INTRODUCTION: A Reformation study of the sacraments is a sad study, filled with testimonies of bitter polemics, schism, division, and even execution. One may catch a glimpse of the pain, seeing Zwingli at Marburg, or a drowning protestor in Zurich, or a banished ¡°sacramentarian¡± in the Paletinate. The same holy waters of baptism, which are ostensibly intended to bring union to God and His people, continue to be a cause for ecclesiastical divisions. Lancaster county is filled with the posterity of the protestors of the Protestants.
To address the Biblical doctrine of the recipients of baptism we need to answer these questions:
Who¡¯s In?
Who Got Wet?
So What?
Sermon Series on the Covenant God¡¯s Relationship to His People
The Covenant Lord: Praise Him - Psalm 33
The Covenant People: Becoming Like-Minded - Romans 15:5
The Covenant People: Not the Steeple
The Worship of the Covenant People: True Zion
The Worship of the Covenant People: Covenant Remembrance
The Covenant Signs and Seals: Baptism
The Covenant Signs and Seals: Lord¡¯s Supper
The Covenant Family
The Covenant Future
Remembering our study of Covenant Remembrance: Worship should be conscious of the covenant relationship between God and man, fulfilled in Christ. Worship should repeat the fundamental terms of the covenant, in His Law and gospel; Worship should be guided by the book of the covenant, the Bible; Worship should focus on the mediator of the covenant, our Reigning Lord Jesus Christ; Worship should the signs and seals of the covenant, baptism and communnion. Worship should be the joy of those who share in the blood of the covenant, His people; it should be covenantal in the fullest sense.
OUR CHURCH IS NAMED - ALL SAINTS PRESBYTERIAN - Since we acknowledge that we are standing in the lineage of the church triumphant. Many of the greatest minds of the Christian church have written and defended the theology underlying this view of the sacraments and baptism, such as John Calvin, Francis Turretin, Samuel Rutherford, Thomas Goodwin, John Owen, Richard Baxter, Jonathan Edwards, Archibald Alexander, Charles Hodge, Robert L. Dabney, Benjamin B. Warfield, J. Gresham Machen and many, many others to this very day. We (all the saints herein) believe that according to the Scriptures salvation is by the grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, for the glory of God alone¡ªsola Scriptura, sola gratia, sola fide, solo Christo, soli Deo gloria!
The Bible very infrequently gives definitions of its content. Definitions are the job of the systematic theologian. The same is true when we come to the question of sacraments. No definition is given in Scripture. At best we have the statement in Romans 4:12 - a definitive description of circumcision.
1. WHO¡¯S IN? Who is included in covenant administrations?
The covenant with Adam involved all of the children of Adam. ¡°As in Adam all die¡± (1Co 15:22, Rom 5:12). The covenant with Noah included the ¡°salvation of his household¡± (Heb 11:7). The sacrifices of the patriarchs (including Noah, Job, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) were for the whole family. Job offered ¡°burnt offerings according to the number of them all¡± (Job 1:5). Similarly, ¡°Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his kinsmen to the meal¡± (Gen 31:54). Circumcision was given to Abraham as a sign of God¡¯s covenant for ¡°you and your descendants after you throughout their generations¡± (Gen 17:9). Under Moses the Israelites were commanded to put the blood of the Passover lamb on their doors to preserve the firstborn in the household. Israel was to observe Passover ¡°as an ordinance for you and your children forever¡± (Exo 12:24). Even in the promise to David, the Lord said, ¡°I have made a covenant with My chosen; I have sworn to David My servant, I will establish your seed forever, and build up your throne to all generations¡± (Psa 89:3-4).
Even the New Covenant? Does the New Covenant inclusion of the Children of Believers: Does it also include believers¡¯ children? Virtually every prophecy and exposition of the New Covenant ostensibly includes the children of believers in the New Covenant.
