A Contemporary Reformed Defense Of Infant Baptism (Part 2)

by on April 14, 2026

What Are the Relations Between the Covenants?

The Lord Jesus has fulfilled the bloody signs and types of circumcision and has replaced them with bloodless signs (Heb 9:11–10:1). Christ’s death was the reality to which the old signs and seals pointed. Now, Christ having died, there is no need for the old sacraments and feasts. Scripture teaches that by faith, all believers died with Christ (Rom 6:2, 5–6, 8; 2 Tim 2:11). If Christ died an accursed death and we died with Christ, then by faith in Christ we have undergone the curse implied by circumcision. Colossians 2:20 and Philippians 3:3 explicitly say that by faith, in Christ’s death, all believers have undergone circumcision.

Romans 6:2–10 says that we are baptized into Christ’s death. That is, when the sign of the covenant is applied, the recipient is identified with Jesus’s death and the cursedness of Christ.

The main difference between the old and new covenants is that what the old covenant promised through ceremonies and sacrifices has been fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus. The new covenant Scriptures refer constantly to the old covenant. Romans 3:21; 9:27; 11:13–32; Luke 24:27;  Hebrews 9:15; and chapter 11 teach that the covenant of grace instituted by God through Abraham continues into the new covenant. God’s Word clearly teaches that new covenant believers are the new covenant Israel (Eph 2:1–13; 3:6; 1 Pet 2:9–10; 4:17). Everyone who believes is the true son of Abraham (Rom 4:11, 17). Romans 9:6–9 teaches that a Jew is one who loves the Messiah Jesus and trusts him only for salvation (1 Cor 10:3; Eph 2:8–9).

Thus, we cannot say that there are two completely different “churches” or peoples of God. Paul teaches clearly in Romans 2:29; 4:1–25; 9:6–9 and Jesus teaches explicitly in John 8:31–58 that no one is saved by being Jewish (Gal 5:2–6).

What Is the Connection Between Circumcision and Baptism?

The connection between baptism and circumcision is quite clear in Colossians 2:11–12. The connection is not direct but indirect, and the point of contact between them is Christ, and baptism is the sign and seal of that circumcision. In verse 11 Paul says, “In him [i.e., in Christ] you were also circumcised with the circumcision done by Christ”; and in verse 12 he says exactly how it is that we were circumcised in and by Christ: “having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith.”23 For Paul, in the new covenant, our union with Christ is our circumcision. In baptism we are identified with Christ’s baptism/circumcision, as it were, on the cross. Neither baptism nor circumcision effects this union (ex opere operato); rather, God the Spirit unites us to Christ, makes us alive, and gives us faith.

The point not to be missed is that in Paul’s mind, baptism and circumcision are both signs and seals of Christ’s baptism/circumcision on the cross for us. By faith we are united to Christ’s circumcision, and by union with Christ we become participants in his circumcision/baptism. Because circumcision pointed forward to Christ’s death and baptism looks back to Christ’s death, they are closely linked in Paul’s mind and almost interchangeable. Paul’s point here is to teach us about our union with Christ, but along the way we see how he thinks about baptism and circumcision, and his thinking should inform ours.

One of the reasons that Paul so strongly opposed the imposition of circumcision on Christians by the Judaizers is that, by faith, we have already been circumcised in Christ, of which baptism is the sign and seal.24 We were already identified as belonging to God, and we have undergone the curse in Christ. So actual physical circumcision is, in the new covenant, unnecessary. Paul tells those who wish to circumcise themselves to go the whole way and emasculate themselves (Gal 5:12).

Acts 2:38–39 equates circumcision and baptism. In Acts 2:38 the apostle Peter calls for repentance, faith in Christ, and baptism by Jews who are hearing his preaching. In verse 39 he gives the reason for this action: “The promise is to you and to your children, and all who are far off.” The apostle Peter consciously uses the same formula in his preaching as the Lord himself used when he instituted the sign of circumcision in Genesis 17, which the Jews listening understood precisely.

