Hi David, good questions.
Torrance many times writes and speaks of metanoia, the Gr word for
repentance or conversion. Torrance sees, and rightly so, that metanoia in
the NT is as much a way of life as it is a point experience, where a person
gives himself over to Jesus Christ. Another thing to keep in mind when
reading Torrance is this: we are ontologically in Christ from birth via the
go'el aspect of the atonement; but the gift of the Holy Spirit is received
at the point of trusting in Jesus Christ. Sometimes this is referred to as
repentance, sometimes as belief, sometimes as faith, sometimes as
conversion. Regardless, Torrance does not depart from or diminish the
importance of "conversion" or "repentance" in a person's life: It is, after
all, the Holy Spirit who seals, secures, and guarantees our inheritance.
When Torrance writes, "Baptism and Holy Communion are not to be regarded
merely as 'confirming ordinances' but as 'converting ordinances,'" he is
contrasting his (Reformed or Presbyterian) understanding of the sacraments
against the memorialistic view of the Anabaptists (and later evangelicals as
a result of the Anabaptists), that communion and baptism are symbolic only,
for believers only, and done only in remembrance or recognition. In other
words for the memorialists the sacraments are "merely confirming" in the
minds of CHRISTIANS what Christ did in their "conversion experience."
Torrance is saying NO! it is more than this; when shared with the Word the
Sacraments are a visual preaching of the Gospel. Here Torrance is picking up
on something Calvin taught: that communion is as much an evangelistic tool
as it is a practice for believers. The invitation is given to all. The
Lord's table is for everyone, yet it should not be taken lightly. It was
later Calvinism that started the practice of "fencing the table" -- letting
only those who profess and "demonstrate" belief to participate in the rite.
I don't know if you have heard this term before or not, but in Scotland,
many years after Calvin's death, it got to the point that most believers
would not even take communion, and this because they felt unworthy. They had
been instructed so continually and with such force "to examine" themselves
before taking the elements that they eventually despaired from even
participating. The point the Calvinists missed in all of this is the point
Torrance picks up from Calvin: it is never we (any of us) who are worthy in
and of ourselves to take communion; we are made worthy in Jesus Christ
through his vicarious and mediatorial work. To take communion then is to
begin to apprehend and acknowledge this truth; in this it is a "converting
ordinance," a responsive act of metanoia.
And again, this is not to diminish the role of repentance in a person's
life. The Gospel is always a call to radical repentance. The Gospel of Jesus
Christ tells us who Christ is, what he has done on our behalf and in our
place; it tells us we are included in Christ and calls us to believe this
truth, to live in it, and to tell others about it. The Gospel, then, calls
for conversion, a fundamental change of mind, a radical departure from our
former way of life. In other words, to believe the Gospel is to convert. BUT
"conversion" is not what saves us. To convert is simply to align ourselves
with the truth and reality of him who does save us: Jesus Christ. Torrance
writes, "The sacrament of Baptism, administered to those who repent and
believe in Jesus Christ and to their children, proclaims to them that they
are saved by Christ alone and not in a subsidiary way through their own
repenting and believing" (pg. 96).
To refuse to repent, however, is a different story. If after hearing the
Gospel, the Good News of our existence and inclusion in Jesus Christ, a
person refuses to repent, then he brings upon himself the danger of falling
away from grace. If this same person continues to refuse the call of the
Gospel, his heart becomes hardened. If he never repents, his refusal will
result in his own demise: he will have damned himself in the process.
Peace to you,
Bill
----- Original Message -----
From: "David Miller" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Monday, May 10, 2004 1:34 PM
Subject: [TruthTalk] The Mediation of Christ
> This thread is for talking about Thomas F. Torrance's book, The
> Mediation of Christ.
>
> To Bill, Lance, and Jonathan:
>
> I have perhaps many comments, but I'm going to take this a little at a
> time. I hope you are patient with me.
>
> For starters, I would like to hear your comments about Torrance's
> perspective of the two sacraments being "converting ordinances." I am
> especially interested in knowing if you view it this way, in light of
> the comments that every person is born already in Christ.
>
> On p. 97, Torrance writes:
> "Thus, to use earlier terminology, the sacraments of Baptism and Holy
> Communion are not to be regarded merely as 'confirming ordinances' but
> as 'converting ordinances', for in and through them the Gospel strikes
> home to us in such a way as to draw us within the vicarious response to
> God which Jesus Christ constitutes in his own humanity, the humanity
> which he took from us and converted back to God the Father in himself.
>
> Perhaps you can comment on this in any way you like, but one thing I
> wonder about is if we are all born in Christ already, and already
> reconciled to God when we are born into the world, then what need is
> there for "conversion"? Wouldn't everything subsequently be
> "confirming"?
>
> Peace be with you.
> David Miller, Beverly Hills, Florida.
>
> ----------
> "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may
know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6)
http://www.InnGlory.org
>
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----------
"Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you
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