1. In Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Worship (Leicester: Apollos; Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1992) I show how the theme of worship relates to the developing story of the Bible and relates to topics such as creation, sin, covenant, redemption, the people of God and the future hope.
2. To some extent this section draws on the argument of a 2008 report by the Doctrine Commission of the Synod of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, entitled ‘A Theology of Christian Assembly’.
3. I have discussed this more fully in D. G. Peterson, Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Worship (Leicester: Apollos; Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1992), pp. 23–49.
4. L. Burns, The Nearness of God: His Presence with His People (Phillipsburg: P. & R., 2009), shows how the theme of God’s presence with his people is expressed in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Burns draws particular attention to the transforming implications of God’s presence with us through the incarnation of his Son and the gift of his Holy Spirit.
5. Although Matt. 18:20 and 1 Cor. 5:3–5 specifically focus on meetings for disciplinary decisions, the promise of Christ’s presence can be applied to any assembly in his name. But Matt. 18:20 does not mean that any gathering of two or three believers constitutes a church. In Matt. 18:17 ‘the church’ is clearly a larger entity than the ‘two or three witnesses’ mentioned by Jesus.
6. I have modified the NIV translation of Rom. 12:1 and Heb. 12:28 to indicate that the Greek more literally means ‘serve’ or ‘service’. The next chapter will explain this and show how worship terminology from the Old Testament has been adapted in the New Testament to describe the work of Christ and the response we should make to it.
7. E. Underhill, Worship, 3rd ed. (London: Nisbet, 1937), p. 3.
8. J. E. Burkhart, Worship: A Searching Examination of the Liturgical Experience (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1982), p. 17.
9. G. Kendrick, Worship (Eastbourne: Kingsway, 1984); Learning to Worship as a Way of Life (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1985), p. 32, rightly condemns a narrowing of worship to praise: ‘as if the highest achievement of our whole pilgrimage on earth was to enter some kind of praise-induced ecstasy!’
10. The Hebrew verbal form hištaḥăwâ literally means ‘bend oneself over at the waist’. It is regularly translated by some form of proskynein in the Greek version of the Old Testament (the Septuagint). On these and related terms, see D. G. Peterson, Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Worship (Leicester: Apollos; Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1992), pp. 55–63.
11. The first term in such references describes the gesture (‘he bowed down’) and the second explains its significance (‘and worshipped’ or ‘paid homage’).
12. The Greek text of John 4:23 literally reads ‘in spirit and truth’. However, NIV (2011) has rightly interpreted this to mean ‘in the Spirit and in truth’. Jesus has just offered the woman at the well ‘living water’ (4:10), which will become ‘a spring of water welling up to eternal life’ (4:14). This clearly anticipates the offer of the Holy Spirit, which is expressed in similar terms in 7:37–39.
13. In Greek these were words based on the seb- stem or words in the phoboun group, generally translating Hebrew yārē’ and its cognates. See Peterson, Engaging with God, pp. 70–72.
14. The Hebrew verb ‘ābad, which literally means ‘serve’, is sometimes also translated ‘worship’. When it specifically refers to Israel’s service to God, it is often rendered by latreuein in the Greek version of the Old Testament. See Peterson, Engaging with God, pp. 64–70.
15. The service of priests and Levites is generally indicated by another Hebrew verb šārat and translated leitourgein in the Septuagint.
16. It is confusing that the NIV (2011) translates the same Greek verb differently in these two related contexts in Heb. 9:14 and 12:28.
17. See H. N. Ridderbos, Paul: An Outline of His Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975), p. 486; D. A. Carson, ‘Worship Under the Word’, in D. A. Carson (ed.), Worship by the Book (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), pp. 11–63.
18. I have written about the way the heavenly worship portrayed in the Revelation to John should impact our lives on earth in Engaging with God, pp. 261–282.
19. M. Volf, ‘Worship as Adoration and Action: Reflections on a Christian Way of Being-in-the World’, in D. A. Carson (ed.), Worship: Adoration and Action, World Evangelical Fellowship (Grand Rapids: Baker; Exeter: Paternoster, 1993), p. 207.
20. Volf, ‘Worship as Adoration and Action’, p. 207.
21. Ibid., p. 209.
22. Ibid.
23. Volf, ibid., p. 211, argues that the distinction between adoration and action ‘is not a distinction between activity and passivity, but a distinction between two forms of human activity’.
