho has a

higher

J'(11Jk than

J for

He existed before me."

He who comes after me has a

higher rank than

I

is literally

in

Greek,

He who has come after

me

is before

(EMPROSTHEN) me, Le., refening

to Christ's minisny in the O.T. The

Greek

pr

eposition, EMPROSTHEN,

with the perfect of the verb, He who

has come, denotes precedence

in

appearing on the historical scene.

For He existedbefore meisPROTOS,

(before), with the imperfect verb, EN,

(existed), and the pronoun MOU, (me).

PROTOS with the imperfect of the

verb Signifies absolute anteriority

as

tomode

of existence -Stonehouse.

( Anteriority refers to existence pre

ceding time.) The point is that this

second phrase, for He existed before

me, relates to the eternal existence of

the Lord Chl1St, usually called His

pre-existence as the Second Person of

the Trinity. The conjunction, for,

(HOIl), therefore links together the

clauses in such a way so as to signify:

in Christ's eternal existence before

time lies the possibility of

His

appear

ance and

activity under the

O.T. -Stonehouse. Hence, there is

no

mere repetition here.

In saying that this pre-existent One

is a Man who has a higher rank than

I, forHe existedbefore me, John is not

saying that Christexisted physically as

an actual

human

being before John's

binh. He is simply rellecting His un-

derstanding of he incarnationof Christ

in terms of Mal. 3: 1 and 4:5f. The

eternal Lord Himself has visited the

earth

in

HisRepresentative, The Mes

sengerof he Covenant, justas Malachi

had prophesied.

Or

has Luke has

carefully explained: TH

LORD'S

CHRIST IS CHRIST THE LORD.

Therefore, even in His humanity, as

well as His Deity,jesus ranks infinitely

higher than John.

JoI1l11:29 36

Thissecond outstanding testimony

of john the Baptism to Jesus Christ

bl1ngs out

the

vicarious sin-bearing

of

esus

Christ. The next day l e (John)

saw Jesus coming

to

him,

and

said, "Be

hold, the Lamb ofGodwho takes

away

the

sin of the world " --

And he

looked

upon

Jesus as He

walked,

and said, "Behold, the

Lamb

ofGod "

In the dialogue between john and

jesus the point was made that Jesus'

baptism was a vicarious baptism, em

phasizing His identity with sinners

and His substitutionary work in their

behalf. These words are John's com

mentary on jesus' baptism. He also

learned that Chlist was the lamb

of

God, i.e., the substitutionaryand pro

pitiatorysacrifice for sinners, from the

Old Testament in at least two places:

(1).

In the sacrificial lamb of the

Levitical system; and (2). In the repre

sentation of the Servant

of

God as a

lamb

in

Isaiah 53, especially in verses

6 and 7---All of us like sheep have gone

astray,

each ofus has

turned

to his own

way; but the Lord

has

caused

the

iniquity

of

us

all

to

fallon

Him.

He

was oppressed

and

He

was

afflicted,

yet He did

not open

His mouth; like a lamb

that

is led to

slaughter,

and like

a sheep

that

is

silent

before

its

shearers, so

He

did

not

open His

mouth.

The Meaning

o

lamb

In Isaiah 53:6,7 the primary use of

the figure of he lamb forthe Servant of

Godis to depict the innocence, meek

ness and willingness

to

render vicari-

0us service

for

the people through

suffering and death. The features of

innocence and meekness are inherent

in the character of the lamb generi

cally, but they are with special em pha

sissuggested here, because, the people

having been described as a wayward,

wandel1ng Ilock, the very quality of a

lamb sets the Servant in contrast with

this sinful condit on.

But

it

immediately appears that

these traits of innocence and meek

ness are not intended for the general

purpose of idealizing the character of

the Servant, but for the specific

pur-

pose

of

showing Him both fitted

and

willing to bear the sin for others. This

is the transition between verse 6 and

verse 7

in

the prophecy:

because

innocent

He

can bear

sin of

others,

because meek He is willing to do so.

And also his appunenance, (Le., his

connection), (with a distinction)

t

the flock serves its purpose here: be

ing of the flock

He

can suffer for the

flock.-Vos, BIBLICAL THEOLOGY,

pg. 324f.

The Meaning

o

takes away the

sins

o

the world

The Greek word for takes away

denotes to take away the

sins

of the

world by bearing those sins. What

Jesus had done in the baptism was

not

yet the actual removal of sin,

but

only

as yet the taking of sin

upon

Himself.

To the other task His whole life was

to

be devoted. -Vos, pg. 326.

The

meaning of

"the sins o the world"

Isaiah prophesied that the Messi

anie Lamb would take upon Himself

the sin of the chosen people of the

Covenant.