One of the most knowledgable and rhetorically powerful critics of Infant Baptism, Paul King Jewett says:
With the advent of Messiah ¡ª the promised seed par excellence ¡ª and the Pentecostal effusion of the Spirit, the salvation contained in the promise to Israel was brought nigh. No longer was it a hope on the distant horizon but rather an accomplished fact in history. Then ¡ª and for our discussion, the THEN is of capital significance ¡ª the temporal, earthly, typical elements of the old dispensation were dropped from the great house of salvation as scaffolding from the finished edifice. It is our contention that the Paedobaptist, in framing their argument from circumcision, have failed to keep this significant historical development in clear focus. Proceeding from the basically correct postulate that baptism stands in the place of circumcision, they have urged this analogy to a distortion. They have so far pressed the unity of the covenant as to suppress the diversity of its administration. They have, to be specific, Christianized the Old Testament and Judaized the New. (91)
Another important writer, David Kingdom, defending a baptist perspective says,
¡°I would argue then that the principle of believers and their seed no longer has covenantal significance, precisely because the age of fulfillment has arrived.¡± He goes on to say, ¡°Nowhere in the content of the new covenant is the principle ¡®thee and thy seed¡¯ mentioned.¡± If this were true, such a change in covenant recipients and covenant promises could hardly be more drastic! Covenant membership has always and ever included ¡°you and your children¡± and covenant content is most fundamentally that the Lord is ¡°God to you and your descendants¡± (Gen 17:7, Deu 7:9, 30:6, 1Ch 16:15, Psa 103:17, 105:8).
Consider all the verses which refute this point. In the very first word about the new covenant was in Deuteronomy 30:6:
a. Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live. . .
b. Deuteronomy 30:9: Then the LORD your God will prosper you abundantly in all the work of your hand, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your cattle and in the produce of your ground, for the LORD will again rejoice over you for good, just as He rejoiced over your fathers.
Jeremiah alludes to the above Deuteronomy passage throughout his prophecy. He emphasizes the inclusion of children in the new covenant promise.
c. Jeremiah 30:9: ¡®But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up for them. 10 ¡®And fear not, O Jacob My servant,¡¯ declares the LORD, ¡®and do not be dismayed, O Israel; for behold, I will save you from afar, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. And Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and no one shall make him afraid.
d. Jeremiah 30:18: ¡°Thus says the LORD, ¡®Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob and have compassion on his dwelling places; and the city shall be rebuilt on its ruin, and the palace shall stand on its rightful place. 19 ¡®And from them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of those who make merry; and I will multiply them, and they shall not be diminished; I will also honor them, and they shall not be insignificant. 20 ¡®Their children also shall be as formerly, and their congregation shall be established before Me; and I will punish all their oppressors. 22 ¡®And you shall be My people, and I will be your God.¡¯¡±
e. Jeremiah 31:1: ¡°¡®At that time,¡¯ declares the LORD, ¡®I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.¡¯¡±
f. Jeremiah 31:17: [Though Rachel weeps for her children (destroyed in captivity), when they return] ¡°¡®there is hope for your future,¡¯ declares the LORD, ¡®and your children shall return to their own territory.¡¯¡±
Notice verse 36 of the classic text of the new covenant, the offspring of covenant participants are explicitly included.
g. Jeremiah 31:33-37: ¡°But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,¡± declares the LORD, ¡°I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 ¡°And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ¡®Know the LORD,¡¯ for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,¡± declares the LORD, ¡°for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.¡± 35 Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for light by day, and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The LORD of hosts is His name: 36 ¡°If this fixed order departs From before Me,¡± declares the LORD, ¡° Then the offspring of Israel also shall cease From being a nation before Me forever. ¡° 37 Thus says the LORD, ¡°If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done,¡± declares the LORD.¡±
h. Jeremiah 32:15-18: ¡°For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land . . . who showest lovingkindness to thousands [of generations], but repayest the iniquity of fathers into the bosom of their children after them . . .¡±
i. Jeremiah 32:37-40: ¡°Behold, I will gather them out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger . . . And they shall be My people, and I will be their God; 39 and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good, and for the good of their children after them. 40 ¡°And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me.
j. Jeremiah 33:22-26: ¡°As the host of heaven cannot be counted, and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me . . . 26 then I would reject the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.¡±
Other Old Testament prophecies about the coming age of the new covenant are equally clear that the children of believers are included.
k. Eze 37:24-26: David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them. 25 ¡°Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children¡¯s children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever. 26 ¡°Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore. (NKJV)
l. Zech 10:6-9: ¡°And I shall bring them back, Because I have had compassion on them; and they will be as though I had not rejected them, for I am the LORD their God, and I will answer them. 7 ¡°And Ephraim will be like a mighty man, and their heart will be glad as if from wine; Indeed, their children will see it and be glad, Their heart will rejoice in the LORD . . . They will remember Me in far countries, and they with their children will live and come back.