24. Carson, Worship by the Book, pp. 26–58, offers a larger definition of worship that seeks to reflect the perspectives of both biblical and systematic theology.
25. The Greek verb oikodomein, sometimes translated ‘edify’ or ‘strengthen’, was used literally for the building of houses, temples and other structures. It was also used figuratively, for the establishment of individuals, groups or nations in some situation or way of life.
26. ‘This rock’ refers back to Peter’s confession (Matt. 16:16), when he takes the lead in acknowledging Jesus as ‘the Christ, the Son of the living God’. See J. Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew: A Commentary on the Greek Text, NIGTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans; Bletchley: Paternoster, 2005), p. 669.
27. B. Gärtner, The Temple and the Community in Qumran and the New Testament (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1965), p. 114. See my comment on Matt. 18:20 in chapter 1, n. 4, and Nolland, Matthew, pp. 750–751.
28. So the image here is different from that in Eph. 2:20, where the apostles and prophets are the foundation and Christ Jesus is ‘the chief cornerstone’. Note also that the image of the Spirit-filled temple is applied to the local congregation in 1 Cor. 3:16–17, whereas in Eph. 2:21–22 it refers to the church that includes believers throughout time and space (cf. Eph. 1:22–23).
29. P. Vielhauer, Oikodomé: Aufsätze zum Neuen Testament, Theologische Büchere, Neues Testament, 35 vols. (Munich: Kaiser, 1979), vol. 2, p. 72 (my tr.). Cf. H. N. Ridderbos, ‘The Upbuilding of the Church’, in Paul: An Outline of His Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975), pp. 429–486.
30. P. T. O’Brien, The Letter to the Ephesians, PNTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans; Leicester: Apollos, 1999), p. 303. O’Brien discusses the structure and meaning of Eph. 4:12 on pp. 301–305.
31. M. Barth, Ephesians 4–6, AB 34A (New York: Doubleday, 1974), p. 440.
32. Barth, ibid., p. 444, observes that 4:14–15 calls for ‘the right confession and it urges the whole church and all its members to be a confessing church’. Eph. 4:19, with its emphasis on the right choice of language, suggests that everyday conversation amongst believers can also be the means of building one another up in Christ.
33. R. Y. K. Fung, ‘Some Pauline Pictures of the Church’, EvQ 53 (1981), pp. 95–96.
34. Love builds up when believers regard the weaknesses of others and see the need to strengthen them in their relationship with Christ. In practical terms this may involve some restriction of personal liberty.
35. J. A. Robinson, St. Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians (London: James Clarke, n.d.), pp. 102–103.
36. The ministry of encouragement, which is the responsibility of all Christians, involves moral appeal and consolation on the basis of gospel truths in the manner of the apostle’s own teaching.
37. I discuss the nature of congregational prophecy in ‘ “Enriched in Every Way”: Gifts and Ministries in 1 Corinthians’, in B. S. Rosner (ed.), The Wisdom of the Cross: Exploring 1 Corinthians (Nottingham: Apollos, 2011), pp. 134–163.
38. The word translated ‘strengthening’ comes from the same root as the verb ‘build (up), edify’, which is used in vv. 4–5, 12. It would be more consistent to translate v. 3 as ‘for their edification’.
39. R. P. Martin, The Spirit and the Congregation (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984), p. 70.
40. So W. Richardson, ‘Liturgical Order and Glossalalia in 1 Corinthians 14:26c–33a’, NTS 32 (1986), p. 147; E. Schweizer, Church Order in the New Testament, SBT 32 (London: SCM, 1961), p. 226.
41. For example, it is inappropriate to regard the four elements specified in Acts 2:42 as a primitive ‘service outline’, implying that their meetings regularly involved instruction, fellowship, then the Lord’s Supper and prayers. Acts 2:44–47 is an expansion on this initial summary and shows that their pattern of ministry did not conform to such a simple structure.
42. Greek leitourgia literally means ‘a work on behalf of the people’. Such terminology is used in the New Testament to describe the ministry that Christians can have to one another, moved and inspired by the unique work of Christ on their behalf (e.g. 2 Cor. 9:12; Phil. 2:17, 30). In time the word came to be used for the pattern of service or ‘liturgy’ followed in congregational ministry.
