Being Raised with Him in Newness of Life

This is an extract from The Reformed Baptism Form: A Commentary (Jenison, MI: Reformed Free Publishing Association, 2016), by Reformed minister and theologian Bastiaan Wielenga (1873-1949). He was a fruit of the Afscheiding (Secession) of 1834 in the Netherlands, led by men such as Hendrik de Cock (1801–1842) and Simon van Velzen (1809-1896). His instructor and mentor was Herman Bavinck (1854–1921), whom Wielenga held in high esteem.

The section below is part of a commentary of the prayer found in the Reformed "Form for the Administration of Baptism," which says what follows.

O Almighty and eternal God, Thou who hast according to Thy severe judgment punished the unbelieving and unrepentant world with the flood, and hast according to Thy great mercy saved and protected believing Noah and his family; Thou who hast drowned the obstinate Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea, and hast led Thy people Israel through the midst of the Sea upon dry ground, by which baptism was signified—we beseech Thee that Thou wilt be pleased, of Thine infinite mercy, graciously to look upon these children and incorporate them by Thy Holy Spirit into Thy Son Jesus Christ, that they may be buried with Him into His death, and be raised with Him in newness of life; that they may daily follow Him, joyfully bearing their cross, and cleave unto Him in true faith, firm hope, and ardent love; that they may, with a comfortable sense of Thy favor, leave this life, which is nothing but a continual death, and at the last day may appear without terror before the judgment seat of Christ Thy Son, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one only God, lives and reigns forever. Amen.

More specifically, what follows is part of Wielenga's commentary to the part in bold.

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Bastiaan Wielenga (1873-1949).
Source: https://bit.ly/3asMWhM

Note, this is the symbol of what grace does. It pulls the old down, so that the new may rise. Just as Christ’s death and burial did not have the purpose in themselves but were the way, the means to his glorious resurrection, so are the death and burial of the old man the way of preparation, the trailblazer to the resurrection of the new life.

What is this new life? In every respect it is the contrast to the old life. Everything that the old man, who goes down into the grave and is left behind, is in a negative sense, the new man, who gloriously arises from the grave, is in a positive sense. 

He no longer serves sin (Rom. 6:6). He is justified and freed from sin (v. 7). Death has no longer dominion over him (v. 9). Sin no longer reigns in his mortal body in order to obey it in the lusts of the same body (v. 12). He no longer yields his members as instruments of unrighteousness (v. 13). He has put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts (Eph. 4:22). 

All this is the negative result. But that, as the reverse, brings with it a positive power and beauty and the blessedness of the new life. 

Listen to what the apostle says of the new life that by baptism is sealed and signified to God’s child. He who by baptism partakes of the resurrection of Christ may believe that he shall also live with him, that is, here the spiritual and thereafter eternal life (Rom. 6:8). For in that he lives, he lives for God (v. 10). He yields himself unto God (that is, he is subservient to God) as those who are alive from the dead and yields his members as instruments of righteousness to God (v. 13). He has obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine that was delivered to him (v. 17). He has become a servant of righteousness (v. 18). He has his fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life (v. 22). 

To summarize all of this: Christ has given himself for his people so that he may sanctify and cleanse them with the washing of water by the word, so that he might present them to himself a glorious body, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish (Eph. 5:26–27). 

Thus new is not used here in the form in the way of, for example, the expression “a new year,” where it means nothing but something that follows on, that has just begun; or also as the expression “a new book,” which indicates that it has not been used. No, when God is asked in this prayer for the resurrection of a new life, this means a completely different and changed life, a life totally and radically different from the former one. 

This kind of life comprises not just a part of man, but the whole of man: a new mind and a new heart; a new will and a new imagination; new emotions and a new consciousness. Everything must become new, in him and to him. Also the new body that will one day be raised from the grave as a perfect instrument of the renewed soul is the result of being baptized into the resurrection of Christ. 

