Covenantal Baptism
As Reformed Covenantal Christians, we believe the sign of God's
covenant is to be applied to all members of the Christian household
upon birth. This “household” approach begins in the Old
Testament, and is far from made obsolete in the New Testament! Quite
the contrary. The New and Better Covenant shows many example of
household baptisms without any explicit mention of the individual
faith of each member, but rather focuses on the faith of the Federal
head of the household. This pattern of inclusion is quite important.
When an adult converts to Christ, we rejoice with the angelic host as
they are baptized in the name of the Triune God. Also, we joyfully
and regularly celebrate what is commonly known as “infant baptism”,
yet we prefer the term “household baptism” or “covenant
baptism”. The clear pattern of 1 Corinthians 7:14 tells us that if
one parent is a believer, the children are considered “holy” unto
God also. This does not negate the vital necessity of the new
birth and sincere faith for final salvation, but it does mean
that our covenant children are truly loved & accepted by God
their Father, are truly disciples of Christ under their parents
nurture/training and admonition (Eph 6:1-4), and are truly adopted
members of God's household.
No comments:
Post a Comment