Christian Worldview and Christian Education

What is a Christian worldview? While writers have offered various definitions, here is the one I will use for my discussion of Christian worldview and Christian education:

Christian worldview is an all-inclusive, unifying framework to understand the created order in general and human beings in particular and then live this reality. A worldview does not come from nowhere but is constructed and applied from a certain perspective. It is also a bridge to somewhere, that is, it is oriented to particular peoples, places, times, and issues—in our case, Christian education, which is the profession and practice of teaching. A Christian worldview starts, at minimum, with God and the revelation of himself (both general and special varieties) and may encompass other (subsidiary authorities) such as tradition, philosophy, science, and more.

Simplifying matters, I will discuss four elements of a Christian worldview for Christian education from the perspective of a systematic theologian: (1) the existence and presence of the triune God; (2) the created existence, dependence, and agency of human beings as male and female image bearers; (3) the fallenness, redemption, and ecclesial existence of God’s people; and (4) the teleological existence of human creatures and creation.

The first element is the existence and presence of the triune God. Briefly and foundationally, God’s existence is the most fundamental truth of a Christian worldview and is confirmed by God’s witness to himself in four arenas:

o Romans 1:18-25, creation: the created order reveals the existence of God and something about his divine nature/attributes (e.g., he is eternally all-powerful);

o Romans 2:14-16, the human conscience, with its general sense of right and wrong: the work of the law is written on everyone’s heart, and their conscience accuses them of doing wrong (a sense of guilt, shame, fear) or excuses them as they do right (applause);

o Acts 14:8-18, providential care: God is good and kind as provider for his human creatures, who are satisfied by his provision;

o Acts 17:22-31, an innate sense of God: all people are all wired with a sense of God that calls for them to honor and worship him.

These four arenas of general revelation—God’s manifestation of himself to all peoples at all times and in all places—call people to offer a proper response that includes worship, thanksgiving, submission, and obedience to God. As Christian educators, we acknowledge that all our students experience the reality of God in these ways. Tragically, however, they respond with ungodliness, unrighteousness, idolatry, disobedience, and self-reliance; examples include favoring an evolutionary perspective rather than belief in the Creator-God, and attributing good things that happen to them to chance, luck, good fortune, and just being in the right place at the right time.

Happily, we can direct our students away from such false notions to embrace Paul’s exhortation to the Athenians (Acts 17:24–28):

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for “In him we live and move and have our being;” [and] “we are indeed his offspring.”

As Christian educators we can make known the God who exists and who is present.

Additionally, God’s presence in the created order in general and for human beings in particular is another fundamental truth of a Christian worldview. This presence may be at the heart of the common claim of contemporary people to be “spiritual” in some sense of that word: by it many acknowledge that they are more than their physical selves; that their existence cannot be limited to the grind of everyday work; and that science and technology leaves unanswered many key questions about life, meaning, dignity, friendship, and more. Many of our students would identify themselves as “spiritual” in some sense.

Tragically, there are several false notions of God’s presence: [1]

o God is not some kind of talisman or magical genie upon whom we call to deliver us from disastrous situations. Sadly, superstitious Christian students may view the Bible as a type of talisman bringing them luck or warding off evil.

o God is not some type of manipulatable power that can be humanly influenced in the sense of quid pro quo. Tragically, misguided Christian students are caught up in the notion that if they just read their Bible and pray (that is, engage in daily devotions), then God will—indeed, must—bless them. They have done their part, so they expect God to do his part, per some kind of tit-for-tat arrangement.

o God is not some kind of dream-fulfiller, per the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel. This framework holds that God’s highest purpose is human flourishing and never includes sickness, illness, suffering, and persecution. If any of those maladies besets Christians, such debilitations are to be blamed on sin, a lack of faith, and disobedience. That is, God’s presence to bless is dependent on human devotion and faithfulness.

o God is not the sole operator in people’s lives; they are active agents in the world, and his presence is not contingency destroying. Regretfully, well-meaning Christian students may consider God’s presence to function in such a way that it minimizes or even destroys human response in terms of decisions and actions. But God’s presence always includes an expected, appropriate response to him. God declares, and praise is voiced. He commands, and obedience is prompted. God promises, and faith is ignited. He affirms, and sound doctrine is confessed. God warns, and danger is avoided. He rebukes, and repentance is enacted. God corrects, and plans are changed. These human actions are important and real factors in what transpires between God and us his people. His transformative presence operating in our lives engages our faith, obedience, thanksgiving, and other human responses.