m. Joel 2:1-29: Blow a trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm on My holy mountain! . . .So there is a great and mighty people; There has never been anything like it, Nor will there be again after it To the years of many generations . . . 15 Blow a trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly, 16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and the nursing infants. Let the bridegroom come out of his room and the bride out of her bridal chamber . . . 27 ¡°Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God and there is no other; and My people will never be put to shame. 28 ¡°And it will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions. 29 ¡°And even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.¡±
n. Isaiah 44:3: For I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring, and My blessing on your descendants.
o. Isaiah 54:10-13: . . .Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed . . .13 All your children shall be taught by the LORD, And great shall be the peace of your children.
p. Isaiah 59:20-21: ¡°And a Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,¡± declares the LORD. 21 ¡°And as for Me, this is My covenant with them,¡± says the LORD: ¡°My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring¡¯s offspring,¡± says the LORD, ¡°from now and forever.¡±
q. Malachi 4:5-6 ¡°Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. 6 ¡°And he will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse.
Contrary to the new covenant baptistic view, in the New Testament, the apostles repeatedly included the principle of ¡°you and your seed.¡±
And the NT restatements and confirmations (Luk 1:17, 2:49-50, Acts 2:39, Acts 3:25, 13:32-33, Rom 4:13-17)
r. Luke 1:17: ¡°And it is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous; so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.¡±
s. Luke 2:49-50: For the Mighty One has done great things for me; and holy is His name. 50 and His mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear him.
t. Acts 2:39: For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call to Himself.
u. Acts 3:25: ¡°It is you who are the sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ¡®and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.¡¯¡±
v. Acts 13:32-33: ¡°And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, 33 that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus . . .
w. Rom 4:13-17: For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith . . . 16 For this reason it is by faith, that it might be in accordance with grace, in order that the promise may be certain to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 (as it is written, ¡°A father of many nations have I made you¡±) in the sight of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.
¡°The argument in a nutshell is simply this: God established His Church in the days of Abraham and put children into it. They must remain there until He puts them out. He has nowhere put them out. They are still then members of His Church and as such entitled to its ordinances. Among these ordinances is baptism, which standing in similar place in the New Dispensation to circumcision in the Old, is like it to be given to children.¡±¨C Benjamin B. Warfield, The Polemics of Infant Baptism (in his Works, 9:408)
2. WHO GOT WET? The Baptisms of the New Testament
a. After the Great Commission: (1) At Pentecost it seems that only men were present, thus only men were baptized, some 3000 of them. Still, the new covenant promise was ¡°to you and your children¡± (2:39). (2) In Samaria ¡°men and women alike¡± (8:12) were baptized, including Simon (the apostate Sorcerer). (3) The eunuch (who had no household) was baptized (Acts 8:38). (4) Paul (who had no household) was baptized (9:18). (5) Cornelius¡¯ household was baptized (10:48, 11:14). (6) Lydia¡¯s household was baptized (16:15). (7)The Philippian Jailer¡¯s household was baptized (16:33). (8) Many Corinthians were baptized, including Crispus¡¯ household, Stephanas¡¯ household, and Gaius (18:8, 1Co 1:14, 16). (9) The disciples of John (adult men) were baptized (19:5).
b. These are the facts about those baptized. From this we learn that of the nine narrative passages on baptism, four are household baptisms, four other cases consisted of only adult men (Pentecost, eunuch, Paul, twelve disciples of John), and the other case is of Simon and the ¡°men and women alike¡± in Samaria. In this case, consider carefully the phrase used by Luke in 8:12, ¡°men and women alike¡± (andres te kai gunaikes). This is the first case in which females are explicitly said to be baptized. Considering the nine individuals singled-out in the baptism narratives¡ªfive had their households baptized (Cornelius, the Jailer, Lydia, Crispus, Stephanas), two had no household for obvious reasons (eunuch & Paul). That leaves Simon, who actually turned out to be an unbeliever and Gaius, whom Paul baptized (1Co 1:14). As for Simon, I think it is reasonable to conclude that he was an atypical case and was not a likely head of household.
