Circumcision and Baptism

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 →

Baptism and Circumcision According to Colossians 2:11–12

What follows is taken from a larger essay, “A Contemporary Reformed Defense of Infant Baptism:” 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 . . . Continue reading →

Seed, Seeds, And Infant Baptism

The new covenant is the new administration of the Abrahamic covenant. Just as the typological (looking forward) sign and seal of admission to the administration of the covenant of grace was applied to Abraham’s children (beginning with Ishmael) so the sign and . . . Continue reading →

Abraham, Moses, And Circumcision

Introduction Since the early to mid-19th century, American evangelical Christianity has been largely dominated by a set of assumptions about the nature of redemptive history and the progress of revelation that may be called Baptistic. Not everyone who holds these assumptions or . . . 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 →

Jesus: Baptism Is Death

In Luke 12:50, as part of a wide-ranging discourse with strong eschatological overtones, our Lord Jesus characterizes his coming death in a striking way. He said, “But I have a baptism with which to be baptized and how I constrained until it . . . Continue reading →

What Is Figurative And What Is Literal In The Promise To Abraham In Genesis 17?

Jackson writes to ask, “As it relates to continuity with the Abrahamic covenant, for example, Abraham and his children get circumcised, therfore in the new administration, Jesus and his children (spiritual) get baptized. Do you think that someone can retain their Reformed . . . Continue reading →