Dear BPCWAians, As part of the Great Commission, Christ commands “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matt 28:19). Understanding this context, when a new believer is baptised, they are required to take a solemn vow in the form of questions. In addition to the public assertion of their salvation and faith in Christ’s finished work, these are specific questions affirming their commitment to be a disciple of Christ. Today, we look at 3 aspects of the statements of this vow which many of us have taken.

To give up sinful habits and live unto righteousness according to God’s Word. Baptism is “a sign and seal of the covenant of grace, of his ingrafting into Christ, of regeneration, of remission of sins, and of his giving up unto God, through Jesus Christ, to walk in the newness of life.” (Westminster Confession of Faith 28:1). Being a disciple of Christ means taking the name of Christ, as His follower, and being a Christian.In the third commandment, we are told “not (to) take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” (Exod 20:7). Now that we publicly declare ourselves to be His follower, we must be like our Saviour, Who “is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5) We must bear the resemblance of our Heavenly father, “in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh” (Col 2:11). While this does not mean we are to be perfect without ever sinning henceforth, it does mean that we must give up our sinful habits. No habitual sin must continue in our lives without a genuine and earnest effort to repent and turn away from it. Too often, we are careless with sin and just glibly“repent” without actually sincerely meaning it. We continue to allow sin to dominate our lives and behaviours without even trying to restrain the members of our body, let alone even consider a drastic action like to “cut it off, and cast it from thee” (Matt 5:30). It may be our lips, our eyes, our hands – whatever causes us to habitually sin. As the days pass, do we see ourselves sin less and less as our sanctification grows as God intends it to be in our lives? It is time to get serious with our offences. If after self-examination we find that we have not improved, then can we say that we really have been serious about giving up our sinful habits?

To be regular in Bible reading and in prayer, in the worship service. This is firstly about our Quiet Time or daily devotions. It is our personal communion with our God. It is an easy thing to let drop, when the pressures of life increase. Bosses demand submission of your projects according to timelines and schedules. You know your performance evaluations will be affected if you don’t do that. But your Quiet Time with God does not seem to have the same immediate impact on your physical life. So we tend to give ourselves excuses . . . later, or I’m too tired tonight, or tomorrow I’ll do more. We cannot say that we are following Him if we do not make it a priority to spend time with Him.And a disciple must set aside time for the worship of the true God. If we cannot commit consistently “a due proportion of time be set apart for the worship of God; so, in His Word, by a positive, moral, and perpetual commandment binding all men in all ages” one day in seven for the Christian worship of our LORD, then we have failed our discipleship duty to accord Him the worship that is due to His Name. (WCF 21:7). Ultimately, a true disciple loves his Lord and Master and do not find following Him a chore. He does not see spending time in fellowship with his Lord and serving Him a burden.

To be a member of this church and in the service and support of this church. Baptism is a sacrament ordained “for the solemn admission of the party baptized into the visible Church” (WCF 28:1). As we have seen in our study of Ephesians, God did not intend for His believers to be “lone wanderers”. The Bible teaches us about the body of Christ, being members of His body, and in the last book of the New Testament, it speaks of Christ walking “in the midst of the seven candlesticks” where He praises or rebukes them for their works. The visible church is part of Christ’s plan as local lights in that part of the world where He puts them. It is through the church that He fulfils His Great Commission. In order to do this, the church works through her members, and with the substance that she is entrusted with. For the church to do so, it needs hands and legs, and the resources to be able to support these works. Since what is truly His church are His redeemed among the body of worshippers, it is to these ones that He calls out to follow Him and to be disciples. Hence it is the mandate of the church to teach and to baptize, and to make disciples so that His Kingdom’s work progresses. We serve our King, albeit within a visible church. We pay tribute to our King, albeit within a visible church framework. Have you been faithful in serving Him and in giving to Him?

I hope that this series of Pastorals have helped every believer to truly assess their walk as a disciple of Christ. For some of us, we may have taken those discipleship vows some time back, and then backslided. But we are also warned “When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.” (Ecc 5:4) Whatever is our lot that God has ordained for us, let us not look at others and wonder why we are working so hard while others do not bother. Just remember that service is a privilege. And Heb 6:10 encourages us, “For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister”.

Yours in our Lord’s service

Pastor