Guy M. Richard, Ph.D., is President and Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at RTS in Atlanta, where he has served since 2017. Before moving into his current position, Guy served as the Senior Minister of the First Presbyterian Church in Gulfport, Mississippi (PCA), for almost 12 years. He had the privilege of leading this congregation in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which completely destroyed the church facility and the homes of approximately one third of the members of the congregation. Guy is the author of four books and many articles dealing with the history and theology of the Reformation and post-Reformation periods. He posts regularly on his blog The Suburbs of Heaven, which is available on his website. In his free time, he enjoys swimming, cycling, and most other sports. He and his wife Jennifer have three children.

Sunday, we considered the regenerative symbolism of baptism. When we pour water on the recipient, we're saying that only the Spirit can give us a new heart and make us a new creation (Ezek. 36, 2 Cor. 5). The Spirit of God cleanses us by separating us from our depravity and uniting us to Jesus Christ. That union communicates another symbol of baptism: inclusion.

Presbyterians speak often of God's covenant family. The reason is that the covenant promises of salvation by grace that advance from Genesis to Revelation include the promises of inclusion in God's family. The New Testament authors don't separate the promises made to Israel from the promises made to the church. Whether Paul (Romans, Galatians, and Ephesians), Peter (Acts and his epistles), or the author of Hebrews, the Gentiles are not offered a new covenant but are incorporated into the ONE family of God through the ONE covenant of grace. 

When we pour water on the recipient, we're saying, "Only God's Spirit can unite us to Christ and bring us into His family." Whether Israel or the Church, there is a rite that communicates our inclusion by grace. Join us Sunday as we consider this beautiful truth of God's goodness.

Sunday we’ll continue looking at the Scripture’s teaching on baptism, focusing on how it communicates that we belong to God. Remember, the sacraments (sacred rites) are demonstrations of God’s pledge to make us his own by grace. Last week, moving from the Old Testament into the New Testament, we learned that baptism communicates the cleansing grace of God for his people. Unclean because of our sin, we need to be washed clean to have fellowship with God. This washing is something God does for us, symbolized by sprinkling us clean.

The cleansing work of God is accomplished by the Spirit’s work of regeneration or the new birth. Paul says, “He saved us…according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,” Titus 3:4,5. In the Old and New Testaments, the Spirit’s work is a pouring out, as Paul says, “whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,” Titus 3:6. The Spirit is poured out, giving us new life, so that we might become children of God, belonging to him. It’s a beautiful presentation of the Spirit’s work to wash us through new birth. Join us Sunday as we consider this truth and worship our Savior.

Over the next few weeks, we’re going to consider the meaning of baptism. As was stated last week, the sacraments (baptism and communion) communicate God’s pledge to us, rehearsing his promises in the covenant of grace. These religious rites are meant to communicate that we belong to God by his grace. When a person receives baptism, or when we witness a baptism, we rehearse God’s promise to cleanse us from sin, enabling us to belong to him in righteousness. As Paul says, “He chose us in him (Jesus)…that we should be holy and blameless before him,” Ephesians 1:4. He continues, saying of Jesus, “(He) gave himself…that he might sanctify her (church), having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,” Ephesians 5:26.

Sin makes us unclean preventing us from walking in fellowship with a clean, holy God. Discontent with our broken relationship, God moved to provide us the cleansing that we would need to have restored fellowship with him, to belong to his family. This cleansing is demonstrated by the application of the solvent of water. It dates all the way back to the book of Leviticus where God uses ceremonial washings to illustrate Israel’s need to be cleansed of their uncleanness. It was an uncleanness that water could not solve because it is spiritual. It was an uncleanness that only God could provide through the work of his Spirit, and is similar to the rite of circumcision. Once cleansed by the Spirit, a person’s relationship with God is restored, and they belong to him. Join us Sunday as we worship our Savior and consider his cleansing work.

Sunday, we considered the continuing mission of God to establish and expand his family. The Apostle Paul says that God has blessed us, determining to bring us into his family through Jesus Christ. He says that God determined to make us holy and blameless; that he determined to provide us adoption; that through Jesus, we have redemption and forgiveness for our sins; that as sons and daughters of God we have an inheritance in Christ. These are great benefits conferred upon us by God’s grace. But how do we know that these benefits are ours by faith?

As Paul continues, he says, “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:13,14) His argument is that God has given us the Holy Spirit to seal the benefits given to us by Jesus. It is the Spirit that assures us that we belong to Him, affirming that his gifts are ours.

Now, the Holy Spirit ministers to us daily, but God has established specific ceremonies of church life, that set the stage for the Spirit to communicate these truths to us directly. Now all the “ordinances” of Christ create these moments, but two ceremonies are specific. We call these the sacraments or the ceremonial rites of God’s pledge to us. Join us Sunday as we begin to consider these ceremonies.