What Are the Relations Between Faith and Circumcision?

Romans 4:1–8,13–25 teaches that Abraham was justified by grace alone through faith alone, and not by works, and yet God required that Abraham take the sign (mark) of circumcision. Romans 4:11 says that circumcision was a sign and a seal of “the righteousness that he [Abraham] had by faith while he was still uncircumcised.” Circumcision was a sign of God’s covenantal relationship with Abraham and Abraham’s children, all who believe in Christ.25 The meaning of circumcision was spiritual and not just outward. Circumcision as a sign of faith and entrance as a member into the covenant people was also applied to children (Gen 17:10–14).

What Is the Relationship Between Faith and Baptism?

Acts 2:38–39 says,

Repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ unto the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for many who are far off—as many as the Lord our God shall call. (emphasis added)

For adult converts, baptism is a sign of what Christ has done for them—forgiven and washed them. Adult converts are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Forgiveness is through faith in Christ. Baptism is a sign of our new standing with God through faith. Notice verse 39: “The promise [of salvation to those who believe] is for you and for your children.”

Our faith is in the Christ who died for us. Baptism is a sign of being united to him in his death by faith. Peter says that the floodwaters of Noah symbolize baptism because baptism is a sign of dying to sin, the washing away of sin by Christ’s blood, and living by faith in Christ (1 Pet 3:21).

Everyone (adults and children) who has been baptized must be united by faith to Christ for salvation. Unbaptized adult converts profess their faith before baptism. Children of believers who received the sign in infancy profess their faith as soon as they are able. Both are responsible before God to be faithful to the grace represented by the sign and seal they have received.26

What Does Baptism Do?

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper proclaim the same message as the written Word of God: Salvation is God’s free gift; it is not earned or deserved. We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.27 Just as God the Holy Spirit inspired the Scriptures, so also God ordained in his Word baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Covenant signs were given to strengthen our trust in Christ. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper have no more or less power than the written Word of God.28 In the Scriptures baptism and the Lord’s Supper are considered to be signs and seals of the covenant of grace between God and his people. As signs, the covenant signs are visible reminders of the great act of redemption that God has accomplished. As seals, they are God’s way of separating his people from those in the world, and they give to us God’s promise that, in example, as surely as we are washed by the water, we are by faith washed by the blood of Christ. Just as in the preaching of the Word, the Holy Spirit strengthens our faith by the use of these covenant signs and seals.

Baptism is not an end in itself. Rather, it is only the beginning of a life of faith and faithful discipleship in Jesus. As Peter reminds us, it is not baptism that saves. It is

not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities, and powers in submission to him. (1 Pet 3:21–22)

Because sacraments are signs and seals, they do not in themselves save. They testify to God’s grace, they point us to Christ, and they seal to us his salvation. Just as circumcision did not save, neither does baptism.29

Where Does the New Covenant Teach Infant Baptism?

From the point of view of the covenant of grace, every command to baptize is a command to baptize the children of believers.

Because of the promise of the covenant of grace, God is a God not only to adult believers but also to their children. This is why in 1 Corinthians 7:14 Paul said that children of believers are “holy.” Paul deliberately used old covenant, ceremonial language to teach the Corinthians that their children should not be considered outside of the visible people of God. To use old covenant language, children of believers are “clean” and therefore have a right to share in the blessings of being a part of the visible people of God, including baptism.

Jesus made the same argument in Mark 10:14. He says that the kingdom of God “belongs” to children of believers. In Acts 2:39, Peter specifically includes children in the fulfillment of the promise. In Ephesians 6:1, Paul addresses children as if they were among the covenant people of God.30

From this perspective, Matthew 28:19 and Acts 2:38–39 are direct commands to baptize infants. It is true that there is no explicit command, “Baptize infants.” There is no such command because there is no need for such a command. Neither is there an explicit verse that states God is one in three persons, but God’s Word teaches the existence of the Trinity throughout.