If perhaps the question arises among us, why all this is asked separately for this child when it is already included in the incorporation into Christ, the answer is that life, also the new life, is not only God’s gift to man, but also a calling, a task of man. The Reformed declare themselves dead set against all fatalism, whether this is forced upon them from Islam or from a modern form of the philosophy of Spinoza. The Christian is not forced to live but actively lives life, when God ignites the spark of the new life in his soul. He walks, as Paul says in Romans 6, in newness of life. 

What would otherwise be the sense of the admonitions that he adds to the picture of that glorious renewed life? Why in verse 13 this: “Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.” 

Life is not letting oneself be swept along by the tide, simply awaiting those things that will happen. It is a battle, a pushing forward; a striving for development that comes to an end; and running the race that must find its end. It is not without reason that our marginal annotators at Romans 6:4 point to Hebrews 12:1, where we read, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” 

Thus this prayer has its origin in the truth that the new life of God’s child is in itself perfect and spotlessly holy, but it needs to develop into full maturity. He must strongly resist the sin that is rampant and attacks man from within and without. The prayer to enable the Christian for life’s entire task and the whole of his calling is thus encapsulated in this petition, [So that it be] raised with him in newness of life. 

The congregation prays for the child that he later will live this new life, internally in the hidden relationship with God, but also externally in all walks of life in which God may give him a place—in the family; in the church; in his place of work; in society and in the country. It is the prayer that grace, sealed and promised by baptism, may spread its sphere of influence over all that the child is, thinks, wills, speaks, and does. Thus how meaningful is this prayer and how rich in content. 

But in order that this new man not regard himself for a moment capable to do all these things in his own power, the congregation adds the conclusive and most significant few words: with him! To be raised with Christ in newness of life is the prayer. Not only now, but always. Never without Christ. Always sharing in his resurrection. 

Outside the vine the shoot has no sap and does not bear fruit. Without a connection from moment to moment with the great power source, the platinum filament of the electric lamp refuses to glow. Without the root the plant is doomed to die. 

Only when we have become one plant with him in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection (Rom. 6:5). Christ can say of himself, “For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself” (John 5:26). But the glory of the Christian is, “Nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Gal. 2:20). 

...

One does not easily exhaust the thoughts of the prayer that the child be raised with him in newness of life. The resurrection of the new man is a process as of a budding flower that under the fertile dew unfolds its beauty by an ever-increasing glorious life. It is a process that begins in regeneration, and through the various steps of the life of faith and sanctification it reaches its climax in the last day in the glorification of soul and body. To partake of the resurrection of Christ is to possess, partly due to right and partly in reality, all the gifts and treasures of grace, power, beauty, and purity that are present in the treasury of the opened grave of Jesus.

Therefore, I can do nothing but recommend this prayer so that it may be an edifying meditation for the congregation. Hence I only point out that I hear the echo of the promise of the Son in this phrase and presented in the doctrine of baptism, in which the Son promises, indeed seals, that he incorporates us into his death and his resurrection. 

We also find unmistakably here a hint of what is said in the third part of the doctrine of baptism: we have become duty bound to a new obedience that exists in clinging to God, forsaking the world, mortifying our old natures, and walking in a (some editions say new) godly life. 

In this way we see this exemplary fact that the prayer refers back to the promise and to the admonition of the Lord. It is much, inconceivably much, for which the congregation implores the God of the covenant for this child. Yet it is no more than what the same God first promised and later will seal by the water of baptism. 

How gloriously the light shines now over this remarkable admonition in the second part of the covenant, in which God claims the whole of man. Our merciful Father, knowing our frame, does not demand anything from us without promising to effectuate his power in our weakness, and then he allows us to plead this promise. So it is also true in baptism that the congregation may transpose the commandment into a prayer. Here also we find: “Incline my heart, Lord I pray, and grant the power to obey. Then in thy truth I shall walk, fearing and blessing thy holy name.” 

