I dunno. Mebbe I’m obtuse. I would love to see some work on the word “sign” in regards to the sacraments. Most take it as merely representative, not really the thing a se but the thing really per se. That is, the sacraments are mere promises to do something not the act of the thing to be done. But I think this is to deflating. In baptism God does not merely say, “With this water I, thee, promise.” He has already made the promise in his word–”I will be your God and the God of your children.” So that when baptism comes around it is a SIGNificant act of God being acted out: I am making good on my promise. I have given you children and they are mine. It’s a done deal. Signed, sealed, delivered, I’m yours. [that's the Stevie Wonder part]
Take what a friend of mine wrote me:
The word “applied” is used in Q. 92 of the WSC in reference to the sacraments in general:
Q92: What is a sacrament?
A92: A sacrament is an holy ordinance instituted by Christ, wherein, by sensible signs, Christ, and the benefits of the new covenant, are represented, sealed [which means ‘promised’], and applied to believers.
Huh?! When does one word mean another? When does “sealed” (very definite) mean “promise” (very blah!) ? I mean, come now. A promise is not the thing but the earnest vow to provide the thing. A seal is at least the production of the thing promised. Or it is the verity of the thing enacted. My wedding ring is not a promise to my wife but the seal of my promise. They are not the same thing.
Then, when the WSC addresses baptism specifically, two questions later, the word “applied” is noticeable absent, having been intentionally omitted:
Q94: What is baptism?
A94: Baptism is a sacrament, wherein the washing with water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, doth signify [same as ‘represent’] and seal [which means, ‘promise’] our ingrafting into Christ, and partaking of the benefits of the covenant of grace, and our engagement to be the Lord’s.The word “sealed” clearly means “promised” and not “applied”, otherwise Q# 92 would be redundant.
No. I do not accept this poor use of vocabulary. Seal does not mean promise nor does it mean applied. The only true statement is that it would be redundant if this were so. But to use the WSC own language, the sacraments, represent, seal and apply. Baptism signifies and seals. To say that these words merely only stand for one thing and are not the reality of the thing itself is to deflate them.
Commenting to be continued……
The WSC represents a compromise position on the sacraments between those in the Church of England who had a “high” (Catholic) view of the sacraments and those who had a “low” (Calvinistic) view. The language is carefully nuanced to appease both sides, but it definitely does NOT teach baptismal regeneration or baptismal justification. These doctrines, which are held by some in the FV camp, are completely unacceptable to historic Reformed thinking and to the PCA and to New Covenant. They are held by Catholics, Lutherans and many Anglicans, but they undermine much of Calvinistic doctrine and much of Paul’s teachings and are unacceptable in reformed circles, whether that be the Scottish Presbyterian tradition or the Dutch Reformed tradition.
I believe in the promises of the covenant of grace, and I am eagerly looking forward to the day when my boys will profess Jesus as their Lord and Savior before the church and the world. However, I believe it would be dangerously presumptuous for me to say that they are now already saved or justified or regenerate simply because they have been baptized. God has made a promise and the waters of baptism represent that promise and apply the promise (“seal” – the application of a promise to a particular person) to my boys, but I am still looking forward, by faith, to the day when the Lord will keep that promise.
It is similar to where you and I stand with regard to our glorification. God has promised it. We trust God for the promise. We have received the Holy Spirit as the seal / deposit / guarantee of the promise (Eph. 1), but we cannot yet say that we have been glorified and that we are already perfected. While that it a finished reality from God’s perspective (Rom. 8:30 and Heb. 10:14), yet it would be dangerous and presumptuous for me to say that God has already made me perfect and I am now perfect.