43. Justin, Apology 1.67 (B. Thompson, Liturgies of the Western Church [Cleveland: Collins World, 1962], p. 9).
44. A number of historic liturgies are examined and assessed theologically by Thompson, Liturgies of the Western Church.
45. L. Ruth, ‘A Rose by Any Other Name: Attempts at Classifying North American Protestant Worship’, in T. E. Johnson (ed.), The Conviction of Things Not Seen: Worship and Ministry in the 21st Century (Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2002), pp. 33–51, surveys a number of different ways of classifying services.
46. The Greek verb parakalein is used in both contexts and elsewhere in the New Testament. It can vary in meaning from ‘comfort’ and ‘encourage’ to ‘exhort’ and ‘warn’. The context must determine the meaning in each case.
47. Use of the definite article in the original of 1 Tim. 4:13 (‘the reading, the exhortation, the teaching’) suggests that these were three related public events, following the pattern of the Jewish synagogue (Acts 13:15; 2 Cor. 3:14). Justin, Apology 1.67, observed this pattern in the second century AD (see n. 2 above).
48. The expression translated ‘all God’s people’ is literally ‘the man of God’. This probably refers to Timothy as a leader of God’s people. However, it is certainly true that all God’s people, as well as their leaders, need to be equipped to serve him better by being trained in the Scriptures.
49. This is an adaptation of the structure argued by C. M. Cherry, The Worship Architect: A Blueprint for Designing Culturally Relevant and Biblically Faithful Services (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2010).
50. B. Chapell, Christ-Centered Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2009), p. 69.
51. However, see n. 4 above for a more complex assessment of the situation by L. Ruth, ‘Rose by Any Other Name’, pp. 33–51.
52. Chapell, Christ-Centered Worship, offers a more incisive criticism of the ‘Praise Worship’ tradition than the ‘Contemporary Classical’ trend. Some contemporary liturgical renewal has encouraged a more Catholic theology, especially concerning the Lord’s Supper.
53. Ibid., p. 99. Chapell argues that the same sequence can be observed in the experience of the prophet in Isa. 6 and in the corporate pattern of worship highlighted in Deut. 5 and 2 Chr. 5 – 7. He rightly notes that we cannot ‘press the details too tightly into our own liturgical pattern’ (p. 106), but gives the impression that there is an Old Testament precedent for the sequence he has previously outlined. He goes on to draw New Testament parallels.
54. Ibid., p. 120.
55. See D. G. Peterson, ‘Prophetic Preaching in the Book of Acts’, in P. A. Barker, R. J. Condie and A. S. Malone (eds.), Serving God’s Words: Windows on Preaching and Ministry (Nottingham: Inter-Varsity Press, 2011), pp. 53–74 (esp. pp. 73–74).
56. Although Acts 4:24–31 records that many ‘raised their voices together in prayer to God’, it seems clear from what follows that one person led them in praise and petition. The prayer life of the earliest Christians is mentioned elsewhere in Acts: 1:14; 2:42, 46–47; 12:5; 13:2–3.
57. B. Kauflin, Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God (Wheaton: Crossway, 2008), pp. 21–26, 57–60, helpfully outlines how to be a faithful ‘worship leader’. However, despite his argument on pp. 53–55, I think this term is best applied to congregational leaders, not to song leaders or musical directors.
58. J. R. W. Stott, I Believe in Preaching (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1982); Between Two Worlds: The Art of Preaching in the Twentieth Century (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982), p. 52.
59. Ibid., p. 70.
60. Ibid., p. 82.
61. Ibid., p. 83. See R. A. Mohler, He Is Not Silent: Preaching in a Postmodern World (Chicago: Moody, 2008).
62. See D. G. Peterson, The Acts of the Apostles, PNTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans; Nottingham: Apollos, 2009), pp. 32–36, 70–71.
63. See ibid., pp. 493–503.
64. P. T. O’Brien, The Letter to the Ephesians, PNTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans; Leicester: Apollos, 1999), p. 300, argues that the terms ‘pastor ’and ‘teacher’ describe overlapping functions, but distinct ministries: ‘all pastors teach (since teaching is an essential part of pastoral ministry), but not all teachers are also pastors’.
65. G. Goldsworthy, Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture: The Application of Biblical Theology to Expository Preaching (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 2000), is a helpful guide in this connection. But a study of the sermons in Acts would also be a good starting point.
66. Stott, Preaching, p. 138.
67. H. W. Robinson, Biblical Preaching: The Development and Delivery of Expository Messages, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1993), p. 21.