Sunday, we’ll continue our series, “Belonging,” by considering the goal of God’s Covenant of Grace, family. From the beginning of creation, God has been building a family of his image-bearers. Initially, Adam and Eve were created to “be fruitful and multiply” filling the earth with God’s likeness who worship, serve, and glorify him. That fundamental concept is carried through the entire Old Testament, ending in Malachi, where God challenges the broken marriages of his people, asking them to consider God’s objective for their lawful marriage, saying, “And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring.” (Mal. 2:15) This theme is carried forward in the New Testament with familial (family) statements from God toward his people. Consider what John says, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” (1 John 3:1)

Here's the assertion, God’s ongoing mission is the creation of a family of image-bearers who enjoy and engage with him forever. When Adam and Eve failed to produce a godly offspring, God was prepared to send his Son, the Image of whom became an Image-bearer, to build out his family. His family is not centered on an ethnic clan from Abraham, but on all who believe on the Offspring promised to him. In the Apostle Paul’s words, “if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” (Galatians 3:29)

Join us as we consider this beautiful teaching of God’s family and our inclusion by adoption in Christ.

Sunday, we began to consider God’s abounding grace presented to us in what we call the Covenant of Grace. I presented it as a Covenant of Promise, because to enter it, God does not ask us to perform in any way. In fact, any performance that we would proffer God is offensive to his offer. This Sunday, we’ll continue our examination of this covenant, considering how it functions in Scripture, both the Old and New Testaments, as the basis for God’s relationship with his people whether in Israel or in the Church.

Paul says it beautifully, when he writes Titus, saying, “when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy,” Titus 3:4,5. Scripture maintains that since mankind failed to obey when he was able, God has provided for our obedience in the presence of our inability. That provision is a one-way covenant that God offers us through his Son, our Savior.

The goal of that covenant, both for the Jews under the Law, and the Church under the gospel, is adoption or Belonging. As Paul continues with Titus, saying, “so that being justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life,” Titus 3:7. Join us Sunday as we consider this important, life-changing truth.

Sunday we’ll continue our series considering God’s Abounding Grace as revealed in the Covenant of Grace. Our Confession says, “The distance between God and the creature is so great, that although reasonable creatures do owe obedience unto him as their Creator, yet they could never have any fruition of him as their blessedness and reward, but by some voluntary condescension on God’s part, which he has been pleased to express by way of covenant.”  Together, we’ll lay a foundation for understanding the Covenant of Grace in comparison to the Covenant of Works given to Adam in the garden of Eden.

While the Covenant of Grace is administered differently in the New Testament compared to the Old, it remains the foundation of our relationship to God. God bends toward us to make our relationship with him possible, providing for our redemption in Christ Jesus our Lord. It’s that “bend toward” us that is itself an act of grace, motivated by his goodness and love. That movement toward us results in our reconciliation to him and adoption into his family. The end of God’s Covenant of Grace is our belonging to him and his family. Hence the title of the series, “Belonging.” Join us Sunday as we begin this new study in God’s abounding grace.

We believe that faith in Jesus provides us with imputed (credited) righteousness, what Scripture refers to as justification. Justification is legal terminology and refers to the work of a surety: one who takes responsibility for another’s guilt while allowing that person to benefit from his credit. The gospel teaches that Christ is our Surety, that he assumes our guilt, and allows us to benefit from his righteousness. When God’s law exposes our guilt, calling for condemnation and subsequent judgment, our Surety assumes that guilt and all the legal consequences. When God’s law demands unwavering obedience, our Surety covers us with his record of steadfast obedience. This is the doctrine of justification.

On Easter, we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection because it is essential to our justification. First, it signifies that the death of Christ was undeserved due to his spotless record. While a criminal can and should be held under the punishment of his lawbreaking, a righteous person cannot legally be held. Jesus had to be released. Second, it signals that payment was made for our sin, as Jesus assumed our guilt, submitting to the law’s judgment on our behalf. He is the sacrificial Lamb of God that pays for our sin. Third, it allows for him to appear in the presence of God to apply his blood sacrifice to the mercy seat. Finally, it signals to all who believe that as our Surety, his obedience is credited to us.

The Apostle Paul says, “who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification,” Romans 4:25. We’ll consider Jesus’ assumption of our guilt on Friday night and our standing in his obedience on Sunday. Join us and invite others to hear the gospel.

This Sunday is referred to as Palm Sunday, a term taken from the final entry of Jesus to Jerusalem before his sacrificial death on Friday and resurrection on Easter morning. As Jesus enters, people from all walks of life lay palms and their cloaks on the road as he rides into the city. Jesus’ entrance is a declaration of himself as David’s great descendent. It also fulfills the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 when the king would ride in on a donkey, which is a symbol of peace.

For us, as we study of God’s law, this Sunday signals to us the salvation of God! As we have studied the law, it has informed us about the holiness of God for the law is rooted in his character. God’s law sets the standard and communicates His vision for humanity. When we compare what we experience in the world to God’s vision, we cry out, “God save us.” The law zeros in on mankind’s sinfulness, exposing our law-breaking behavior, thoughts, and heart. It strips us of any righteousness we might bank based on our performance. There just isn’t anything to merit God’s favor or avert his judgment. As Paul concludes, “none is righteous, no not one,” Romans 3:10. Left fully exposed by the law, we cry out, “God save us.” The law forces us to ask Paul’s question, “Who will deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24) Then we see Jesus and again we cry out, “God save us.”

Before the Spirit came into our lives, we were dead in our trespasses and sins children of God’s wrath, Ephesians 2:1. Now, alive in Christ, the law no longer condemns but teaches us the gospel, humbling us to live in the grace provided for us in Christ. “God save us,” remains our cry. Save us from the sin around us; save us from the sin within us; save us with all the benefits of Christ. Join us Sunday as we cry out in worship for God’s gracious salvation in Christ.