The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum Paedocommunion

You would have to define "spiritual things" before I could respond to your proposition. From my reading of Scripture, which is in accord with the Reformed heritage, "spiritual things" connotes that which pertains to salvation. Thus non-elect individuals, whether in the womb or in their latter years participate nor partake of "spiritual things". That the non-elect benefit from the spiritual blessings bestowed upon the elect is true. But that is a decidedly different thing altogether.

Again, you seem to be wanting to equate being part of a covenant community to possessing some degree of God's favor/acceptance and thus those within the community are all to be considered "God's people" or in N.T. terminology, "Christian". There is no warrant to do this. Those who are saved by the grace of God have no need to be told to repent of their sins and believe upon Christ unto salvation for they already possess it. To put it another way, you are diminishing or even denying a distinction between the Visible and Invisible Church.

YOU are the one who is wanting to bring in this idea of "infallible salvation" or an "infallible knowledge" of salvation. I have repeatedly said that there is only One who has infallible knowledge about anything and everything; the Lord God. In the Church we possess only a fallible and finite knowledge, but nonetheless we can and do possess knowledge of the truth upon which we are to determine who belongs to Christ. Without evidence of regeneration, there is no warrant to presume another's salvation. (Rom 6; Jam 2:17ff) A child of believing parents may be entitled to an "associate membership" in the covenant community but it has no "voting rights" since it has not passed the initiation rights of giving a valid profession of faith, etc.

Let me answer your last question last... "NO! I am in full accord with Augustine, Calvin and the WSC on the matter of baptism" in all that they say that is in accord with Scripture. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Secondly, re: WSC Q:94 and the passages quoted . . . CONTEXT, CONTEXT and again I say, CONTEXT! A text out of context is nothing more than pretext. Just who is Paul addressing in those passages? Hint:... believers and them only. A baptized unbeliever is not "baptized into Christ", i.e., he/she is not united to Christ and thus a recipient of all the benefits merited for the elect. To even suggest such a thing is preposterous. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/rolleyes2.gif" alt="" />

Hogwash!! <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/rofl.gif" alt="" /> Unbelievers do NOT partake of ANY "grace", i.e., salvific blessings directly. As I have already noted, unbelievers do benefit from that which is given to believers but only indirectly. This is benevolence and nothing more.

In His grace,