Weston Blaha

Tag: Sacraments

  • Clean Is Not Holy: Covenant Membership, Baptism, and the Formation of God’s People.

    Clean Is Not Holy: Covenant Membership, Baptism, and the Formation of God’s People.

    In my experience, one of the most overlooked distinctions in Scripture is the difference between being clean and being holy. We often assume these categories are interchangeable. The Bible does not.

    Recovering this distinction does more than clarify Israel’s cultic (religious) system—it sheds fresh light on covenant membership, the role of baptism, and the status of children within the people of God. When handled carefully, it fits squarely within the Westminster Confession of Faith and guards paedobaptism from both sacramentalism and reductionism (as we will see shortly).

    Clean Is Not Holy

    Throughout the Old Testament, people, animals, and spaces are arranged according to a graded pattern:

    Unclean → Clean → Holy

    We see this pattern elsewhere across scripture: 

    World → Eden → Garden of Eden

    Courtyard → Holy Place → Holy of Holies

    Gentile → Israel → Priests

    Unclean. Clean. Holy. These are not (primarily) moral categories but relational positions with respect to the presence of YHWH.

    • The unclean are excluded from sacred space (Lev. 13:45–46).
    • The clean may dwell among the people and approach the sanctuary with limits (Lev. 15:31).
    • The holy are authorized for proximity and service (Exod. 19:22; Lev. 21:6–8).

    Crucially, in the OT system, only what is first clean may then become holy (Lev. 22:4–7). Holiness is not the prerequisite for approach—it is the goal of life lived near God’s presence. The tabernacle, priesthood, and sacrificial system all exist to teach Israel that God graciously brings people near, and then calls them to deeper conformity to His holiness.

    Covenant Membership Makes One Clean

    By redemptive blood and covenant promise, Israel is separated from the nations and placed into a new relational status before God:

    “You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exod. 19:6).

    This does not mean that every Israelite is regenerate or morally holy. Rather, Israel’s corporate status is one of covenant cleanness—they belong to the sphere where God dwells among His people (Lev. 11:44–45).

    This is why in the old covenant, Israel’s children are never treated as outsiders. They are addressed as covenant members (Deut. 6:6–7), included in covenant renewal ceremonies (Deut. 29:10–12), and disciplined as sons (Deut. 8:5). As a community, they belong. They are clean—yet they must still grow into holiness. They are to “be holy as I AM holy” (Lev 11:44, 19:2).

    This distinction can be illustrated well in the sacrificial system. As most people know, in the old covenantal, sheep are considerd clean animals (Lev. 11:2–3). Yet only those without blemish may be offered to YHWH (Lev. 22:19–25). As such, we can see that clean does not mean sacrificially fit—clean is the baseline; holiness–or in the case of the sacrificial sheep, lack of blemish–is the goal.

    The Sojourner: Near, but Not Yet Belonging

    The sojourner (gēr) lives among Israel and benefits from Israel’s holiness, yet remains distinct. Exodus 12:48 makes the boundary explicit: circumcision marks a transition from outsider to native. Critically, circumcision does not make the sojourner holy—it marks covenantal inclusion—it shifts them from the ceremonial category of unclean to clean. Covenant children, by contrast, are not sojourners awaiting entry. They are born inside the household (Gen. 17:7–13).

    Baptism as Covenant Cleanness

    In the New Testament, baptism functions as the covenant marker that places a person within the visible people of God (Acts 2:38–39; Col. 2:11–12). The Westminster Confession recognizes this, stating:

    “Baptism is a sacrament of the New Testament… a sign and seal of the covenant of grace” (WCF 28.1).

    And:

    “The efficacy of baptism is not tied to that moment of time wherein it is administered” (WCF 28.6).

    Baptism marks belonging, not justification nor completed sanctification.

    The Visible and Invisible Church

    A brief clarification is helpful here. Reformed theology has long distinguished between the visible church and the invisible church, and this distinction maps closely onto the biblical categories of clean and holy.

    The invisible church refers to the elect—those who are truly united to Christ by faith and known perfectly to God alone. Membership in the invisible church is determined by God’s saving work, not by outward markers or covenant signs. The visible church, however, is the historical, covenant community as it exists in the world. It consists of all those who profess the true religion, together with their children, and is marked by the public administration of the Word and the sacraments.

