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Doug Wilson Says ‘Raise Your Hand If You Knew That The Westminster Confession Taught Baptismal Regeneration’

| Opinion by Nathan Wells

Baptismal Regeneration

“Raise your hand if you knew that the Westminster Confession taught baptismal regeneration…Baptism means that the one baptized has a sign and seal of the covenant of grace, has been grafted into Christ, has the sign and seal of regeneration and forgiveness of sins, and has the obligation to walk in newness of life…baptism is efficacious. But the efficacy of the sacrament is not tied to the moment when it is administered. By means of baptism, this efficacious grace is conferred on the elect at the appropriate time, the time of conversion, and it is the applied grace of their baptism.”1 – Doug Wilson

OPINION: Stated simply, baptismal regeneration is the belief “that regeneration is effected in and through Christian baptism.”2 Why would Doug emphasize that the Westminster Confession teaches baptismal regeneration when he has previously stated that it is a “false and destructive doctrine”3 even calling it “sub-Christian”?4 I believe it goes back to the Federal Vision controversy (a theology Doug participated in formulating—and was subsequently labeled a heretic by some)5 because one of the critiques of Federal Vision is that it affirms “some version of baptismal regeneration.”6 You can easily see why Doug has been accused of this when you listen to him give a liturgy of baptism: “Baptism represents and seals our union with Christ, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and resulting regeneration, adoption and cleansing from sin. By baptism, we are initiated into the covenant community and made members of the body of Christ…do you resolve by the grace of God not only to bring him up as your natural son but also from this day forward to consider him as your brother in the Lord, as a joint heir of all God’s covenant blessings?”7 Doug even goes so far as to claim “In this limited sense, we can say that Calvin held to baptismal regeneration.”8 And “Contrary to Warfield, baptism is efficacious.”9

But let me clearly state: If the Westminster Confession, John Calvin or B. B. Warfield teaches baptismal regeneration, that teaching should be rejected, not embraced. As Spurgeon said: “I cry out against it [baptismal regeneration] because I believe that baptism does not save the soul, and that the preaching of it has a wrong and evil influence upon men…How can any man stand up in his pulpit and say Ye must be born again to his congregation, when he has already assured them, by his own ‘unfeigned assent and consent’ to it, that they are themselves, every one of them, born again in baptism.”10

Doug seeks to redefine the term “regeneration” so that he can use it “in ways that are unknown, unclear and discomforting” but by doing so, even Doug admitted that he may have “caused some to stumble”.11 Doug claims he does not believe in baptismal regeneration, and yet at the same time speaks as if there is no problem if he does (even though he claims he doesn’t) since according to Doug, other accepted Reformed theologians teach it. This “unclear” teaching is not to be commended. And while Doug, in the Joint Federal Vision Statement, tried to distance himself from the term “baptismal regeneration”12 Wes White observed: “the theology stays the same, but the terminology that would get them in trouble is jettisoned.”13 The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) rightly wrote: “Our concern is that some of those who are baptized will simply presume on God’s grace, ‘continuing in the covenant’ without ‘apostatizing’ but also without justifying faith (cf. Matthew 22:1-14); others will be driven to despair, working for a salvation out of ‘covenant faithfulness’ instead of resting and receiving Jesus alone for their salvation.”14

I witnessed firsthand the very concerns the PCA highlighted. Early on, while volunteering for a library reading session in my son’s class at Logos School—which Doug helped start15—I read a children’s book by R. C. Sproul (our children no longer attend Logos School). After finishing, I asked the children, “How are we saved?” Almost all the hands shot up, immediately followed with the enthusiastic response of, “Baptism!” Surprised, I gently replied, “No…” This time, only a few hands were raised, and a child tentatively offered, “By believing in Jesus?” Doug’s belief that water baptism objectively grafts people into union with Christ has dangerous consequences.16 A child baptized as an infant in his church who lives a good enough life to not be excommunicated, might grow up never understanding their need to place their faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins. Why would they need to? They’ve been baptized, are united with Christ and are considered to be a “joint heir of all God’s covenant blessings.”17 But this is not the gospel. It is not the baptized that are the children of God, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12–13, NASB95). And again, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9, NASB95). The gospel is simple enough for a child to understand. But Doug Wilson has distorted the gospel in such a way that children and adults alike are confused.