These are wrong-headed notions of the presence of God in the world and in human lives.

God’s presence is instead the personal and intimate indwelling of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. According to John’s Gospel (14:22–23), Jesus responded to a disciple’s question, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” That is, the question was about the unique presence of God for Jesus’s followers. Jesus answered this question, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” The wonderful presence of God will be that of the Father and the Son dwelling with Christians. But how is such an intimate abiding possible? Just before this interchange, Jesus had made a promise to his disciples (14:16–17): “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” There is no promise of the divine presence for the world. But Jesus’s promise to his followers is that the Holy Spirit who once dwelt with them—near them, upon them—would one day be in them forever. In other words, the Holy Spirit renders the presence of the triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—in Christians.

The first element of a Christian worldview is the existence and presence of the triune God. The second element is the created existence, dependence, and agency of human beings as male and female image bearers. Out of the overflow of the eternal life and mutual love of the triune God, he purposed to and did indeed create a species of being more like himself than any other created being (higher than the plant world, the animal kingdom, even the angelic realm): human beings. As related in the opening chapter of Genesis (1:26-28): [2]

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God, he created him;

male and female he created them.

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Following the narrative flow of this passage, we first have the divine deliberation concerning the creation of humankind as image bearers of God who would rule over the rest of the created order (v. 26). Next, we read of the actualization of that divine purpose: God created humankind in the divine image such that there were male image bearers and female image bearers (v. 27). Finally, we encounter the so-called cultural mandate, the charter God established with humankind to build society/civilization for human flourishing (v. 28).

Noteworthy are the two aspects of this mandate: procreation (“be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth”) and vocation (“subdue [the earth] and exercise dominion” over the rest of the created order”). Importantly, for human beings as divine image bearers to carry out their divinely designed purpose, they are and must be embodied image bearers. Embodiment is the proper state of human existence. In this earthly life, if we are not embodied, we do not—even more, we cannot—exist, nor can we fulfill the charter that God has established with us his image bearers. Moreover, human beings as divine image bearers are and must be sexed/gendered image bearers. We are gendered all the way down, and this is necessary not only for the procreative aspect of the cultural mandate, but for its vocational aspect as well: women and men alike as divinely created image bearers expand the human race and contribute to its flourishing. God has created us to be embodied, gendered people, so we embrace our created embodiment and maleness and femaleness as an essential part of a Christian worldview.

The creation of humankind is narrated in more detail. According to Genesis 2:7: The LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

The manner of the first human being’s creation addresses the type of relationship that exists between Creator and creature: it is a relationship of the creature upon the Creator. The material out of which the first human creature was made—dust from the ground—does not signify that human beings were born to die, that is, they were created mortal. Certainly, the curse following the first humans’ sin was pronounced in similar terms (Gen. 3:19): “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Key here is that dissolution—the return to the dust from which they were taken—is the penalty for human disobedience, not the result of coming to the end of a normal mortal life. As Scripture emphasizes throughout, “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:3); human death comes as the penalty for sin. So human creation out of the dust of the ground sets the stage for eventual death, but death is not the normal outcome of human existence.

What, then, does creation out of the dust of the ground signify for humans in relationship to God? Human beings are not divine beings; they are image bearers of God, but he and he alone is divine. They are not heavenly beings banished from the presence of God as punishment for some primordial sin. Rather, they are earthy beings, creatures of the earth, and thus completely dependent on their Creator for life and breath and everything. Such dependency should express itself in (1) acknowledging limitations, which are good because they are of divine design; [3] (2) not blaming sin on human finitude (e.g., everyone gossips because that’s just the way we are); (3) affirming a desperate need for others to get outside of themselves, to envision and experience life aided by the perspective of others; (4) flourishing individually and corporately as they engage in fulfilling the cultural mandate given to finite human beings; and (5) expressing daily their dependence on God by relying on his Word and Spirit.