3. SO WHAT? What is baptism? Baptism is a sign of inclusion?
a. In the Messianic new covenant, kingdom, and people (church). In fact, the children of believers are explicitly included in the kingdom, church, and covenant promise and no where is their exclusion stated in the Bible.
b. In the covenant ¡Ì: (see above) Genesis 17:7, ¡°And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.¡± Lest someone say¡ª¡°But that was the Old Testament¡±¡ªPaul interprets this in the New Testament when he teaches that the promise was made ¡°certain to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, ¡®a father of many nations have I made you¡¯)¡± (Rom 4:16-17).
c. In the Kingdom ¡Ì: ¡°And they were bringing even their babies (brephos) to Him so that He might touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them. 16 But Jesus called for them, saying, ¡°Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such (toiouton, cf Act 22:22) as these. 17 Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it at all.¡± (Luk 18:15-17) It was the Covenant Lord Himself who set a (literal, not a figurative) child before His disciples and said, ¡°And whoever receives one such (toiouto) child in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea. ... See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you, that their angels in heaven continually behold the face of My Father who is in heaven.¡±(Mat 18:2-10)
d. In the church ¡Ì: The children of even on believer are called ¡°hagia¡± (saints, or holy ones, 1Co 7:14). Paul begins his letter to the Colossians, ¡°To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae¡± (v 2). Later he addresses ¡°wives¡± (3:18), ¡°husbands¡± (3:19), ¡°children¡± (3:20), ¡°fathers¡± (3:21), ¡°slaves¡± (3:22), and ¡°masters¡± (4:1). In the same way he addresses ¡°the saints who are at Ephesus, and who are faithful in Christ Jesus¡± (Eph 1:1). In chapter five he addresses ¡°wives¡± (5:22), ¡°husbands¡± (5:25), ¡°children¡± (6:1), ¡°fathers¡± (6:4), ¡°slaves¡± (6:5), and ¡°masters¡± (6:9). It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that Paul addressed the children of believers as part of ¡°the saints and faithful brethren¡± (Col 1:2).
¡°The close and endearing connection between parents and children affords a strong argument in favour of the church-membership of the infant seed of believers. The voice of nature is lifted up, and pleads most powerfully in behalf of our cause. The thought of severing parents from their offspring, in regard to the most interesting relations in which it has pleased God in his adorable providence to place them, is equally repugnant to Christian feeling, and to natural law. Can it be, my friends, that when the stem is in the church, the branch is out of it? Can it be that when the parent is within the visible kingdom of the Redeemer, his offspring, bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh, have no connection with it?¡± ¡ª Samuel Miller, Infant Baptism: Discourse 1 (Presbyterian Board of Publication, from a sermon in 1834])
Objections:
(1) There is no explicit warrant (an example or command) for ¡°infant baptism.¡± (2) The new covenant is made with exclusively regenerate individuals.
Answer: There is explicit Biblical warrant for the inclusion of children in the new covenant (Deu 30:6, Jer 31:36-37), church (Eph 1:1/6:1-4, Col 1:2/3:20, 1Co 7:14), and kingdom (Mat 19:14, Mar 10:14, Luk 18:16). Moreover, we can argue from truly necessary inferences¡ªdrawing upon both the continuity of the covenant and covenant people, as well as the examples of baptism (Cornelius¡¯ household, Lydia¡¯s household, the Jailer¡¯s household, Crispus¡¯ household, and Stephanus¡¯ household). Let us consider further, however, the two components of this argument.
So What? of Practical Application
Remember you are united to Christ through His washing!
Examine yourself to see if your baptism is true of you.
Take courage in the parenting of covenant children. Remind your children of their covenant union with Jesus. ¡°. . . Infant baptism does not relieve parents or guardians, as the case may be, of that solemn responsibility to instruct, warn, exhort, direct and protect the infant members of the Christian church committed to their care. . . .The encouragement derived from a divine promise must never be divorced from the discharge of the obligations involved. It is only in the atmosphere of obligation discharged, in a word, in the atmosphere of obedience to divine commandments, that faith in the divine promise can live and grow. Faith divorced from obedience is mockery and presumption.¡±¨C John Murray.