My prayer is that Doug would truly repent from his confusing advocacy of baptismal regeneration by pulling books like “Reformed” Is Not Enough from the shelves, and fully recant the Joint Federal Vision Statement (not just in name). And that he would seek forgiveness from all those who have stumbled because of his teaching.

Want More Context?

Here are some links to other blogs and podcasts dealing with this and other issues in more depth:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAqhpb-UF40

https://greenbaggins.wordpress.com/2008/03/14/are-children-assumed-to-be-saved/

https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermons/213232214116948

https://www.apuritansmind.com/book-reviews/the-black-list-reformed-is-not-enough/

https://reformed.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Federal-Vision-Doug-Wilson-and-Infant-Baptism.pdf

https://heidelblog.net/2013/11/for-those-just-tuning-in-what-is-the-federal-vision/

https://learn.ligonier.org/guides/the-federal-vision

https://www.trinityfoundation.org/PDF/The%20Trinity%20Review%2000221%20251FederalVision.pdf

https://dougwilsonsays.com/blog/declared-to-be-heretics/

https://dougwilsonsays.com/blog/still-affirm-federal-vision/

Footnotes

Footnotes

  1. Douglas Wilson, “Reformed” is Not Enough, 2nd ed., Canon Press, 2010, loc. 1256, Kindle Edition. ↩

  2. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/baptismal%20regeneration See also: https://carm.org/about-baptism/what-other-errors-does-baptismal-regeneration-promote/ https://youtu.be/tAqhpb-UF40?si=OOuaV0Ua85HbHpMD&t=246 and https://learn.ligonier.org/qas/response-to-baptismal-regeneration ↩

  3. The complete quote: “In the same way, we need to get to the point where no one would dream of accusing an evangelical paedobaptist of holding to the false and destructive doctrine of baptismal regeneration—even though the Roman Catholic church does.” Douglas Wilson To a Thousand Generations: Infant Baptism - Covenant Mercy for the People of God, Canon Press, 1996, loc. 56, Kindle Edition. ↩

  4. Douglas Wilson To a Thousand Generations: Infant Baptism - Covenant Mercy for the People of God, Canon Press, 1996, loc. 101, Kindle Edition. ↩

  5. https://dougwilsonsays.com/blog/declared-to-be-heretics/ ↩

  6. “Some have charged this view with affirming some version of baptismal regeneration. No doubt, this charge carries some weight if ‘regeneration’ carries the sense it normally does in theology, namely, God’s sovereign and gracious act by the Spirit to make spiritually dead people alive in Christ (see Eph. 2:1-10). Yet, for some advocates of the Federal Vision they redefine regeneration to refer to the entire work of how we are renewed and now partake of the new creation in Christ, including the placement of the elect and non-elect in the covenant community.” – Stephen Wellum https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/the-federal-vision/ ↩

  7. When I met with Doug for clarification he told me that he no longer baptizes anyone, and that his church now uses a different liturgy, but not because of any change in belief: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDQfkoHNlBA 00:17ff “Baptism represents and seals our union with Christ, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and resulting regeneration, adoption and cleansing from sin. By baptism we are initiated into the covenant community and made members of the body of Christ….On the basis of your faith expressed here, do you resolve by the grace of God not only to bring him up as your natural son but also from this day forward to consider him as your brother in the Lord, as a joint heir of all God’s covenant blessings?” ↩