68. Many insights about biblical preaching can be found in H. W. Robinson and C. B. Larson (eds.), The Art and Craft of Biblical Preaching: A Comprehensive Resource for Today’s Communicators (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), and P. A. Barker, R. J. Condie and S. Malone, Serving God’s Words: Windows on Preaching and Ministry (Nottingham: Inter-Varsity Press, 2011).
69. Robinson, Biblical Preaching, pp. 33–46, writes about the need for a sermon to convey one major idea, which is the theme of the portion of Scripture on which it is based.
70. J. Arthurs, Preaching with Variety: How to Recreate the Dynamics of Biblical Genres (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2007), suggests different ways of preaching on the different types of literature found in the Bible.
71. Luke’s Gospel particularly shows Jesus at prayer in a range of circumstances (3:21; 4:42; 6:12; 9:18; 10:21; 11:1; 22:39–44; 23:46).
72. Addressing God with the Aramaic Abba was an indication of Jesus’ unique relationship with the Father. When we receive the Spirit who brings about our adoption to sonship, we are invited to address God with similar intimacy. Men and women together share in this new status and privilege (see Gal. 3:28).
73. The praise conclusion to the Lord’s Prayer appears only in some later manuscripts of Matthew’s Gospel. It is recorded in a footnote in most translations. However, this doxology reflects the sentiments expressed in the first few lines of the Lord’s Prayer and has been viewed by Christians as a fitting conclusion to the prayer from the earliest centuries.
74. D. A. Carson, A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1992), p. 35, argues from the example of Jesus in John 11:41–42 that there is ‘ample reason to reflect on just what my prayer, rightly directed to God, is saying to the people who hear me’.
75. R. P. Martin, The Worship of God: Some Theological, Pastoral, and Practical Reflections (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982), p. 31. His evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of set prayers and free praying is on pp. 38–41.
76. E. P. Clowney, ‘A Biblical Theology of Prayer’, in D. A. Carson (ed.), Teach Us to Pray: Prayer in the Bible and the World, World Evangelical Fellowship (Grand Rapids: Baker; Exeter: Paternoster, 1990), pp. 136–173, provides an excellent reflection on the character and significance of prayer throughout the Bible.
77. J. D. Witvliet, The Biblical Psalms in Christian Worship: A Brief Introduction and Guide to Resources (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007), p. 11. Witvliet, pp. 16–35, outlines seven lessons the Psalms teach us about prayer.
78. See H. O. Old, Leading in Prayer: A Workbook for Ministers (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995); Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, The Worship Source Book (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2004); P. Law, Praying with the Bible (London: SPCK, 2007).
79. Carson, Call to Spiritual Reformation, p. 40, argues that ‘thanksgiving is a fundamental component of the mental framework that largely controls Paul’s intercession’. Paul looks for things in the lives of other Christians for which he can give thanks to God and makes such thanksgiving the basis for prayer.
80. Carson, ibid., p. 101, notes that there is really only one petition in Col. 1:9–14 (that God might ‘fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives’), followed by ‘a statement of its purpose and a description of the way God’s answer to the petition works out in daily life’.
81. These observations are derived from the reflections of G. Goldsworthy, Prayer and the Knowledge of God (Leicester: IVP, 2003), pp. 66–67, 83.
82. The Hebrew verb is hālal. Since Jah is an abbreviated form of the special name of God given to Israel (Exod. 3:14; 6:2–3), hallelujah is an encouragement to praise the name or character of God.
83. This verb is zāmar. A related noun (mizmôr) is found in the headings of fifty-seven psalms, indicating that they were to be sung to musical accompaniment. We derive the English term ‘psalm’ from the Greek psalmos, which was used to translate this Hebrew noun.
84. The verb translated ‘acknowledge, give thanks, praise, confess’ is yādâ.
85. The verb ‘bless’ is bārak, sometimes translated ‘praise’, as in Pss 103:1–2, 20–22; 104:1, 35 (NIV).
86. The verb ‘exalt’ is rômēm, and the verb translated ‘glorify’ or ‘honour’ is kābēd.
87. L. C. Allen, ‘hll II’, in NIDOTTE, vol. 1, p. 1036, observes that even inanimate objects can praise God, as they ‘fulfil the function assigned to them by the Creator and so witness to his self-revelation through them’ (Ps. 19:1–6; Isa. 6:3).
88. See B. K. Waltke and J. M. Houston, The Psalms as Christian Worship: A Historical Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010); J. D. Witvliet, The Biblical Psalms in Christian Worship: A Brief Introduction and Guide to Resources (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007), pp. 16–35.