How edifying this is for the wavering Christian, this profoundly encouraging thought that with God’s all-embracing command to walk in a godly life, he stands between the promise and the prayer. By the promise on one side and the prayer on the other, the limping, doddering walker may know he is supported on the steep, difficult path of obedience. Thus this deeply humbling consciousness of being incapable of all good in and of himself does him no harm nor makes him lame, for he knows that here also the Pauline word is true, “For when I am weak, then am I strong” [2 Cor. 12:10], and I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me [Phil. 4:13].

 ~ Bastiaan Wielenga, The Reformed Baptism Form: A Commentary (Jenison, MI: Reformed Free Publishing Association, 2016), 238-243. Shared with permission. The book was translated from the Dutch by a dear sister, Annemie Godbehere, now with the Lord.

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T. J. Crawford (1812–1875) on Divine and Human Agency

A photo of
T. J. Crawford (1812–1875).

The Mysteries of Christianity is a book by Scottish Presbyterian minister, theologian, and professor Thomas Jackson Crawford (1812–1875). The book can be found online in open access or purchased in hard copy. The book is a collection of twelve lectures (plus nine short appendices) where the author's "aim has been, not to attempt a solution of the mysteries connected with some of the great doctrines of revelation, but to show that the mysteriousness of these doctrines, however inexplicable, is no sufficient reason either for excluding them from the place they occupy among the articles of the Christian faith, or for discrediting the Christian system as containing them" (vi; the page references here reported are from the Google online version). 

In Lecture 9, Crawford discusses "the converting and sanctifying agency of the Holy Spirit" (252). In it, the author's goal is to clarify some misconceptions about and help to understand some difficulties regarding the relationship between the sovereign and irresistible saving agency of God and the agency of the rational, moral creature that is man. Crawford does not only opposes those who "attempt to solve the difficulty by limiting the divine agency" (273), but he also refutes those who "attempt to solve the difficulty by subverting man's activity" (279). It is to the latter group that the following quotations from Crawford's The Mysteries of Christianity are directed.

    «In so far as the human activity consists in a diligent use of what are called “the means of grace”—as, for example, in giving earnest heed to the Word of God and the preaching of the Gospel—the union of such activity on the part of man with the efficacious agency of the Holy Spirit may to some extent admit of explanation. Thus much at least we may readily understand, that unless the Spirit of God were to inspire sinners with the knowledge of divine truth at the same time that He regenerates them, the instructions conveyed by the reading and preaching of the Word of God can in no way be superseded. For, grant that our faculties and dispositions were renewed by Him, what are we to do with them when once they are renewed, unless we have suitable objects presented to us, on which in their rectified state they may be exercised? And where are these suitable objects to be found, unless the Holy Spirit either makes a special revelation of them to every separate individual when regenerated, or else discloses them once for all in His revealed Word, and requires us to exercise our minds upon them as there unfolded? What though we have a believing, loving, and obedient disposition wrought in us? That disposition, so far as we are able to see, will continue dormant and inoperative, like the faculty of vision when light is wholly withheld, unless it have such things to bring it into exercise as those which are placed before us in the Word of truth. To a blind man, the restoration of his eyesight would be of no practical utility, if he were to be, all his life long, immured in thick darkness which no ray of light could penetrate. In much the same condition would the sinner be, if his faculties and dispositions were renewed, without having those materials of thought, and feeling, and choice, and affection presented to him, which the Scriptures have unfolded. It thus appears that the province of the Word and the province of the Spirit, in the renovation of the human soul, do not conflict or interfere with one another. The former presents, as it were, objects of vision to the mind’s eye; whereas the latter creates or restores in us the power of spiritual vision by which we may discern them. 