  8. Full context: “In this Calvinistic sense, baptism offers a twofold grace: forgiveness of sins and regeneration. In this limited sense, we can say that Calvin held to baptismal regeneration. But he also believed in the effectual call, and he knew (being a good Calvinist, perhaps even the best) that this effectual call could precede or follow the moment of baptism.” Douglas Wilson, “Reformed” is Not Enough, 2nd ed., Canon Press, 2010, loc. 459, Kindle Edition. But Doug’s use of Calvin in this way has been condemned by others: “Calvin, Zwingli, Bucer, Capito, Turretin, Vermigli, Ames, Sibbes, Goodwin, Owen, Manton, Hodge, Warfield, and most of the Reformed orthodoxy up and until the Enlightenment believed that the infants of believers were already adopted by God before baptism, and that the parent, in faith of presuming upon God’s promise and command, baptized the child. That did not mean the child was infallibly saved, but that the parent presumed that God’s promises applied to the child. This position for the bulk of the magisterial Reformers, Puritans and framers of the Westminster Confession of Faith is not hard to prove. However, Wilson goes beyond this. For Wilson there is a great amount of redefinition and addition to the Reformers, Puritans and the Westminster Confession of Faith than any of them intended. And none of them, no matter how subtly Wilson attempts to ‘back up’ his information with the Westminster Confession of Faith, believed the same theological formulations as Wilson, or any of the Auburn Four.” – Dr. C. Matthew McMahon https://www.apuritansmind.com/book-reviews/the-black-list-reformed-is-not-enough/ ↩

  9. Douglas Wilson, “Reformed” is Not Enough, 2nd ed., Canon Press, 2010, loc. 1321, Kindle Edition. Doug summarizes at the end of the same chapter by stating: “By means of baptism, baptism with water, grace and salvation are conferred on the elect.” Ibid. loc. 1349. Dr. C. Matthew McMahon responds: “No, actually, by grace and regeneration a spiritual principle not already present is conferred to the elect, and by faith they are justified through the imputed righteousness of Christ. Baptism is simply a sign of seal of what already takes place, not a conference of that grace. The Westminster Confession of Faith repudiates Wilson’s position when it distinguishes in this light those who enter the visible church and those who are partakers of the Covenant of Grace as the elect.” https://www.apuritansmind.com/book-reviews/the-black-list-reformed-is-not-enough/
    Doug also tries to twist the Apostle Peter‘s words so that it appears that he also taught baptismal regeneration: “Water baptism now saves us. Peter tells us that baptism saves, and his subsequent qualifier does not mean that baptism does not save. He is not taking away with one hand what he has given with the other. It means that baptism saves in this fashion, but not in that fashion. Baptism does not save by means of the water (not putting away physical dirt), but baptism does save by the resurrection of Jesus Christ accompanied by the answer of a good conscience.” Douglas Wilson, “Reformed” is Not Enough, 2nd ed., Canon Press, 2010, loc. 1231, Kindle Edition. For an explination of 1 Peter 3:18-22 see https://heidelblog.net/2009/04/does-baptism-save/ and https://learn.ligonier.org/devotionals/baptism-and-salvation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_6_vtfrxZk It is important to note as Peter Davids does of 1 Peter 1:21: “With this reference Peter both draws the readers’ experience close to that of Noah and produces one of the most difficult verses in the NT.” Peter H. Davids, The First Epistle of Peter, The New International Commentary on the New Testament, Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1990, p. 143. ↩

  10. https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/sermons/baptismal-regeneration/#flipbook/ ↩

  11. Question 2: “It seems like one result of Federal Vision is blurred definitions of terms that were once clear and thus comforting. Terms such as justification, Christian, election, salvation, and regeneration seem now to be used in ways that are unknown, unclear and discomforting. Are you concerned that you may have contributed to this loss of certitude and comfort, and thus caused some to stumble?” Wilson’s Answer: “Yes, I would have to say so.” Source Appendix E in Minutes of the 8th Annual Meeting of the Presbytery of the Confederation of Reformed Evangelical Churches, October 13–15, 2004: https://web.archive.org/web/20231129180132/https://crechurches.org/documents/minutes/2004crec.pdf ↩

  12. “We deny the common misunderstanding of baptismal regeneration—i.e. that an ‘effectual call’ or rebirth is automatically wrought in the one baptized. Baptism apart from a growing and living faith is not saving, but rather damning.” https://web.archive.org/web/20110710233937/http://federal-vision.com/resources/joint_FV_Statement.pdf ↩

  13. https://web.archive.org/web/20240731205112/https://theonomyresources.blogspot.com/2013/09/reply-to-joint-federal-vision.html Note that while Doug no longer calls himself a Federal Visionalist he still holds to the Joint Federal Vision Statement: https://dougwilsonsays.com/blog/still-affirm-federal-vision/ ↩