Nowhere in Scripture, however, is there a declaration that children are no longer to receive a covenant sign. If one needs an explicit command to baptize children, then we should stop admitting women to the Lord’s Table since there is no direct command to allow women to come to the Table. This is clearly absurd.

The proper question, therefore, is not where Scripture explicitly teaches infant baptism, but rather where does it reverse God’s command to Abraham to administer the covenant sign and seal to children of believing parents. For two thousand years, God’s people had been applying the sign of God’s covenant to the children of believers. Every faithful Jew understood circumcision to be a visible reminder that he was a part of the people of God. To fail to circumcise one’s sons would be to declare them to be cut off from God’s people, grace, and promises. To fail to circumcise one’s children was unthinkable.

Some argue that because the new covenant is new, children should no longer receive the sign of the covenant. It is true that changes attend the institution of the new covenant. Formerly the sign of admission was applied to males only. Now, males and females receive the sign of admission. These are changes that flow from the transition from typical, promissory signs (circumcision) to signs of fulfillment (baptism). Thus, the change from circumcision to baptism was a change in circumstances, not substance.

To exclude the children of believing parents from the sign of admission to the visible covenant people or to say that God no longer wishes children to be considered a part of the visible community of his people is no mere change in circumstance but rather a radical change in God’s way of dealing with his people.

If God were to change his clear command to Abraham, we would expect a clear word from him on the subject, but nowhere does God’s Word tell believers to stop applying the sign of the covenant to their children. Since the new covenant Scriptures never tell us not to apply the covenant sign to our children, we have every reason to believe that the children of believers must receive the sign of entrance into the covenant people.

The Apostles Baptized the Children of Believers

In fact, there is a good deal of positive evidence in the New Testament Scriptures that baptism was applied to infants.

In both the old and the new covenants, God speaks to households and saves them. In the language of the Bible, one’s house does not refer incidentally, but primarily to the children.31 The emphasis on household or family points to a continuity between the old covenant corporate viewpoint and that of the new covenant.32 Children are viewed as being part of a covenant household, a covenantal unit. In Scripture, the sign is applied to the whole household unit.33

Scripture uses this household formula in several clear passages that show a great deal of unity between old covenant practice and new covenant (baptismal) practice.34 We know that when Luke wrote Acts, he was selective in his reporting. So it is important to note that proportionally, when we compare the number of household baptisms to other baptisms in Acts, household baptisms are common. In Acts, as with circumcision in the old covenant, baptism is a household affair, and the household texts prove it.

Lydia, the Jailer, and Crispus

In Philippi, in a “place of prayer,” Paul and his coworkers met Lydia, a Gentile who was called “a God-fearer” (Acts 16:14)—that is, someone on the fringes of the synagogue but not a full member.35 After hearing the gospel, “the Lord opened her heart,” and “she and the members of her household were baptized.” It cannot be argued reasonably that there were no children in this “household.”36

Paul was jailed for his ministry to a demon-possessed girl. Jesus delivered Paul and Silas from jail by sending an earthquake. Their jailer heard the gospel and professed his faith.

Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night, the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. . . . He was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God, he and his whole family.

Like in the case of Lydia, Luke communicated the covenantal nature of baptism through the use of the oikos (household formula).

After Paul had been rejected by the synagogue in Corinth, he went “next door” to the house of Titius Justus, another “God-fearing” Gentile. There, “Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized” (Acts 18:8).

These patterns were identical with what occurred in Israel for two thousand years: The adult Gentile converts were circumcised along with their male children in accordance with Genesis 17:10–14. Certainly those adult converts had to confess their faith.37 Both believing adults and their children are described by the word “household.”38

Abraham Is a New Covenant Figure

It is also important to remember that not everything that was given before Jesus is eliminated in the new covenant. Because our Bibles are divided into the Old and New Testaments some believers think that everything that occurs before Jesus’s birth is part of the old covenant. This is not accurate.