89. Scholars debate whether there are fragments of early Christian hymns incorporated in passages such as Phil. 2:6–11; Col. 1:15–20; 1 Tim. 3:16. See R. P. Martin, ‘Hymns, Hymn Fragments, Songs, Spiritual Songs’, in G. F. Hawthorne, R. P. Martin and D. G. Reid (eds.), Dictionary of Paul and His Letters (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press; Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1993), pp. 419–423.
90. All forms of declarative praise are called bĕrākâ (the Hebrew for ‘blessing’). See n. 4 above on blessing God and P. T. O’Brien, The Letter to the Ephesians, PNTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans; Leicester: Apollos, 1999), pp. 89–90.
91. M. Volf, ‘Worship as Adoration and Action: Reflections on a Christian Way of Being-in-the World’, in D. A. Carson (ed.), Worship: Adoration and Action, World Evangelical Fellowship (Grand Rapids: Baker; Exeter: Paternoster, 1993), p. 210 (original emphasis).
92. Ibid.
93. I have discussed this more fully in Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Worship (Leicester: Apollos; Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1992), pp. 261–270.
94. J. D. Witvliet, ‘Beyond Style: Rethinking the Role of Music in Worship’, in T. E. Johnson (ed.), The Conviction of Things Not Seen: Worship and Ministry in the 21st Century (Grand Rapids: Brazo, 2002), p. 68. Witvliet goes on to discuss six questions that congregations should address when seeking to answer these questions.
95. B. Kauflin, Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God (Wheaton: Crossway, 2008), pp. 33–41, offers helpful comments on the development of musical skills and considers why this is important for church musicians.
96. Witvliet, ‘Beyond Style’, pp. 71–73, observes that ‘music has great significance in the divine–human encounter of worship’, but rightly argues against the view that music or singing can generate an experience of God.
97. I. H. Marshall, ‘How Far Did the Early Christians Worship God?’, Chm 99 (1985), p. 227 (my emphasis).
98. ‘The message of Christ’ is literally ‘the word about Christ’ (ho logos tou Christou), ‘the true message of the gospel’ that has come to the Colossians and is bearing fruit among them (1:5–6). See P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon, WBC 44 (Waco: Word, 1982), pp. 206–207.
99. Ibid., p. 208. See Col. 4:5.
100. P. T. O’Brien, The Letter to the Ephesians, PNTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans; Leicester: Apollos, 1999), p. 388. He notes that the present imperative in the Greek text (plērousthe, ‘be filled’) suggests that the Spirit’s infilling of Christians is to be continual. In view of Eph. 1:23, 3:19, 4:10–13, the Spirit mediates to believers ‘the fullness of God and Christ’.
101. Ibid., p. 393. Singing together is a way of edifying the church, making melody to the Lord and of being filled with the Spirit.
102. Most English versions translate the expression ōdais pneumatikais literally as ‘spiritual songs’, but the NIV (2011) has ‘songs from the Spirit’. This is justifiable in view of Paul’s focus on the Spirit’s role in this ministry (Eph. 5:19) and the parallel focus on the word’s ruling through Spirit-directed wisdom (Col. 1:9–12; 3:16).
103. O’ Brien, Ephesians, p. 396.
104. G. D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, NICNT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987), p. 671. Fee envisages the possibility that ‘spontaneous hymns of praise were offered to God in the congregation, although some may have been known beforehand’. However, he rightly insists that Paul opposes unintelligible singing and praying in the setting of corporate worship.
105. E. Lohse, Colossians and Philemon (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1971), p. 151. See O’Brien, Ephesians, pp. 395–396; K. H. Bartels, ‘Song, Hymn, Psalm’, NIDNTT, vol. 3, pp. 668–676.
106. See chapter 7, n. 8, regarding possible fragments of early Christian hymns in various New Testament passages. Most obviously, the songs in Luke 1 – 2 and the Revelation to John focus on Christ and the fulfilment of God’s purpose through him.
107. Pliny, who was the Roman governor of Bythynia, wrote this to the emperor Trajan in Rome. See J. Stevensen (ed.), A New Eusebius: Documents Illustrative of the History of the Church to AD 337 (London: SPCK. 1963), p. 14.