  14. The Presbyterian Church in America, 2007: https://web.archive.org/web/20231211234041/https://www.pcahistory.org/pca/studies/07-fvreport.pdf See also the RCUS Study Committee on the Federal Vision’s Doctrine of Justification: “Note what Wilson clearly says: the benefit of justification is applied through baptism to the man who has faith. By confusing the sign with the thing signified, Wilson makes baptism co-instrumental with faith in the appropriation of the work of Christ to the sinner. This again denies justification by faith alone. If baptism is a means of justification, then obviously faith is not the only means of justification.” https://web.archive.org/web/20240509165428/https://rcus.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/RCUS-Position-Federal-Vision-2006f.pdf The teaching of “Federal Vision” has been widely condemed for many years: “…the teachings of the Federal Vision herein reviewed and critiqued seriously undermine the testimony of the Gospel and are substantially at odds with the Christian gospel…if Wilson is going to be clear of heresy he must renounce his errors and confusion and truly affirm the historic protestant doctrine of justification by means of faith alone apart from works of any kind – including the work of baptism!” - The Reformed Church in the United States: https://web.archive.org/web/20240509165428/https://rcus.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/RCUS-Position-Federal-Vision-2006f.pdf “…the ‘New Perspectives on Paul’, and the ‘Federal Vision’, are in conflict with the teaching of Scripture and as such they are unacceptable.” - Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church: https://web.archive.org/web/20221006145752/http://arpchurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Minutes-of-Synod-2009-Web.pdf
    “That the General Assembly recommend that presbyteries, sessions, and pastors be proactive in addressing teaching of the New Perspective on Paul and of the Federal Vision and other like teachings that compromise the purity of the gospel.” - Orthodox Presbyterian Church: https://web.archive.org/web/20220524152347/https://opc.org/GA/justification.pdf
    “Our concern is that some of those who are baptized will simply presume on God’s grace, ‘continuing in the covenant’ without ‘apostatizing’ but also without justifying faith (cf. Matthew 22:1-14)” - The Presbyterian Church in America: https://web.archive.org/web/20231211234041/https://www.pcahistory.org/pca/studies/07-fvreport.pdf
    “By the standard of biblical and confessional teaching, this reformulation of the doctrine of justification by FV writers stands condemned.” - United Reformed Churches in North America https://web.archive.org/web/20240430083758/https://www.urcna.org/urcna/StudyCommittees/FederalVision/Federal_Vision_Study_Committee_Report.pdf “…we humbly but resolutely stand against the theological errors now current, propagated by certain teachings of what has become known as the Federal Vision” - Mid America Reformed Seminary https://web.archive.org/web/20231207134042/https://www.midamerica.edu/uploads/files/pdf/errors.pdf ↩

  15. https://web.archive.org/web/20240803023354/https://logosschool.com/about/history/ ↩

  16. “The cut-away branch has no fruit (which is why it was cut away)—but it has had sap (which is why it had to be cut away).” Douglas Wilson, “Reformed” is Not Enough, 2nd ed., Canon Press, 2010, loc. 1601, Kindle Edition. “…baptism is our introduction to union with Him.” Ibid. loc. 2078. And in the Joint Federal Vision Statement: “We affirm that God formally unites a person to Christ and to His covenant people through baptism into the triune Name” https://web.archive.org/web/20110710233937/http://federal-vision.com/resources/joint_FV_Statement.pdf I related this story to Doug when we met, and his answer was that the church was soon going to be implimenting a catechism for the children at his church. ↩

  17. When I met with Doug for clarification he told me that he no longer baptizes anyone, and that his church now uses a different liturgy, but not because of any change in belief: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDQfkoHNlBA 00:17ff “Baptism represents and seals our union with Christ, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and resulting regeneration, adoption and cleansing from sin. By baptism we are initated into the covenant community and made members of the body of Christ….On the basis of your faith expressed here, do you resolve by the grace of God not only to bring him up as your natural son but also from this day forward to consider him as your brother in the Lord, as a joint heir of all God’s covenant blessings?” ↩

#Doug Wilson Says #Gospel Distortion #Works Salvation #Baptism #Baptismal Regeneration #Federal Vision #Contradiction #Heresy

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