When the Bible uses the term “old covenant,” it refers to the period of Moses until the beginning of the new covenant. Not everything that happens in the Bible before Jesus—namely, the period of Adam to Abraham—belongs in the old covenant proper (2 Cor 3:14; Gal 3:17; Heb 8:6; 9:15–16).

Jesus said in John 7:22 that circumcision was not from Moses, but from the patriarchs.39 This means that circumcision does not belong originally to the old covenant (Moses) but to Abraham.

Abraham has a very special relationship to new covenant believers. In Romans 4:1–25, Paul says that Abraham is the father of those who believe. Likewise, in Galatians 3:29 all believers are said to be “Abraham’s offspring and heirs according to the promise” (see also Gen 17).

In many ways, Abraham is a new covenant figure. Believers are his spiritual descendants (Heb 2:16; Rom 4:1–25; 9:7–8; Jas 2:20–23). He is said to have looked forward to Jesus’s first coming (John 8:56). He is a model of faith for believers in Hebrews 11:8–19 and in Galatians 3–4. So what is true of Abraham is usually true of new covenant believers. Just as Abraham’s faith in Jesus (John 8:56) sets the pattern for new covenant believers, so also his circumcision, and that of Isaac, sets the pattern for new covenant baptism.

But Wasn’t Circumcision a Sign of External Blessings Only?

In Romans 4:9–11 Paul says that Abraham believed before he was circumcised. He received circumcision as a sign of God’s grace to him. Abraham loved God, not the promised land. Hebrews teaches us repeatedly that Abraham and Moses and other believers who were born before Jesus looked for a heavenly city and not simply at the earthly Canaan (Heb 11:8–10, 16; 12:18–24; 13:14–15).

Believers born before Jesus received no blessing apart from faith. Like new covenant baptism, the meaning of circumcision was spiritual and not just outward.40

How Can We Baptize Children Who Don’t Understand What Is Happening to Them?

Did the babies circumcised under Abraham and Moses understand what was happening to them? Of course not. How were Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob saved? By grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.41 That God did not require children of believers to understand the sign of admission to the visible covenant community before it was given does not mean that they did not need to understand it as they grew up. They certainly did. The same responsibility rests with every Christian today. Every time Christians come to the Lord’s Table, they renew the covenant, receive the promise of the gospel again, take up their oath of obedience to God, and renew their baptism.

In fact, every complaint raised against covenant baptism can be raised against covenant circumcision. If those complaints were invalid for circumcision, they are invalid for baptism.

Isn’t Repentance and Faith Required Before Baptism?

It is true that when speaking to adult Jews (Acts 2:38) Peter commanded, “Repent and be baptized every one of you for the forgiveness of your sins.” It does not follow, however, that only adults who can understand and follow this command may receive the sign of entrance into the covenant community. This would have eliminated all infant circumcisions. Obviously, God commanded circumcision of the children of believers.

Substitute the word “circumcised” for the word “baptized” in Acts 2:38. To Jews, whose Bible was the old covenant Scriptures, this would have made perfect sense: Renounce sin and receive the sign of the covenant. The case in Acts 2:38 is parallel to that of the foreigner who took the sign of entrance into the covenant people Israel. He had to turn from his old ways and embrace the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That adults were required to make a profession of faith before circumcision did not prevent the Lord from demanding that they circumcise their infant sons (Gen 17:27).

Nor should one ignore Acts 2:39, where Peter gives the positive reason for baptism: “The promise is to you and your children and for all who are far off-for all whom the Lord our God will call” (emphasis added).

God’s Word says the promise is to the children of believers as well as to those old enough to repent. Peter was deliberately repeating the Abrahamic covenant promise in Genesis 17:7 and commanding them to baptize their children.

Isn’t Faith Necessary for Entering the Christian Life?

