From the point of view of the covenant of grace, every command to baptize, is a command to baptize the children of believers. Because the promise of the covenant of grace, God is a God not only to adult believers, but also to their children. That 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 shouldn’t 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. Continue reading →
Covenant Theology
Romans 6:14, 7:14, And 8:14 Are All True Of The Christian At The Same Time: Simul Iustus, Et Peccator
Bob Godfrey preached from Romans 6 recently and his message inspired me to look again at the relationship between chapters 6, 7, and 8.
An Intramural Baptist Debate That Illumines The Profound Differences Between Baptist And Reformed Theology, Piety, And Practice
Would You Send Your Child Away From The Dinner Table Unfed Weekly?
I can understand why evangelicals and others, who do not have a covenantal theology, would exile their children during public worship but I do not understand why so many ostensibly Reformed congregations have adopted the practice of dismissing their covenant children from . . . Continue reading →
Abrahamic Bookends
Father Abraham “Father Abraham has many sons, many sons has father Abraham…”. Amen! How many American evangelicals have sung that youth-group chorus without appreciating the implications of what they were singing? The Apostle Paul writes, What then shall we say was gained . . . Continue reading →
“What Is The Best Book To Read On Infant Baptism?”
I get this question frequently but it is not the right question. Continue reading
Federal Theology Is Good News For Sinners
Paul calls Christ the “last” Adam (1 Cor 15:45). So, we know that there was a definite link between the two. In Romans 5:12–21 Paul intentionally wants us to think of Adam and Christ as fulfilling similar roles. Adam was the first . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours: Introducing Rollock’s Commentary On Ephesians
One of the goals of Office Hours is to let the listener know about the work of the faculty in the classroom and in the study. For more than a decade I have had the privilege of editing a series of English . . . Continue reading →
Erskine On The Difference Between Presenting Ourselves To God On The Basis Of Our Obedience And On The Basis Of Christ’s Obedience
He then runs to the way of works by the law, and tries what he can do for his own salvation by his reformation, his prayers, years, vows, penances, and the like. When the man has wearied himself in pursuit of salvation . . . Continue reading →
Herman Witsius Against The Donum Superadditum
God gave to man the charge of this image, as the most excellent deposit of heaven, and, if kept pure and inviolate, the earnest of a greater good; for that end he endued him with sufficient powers from his very formation, so as . . . Continue reading →
Bavinck Contra The Donum Super Additum
It was called a “covenant of nature,” not because it was deemed to flow automatically and naturally from the nature of God or the nature of man, but because the foundation on which the covenant rested, that is, the moral law, was known . . . Continue reading →
Talking Covenant Theology With Pastor Rudy Rubio On The Hood Grace Podcast
Happy to join Pastor Rudy Rubio for this episode of the Hood Grace Podcast to talk covenant theology and more. Continue reading →
Boston: Believers Are Not Under The Moral Law As A Covenant Of Works But As A Rule Of Life
Objection: But does not the apostle say, Rom. 6:14. ‘Ye are not under the law but under grace?’ and Gal. 5:22, 23. ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, &c.—against such there is no law?’
Why Does It Take So Long To Explain Infant Baptism?
Yesterday someone commented on one of the BigSocialMedia platforms that the Heidelcast series, “I Will Be A God To You And To Your Children” helped them to understand and accept infant baptism (paedobaptism) as the biblical position. Someone else objected, in effect, . . . Continue reading →
Calvin: Circumcision Was Spiritual And Substantially Identical To Baptism
But since before baptism was instituted God’s people had circumcision instead, let us examine how these two signs differ from each other, and in what respects they are alike. From this will appear the anagogic relationship of the one to the other. . . . Continue reading →
Santa Is Law, Not Gospel
Santa rewards those who meet the terms of a covenant of works: Continue reading
William Perkins On Infant Baptism
Infants of believing parents are likewise to be baptized. The grounds of their baptism are these. First, the commandment of God, “Baptize all nations” (Matt. 28:19), in which words the baptism of infants is prescribed. For the apostles by virtue of this . . . Continue reading →
Berkouwer’s Critique of Barth’s Rejection Of Infant Baptism
Ever since Karl Barth began around 1940 to oppose the justifiability of infant baptism, the controversy has continued unabated. Even though it cannot be said that Barth’s criticism exerted great influence, his considerations nevertheless gave rise to new reflection and a tremendous . . . Continue reading →
New In Print And Online: God The Son And The Covenant Of Grace
Caspar Olevianus, Eternal Generation, and the Substance of the Covenant of Grace
In the Summer of 1570 the Reformed Reformation in Heidelberg faced a crisis. Several of the Zwinglians, who had sided with Erastus against the Calvinist order in the Palatinate, were perceived by their Calvinist opponents to be arguing for something that looked . . . Continue reading →
In, With, And Under
God the Son, the substance of the covenant of grace, was Continue reading