Again, this dependency is the proper posture of human agents, who are responsible for their agency before God and toward other human agents. As for human agency before God: Similar to what was discussed earlier, God’s creation of dependent human beings is not contingency destroying. Consider the many passages of Scripture that narrate or command human decisions and actions:

Joshua 24:14–15: “Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

Joshua expresses the human decision of a human agent. Moreover, Paul explains (Rom. 10:9) that “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Conversion involves the human action of a human agent. Human beings are human agents who are responsible before God.

As for human agency toward other human agents, Peter offers instructions to wives of unbelieving husbands: “let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious” (1 Pet. 3:4). [4] Consider the phrase “gentleness and quietness of spirit.” It does not mean wimpy surrender, that wives are to passively capitulate to their husbands’ demands through a cowardly retreat that necessitates or results in loss of their agency. Submission should never become an irresolute acquiescence. Obedience should never succumb to abuse and other evils. Indeed, weak, non-agential surrender and passive, enabling obedience is destructive of complementarity, which depends on the full collaboration of husbands and wives who submit to them.

Moreover, quietness of spirit is a highly prized quality for all Christians and of immense value in many contexts. For example, because God “is not a God of disorder but of peace” (1 Cor. 14:33), “everything is to be done decently and in order” in the church (1 Cor. 14:40). Tranquility is to characterize the life of Christians generally; indeed, believers are commanded “to seek to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands” (1 Thess. 4:10-11; cf. 2 Thess. 3:12). Accordingly, the call for “gentleness and quietness of spirit” does not signify and is not obeyed by abandoning one’s agency, agency required for all Christians in many contexts. Human beings are human agents who are responsible toward other human beings.

As Christian educators we can make known the created existence, dependence, and agency of human beings as male and female image bearers, the second element of a Christian worldview.

The third element is the fallenness, redemption, and ecclesial existence of God’s people. This third element of a Christian worldview is the least surprising and the best known, but it still bears discussion (with attention to commonly overlooked aspects).

I begin with the aspect of fallenness. Scripture presents the fallenness of human beings in a multifaceted manner, including the following: disobedience, transgression of a moral law, faithlessness, pride, self-sufficiency, trespassing, lawlessness, indifference, immorality, divisiveness, hopelessness, legalism, hardheartedness, and more. Given this multidimensional biblical presentation of fallenness, it is advisable not to reduce sin to idolatry, though it is common to do so. [5] Seeking to coordinate every sin with idolatry not only flattens out the multifaceted biblical presentation of sin; it also runs the risk of not following the biblical prescriptions for those various types of sin (e.g., the solution for false teaching is to expunge the false teachers from the church).

At times Scripture portrays sin as the all-encompassing identity of non-Christians. As Paul rehearses the human plight (Rom. 6:16, 20-21):

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.

This portrayal does not mean that non-Christians are not divine image bearers; rather, it means that their creational identity has been marred/effaced/tainted/soiled—it has been “so corrupted that whatever remains is frightful deformity.” [6] Moreover, the Reformed doctrine of total depravity does not mean that non-believers cannot do any good whatsoever (e.g., civil good) nor are as evil as they possibly could be.

As Christian educators, we know that human fallenness, characterized by depravity, deformity, and inability, can only be countered and overcome by the redemption in Jesus Christ.

I turn next to the aspect of redemption. Scripture presents the salvation of human beings as dependent on two movements: redemption accomplished and redemption applied. [7] Redemption accomplished encompasses the incarnation, holy life, suffering/passion, death (atoning sacrifice), burial, resurrection, and ascension of the Son of God, the God-man Jesus Christ. As the Son of God is eternally generated from the Father, so the Son in time and space was commissioned and sent by the Father to embark on mission 1 of the Son (e.g., John 20:21): the accomplishment of salvation. Redemption applied consists of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, the announcement of the gospel, and the appropriation of the gospel in terms of a grace-aided and Holy Spirit prompted response of repentance from sin, faith in and confession of Christ as Savior and Lord, the granting of forgiveness, and baptism (more later). As the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son, so the Spirit in time and space was commissioned and sent by the Father and the Son to embark on mission 2 of the Spirit (e.g., Acts 2:33): the application of salvation. The appropriation of the redemption accomplished by Christ results in union with Christ, justification, regeneration, adoption, baptism with the Spirit (more later), sealing/guarantee of salvation, assurance of salvation, and sanctification.

