Theological Term of the Week

 

One more “im” word.

 

immersion

Baptism done by putting a person under water and then bringing them up again.

• From the Bible:

  Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:3-4 ESV)

• From the 1963 Baptist Faith and Message, Section VII:

  Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believers faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believers death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead.

Learn more:

1. John Piper: What is Baptism, and How Important Is It?
   
2. Charles Spurgeon: Baptism—A Burial
   

Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

THE HOLDFAST.

I THREATNED to observe the strict decree
        Of my deare God with all my power and might :
        But I was told by one, it could not be ;
Yet I might trust in God to be my light.

Then will I trust, said I, in him alone.
        Nay, ev’n to trust in him, was also his :
        We must confesse, that nothing is our own.
Then I confesse that he my succour is :

But to have nought is ours, not to confesse
        That we have nought. I stood amaz’d at this,
        Much troubled, till I heard a friend expresse,
That all things were more ours by being his.
        What Adam had, and forfeited for all,
        Christ keepeth now, who cannot fail or fall.

—George Herbert

Sunday's Hymn

We did sing out of the hymn book this morning, but one of them was To God Be the Glory, a hymn I posted as the Sunday hymn only a little while ago, and the rest were more obscure ones with words I can’t find on the internet. So it’ll be another of my favorites today.

I like this one, but I like it especially because it was a favorite of both my mother and my husband.

I Know Whom I Have Believed

I know not why God’s wondrous grace
To me He hath made known,
Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love
Redeemed me for His own.

Refrain

But I know Whom I have believèd,
And am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I’ve committed
Unto Him against that day.

I know not how this saving faith
To me He did impart,
Nor how believing in His Word
Wrought peace within my heart.

I know not how the Spirit moves,
Convincing us of sin,
Revealing Jesus through the Word,
Creating faith in Him.

I know not what of good or ill
May be reserved for me,
Of weary ways or golden days,
Before His face I see.

I know not when my Lord may come,
At night or noonday fair,
Nor if I walk the vale with Him,
Or meet Him in the air.

—Daniel Whittle

How about a viola, violin and piano performance of this hymn from the Bloomington Korean Baptist Church? You’ll like it, I promise.

Other hymns, worship songs, sermons etc. posted today:

• The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity at Magic Statistics
• O The Deep, Deep Love of Jesus at Hiraeth
• Jesus, What a Friend for Sinners at Field Stone Cottage
• Lord’s Day 34, 2008 at The Thirsty Theologian
• Grace, ‘tis a Charming Sound at joythruChrist
• Jesus Christ, to Whom the Number at Conjubilant with Song
• Savior, Again to Thy Dear Name We Raise  at Whatever Things…
• God Holds the Future in His Hands at The Happy Wonderer
• Your Weekly Dose of Spurgeon: Why Error Is Now Thriving in the Church at Pyromaniacs
• Love Divine, All Loves Excelling at Practicing Theology

Have you posted a hymn today and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by emailing me at the address in the sidebar and I’ll add your post to the list.