Tag: Baptism

Covenant Signs

With this knowledge of the level of covenant discontinuity, the covenant signs, circumcision and baptism, can be compared. Steven Wellum further discusses that under the Abrahamic covenant, circumcision “marked out a national entity. … God chose one man and his seed to grow into a nation to prepare the way for the coming of Christ. Circumcision…served as a physical sign to mark out a nation and to distinguish [Israel] as his people.” Although this signified their national heritage as God’s people regardless of the faithfulness of individual members, circumcision also showed the need for the Israelites’ hearts to be circumcised.… Read more

When observing the New Covenant in light of the Old, Paul Jewett explains, “stress should…be laid on its unity. The covenant idea is a fundamental concept of redemptive revelation: it unites the entire purpose of God throughout salvation history.” Despite this, there is still a level of discontinuity between the physical seed, Israel, and the spiritual seed, the church. The physical seed had a mixture of faithful and unfaithful participants, but in the case of the spiritual seed, all participants confess Christ.… Read more

Introduction

Although there is much unity among Reformed Baptists and Presbyterians on the fundamental issues of the Christian faith, one of the most enduring debates that continues is the issue of baptism. Who should be baptized? Is baptism for believers and their children, or is it only for believers upon a profession of faith in Christ? The answer to this question rests on how we understand the Old and New Covenants, and their corresponding signs, circumcision and baptism.… Read more