As Christian educators, we are called to share the gospel of the redemption accomplished by Jesus Christ and lead our students so that same redemption is applied personally to their lives.

Two events mentioned above relate to another aspect of this third element of a Christian worldview: ecclesial existence. One event is baptism with the Holy Spirit, as described by Paul (1 Cor. 12:13): “in [with] one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” As a result of redemption applied, Jesus baptizes each of his new followers with the Holy Spirit for the purpose of incorporating them into his body, the church; thus, P. T. Forsyth notes, “The same act which sets us in Christ sets us also in the society [church] of Christ. It does so ipso facto, and not by mere consequence or sequel, more or less optional. To be in Christ is in the same act to be in the Church.” [8] In more detail, baptism with the Spirit is (1) initiatory, taking place at the beginning of salvation; (2) universal, that is, it is true for all Christians and not just for some; (3) purposeful, that is, it incorporates believers into the body of Christ, the church; and (4) indelible, that is, it effects a permanent membership in the body of Christ from which no genuine believer may fall away.[9] One may say that this baptism with the Holy Spirit places all believers into the universal church.

The second event is water baptism, as Peter exhorted his listeners on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:38–41): “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. . .. So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand people.” As then, so today, a local church administers the ordinance/sacrament of baptism, which is the initiatory rite of the church (the other is ongoing rite of the Lord’s Supper). One may say that this water baptism places associates those who are baptized with a local church.

Together, then these two events—baptism with the Spirit and water baptism—signify that an ecclesial existence follows redemption from fallenness: new believers are incorporated into the church of Jesus Christ, with “church” understood in two dimensions:

o the universal church: the fellowship of all Christians that extends from the day of Pentecost until the second coming of Christ, incorporating both the deceased believers who are presently in heaven and the living believers from all over the world;

o local churches: the universal church becomes manifested in local churches that are oriented to the glory of God, centered on the incarnate Word and the inspired Word, Spirit-activated, covenantal, confessional, missional, and here but not here, already but not yet.

This point means that so-called Christians who embrace association with the universal church but who eschew memberships in a local church are misdirected; Scripture does not have a category for believers who are part of the universal church but who are not part of a local church.

As Christian educators, we identify with a local church, worshiping the Lord together with others and serve faithfully as members in its various ministries. Additionally, we encourage our students who have experienced redemption from fallenness to become part of a local church. Indeed, fallenness, redemption, and ecclesial existence of God’s people is the third element of a Christian worldview.

The fourth and final element is the teleological existence of human creatures and creation. I begin with the notion of teleology and the biblical idea of a teleology, turn to the telos of human beings, discuss the perfecting work of the Holy Spirit, and end with a presentation of the telos of the church.

Teleology is defined in terms of someone or something’s purpose, end, or goal; a key component of a Christian worldview is the telos of God’s plan/will for the creation in general and human beings in particular. Scripture addresses this telos: Speaking of “the precious blood of Christ, like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb,” Peter explains that this sacrificial Lamb of God “was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was revealed in these last times for you” (1 Pet 1:20; cf. Acts 2:23; 4:27-28). The centrality of Jesus Christ in this eternal purpose is summed up as “the mystery of his [God’s] will, according to his good pleasure that he purposed in Christ as a plan for the right time—to bring everything together in Christ, both things in heaven and things on earth in him” (Eph 1:9-10). Scripture reveals the telos of creation to be the uniting of all created realities in Christ.

More specifically, what is the telos of human beings with particular reference to divine image bearing? As Paul affirms (Rom. 8:28–30): “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” Christians are called according to an eternal purpose (Paul speaks of God’s foreknowledge and predestination of believers). This eternal plan is that redeemed, eminent image bearers would one day be fully conformed to the image of the preeminent Son. This telos comes about through an effective call to salvation (the divine summons to embrace the gospel), justification (God’s declaration not guilty but righteous instead) and glorification of human being (the next point).

This splendid and gracious telos is not within reach in this period but awaits Christ’s second coming (1 John 3:2–3): “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” When Christ appears (at his return), Christians will appear as like him, as Paul confirms (1 Cor. 15:49): “just as we have borne the image of the man of dust [Adam], we will also bear the image of the man of heaven [Jesus Christ].” The telos of [redeemed] human beings is full conformity to the image of Jesus Christ.