The activity of man, however, is not confined, according to the Scriptural doctrine, to the use of the means of grace. It extends also to the putting forth of earnest personal efforts in the way of accomplishing those self-same things which are ascribed to the agency of the Holy Spirit. Nothing is more obvious from the whole tenor of the Scriptures than that God deals with us, not as with inert machines that are incapable of thought, or feeling, or voluntary action, but in such a way as is agreeable to our constitution as sentient, reasonable, active, and accountable agents. Not only does He address truths and arguments to our understanding, but He makes appeals to our consciences and affections, holds out inducements to influence our choice, and lays down commandments to which He requires a willing obedience. And in particular, He requires of us, as our duty, those very things which He teaches us to expect from Him as the fruit of His regenerating and transforming grace. Thus, if His promise be “a new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you,” it is no less clearly and expressly His injunction, “Cast away from you all your transgressions, and make you a new heart and a new spirit.” If He speaks of the spiritual resurrection as a divine work, saying, “God who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us and raised us up together with Christ,"—He no less explicitly speaks of it as the sinner’s duty, saying, “Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee light.” In like manner, if such prayers are offered by inspired men as “Turn Thou us unto Thee, and we shall be turned,” “Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved,”—it must not be forgotten that such commands are issued by them as “Turn ye, turn ye, for why will ye die?” “Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions, so iniquity shall not be your ruin; ” “Repent, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.” Sometimes, again, the human and the divine agency in the work of sanctification are presented to us in one view, as in that notable exhortation of the apostle, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who worketh in you to will and to do of His good pleasure.” 

Those persons, therefore, who think that their own endeavours are entirely superseded by the agency of the Holy Spirit, must have formed for themselves a theory of divine influence very different from that which the Scriptures have revealed. It certainly is not the doctrine of Holy Scripture that the power of God so works in us as wholly to subvert or set aside our own activity. We are wrought upon “to will and to do.” And for any man to be thus wrought upon, and yet to continue passive and inert, willing nothing and doing nothing; would involve a broad and palpable contradiction. The process of our conversion and sanctification is so far from superseding our own activity, that it really consists in a restoration of all our spiritual powers and energies to their proper exercise. And though it be “God who worketh in us” to repent, to believe, to obey, and to persevere, it is not God who repents, believes, obeys, and perseveres in our stead, so as to dispense with our agency in these things, but it is we who do them for ourselves. He, indeed, inclines and enables us to do them; and without Him we can do nothing towards their accomplishment. But we are, notwithstanding, the active agents in the performance of them.» ~ 268-271. 

    «Too often has the great truth been inadequately apprehended, that, in so far as redeemed sinners are themselves concerned, sanctification is the very end of their redemption—the grand and ultimate consummation of the scheme of grace. The Scriptures teach that Christ “gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works that “He bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, might live unto righteousness; ”and that “Christ loved the Church, and gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it, ... and present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” Many professed Christians, however, are inclined to look upon their deliverance from the merited wrath, and restoration to the forfeited favour of God, as constituting the sum and substance of the “great salvation;” and it is no uncommon thing among them to speak of the personal holiness of a believer, wrought in him by the grace of the Holy Spirit, as being solely or chiefly valuable from the evidence it affords of the sincerity of that faith by which he is justified and accepted in the sight of God. In doing so, they not only misconceive but positively invert the doctrine of the New Testament. Personal holiness is there represented as having an intrinsic importance, and that of the very highest order. True, it is not the foundation on which we are called to build; but it is a prominent part of the stately edifice for the erection of which that foundation has been laid. It is not our remedy; but it is the completion of the actual cure which that remedy is designed to accomplish. It is not in any respect, or in any degree, the means of salvation; but it is one of the most essential and most precious elements of salvation itself. Let it be but thus viewed, and then a flood of light before unnoticed, or at the best imperfectly discerned, will at once appear to be shed upon the Christian system. The Gospel will then present itself in a character every way worthy of its divine origin, as a wonderful scheme devised by heavenly grace for the furtherance of the wisest, noblest, holiest, and most beneficent end that could possibly be contemplated—the regeneration and recovery of a fallen race; their restoration, in the first instance, to the forfeited favour, but ultimately to the lost image and likeness of God, and the final “presentation of them faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.”» ~ 289-290.

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