This question seems to imply that somehow faith was not as necessary for Moses or Abraham. Such an implication is false. Hebrews 11 teaches that all the heroes of the faith who lived before Jesus’s birth obeyed God in faith.42 If faith was necessary in the old covenant, yet infants received the sign of the covenant, then adults needing to express their faith by circumcision does not rule out the children of believers receiving the sign of the covenant in the new covenant. The point of view expressed in this objection denies the unity of the covenant of grace. It argues that God deals with his people in two substantially different ways in the Bible.

To say that baptism is primarily an expression of my faith also misunderstands faith, salvation, and the sign of God’s grace. Baptism is God’s sign that he applies to me through the church, whether as an infant or an adult. It is God’s sign of what he has done. Baptism is not, primarily, a sign of my faith. Baptism is a sign (and seal) of God’s grace.43 Circumcision is always a sign of the grace of God in making the covenant with Abraham. So also, baptism is a sign of God’s grace, which includes adult converts or infant children of believers.

Should Infants Come to the Lord’s Table?

God has instituted two types of sacraments. Circumcision, like baptism, was a sacrament of initiation into the visible covenant community. The Passover feast (along with the other feasts), like the Lord’s Supper, was a sign of covenant renewal for strengthening God’s people. So, different sacraments perform different functions and have different participants and different requirements.44

It is clear from the institution of the Passover that the children who participated had to be old enough to understand the significance of it (Ex 12:26). This same requirement was not made of infants in order to be circumcised. This distinction flows from the different functions of the signs and seals. Circumcision was a sign of entrance into the covenant applied to infants and adults, neither of whom had ever been circumcised. By its nature circumcision (and baptism as its replacement) cannot be applied again.45 The Lord’s Supper, however, by its nature is intended to be celebrated repeatedly in the life of the believer.46 This is because the sign and seal of initiation is distinct from the sign and seal of renewal.

This same principle was also in effect in the new covenant community. It is latent in the apostle Paul’s principle that one who partakes of the Lord’s Supper must be aware of the spiritual nature of the Supper (1 Cor 11:29). On this principle (each sign has its own function), it is proper for infants to be baptized but improper to permit infants to partake in the Supper.

Conclusion

The answer to questions about baptism lies in God’s nature. He does not change, and his promises do not change. He does not change the way he saves his people. Only the circumstances in which that promise is administered change.

God is a faithful, gracious, loving, patient, kind, merciful, covenant-making (or promise-making) and covenant- keeping God (Heb 13:8). Our gracious covenant God made a covenant-promise to give Abraham a “seed” and to send a Savior, which he fulfilled in Jesus Christ (Gal 3:16). In Christ, we become Abraham’s descendants and heirs. The same promise God made to Abraham, he has made to us:

I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your children after you for the generations to come, to be your God and your children’s God. (Gen 17:7)

God was gracious to Abraham, and God is gracious to us. He has given us visible reminders and marks of that grace. One of those is baptism.

Be a Berean: Search the Scriptures to see if what has been said here is true (Acts 17:11). The Word of God is, after all, our absolute rule for faith and life. If you are a Christian parent who has not presented your children for baptism, I urge you to do so as soon as possible.

If you have made a profession of faith in Jesus as your Savior and Lord but have not been baptized, I urge you to find a biblical and confessionally Reformed church in your area and seek membership and baptism.

If you are baptized but have neglected God’s grace by neglecting your baptism, by not living gratefully, by not serving and loving Jesus with all your heart, I call you to turn away from your ingratitude, confess your sins, and ask and receive God’s forgiveness (1 John 1:9).

Christian, your baptism is good news, a reminder and promise that if you believe, you have been bought with a price and sprinkled with the blood of Christ (1 Pet 1:2). Rejoice in God’s grace and be faithful to God’s Word. If your children have received covenant baptism, be sure to take your oath seriously. Remember, you have sworn an oath to bring up your children “in the training and instruction of the Lord” by catechizing them at home in God’s Word and in a Reformed confession such as the Heidelberg Catechism (1563) or the Westminster Shorter Catechism (1647) and by enrolling them in catechism instruction in a confessionally faithful Reformed congregation (Eph 6:4).

