First, all that belong to the covenant and church of God are to be baptized. But the children of christians, as well as adults, belong to the covenant and church of God. Therefore they are to be baptized as well as adults. . . . Continue reading →
Author: Mike Brown
Mike Brown is pastor of Chiesa Riformata Filadelfia, Milan, Italy. Prior to serving in Italy he was pastor of Christ Reformed Church, Santee, CA. He is a graduate of Westminster Seminary California, a veteran of the United States Army, and author of Christ and the Condition: The Covenant Theology of Samuel Petto (1624–1711) (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Reformation Heritage Books, 2012) and co-author (with Zach Keele) of Sacred Bond : Covenant Theology Explored (Grandville, MI: Reformation Fellowship, 2017).
The French Reformed Church: We Baptize Children Because God Receives Them
We hold, also, that although we are baptized only once, yet the gain that it symbolizes to us reaches over our whole lives and to our death, so that we have a lasting witness that Jesus Christ will always be our justification . . . Continue reading →
Goodwin: Children And Gentiles Are Included In The External Administration Of The Covenant Of Grace
The children of believing parents, at least their next and immediate seed, even of us Gentiles now under the Gospel, are included by God within the covenant of Grace, as well as Abraham’s or David’s seed within that covenant of theirs. Thomas . . . Continue reading →
Calvin: The Abrahamic Covenant And The New Covenant Are Substantially Identical
Both can be explained in one word. The covenant made with all the patriarchs is so much like ours in substance and reality that the two are actually one and the same. Yet they differ in the mode of dispensation. But because . . . Continue reading →
Calvin: Children Are Included In The New Covenant Because It Is Abrahamic
Yet Scripture opens to us a still surer knowledge of the truth. Indeed, it is most evident that the covenant which the Lord once made with Abraham [cf. Gen. 17:14] is no less in force today for Christians than it was of . . . Continue reading →
Zanchi: We Agree With The Ancient Church That Children Are Included In The New Covenant
We believe, with the whole ancient Church, that not only adults who have declared that they repent of their sins and believe in Christ, but also their little children, must be admitted to the sacrament of baptism, since the covenant also concerns . . . Continue reading →
Vermigli: The Reformed Accept The Children Of Believers As Members Of The Church
We do not exclude the children of believers from the church, but accept them as members, with the hope that they are partakers of divine election and have the grace and Spirit of Christ, even as they are the seed of saints. . . . Continue reading →
Turretin: Christ Included Children Into New Covenant
Because to infants belongs the kingdom of heaven according to the declaration of Christ: “Little children were brought unto Christ, that he should put his hands on them and pray” (Mt. 19:13*). Since the disciples would repel them, Christ said, “Suffer little . . . Continue reading →
Bavinck: We Baptize Infants On The Basis Of The Covenant
Not regeneration, faith, or repentance, much less our assumptions pertaining to them, but only the covenant of grace gave people, both adults and children, the right to baptism. Continue reading →
Owen: To Deny Baptism To The Children Of Believers Is To Deny Christ’s Faithfulness
To deny that the children of believing, professing parents…have the same right and interest with their parents in the covenant, is plainly to deny the fidelity of Christ in the discharge of his office. John Owen | The Works of John Owen, . . . Continue reading →
Warfield: God Placed The Children Of Believers In The Church
But now, having run through these various arguments, to what conclusion do we come? Are they sufficient to set aside our reasoned conviction, derived from some such argument as Dr. Hodge’s, that infants are to be baptized? A thousand times no. So . . . Continue reading →
The Reformation In Italy Continues
As 2025 marches on, Milan is showing the first signs of spring. The cold winter air is beginning to lose its bite. Locals are lingering longer in the piazzas, basking in the growing sunlight. Cherry blossoms and magnolias are starting to unfurl . . . Continue reading →
Perché battezziamo i figli dei credenti?
“Perché la vostra chiesa battezza i bambini?” Questa è una domanda che viene posta spesso dai visitatori di chiese riformate e presbiteriane. Poiché la prassi storica di battezzare i figli dei credenti è in gran parte un concetto estraneo alla maggioranza degli . . . Continue reading →
Video: Mission In Milan
Rev. Michael Brown talks about his exciting ministry in Milan and the highs and lows of preaching the Gospel in a Roman Catholic-saturated environment. Continue reading →
Che cos’è la teologia del patto e perché dovrebbe interessarmi?
Che cos’è la teologia del patto e perché dovrebbe interessarmi? La teologia del patto non è un sistema astratto, imposto alla Bibbia dall’esterno, bensì la sua stessa struttura portante e il suo sfondo di riferimento. Chiunque abbia letto la Bibbia sa che . . . Continue reading →
Cosa succede nell’Eucaristia?
Secondo te, quali sono le tre cose più importanti per la crescita spirituale personale? Immagino che per la maggior parte di noi la Parola di Dio sia una di queste. È mediante la Parola che conosciamo Cristo. Sicuramente la Parola di Dio . . . Continue reading →
L’importanza di una pluralità di anziani nella chiesa locale
Vivendo in provincia di Milano, mi piace passeggiare lungo il perimetro del Castello Sforzesco. Costruito nel XV secolo, questa struttura è stata per centinaia di anni una delle cittadelle più grandi d’Europa. Le sue massicce mura, alte più di trenta metri, incombono . . . Continue reading →
Milan Mission Update
I am happy to share with you that, by God’s grace, the ministry of the Word in Milan continues to flourish. God has blessed us with several new families and students. Continue reading →
The Gospel Makes Progress In Milan
On Sunday, January 29, 2023 we received a new member into our church. Federico Gobbo, 28, (pictured above, while Elder Vittorio Calderaro makes an announcement from the pulpit) stood during public worship and took vows of membership, entering into full communion with Chiesa Riformata Filadelfia. Continue reading →