    Entrance into the visible church is not a claim about regeneration, but about covenantal status.
    Baptism, then, is a sign of visible inclusion, not a guarantee of inward holiness. It marks a person as belonging to God’s covenant people—set apart from the world, placed under God’s promises, and obligated to live in faithful obedience. In biblical terms, baptism renders someone clean with respect to covenant membership, even as holiness in its fullest sense remains something God must work in and through a life of faith.

    This distinction guards us from two errors. On the one hand, it prevents sacramentalism, which assumes that outward signs automatically produce inward grace. On the other hand, it resists reductionism, which collapses covenant membership into personal regeneration alone. Scripture allows—and requires—us to say that someone may truly belong to God’s people outwardly while still being called to become inwardly what that status demands.

    In other words, the visible church is the arena of formation. God places people—adults and children alike—within His covenant community, so that they may be called, shaped, disciplined, and nurtured toward holiness.

    “But Aren’t Believers Already Holy?”

    Scripture maintains both realities: believers are holy by placement and called to holiness in practice (1 Pet. 1:15; 2:9). Likewise, covenant children are called “holy” (1 Cor. 7:14), indicating covenantal consecration in Paul’s usage, not regenerated–just as the unbelieving spouse is made “holy” by their believing husband/wife. So, it must be recongnized that holiness often names placement before performance.

    A Note Clarifying “Holiness” and Covenant Placement
    When Scripture speaks of covenant members—especially children—as “holy,” it does not thereby assert regeneration, justification, or election. Rather, Paul uses “holy” covenantally, to denote placement within the consecrated sphere of God’s people, just as the Old Testament used categories of cleanness to distinguish those inside the covenant community from the unclean world outside (1 Cor. 7:14). This covenantal holiness establishes neither saving faith nor final righteousness, both of which come only by union with Christ. Instead, it names a real, objective status of belonging that carries both privilege and responsibility within the visible church.

    Some well-known theologians on 1 Cor. 7:14:

    • “The children of believers are holy, not by nature, but by virtue of the covenant; for they are distinguished from the children of unbelievers” (John Calvin, Commentry on 1 Corinthians 7:14).
    • Charles Hodge states that “holy” means “set apart from the world and consecrated to God… not inwardly sanctified, but externally holy” (Hodge, Commentary on 1 Corinthians).
    • In By Faith, Not by Sight and Resurrection and Redemption, Richard Gaffin shows that Paul regularly uses sanctification language to describe status within Christ, not merely inward change.
    • Anthony Thiselton argues that “holy” in 1 Corinthians 7:14 means “belonging to the sphere of God’s saving activity” (Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians–NIGTC).
    • Gordon Fee argues that “holy” here refers to (1) Status within the Christian community and (2) being set apart by association with the believing parent (Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians–NICNT)

    So, there is a strong consensus that Paul’s use of holy is to be seen as a corollary to the OT concept of “clean” and, as such, it can be understood that baptism marks covenant placement rather than spiritual completion.

    The Normative Pattern and the Extraordinary Exception

    The thief on the cross shows that God may save apart from the ordinary administration of covenant signs (Luke 23:42–43). However, the rule remains normative:

    “Although it be a great sin to condemn or neglect this ordinance (baptism), yet grace and salvation are not so inseparably annexed unto it…” (WCF 28.5).

    Now, it’s important to note that while all sin is unclean, not all uncleanness is sin (Lev. 12; 15; Num. 19). The thief on the cross was not in sin because he did not recieve baptism. His status in that moment between saving faith and his painful death does not override the work of Christ–that’s the mistake the Judaizers were making in the New Testament. As such, a believer may indeed be united to Christ prior to baptism, yet–if he is able–he is commanded to receive the mark as an act of obedience, public confession, and identification with the people of God (Acts 2:38; 10:47–48). And one who denies the mark must be questioned about their commitment to Christ.

    Christ Perfecting His Bride

    Christ alone is the spotless Lamb whose sacrifice secures our acceptance (Heb. 10:10–14). Yet He is also perfecting His bride:

    “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her… that he might present the church to himself in splendor” (Eph. 5:25–27).

    Christ loves His bride in order to perfect her. Warnings, exhortations, and discipline are not contrary to grace—they are instruments of it. He makes us holy even as we are holy, continuing the good work he began (we call this process “sanctification”).