Notes

References to the Greek New Testament are drawn from the United Bible Society’s Greek New Testament, 3rd edition, and the Nestle-Aland 26th edition. The references to the Hebrew Bible are drawn from the Biblia Hebriaca Stuttgartensia (© 1977). References from the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament used by the New Testament authors, abbreviated LXX) are from the Rahlfs edition. In most instances I have provided my own English translations. Nevertheless, this essay has consulted a number of English Bible translations, among them the New International Version (©1984, International Bible Society), the New American Standard (1971), and the Revised Standard Version (1951).

  1. The first word of verse 12, “having been buried” (suntapheis from sunthapto), is a participle that describes the circumstances in which believers are circumcised. See the excellent discussion of the relationship between circumcision and baptism in Patrick Fairbairn, The Typology of Scripture (repr., Baker, 1975), 308–15.
  2. Acts 15:1–21; Gal 2:12; 3:13–14; 5:15; and 6:12 teach that the circumcision has been fulfilled.
  3. This was evident even under Moses. See Deut 10:16 where God tells the Israelites to “circumcise your hearts.” See also Rom 4:11; Gal 3:6–14; Deut 10:16; 30:6; Jer 4:4; Rom 2:28–29.
  4. People sometimes say, “I was baptized as an infant but did not come to faith until much later, so I was rebaptized.” Might it not be the case that if one is baptized in infancy and later comes to faith, God has been faithful to his promise in the sign? The sign is like a seed that God, through his sovereign, gracious Holy Spirit, brought to fruition. We should rejoice that we believe and all that baptism promises is true for us.
  5. John 1:12–13; 3:16; 4:3; 5:45–46; 6:32–58; 8:56; 20:31; Rom 4; 1 Cor 10:1–5; Gal 2:15–21; Eph 2:8–9; Heb 11:1.
  6. New covenant writers often remind readers of their baptism to encourage them to good works. See Rom 6:1–14; Gal 3:27; Eph 4:1–6; Col 2:1–23; 1 Pet 3:8–22. Hebrews 6:4–6 probably refers to the fact that certain persons had shared the Lord’s Supper, confessed their faith, and then left the assembly. In 1 Cor 11:17–34 Paul complains about Corinthian abuse of the Lord’s Supper. Their misuse of the Supper reflected their immaturity in Christ.
  7. It is possible that Colossians was written for largely the same purpose. 2 Corinthians 3–4 deals with a similar topic, as does Hebrews 4–9. Romans 4 also addresses the topic.
  8. Eph 6:1; Col 3:20–21. Be careful not to confuse the biblical notion of “clean” with the notions of “saved” or “justified.” To be clean, in this sense, means to be formally or legally eligible to receive the sign and seals of the covenant. In the administration of his covenant of grace, not all who are legally eligible to receive the sign also receive what the sign signifies, but this does not mean that they should not receive the sign. We cannot decide a priori whom God has or has not elected to saving faith. We must obey God’s Word and administer the sign to all who are eligible to receive it.
  9. Y. Feenstra, “Baptism,” The Encyclopedia of Christianity, ed. E. H. Palmer (NFCE, 1972), 1:526–37. See also Gen 17:12, 23; 18:19; 45:17–19; 46:6–7; and 1 Sam 22:16, 19 for clear examples of the biblical idea of “household.”
  10. The Bible’s emphasis on families and the visible assembly of the saints (the church) is much different from American individualism in many evangelical churches. God does save individuals, and no one else can believe for you. But throughout Scripture, God often saves and blesses whole groups (e.g., families) at one time. The actions or faith of one member of the group often affect the whole group. This is because God has set up a representative (or federal) system of salvation. Adam was our first representative. The old Puritan rhyme had it right: “In Adam’s fall, sinned we all.” Adam’s sin affected everyone at once. So Jesus saved all his people at the same time on the cross. See Rom 5.
  11. The New Testament word is Oikos, from which we get our English word economic.
  12. Matt 10:12–14; Luke 19:9; John 4:53; Acts 10:2; 11:14; 1 Cor 1:6; 2 Tim 1:16; Heb 11:7–9. See also Gen 7:1.