This full transformation is only possible through the perfecting work of the Holy Spirit. As the one who inspired this biblical teleology, the Holy Spirit providentially directs the creation toward its divinely purposed end. As this present world will one day come to an end, the consummation of all things will be the climax of the Spirit’s perfecting work. He is the eschatological Spirit whose orientation is always toward the future. As the Spirit of adoption, he “himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Rom 8:16-17; cf. Gal 4:4-6).

Regarding this future existence of Christians, Paul underscores that the one “who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee” (2 Cor 5:5). Indeed, the Spirit is the downpayment, the deposit, the first fruits, the one who seals believers for the day of redemption: his saving work always has future reference. The Holy Spirit is preparing a people for an upcoming salvation in which the church will be presented as the perfected, beautiful “bride, the wife of the Lamb” (Rev 21:9).

The Holy Spirit’s future-oriented work will include two monumental events: the resurrection of believers for their glorification and the perfecting of the church’s holiness and beauty. As for the resurrection from the dead, Paul explains (1 Cor. 15:42-44); “What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.” Reembodied believers will be imperishable (not susceptible to sickness, never to wear out, never to die), glorious (brilliantly radiant?), powerful (not as in superhuman but in terms of formidable might appropriate for human beings), and completely dominated by the Spirit.

As for the Spirit’s perfection of the church, with apocalyptic imagery, the end of Revelation offers a captivating vision of the church’s future (Rev. 21:1-4):

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

This cosmic renewal will only come about by the perfecting work of the Spirit.

More can be presented about the telos of the church, which Paul envisions as “a bride adorned for her husband.” Though the church is tarnished and stained during its present, earthly sojourn, in the end it will be, and will remain forever, gloriously beautiful. Then and only then, it will experience in full the cleansing work that Christ accomplished on its behalf (Eph. 5:25-27): “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” Then and only then, the church will experience in full the perfecting work of the Holy Spirit. It will be washed completely and dressed in splendor, known as “the Bride, the wife of the Lamb” (Rev. 21:9). Until then, and in longing anticipation of that perfect transformation, “the Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come’” (Rev. 22:17).

As Christian educators we can make known the teleological existence of human creatures and creation, the fourth element of a Christian worldview.

In conclusion, a Christian worldview is a unifying framework to understand the created order in general and human beings in particular and then live this reality. Interestingly, Paul links the future of the creation with the future of redeemed human beings: “We know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now. Not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits—we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies” (8:22-23). Masterfully, the apostle connects the future of the cursed creation, which will be redeemed, with the future of Christians, who are now redeemed in part and will be redeemed fully, even bodily. A well developed and practiced Christian worldview enables us as Christian educators to transmit this framework to our students and to inculcate in them not only a cognitive understanding but a genuine embrace of this vision.

[1] The following is adapted from Gregg R. Allison, “The Word of God and the People of God: The Mutual Relationship between Scripture and the Church,” in John DelHousaye, John J. Hughes, and Jeff T. Purswell, eds., Scripture and the People of God: Essays in Honor of Wayne Grudem (Wheaton: Crossway, 2018), 33-51.

[2] The following is adapted from Gregg R. Allison, Embodied: Living as Whole People in a Fractured World (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2021), chps. 1-2.

[3] For further discussion see Kelly M. Kapic, You’re Only Human: How Your Limits Reflect God’s Design and Why That’s Good News (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2022).

[4] The following is adapted from Gregg R. Allison, Complementarity: Dignity, Difference, and Interdependence (Nashville: B & H Academic, 2025), ch. 19.

[5] For example, according to Benjamin Gladd, “Idolatry, the worship of something other than God, is at the root of all sin because sin seeks to steal glory from God, to whom alone it is due, and take it for the sinner.” (Sin as Idolatry - The Gospel Coalition).

[6] John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1.15.2.

[7] For further discussion see John Murray, Redemption Accomplished and Applied (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1955).

[8] P. T. Forsyth, The Church, the Gospel, and Society (London: Independent Press, 1962), 61-62.

[9] For further discussion see Gregg R. Allison, “Baptism with and Filling of the Holy Spirit,” Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 16.4 (2012): 8.