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.
The paedobaptist argues that as circumcision was the sign of the covenant for Hebrew parents and their children, baptism is for believers and their children under the New Covenant. In contrast, the credobaptist contests that the covenant sign is for believers only. As Randy Booth explains, “The degree to which we see either covenant continuity or covenant discontinuity affects the questions we ask, the standards that must be met, and the answer we will obtain.”1
Through examination of these covenants and their signs, we will see discontinuity with regard to who is a part of them. Through the New Covenant, inaugurated through Jesus’ death and resurrection, we now have the salvation to which the Old Covenant pointed. This is a covenant of grace and salvation for those who believe. Thus, its covenant sign, baptism, a sign of the believer’s union with Christ, is reserved for those profess faith and are recipients of that grace.
The Nature of the Abrahamic Covenant
In order to understand the New Covenant and baptism, it is critical that we first understand what the Old Covenant signified. In his discussion of the covenants, Stephen Wellum goes into a detailed discussion of God’s covenant with Abraham. He believes that it is inappropriate to view the Abrahamic covenant in purely spiritual terms. There is also a typological element to it, which introduces great discontinuity when compared with the New Covenant.2 When God makes his covenant with Abraham, he promises, “I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you” (Genesis 17:7). He believes that there are four ways that we can understand who Abraham’s offspring are, which can in turn, help us understand the nature of the covenant.
Firstly, this can be simply understood as Abraham’s “natural seed” — his direct descendants and non-familial members of his household. Through circumcision, these people were connected to Abraham and became recipients of the divine blessings that he received.3 Thus, although God made his covenant with Abraham, God did not intend to restrict these blessing to Abraham alone. Through circumcision, others were also brought into the covenant, and thus, they too could be recipients of God’s blessings. He would a God to them, as well as Abraham.
This can also refer to a “natural, yet special seed tied to God’s elective and saving purposes, namely Isaac, and by extension Jacob and the entire nation of Israel.”4 Before he delivered them from the Egyptians, God promised the Israelites, “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God…” (Exodus 6:7). Thus, God’s people were all those of the nation of Israel. Throughout the Old Testament, we see that they received the sign of circumcision given to Abraham, signifying they were God’s people. For them, circumcision tied their ancestral line to the original covenant recipient and mediator Abraham and gave them the benefit of being the people through which God would bring the Messiah to the nations.3 Through this sign, the people could look back to God’s gracious covenant with Abraham, and therefore with them, looking forward to the future fulfillment of God’s promise to bring them the promised Messiah.
As Christ, the Messiah, comes through Abraham’s seed, He also can be considered Abraham’s offspring. The Apostle Paul explains, “The promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, ‘And to offsprings,’ referring to many, but referring to one, ‘And to your offspring,’ who is Christ” (Galatians 3:16). Thus, Christ is the “true seed” of Abraham, as all the blessings that were promised under this covenant find their source and final culmination in him.5 As Paul writes, “All the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory” (2 Corinthians 1:20). With Christ as Abraham’s true seed, there would be no other covenant mediator for Abraham or Israel after Him. Through Christ’s sacrifice of himself for the sins of His people, Abraham could believe in God as He revealed himself under the Old Covenant. God could then claim Israelites and Gentiles alike as a people for himself under the New Covenant, and all could receive the spiritual benefits and promises of God through salvation in Christ.
The final manner in which we can understand Abraham’s offspring is his “spiritual” offspring, which includes Jews and Gentiles. To be a recipient of this covenant, one does not need to be a descendent of Abraham or receive circumcision; they must merely believe on Christ through faith and repentance, secured through Christ, Abraham’s seed. This leads to a spiritual birth, which makes one a spiritual offspring.3 Under the New Covenant, this offspring are believers who have been spiritually reborn and have taken hold of Christ by faith.