elnwood
Puritan Board Junior
Why is Baptism an element of worship in Reformed Churches?
This may seem a strange question, but according to the Regulative Principle of Worship, we should only do in worship what is commanded to be done in worship.
While there are imperatives to baptize in the New Testament, it is never commanded to be done in the worship service, either explicitly, implicitly, or by good and necessary inference, and every instance of baptism we see performed is done outside of the worship service.
Moreover, the Old Testament equivalent, circumcision, was not performed in synagogue or temple worship or by the priesthood specifically. It was performed on the eighth day, not on a day of Sabbath worship.
So shouldn't the Regulative Principle of Worship exclude baptism as an element of New Testament worship? Or is there freedom to take any imperative in the New Testament and incorporate it into the worship service?
This may seem a strange question, but according to the Regulative Principle of Worship, we should only do in worship what is commanded to be done in worship.
While there are imperatives to baptize in the New Testament, it is never commanded to be done in the worship service, either explicitly, implicitly, or by good and necessary inference, and every instance of baptism we see performed is done outside of the worship service.
Moreover, the Old Testament equivalent, circumcision, was not performed in synagogue or temple worship or by the priesthood specifically. It was performed on the eighth day, not on a day of Sabbath worship.
So shouldn't the Regulative Principle of Worship exclude baptism as an element of New Testament worship? Or is there freedom to take any imperative in the New Testament and incorporate it into the worship service?