II. By the state of innocence, we mean the first condition of man created after the image of God internal goodness and external happiness. As it abounded in all goods (of the body as well as of the soul) necessary for obtaining . . . Continue reading →
Covenant Theology
Turretin On The Covenant Of Nature (1)
First Question What was the liberty of Adam in his state of innocence? I. Since man can be viewed in a fourfold state—the instituted (instituto) of nature, the destitute (destituto) of sin, the restored (restituto) of grace and the appointed (praestituto) of . . . Continue reading →
Turretin Answers Objections To Infant Baptism (9)
XXVI. What is said by some (“Infants are baptized in the faith of their parents”) does not mean that what is in adults is imputed to infants or answers for infants; both because each one lives by his own faith and because . . . Continue reading →
Turretin Answers Objections To Infant Baptism (8)
XXI. Baptism (with respect to true believers) seals saving grace because it is connected with the internal baptism of the Spirit. But with respect to hypocrites, it does not have the accompanying grace of the Spirit, but is only a badge of . . . Continue reading →
Turretin Answers Objections To Infant Baptism (7)
XVIII. The cause of infant baptism is not the actual faith of infants, of which they are no more capable than of that instruction by which the disciples of Christ are taught (Mt. 28:19). But it is both the universal command to . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 121: I Will Be A God To You And To Your Children (15)
This is the 15th and final episode of our series, “I Will Be A God to You And to Your Children.” If you are just finding us, the series starts at episode 105. As we wrap up the series it seemed to . . . Continue reading →
Turretin Answers Objections To Infant Baptism (6)
XII. There was no need that a particular precept concerning the baptism of infants should be given because it was known to the disciples that infants were circumcised. It therefore sufficed that there was a general command to baptize all nations, under . . . Continue reading →
Turretin Answers Objections To Infant Baptism (5)
XI. (7) Because the fathers acknowledged the necessity of infant baptism and approved its propriety by their practice. Justin Martyr mentions it (“Quaestiones et Responsiones ad Orthodoxos,” Q. 56 in Opera quae feruntur omnia [ed. J.C.T. de Otto, 1881], v. 3, Pt. . . . Continue reading →
Circumcision Was Always About The Necessity Of Regeneration
HB reader Allan writes, The NT apostolic doctrine is that OT circumcision of the flesh is replaced by NT circumcision of the heart. I have not found them saying it is replaced by baptism. Allan, Circumcision was always a sign of what . . . Continue reading →
Turretin Answers Objections To Infant Baptism (4)
IX. (5) Because the children of believers are holy; therefore they ought to be baptized. For since they have the thing signified, they cannot and ought not to be deprived of the sign (Acts 10:47). “The unbelieving wife,” says the apostle, “is . . . Continue reading →
Turretin Answers Objections Against Infant Baptism (2)
VI. To no purpose is the reply: (1) “Hence it would follow that the Lord’s Supper should also be administered to infants because the thing signified belongs to them.” Although the same thing is signified in both, still there is a difference . . . Continue reading →
Turretin Answers Objections Against Infant Baptism (1)
IV. Nor ought it to be objected that Christ puts instruction before baptism and so speaks of adults, who can be instructed, and not of infants (“teach [μαθητεύσατε],” he says). Although Christ placed teaching before baptism, this must be referred to the . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 119: I Will Be A God To You And To Your Children (14)
This series has really been about how to interpret Scripture. Christians study the same Bible, but we often read it differently. Sometimes we begin with different assumptions about the nature of things and authority. These different methods and starting points lead to . . . Continue reading →
Hodge: Abraham Was In A Spiritual, Gracious Covenant
Although the Church existed from the beginning, it was, before the calling of Abraham, for the most part in a state of dispersion. Too little is recorded of it, prior to that event, to give us definite knowledge of its nature and . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 118: I Will Be A God To You And To Your Children (13)
With this episode now we dive into the question of baptism itself. So far we have been setting the stage because, from the historic, confessional Reformed point of view, the debate about infant baptism is really a debate about how to understand . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 115: I Will Be A God To You And To Your Children (11)
In this episode we see that the benefits of the New Covenant are the benefits of the covenant of grace. There are some who see a strong discontinuity between the promises made to Abraham and the new covenant promised Jeremiah 31. There . . . Continue reading →
Turretin: Leviticus 18:5 Is Proof That God Promised Eternal Blessedness To Adam
III. However, the received opinion among the orthodox is that the promise given to Adam was not only of a happy life to be continued in paradise, but of a heavenly and eternal life (to which he was to be carried after . . . Continue reading →
Turretin: Leviticus 18:5 Is Clear Proof Of The Covenant Of Works
VII. Second, a law was imposed upon Adam, which necessarily implies a federal agreement and contract. For he who receives it, binds himself officially to obedience under the punishment denounced through the same; he who gives it (for the very reason that . . . Continue reading →
Owen: Leviticus 18:5 Is Nothing But A Revival Of The Covenant Of Works
1. This covenant, called “the old covenant,” was never intended to be of itself the absolute rule and law of life and salvation unto the church, but was made with a particular design, and with respect unto particular ends. This the apostle . . . Continue reading →
Witsius: In Leviticus 18:5 Moses Repeated The Covenant Of Works
The same doctrine Moses repeated in his ministry. For he also inculcated the same precepts upon which the covenant of works had been built: he both repeated the same solemn saying, He who doeth these things shall live in them, Lev. 18:5 . . . Continue reading →