108. A. C. Lovelace and W. C. Rice, Music and Worship in the Church, rev. ed. (Nashville: Abingdon, 1976), p. 203.
109. M. Evans, Open up the Doors: Music in the Modern Church (London: Equinox, 2006), provides help in evaluating contemporary Christian music forms.
110. A history of Christian music can be found in A. Wilson-Dickson, The Story of Christian Music: From Gregorian Chant to Black Gospel, an Authoritative Illustrated Guide to All the Major Traditions of Music for Worship (Oxford: Lion, 1992).
111. Kauflin, Worship Matters, pp. 213–248, addresses many aspects of musical leadership in churches.
112. Kauflin, ibid., pp. 249–259, offers some helpful thoughts for pastors with regard to the music ministry in their churches.
113. See R. Smith, ‘Music, Singing and the Emotions: Exploring the Connections’, in M. P. Jensen (ed.), True Feelings: Perspectives on Emotions in Christian Life and Ministry (Nottingham: IVP, 2012), pp. 254–277.
114. Kauflin, Worship Matters, p. 30.
115. Lovelace and Rice, Music and Worship, p. 16.
116. Kauflin, Worship Matters, p. 99 (original emphasis). See D. G. Peterson, ‘Together, with Feeling: Corporate Worship and the Emotions’, in Jensen, True Feelings, pp. 235–253.
117. See J. H. Armstrong and P. E. Engle (eds.), Understanding Four Views on Baptism (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009).
118. Some date the practice of Jewish proselyte baptism to the first or second centuries BC, but S. McKnight, A Light Among the Gentiles (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1991), argues that the practice began at the same time as the Christian rite.
119. See The Manual of Discipline, 1QS 3:4–9; 6:14–23. The Qumran community and John the Baptist drew upon Old Testament teaching relating repentance to the need for cleansing by God (e.g. Ps. 51:7; Isa. 1:15–16; 4:4; Ezek. 36:25; Zech. 13:1).
120. J. D. G. Dunn, Baptism in the Holy Spirit (London: SCM, 1970), p. 11. John’s prediction relates to the overall effect of the Messiah’s coming on Israel.
121. The expression translated ‘for the forgiveness of sins’ (Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3; eis aphesin hamartiōn) could be understood to mean that John’s baptism was ‘with a view to’ receiving the definitive forgiveness the Messiah would bring (cf. Mark 2:10; Matt. 26:28).
122. The covenantal implications of Christian baptism are also signalled in Acts 2:39 with reference to the promise of 2:38, which is said to be ‘for you and your children’ (cf. Gen. 13:15; 17:7–9; Acts 13:32–33) and ‘for all who are far off’ (cf. Isa. 57:19). See also Gal. 3:28–29, after Paul identifies ‘the blessing given to Abraham’ that comes to the Gentiles through Jesus as ‘the promise of the Spirit’ (Gal. 3:14).
123. R. N. Longenecker, ‘The Acts of the Apostles’, in F. E. Gaebelein (ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1981), vol. 9, p. 285, suggests that Peter’s declaration in Acts 2:38–39 should be understood as being ‘theologically normative for the relation in Acts between conversion, water baptism and the baptism of the Holy Spirit’, whereas later incidents are more historically conditioned and should be ‘circumstantially understood’.
124. G. R. Beasley-Murray, ‘Baptism, Wash’, NIDNTT, vol. 1, p. 148, describes baptism as a divine–human event, in which the benefits of Christ and his saving grace are communicated to those who believe. But he acknowledges that baptism and conversion do not always coincide.
125. D. J. Moo, The Epistle to the Romans, NICNT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996), p. 355. Moo denies that baptism is a symbol of dying and rising with Christ and insists that ‘dying and rising with Christ refers to the participation of the believer in the redemptive events themselves’.
126. Ibid. Moo, ibid., pp. 359–367, expands and develops the argument summarized on p. 355.
127. See G. D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, NICNT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987), pp. 604–606.
128. W. D. Mounce, Pastoral Epistles, WBC 46 (Nashville: Nelson, 2000), p. 448. Mounce does not believe that Titus 3:5 refers to water baptism at all.
129. The Greek term anōthen is translated ‘again’ by NIV (2011), but could also mean ‘from above’. Nicodemus understands Jesus to mean that he must re-enter his mother’s womb, but Jesus explains that he needs to be born ‘from above’ by the operation of the Holy Spirit.
