When God said to Abraham, “And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your children after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your children after you” (Genesis 17:7) and “As . . . Continue reading →
In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith . . . Continue reading →
Despite the widely accepted American dogma of an “age of accountability”–that unspecified moment when children supposedly become responsible for their sins, and for any possible rejection of Christ–there is no such doctrine taught anywhere in Scripture. Sadly, this unsupported dogma holds out . . . Continue reading →
The Heidelcast has listeners from across the globe as well as across North America for listeners outside the USA and for the convenience of listeners within the USA, we have instituted a new way for you to leave voicemail for the Heidelphone. . . . Continue reading →
It was a wonderful day yesterday at Escondido URC. In the morning we had two baptisms, one of an adult convert who had never been baptized. So, like the adult baptisms we see in Acts, he received the sacrament, sign, and seal of baptism as a sign of his admission to the Christ-confessing covenant community. My Baptist friends rejoice with us. We also, however, baptized the infant of professing believers. We did so because we are convinced from God’s Word that is what God commands. The pattern begins in Genesis 17 and continues to the book of Acts (2:38–39; ch. 16 [all]). In his sermon our pastor, Chris Gordon, argued for the propriety of infant baptism on the basis of Matthew 19:13–15. Was he right to do so? Continue reading →
Tucked in as it is between 3 John and the Revelation, it is easy to over look the epistle of Jude but this past Lord’s Day I noticed something I had not before and that something tells us a good deal about . . . Continue reading →
Make no mistake. No one comes to new life and true faith apart from the sovereign, gracious, mysterious, wonderful work of the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit who hovered over the face of the deep (Gen 1:2) also gives new life to dead (Eph 2:1–4) sinners. You must be born again (or from above). The mistake comes when we identify that fact with a particular experience of praying a prayer, walking the aisle, or making a decision for Christ. We should all rejoice when someone is brought to new life, even if through irregular means (e.g., a Billy Graham Crusade or the like). It is not our business to tell the sovereign, free Holy Spirit where and when he may work. It is our business, however, to pay attention to what he has told us, in Scripture, to do and say and he tells us to pay attention to the “revealed things” which are “for us and for our children forever” (Deut 29:29). Scripture tells us that the Spirit ordinarily operates through the preaching of the gospel. Continue reading →
Let us define our terms. A Baptist is someone who believes that baptism is only validly administered to professing believers. He denies that the infant children of believers are the proper subjects of baptism. A Federal Visionist is someone who, among other . . . Continue reading →
Recently I had opportunity to engage in a friendly dialogue with some Baptist academics over the merits of the project proposed in Recovering the Reformed Confession. That project is, as they say, wending through the publication process. Because of space limitations I was unable to do a couple of things, namely, to engage more fully with some of the texts and approaches to Baptist covenant theology (as distinct from Reformed covenant theology). Continue reading →
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There are about 60 million evangelicals in North America. Most of them assume or hold a Baptist interpretation of redemptive history, a Baptist hermeneutic (way of reading Scripture), and consequently, a Baptist view of the sacraments or signs and seals of the . . . Continue reading →
Rob writes to say that one a loved one is emerging from one of the Baptist traditions into a Reformed/Presbyterian church setting.1 In addition they are expecting a covenant child and are, of course, thinking through infant baptism. As he’s tried to . . . Continue reading →
In March I had the privilege of contributing to the 9 Marks blog. The point of my post there (and here) was not to argue the specifics of the paedobaptist (infant baptizing) case but, nevertheless, in response to that contribution a correspondent . . . Continue reading →
After a summer re-model, the seminary bookstore is back online, which makes it again possible to order copies of Baptism, Election, and the Covenant of Grace more easily. Click on the image for your copy. It’s $1.50 plus shipping. You can also . . . Continue reading →
Wendy writes, I remain confused as to why God in being ‘more generous’ has actually also made it ‘more ambiguous’. Wheras under the Old Covenant the command (and its benefits) were explicit, under the New they must be deduced by inference…. I . . . Continue reading →
We heard a sermon from Genesis 17 this morning, and I couldn’t help but draw some conclusions relative to the current discussion about infant baptism that is ongoing at Together For the Gospel and at Between Two Worlds. Of course this is . . . Continue reading →
From this influx, it is not surprising that the doctrines of faith and, most especially, that of the new birth became so rapidly corrupted in the churches. With separation from the world spurned, there is no wonder that the sanctity and glory . . . Continue reading →
Jason writes to ask (re-phrased for clarity): In your paper on baptism you wrote: “It is sometimes said, ‘I was baptized as an infant but did not come to faith until much later, so I was re-baptized.’ Might it not be the . . . Continue reading →
Over at Green Bagginses, Reed raises the question of the status of NECMs (non-elect covenant members) and how the FV views them. There’s much good there, particularly in the quotations from Turretin on temporary faith and the like. That distinction, between true . . . Continue reading →