    A Pastoral Word to the Baptized

    A brief word of pastoral wisdom–Sheep die one of two ways: offered as a pleasing sacrifice, or consumed by the mundane. Wholly burnt up for YHWH or wholly burnt up by the world. This is not about earning acceptance, but about living consistently with our belonging (Rom. 12:1; 2 Cor. 2:15). Baptism places us near the altar—it does not guarantee faithfulness upon it. Grace places us among the flock and holiness is the path by which that grace is displayed.

    The Path, Not the Finish Line

    Baptism does not mark the end of the journey. Rather, it marks the beginning of formation. This is how God ordinarily forms His people:

    from unclean → to clean → to holy.

    And it is Christ Himself who will finish the work He has begun (Phil. 1:6).

    In short: Baptism places us among God’s people as clean, not completed, and summons us to live lives that reflect the holiness Christ is faithfully working into His bride.

  • From Fog Machines to Incense: Why Millennials and Gen Z Are Turning to Liturgy

    From Fog Machines to Incense: Why Millennials and Gen Z Are Turning to Liturgy

    Once upon a time, the ideal church had stadium seating, LED walls, and a worship set indistinguishable from Coldplay. But something is shifting. Slowly, quietly, almost counterintuitively, young Christians are trading smoke machines for incense, TED Talk sermons for creeds, and hype music for hymns. This isn’t a rejection of Christianity. It’s a rejection of thin Christianity—marketed, manufactured, and sometimes, morally bankrupt.

    The End of the Attractional Model

    The numbers are impossible to ignore:

    • 57% of young adults (18–35) say they’re disillusioned with the performance culture of modern church services (Barna, 2023).
    • Churches built on production value but lacking doctrinal depth are losing young adults rapidly, especially post-COVID (Lifeway Research, 2022).
    • Meanwhile, traditions like Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and confessional Lutheranism are quietly growing, with Millennials and Gen Zs citing “stability,” “sacramentality,” and “the ancient faith” as primary draws (Pew Research, 2021).

    Howesver, the crisis isn’t just about style—it’s about substance.

    The Failure of Celebrity Christianity

    The attractional, platform-driven model of church is imploding. Ravi Zacharias. Carl Lentz. James MacDonald. Bill Hybels. Houston. Chicago. Seattle. Hillsong. Willow Creek. Each moral failure left not just broken institutions, but disillusioned congregants—many of them young. These churches often slipped into an error which blurred the line between spiritual leadership and brand management.

    For Millennials and Gen Z, many of whom were raised in or around these churches, the damage is personal. Their pastors were brands. Their churches were empires. And when it all fell apart, it felt like betrayal. The result? Not always atheism—not always deconstruction–but often exile. They didn’t leave Jesus; they left a system that packaged Him like a product.

    A Rejection of Postmodern Drift

    But there’s more than just disappointment. There’s also a deeper shift at play: a philosophical revolt against postmodernism itself. Behind all of this lies a long-coming cultural exhaustion. For decades, postmodernism told us:

    • Truth is personal.
    • Morality is relative.
    • Institutions are oppressive.
    • Everything should be fluid.

    Gen Z (those born 1997-2012) has grown up inside this cultural logic—and it has failed them too. They’re drowning in freedom without form; choice without meaning. What began as liberation now feels like disintegration. They want boundaries. They want permanence which, closely tied to this, means they want assurance. “Give us something real.”

    And so, paradoxically, they are running not toward novelty—but toward tradition. Toward structure. Toward the truth-with-borders that creeds and liturgies provide. They want truth that doesn’t flex with public opinion. Democracy is great, but we do not want truth to be democratic.

    “The modern self wants autonomy without limits. But meaning requires boundaries.”
    —Carl Trueman, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self

    The return to liturgial worship, then, becomes not just church preference—but cultural resistance. It rebells against religious weightlessness and demands gravitas.

    The Hunger for Rootedness

    In place of celebrity pastors and curated sermons, young Christians are seeking:

    • Churches where Scripture is central.
    • The sacraments are serious.
    • Songs with strong theology, not just emotional vibes.
    • Worship that doesn’t depend on charisma but is shaped by ancient rhythms of grace.

    “Liturgy roots us in something enduring when everything else feels like sand.”
    —Tish Harrison Warren, Liturgy of the Ordinary

    The Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, sacraments, the church calendar—these aren’t just words and deeds. They’re instruments of formation, drawing weary modern souls into a faith that doesn’t collapse under pressure of individualism. These people are not chasing novelty. They’re chasing rootedness—a way to tie their lives to something older, deeper, and durable.