130. See A. J. Köstenberger, John, BECNT (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004), pp. 123–124.
131. The Greek noun eperōtēma (1 Pet. 3:21), which is translated ‘pledge’ by the NIV (2011), can also be rendered ‘appeal’ (ESV). J. Ramsay Michaels, 1 Peter, WBC 49 (Waco: Word, 1988), pp. 216–217, argues that baptism is portrayed by Peter as an appeal to God ‘out of a good conscience’, understanding a ‘good conscience’ as ‘the product of the Spirit’s purifying work in a person’s heart on the basis of “obedience” to the Christian gospel’ (1 Pet. 1:2).
132. Against Heresies 2.22.4. See J. Jeremias, Infant Baptism in the First Four Centuries (London: SCM, 1960); K. Aland, Did the Early Church Baptize Infants? (London: SCM, 1963); J. Jeremias, The Origins of Infant Baptism (London: SCM, 1963).
133. See R. T. Beckwith, ‘Infant Baptism: Its Background and Theology’, NIDNTT, vol. 1, pp. 154–161; and D. Bridge, The Water that Divides: The Baptism Debate (Leicester: IVP, 1977; Fearn: Mentor, 1988).
134. Justin, Apology 1.61 (J. Stephenson [ed.], A New Eusebius: Documents Illustrative of the History of the Church to A.D. 337 [London: SPCK, 1963], p. 65). Justin clearly understands John 3:5–8 to refer to water baptism.
135. There is no certain reference to baptism by immersion earlier than Tertullian (about AD 200). Didache 8.1–3, which probably dates from early in the second century, indicates that affusion was a permissible method where water was unavailable in quantity. See Stephenson, New Eusebius, p. 126.
136. The Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus 15–21. See G. Dix, The Treatise on the Apostolic Tradition of St. Hippolytus of Rome, Bishop and Martyr (London: Alban, 1992).
137. Further anointing with oil followed and the bishop laid his hand upon them and prayed for them. Those who were baptized were then invited to pray with the whole church for the first time and to share in the Lord’s Supper. Justin, Apology 1.65, also records that the newly baptized were immediately invited to share in the Lord’s Supper with the whole church.
138. The early Christian practice of baptizing three times in response to the confession of God as Trinity is no more valid than a single washing with water. This is an area where custom may vary without hindering our unity in the act of baptism itself. As already noted, calling upon Jesus as Lord for forgiveness and the Holy Spirit in baptism is another way of expressing baptism in the name of the Trinity.
139. See D. G. Peterson, The Acts of the Apostles, PNTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans; Nottingham: Apollos, 2009), p. 161. In the second century AD ‘the breaking of bread’ was used with reference to the Lord’s Supper or ‘the Eucharist’ when it was separated from an actual meal (Didache 14.1; Ignatius, Ephesians 20.2).
140. See J. H. Armstrong and P. E. Engle (eds.), Understanding Four Views on the Lord’s Supper (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007).
141. I. H. Marshall, Last Supper and Lord’s Supper (Paternoster: Exeter, 1980), pp. 57–75, reviews the arguments for and against the conclusion that the meal was a Passover celebration, and concludes that ‘Jesus held a Passover meal earlier than the official Jewish date, and that he was able to do so as the result of calendar differences among the Jews’ (p. 75).
142. See J. Jeremias, The Eucharistic Words of Jesus (London: SCM, 1966), pp. 225–226, 252–262; Marshall, Last Supper and Lord’s Supper, pp. 18–29.
143. We cannot be certain that Jesus identified himself with the Passover lamb at the Last Supper, but that link was soon made by early Christian writers (e.g. 1 Cor. 5:7–8; 1 Pet. 1:18–19).
144. J. Jeremias, ‘This Is My Body...’, ExpTim 83 (1972), p. 203.
145. Marshall, Last Supper and Lord’s Supper, p. 87.
146. The attempt to trace Jesus’ exact words and to determine which Gospel form is most primitive is discussed by Jeremias, Eucharistic Words, pp. 96–203, and Marshall, Last Supper and Lord’s Supper, pp. 30–56. Matthew and Mark may have omitted the command to ‘do this in remembrance of me’ because it did not suit their historical narrative or because the Lord’s Supper had already become an established custom in the churches addressed. The original position of the command is probably as in Luke 22:19, and it was ‘repeated in Paul’s formula for the sake of the parallelism’ (I. H. Marshall, The Gospel of Luke, NIGTC [Paternoster: Exeter, 1978], p. 804).
