WLC:

What are the spiritual graces signified in baptism?

1) Ingrafting into Christ
2) Remission of sins
3) Regeneration
4) Adoption
5) Resurrection
6) All of the above
7) None of the above

I understand the last part about it being a sign "whereby the parties baptized are solemnly admitted into the visible church, and enter into an open and professed engagement to be wholly and only the Lord’s."

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Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

All of the above. It is a sign and seal of all the benefits of the covenant of grace.

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Casey, Chicagoland, OPC

“ .to be a sign and seal of ingrafting into himself, of remission of sins by his blood, and regeneration by his Spirit; of adoption, and resurrection unto everlasting life …”

The grammatical construction and punctuation seem to point to only categories 1 through to 5 under your multi-choice answers:

1) of ingrafting into himself,
2) of remission of sins by his blood, and regeneration by his Spirit,
3) of adoption, and resurrection unto everlasting life,
4) All of the above, or
5) None of the above.

Since it is unlikely you ask the question unless the ‘obvious’ answer is ‘all of the above’ is debatable, I do not know if the restatement with 5 choices impacts your thinking? Does the regrouping under what seems the original intent make any difference?

Otherwise, I shall join Casey’s team and go for All of the above.

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Dave Wood
Grace Bible Community Church
Melbourne, Victoria, Antipodes

There are three kinds of people in the world.
1: Those that can count, and 2: Those that cannot.

"I will restore the years of the locust."

I simply enumerated them as they appear in the catechism.

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Are there any other 'graces' of which baptism is a sign besides those enumerated in Q. 165?

OK, then is there something I am missing here? The question is answered in the Catechism ... you have presented those answers and appended

None
All

Is there something hiding away here that my poor little caffeine-challenged mind does not see this afternoon?

From the WCF:

The confession speaks of many different graces. Are all of these signified by baptism or just the ones mentioned in Q. 165?

Ken,
Perhaps the best way to answer is to say that the enumerated graces are clearly signified in baptism, but that baptism in a general way points to every grace available through Jesus Christ.

Remember, when we think of "grace", we don't conceive of it as a spiritual "substance" with properties that act and react on human beings. When we speak of various graces, we are nevertheless talking about the different ways that God by his grace affects us--we speak analytically so as to speak descriptively and specifically.

What is the (one) grace of God? It is God, himself. Compare with a human relationship. If we reduce the reality of, say, marriage to commercial activity--that is, if we speak about marriage as if it is reducible to a collection of several, disparate "graces" that it contains--we have failed to understand that all those "graces" are a byproduct of one giving himself to the other.

"What does the "wedding band" signify? Well, ..." and we can start to list some crucial aspects that are unquestionably symbolized in it. But aren't all the blessings of marriage encapsulated in that ring, in some sense?

Hope this gives you some insight.

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Rev. Bruce G. Buchanan
ChainOLakes Presbyterian Church, CentralLake, MI


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