John

speaks of His bearing

the sins of the world. Is there a

contradiction

in

the Bible? Does the

O.T. speak of Christ's death for the

elect

and

the N.T. of His death for the

world? Since there are no contradic

tions in the Bible,and since there isno

dichotomy between the O.T. and the

N.T., there must be a way to interpret

john s

comments in such a way that

they harmonize with the teaching of

the Scripture elsewhere that Christ

came to bear away the sins of the elect,

Rev. 5:9.

May, 1994 THE COUNSEL

of

Cbalcedon t 17


6/6

So, what does

it

mean to say that

Jesus takes away

the

sins of the

WORLD ?

In

The Magnificat, Mary

told us that the Messiah would come

to give help to Israel, Lk. 1:54. In

The NuncDimittis Simeon told us that

the chosen peopleofGodwhom Christ

came to redeem are to be found among

allpeoples and that Christ came to be

a light . . . to the Gentiles , as well as

the glory of Israel: Lk. 2:31-32.

These two hymns together teach us

tlult the chosen of

God whom Christ

came to ,save are

not confined to

one nation or eth

mcgroup,

but

they

are to be found

throughout

the

earthamongallthe

world's

nations

and

peoples. It is

in

this light that we

must interpret

John's remark that

Christcametotake

awaythesins of he

wORLD. Christ came to take away

the sins of people from every tribe and

people,

by

nature lost

in

sin,

and

not

merely the sin of

a

particular nation,

e.g. the Jewish nation,John 3:16. He

came to save the world: taken quali

tativelynot quantitatively, andnot ust

the Jews . All the sins, (see IJohn 3:5

for the plural) which the Lamb re

moves are spoken of collectively as

the sin. This passage does not teach

a universal atonement, i.e., that Jesus

took away the sins of everybody who

has every lived withc:mt exception.

If

he

did then everybodyis saved. If hey

are not saved, and He died for every

body withoutexception, then He failed.

Either

of

these views:

(1).

That every

body, Christians and anti-christians,

without exception are saved; or (2).

That Christ tried to saved everybody

by taking away their sins, but He failed

because they would

not

let Him do so,

is dishonoring to Jesus Christ, the Son

of God. John the Baptist did not teach

universal atonement,

nor

did the

Apostle John, nor did Jesus Himself,

In. 1:12, 13; 10:11, 27, 28; 17:9;

11:50-52.

Jesusis the Lamb of God who came

to take away the sin of all

His

people

throughout thewhole world. For God

so loved something as vile and evil as

the world, i.e., mankind

in

rebellion

against God, taken qualitatively not

quantitatively, that He gave His only

begotten Son. That this is the proper

way to take these texts, and that Christ's

death had special reference to His

people is set forth when

He

is said to

have been a

RANSOM---The Son

of

man

came

not

to

be

served but to serve

and to give His

life

a RANSOM FOR

MANY

Mark 10:45; Matthew 20:28.

The nature of a ransom is such that

when paid

and

accepted

it

automati

cally frees those

for

whom it was in

tended. No further obligation can be

charged against them. If the death of

Christ was a ransom

for

all men alike,

ifby His death He purchased all man

kind, then the regeneratingand cleans

ing power of the Holy Spirit which He

purchased for them must then be com

municated

not

merely to some but to

all

alike, and the penalry of eternal

punishment cannot be jusdy inflicted

on any. If, as we have said, God is so

18

THE COUNSEL of

Chalcedon

May, 1994

just that

He

cannot pardon sin without

an atonement, He would certainly be

most unjust ifHe demanded the pen

alty twice over, once

from

the Substi

tute

and

again from the

persons

themselves. -Lorraine Boettner, TH

ATONEMENT, pg. 84

John 1:34

Thisis the third great post-baptismal

declaration

by

John concerning Jesus:

And have

seen

and have borne witness

that this the

Son

of

God. I is I my

seW in Greek in

dicating

that

John's testimony

is an

EYE-WITNESS

testimonyaswell

as

an

OFFICIAL

testimonyby the

Forerunner. The

close relation of

seen

and

have

borne witness

describes the im

mediacy of the

witness, i.e. \ no soo.ner saw that I

witnessed. In this statement John is

reftectingupon His faithfulness in ob

serving and answering by witness the

signalset

for

him by God

in

the descent

of the Spirit upon Jesus. -Vos., pg.

326.

JO N

2:31-32.

In this lengthy passage

John

the

Baptist is the speaker, as most com

mentators agree. He exposes the ab

surdity of supposing any rivalry be-

tween himself andJesus. 'Jesus stands

so incomparably higher than all

mes

sengersof God that

it

could occur to

John as little to conceivejealousyagainst

Him, as the friend of the bridegroom

(the presider at the wedding activities)

could do so with regard

to

the bride

groom.

His

work is

to efface

himself,

and

therein to find his

supreme

joy.n-vos. The Baptism

of

esus to be

c;oncluded next month n

1994 issue 4 - sermon on luke 3:21-23 - the baptism of jesus - counsel of chalcedon

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