147. E.g. Jeremias, Eucharistic Words, p. 255, argues that the meal presents ‘the initiated salvation work before God’ and disciples ‘pray for its consummation’. See the helpful discussion by A. C. Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, NIGTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans; Carlisle: Paternoster, 2000), pp. 878–882.
148. Jeremias, ‘This Is My Body’, pp. 196–197; Eucharistic Words, pp. 232–236. Following the Passover pattern, the expectation might have been that heads of houses or leaders of groups might say the prayers and recite the words about the bread and the wine.
149. E.g. C. K. Barrett, The Gospel According to St. John (London: SPCK, 1967), p. 247, argues that the words ‘and drink his blood’ unmistakably point to ‘the eucharist’. Cf. Jeremias, Eucharistic Words, pp. 107–108.
150. J. D. G. Dunn, ‘John VI – A Eucharistic Discourse?’, NTS 17 (1970–71), p. 335.
151. Jeremias, Eucharistic Words, pp. 86–88. Thiselton, First Epistle to the Corinthians, pp. 756–761, 871–874, gives evidence for the more general use of the expression ‘the cup of blessing’ with reference to the final cup at other Jewish meals, but argues that the Passover allusion in 1 Cor. 10 – 11 is clear.
152. C. K. Barrett, A Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians, BNTC, 2nd ed. (London: Black, 1971), p. 233. It is possible that Paul intended a reference both to the crucified body of Christ and the body of his people, without confusing those entities. See Thiselton, First Epistle to the Corinthians, pp. 764–766.
153. G. D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, NICNT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987), p. 468. Thiselton, First Epistle to the Corinthians, p. 763, notes that Christ’s death was being presented by Paul as ‘the pattern for life and lifestyle’ as well as ‘the source of redemption’.
154. B. W. Winter, ‘The Lord’s Supper at Corinth: An Alternative Reconstruction’, RTR 37 (1978), pp. 73–82, argues that the division was not so much between rich and poor as between ‘the secure’ (those guaranteed security, and thus food, by reason of membership of a household) and ‘the insecure’ (those who had no protection from a patron) in the social structure of Roman Corinth. Thiselton, First Epistle to the Corinthians, pp. 860–864, points to other physical and cultural factors that may have contributed to the divisions at the meal.
155. Fee, First Epistle to the Corinthians, pp. 539–540. The holding of a meal in honour of a god was common in the Greco-Roman world (see J. Behm, ‘deipnon, deipneō’, TDNT, vol. 2, pp. 34–55).
156. Fee, First Epistle to the Corinthians, p. 557. Fee, pp. 562–564, has a helpful discussion of what Paul means by ‘not discerning the body of Christ’.
157. See Thiselton, First Epistle to the Corinthians, pp. 890–894.
158. Justin, Apology 1.65, gives details of a ‘eucharist’ following a baptism, and 1.67 gives details of a regular Sunday gathering (B. Thompson, Liturgies of the Western Church [Cleveland: Collins World, 1962], pp. 3–10).
159. Justin, Apology 1.65–67, makes it clear that ‘no one is allowed to partake except he is convinced of the truth of our teaching and has received the washing for the forgiveness of his sins and for his regeneration, and so lives as Christ has taught us’ (Thompson, Liturgies of the Western Church, p. 8).
160. I have modified the translation by Thompson, Liturgies of the Western Church, p. 8, by replacing ‘eucharistized’ with ‘over which thanks has been offered’. Justin, Apology 1.66, believes that Jesus’ words ‘This is my body’ and ‘This is my blood’ give the bread and wine a sacramental identity as ‘the flesh and blood of that incarnate Jesus’.
161. Thompson, Liturgies of the Western Church, pp. 13–24. Hippolytus indicates that the bishop was not bound to pray according to the text of the eucharistic prayer, but greater regularity was soon established in this regard.
162. Hippolytus, Apostolic Tradition 4. Thompson, Liturgies of the Western Church, p. 17, points out that the Greek word anamnēsis, which is normally translated ‘remembrance’, is here understood to mean ‘re-calling’ or ‘representation’. However, as noted above, the Passover context of the Last Supper suggests that Jesus was inaugurating a memorial meal for the benefit of his disciples, not as a memorial offering to God.
163. See Thompson, Liturgies of the Western Church, pp. 27–91.
164. Thompson, ibid., pp. 95–434, records a range of Protestant liturgies and discusses the various ways in which they sought to give expression to New Testament teaching and differed from one another in doctrinal emphasis.