    Ancient Form, Living Faith

    It is important to emphasize: this isn’t nostalgia. This isn’t your hair-style from the 80s coming back into vogue. This is much more formative, much more impactful, much more lasting: it’s discipleship.

    “We are not just brains on a stick. We are lovers, shaped by rituals more than arguments.”
    —James K.A. Smith, You Are What You Love

    In this light:

    • Confession becomes countercultural honesty.
    • Creeds become resistance to relativism.
    • Communion becomes a protest against consumerism.
    • The church calendar becomes a reorientation of time itself.

    Liturgy grounds the rhythms of life into something real.

    In a culture trained to deconstruct everything, liturgical worship reconstructs the soul’s purpose. It insists that we are part of something greater than ourselves. It binds us to the body of Christ throughout the ages. As such, liturgy doesn’t just express who we are—it forms our identity.

    You Don’t Need a Cathedral

    Here’s the good news: You don’t have to be Roman Catholic, Orthodox or Anglican to lean into liturgy. You don’t need incense, robes, or a Gothic sanctuary. You simply need intentionality and the willingness to hold the line against patterns and designs that highlight hype over holiness. A simple, liturgucal service has:

    • Call and response.
    • Communion.
    • Psalm and hymn singing.
    • Preaching of the Word.
    • Historic creeds and prayers.
    • A church calendar that teaches Christ’s story, season by season.

    Even low-church Protestants can—and should—recover these rhythms. Because in a world of distraction, these are repetitive and necessary tools of spiritual formation. In a culture of postmodern instability, they become anchors of grace for weary souls.

    Conclusion: A Church With Memory

    Many young adults aren’t leaving the church because they are done with Jesus–they’re leaving because the church forgot how to be the Church. But the way forward isn’t innovation: its recovery. Young adults are daily bombarded with the new, but what they need is the old.

    Gen Z want to be part of something bigger than themselves–something tested and true, something that feels enduring. Creeds and confessions and established church liturgy unite the Church through the ages–the Church catholic(lower-case “c”!)–in a way that fog machines and celebrity pastors cannot. Instead of being of Apollos of Paul, young adults desire to be of Christ and his Church. It’s about being a part of something bigger, not being the biggest part of something.

    So, in an age of curated identities, collapsing platforms, and theological drift, the most radical thing a Christian can do…

    …is confess, and say together:

    “I believe in God the Father Almighty,
    Maker of heaven and earth.”

    Barna Group. The Open Generation: United States, 2023.

    Lifeway Research. Worship Attendance Trends Post-Pandemic, 2022.

    Pew Research Center. America’s Changing Religious Landscape, 2021.

    Carl Trueman, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, 2020.

    Tish Harrison Warren, Liturgy of the Ordinary, 2016.

    James K.A. Smith, You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit, 2016.

  • Go, And Be Fed

    Go, And Be Fed

    It is often said of pastors that “a shepherd must know his sheep.” And this is very true. But therein lies a warning to the sheep: the sheep must know the shepherd’s voice. If pastors are to know their flock, what responsibility does the flock have to know the pastor’s voice? How can Peter feed sheep that won’t be fed? How can pastors similarly feed a flock that will not come to the dinner bell? The imagery of sheep and shepherd shows that both have responsibilities in the relationship. It is the shepherd’s responsibility to feed, and it is the sheep’s duty to come and be fed.

    Unhealthy Diets

    Do we see the gathering of the saints as our duty to come and be fed? As our responsibility? Or is it simply the pastor’s duty to preach while we seek food–maybe even tastier food!–elsewhere? Whether that be through:

    1. Online pastors who can’t personally know you (this disrupts shepherds knowing their sheep)
    2. On a deer stand (this interferes with your coming to be fed)
    3. Or at your house (this says that you are too tired and lazy to be bothered to be fed)

    Veggie Tales

    Remember vegetables? Remember being a child and crying at the table because you couldn’t leave until you ate them? That was me. But a few years back, I realized that I actually now like vegetables. My taste had matured, and my appetite had changed.

    Often, immature Christianity manifests itself as rejecting what is good for us: like a healthy diet of the Means of Grace (Prayer, Preaching, and the Sacraments). Mature Christianity is growing to love the Means of Grace that God has established to feed his sheep.

    Friends, we don’t go to church because we have to; we go to church because we get to; we gather because it provides just the diet the Great Shepherd calls his sheep to feast upon.

    This Sunday, go and be fed.