The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum Paedocommunion

Unfortunately, the inspired writers of the Bible do not share your view(s).

John 3:33, 37, 39 "I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. . . . They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. . . . They answered unto him, We are Abraham's seed, and have never yet been in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?"

John 1:12-13 (ASV) "But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to become children of God, [even] to them that believe on his name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

Luke 3:8 (KJV) "Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to [our] father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham."

One's salvation does not depend either in whole or in part upon baptism. Nor does salvation come through heritage, either of the flesh or by familial relation, e.g., being a child of a professed believer, nor by association, e.g., being a member of a church body. The Bible nowhere teaches salvation by sacrament nor by covenant relationship, whether in whole or in part, such as what Rome and NPP/FV teaches. Becoming a "Christian" is dependent upon one thing and that only "SOLA GRATIA". Salvation is of the Lord from beginning to end. It is the sovereign act of the Holy Spirit that comes to a sinner and gives him/her life, recreating the dead soul, opening the eyes, unstopping the ears and giving understanding to the truths of God. Faith is implanted within the heart so that at the name of Jesus, the person irresistibly falls at His feet and embraces Him with their whole being, calling upon the Lord for mercy and forgiveness in the name of Christ Jesus. Baptism does not offer or give this; it declares this truth, that all who repent of their sins and believe upon Christ are surely washed of their sins and accepted of God in Him. Covenant relationship by birth is also a blessing of the Lord yet is not salvific. It is simply the means by which the Word of Truth comes so that those who are elect of God will be drawn to Christ and redeemed by His blood when they repent and believe upon Him. The Church holds only to and tenaciously to "Justification by faith alone in Christ alone!": SOLA FIDE & SOLOS CHRISTOS. Synergism is NOT an option.

Reductio absurdum. You are resting your conclusion upon a false premise; children of believers are to be presumed regenerate, aka: "Christian". Whereas the Scriptures teach that "ALL are born in sin and are children of wrath." (Rom 3:23; Eph 2:3) The entire Old Testament record of the children of Israel, "covenant children", testifies that the vast majority perished in unbelief. Moses called these rebellious covenant children to repentance on many occasions. All the Minor Prophets preached against the sins of God's "covenant children". Jeremiah preached against resting upon one's circumcision as a sign of one's acceptance with God. (Jer. 4:4) When we get to the end of the old covenant, we see John the Baptist preaching out against "Covenantal Monism" and presumptive regeneration. (Matt 3:9) The Lord Christ found His greatest antagonists among the most esteemed "covenant children" of His day; the Pharisees who believed salvation was of being a member of the covenant community Israel and keeping all the law. Sound familiar? Paul also wrote against these falsehoods in his epistles, e.g.,

Galatians 3:27-29 (ASV) "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ. 28 There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can be no male and female; for ye all are one [man] in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye are Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, heirs according to promise."

Notice Paul does not say, "as many of you as were baptized in water did put on Christ". And further, it is only those who belong to Christ who are considered heirs according to promise. And how does one come to belong to Christ? Not by being born of the flesh, or of blood or of the will of man, but of God. The new birth is NOT part and parcel of being born of believing parents, nor is it part and parcel in baptism. Being born of God is again the free sovereign work of the Holy Spirit upon those whom the Father has eternally predestined and elected to salvation in Christ. Esau was no less a covenant child than Jacob, yet he had no place in God's kingdom.

What you should teach children to pray is, "God have mercy upon me a sinner! Lord, show me my sin and grant that I may repent of it. Great God, create within me a new heart so that I may know the necessity and beauty of Christ and thus believe upon Him with a true faith." These are the types of prayers children should be taught to pray until God the Spirit brings life to their dead souls. Our concern should be their salvation, not their willingness to obey us as parents. They are to obey and they can obey to a great degree their parents without Christ. They are capable of obeying and do obey their parents out of a familial love (storge). Fear, whether it is of punishment or loss of a job, or..... is certainly legitimate as well. The kingdom of God is not to be seen as the fulfillment of B.F. Skinner's Waldon II idea of Utopia.

That John Calvin was a godly man who had many things write when it came to biblical doctrine, he was not infallible. He even admitted as much. And his view on baptism, specifically as to that of infants and their covenantal standing, is one of those areas where he erred. Unfortunately, he didn't totally break from the Catholic teaching on baptism as did Luther failed to separate from their teaching on the "Real Presence". It is true that Calvin teaches, or at least strongly implies, that children of believers in baptism are to be deemed "true" members of Christ's church. In this I have no qualms in seeing Calvin as being wrong there. The Continental churches carried this error to a much greater expression thanks particularly to Abraham Kuyper. But the conservative Congregationalists, e.g., John Owen and later Jonathan Edwards, had no part with this heresy of presumptive regeneration. No doubt you are familiar with Edward's calling children, "Little vipers in diapers"? Many of the Presbyterians wanted no part in this error either although some did. It has always been true that heresy knows no boundaries.

In His grace,