  13. “God-fearer” is the term Jews applied to Gentiles who worshiped in their synagogues. As a frequent worshiper of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Lydia heard the Word of God read regularly. She would have been familiar with the old covenant requirements to receive the sign of entrance in the covenant community.
  14. Acts 16:14–15. In fact, recent archeological research has uncovered that it was not uncommon for single or widowed women to “head” a household composed of an entire entourage of employees and family members. Chloe is one likely example. See Luke 8:2–3; 1 Cor 1:11; Rom 16:3–5, 12. New Testament scholar S. M. Baugh (among others) has shown that slaves in the New Testament world owned other slaves and property. So the word “household” includes not only an immediate family but slaves and their families. See S. M. Baugh, “Paul and Ephesus: The Apostle Among His Contemporaries” (PhD diss., University of California, Irvine, 1990).
  15. Every Israelite and every Gentile convert confessed the Shema: “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deut 6:4).
  16. Some argue that only believers were baptized in the new covenant. This is only supposition. It is illogical to argue from what is to what is not. If I tell you that I can find only blue cars on Antioch Road, it does not follow that there are never any red cars on Antioch Road. It is true that adults are baptized in the new covenant. It is not true that only adults are baptized in the new covenant.
  17. That is, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
  18. Please see Deut 10:16; 30:6; Jer 4:4; Rom 2:28–29; Rom 4:11; Gal 3:6–14. If Jews received earthly blessings for simply being Jews, then “it is no more of faith, but of works.” The point of the exile is that judgment came to Israel because they lacked faith. If blessings were dependent on circumcision and race, then the exile is meaningless.
  19. It is astonishing that many Bible-believing Christians think Abraham was saved by works. This is not true. No one in the history of the fallen human race has ever been saved by works. When Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6), he was speaking of Abraham and Moses as well as us. See John 12:41 where John says, “Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’s glory and spoke about him.”
  20. 1 Cor 10:3–13 teaches that old covenant believers also obeyed God in faith.
  21. We were not saved because, first, we chose Christ, but because he loved us and chose us. See Rom 8:28–39; Eph 1:1–15; 2:8–10. We believe because God saved us. We receive salvation through faith.
  22. Although the Lord’s Supper corresponds to Passover generally, it is also likely that the new covenant Communion feast summarizes all of the great old covenant feasts and not just Passover. Each of those feasts was a renewal of the covenant and a reminder of God’s saving grace.
  23. This is an area of sharp disagreement between Baptists and paedobaptists. If the Reformed understanding of God’s Word is correct, then baptism does not need to be applied more than once, just as circumcision cannot be done more than once.
  24. This is a serious problem with the Baptist view. The roles of the covenant signs are confused. Because baptism is viewed as the primary symbol of professing one’s faith and renewing one’s relationship to Christ, baptism becomes the means for covenant renewal. But this is properly the function of the Lord’s Supper. On top of this, many Baptistic churches practice the altar call as a means of professing or renewing a profession of faith. The result is that in many Baptistic churches, the Lord’s Supper then becomes somewhat meaningless. In some Baptistic churches the Lord’s Supper is hardly practiced at all.

Editor’s Note: This essay was first published informally c. 1988. It has been revised several times since then.

©R. Scott Clark. All Rights Reserved.

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  • R. Scott Clark
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    R.Scott Clark is the President of the Heidelberg Reformation Association, the author and editor of, and contributor to several books and the author of many articles. He has taught church history and historical theology since 1997 at Westminster Seminary California. He has also taught at Wheaton College, Reformed Theological Seminary, and Concordia University. He has hosted the Heidelblog since 2007.

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