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Questions From a Paedo Brother
Posted by Brian Thornton on May 9, 2008
Les Prouty, whose engaging AND gracious comments you may have seen on this site in the last few days (yes my friends, it is possible to actually have a discussion without accusing your opponent of being everything short of the anti-christ!), asked me a few short questions on his site concerning my beliefs revolving around baptism. They were good questions, and I thought you might benefit from the questions AND my answers. Here they are:
1. Are Baptist church members, who have been baptized after profession of faith, are these folks part of the new covenant?
ANSWER: Only if they have truly been regenerated, which means they have had God’s law written upon their hearts and minds, they know God, and they have had their iniquity forgiven and their sin remembered no more. If they have not been regenerated, but have been baptized, then they are merely part of the visible church, but NOT part of the new covenant, as Scripture clearly describes the state of those who are in the new covenant as possessing those things I mentioned earlier in this answer.
2. Are there people sitting in Baptist churches, having been baptized after their profession of faith who are nonetheless not truly regenerate?
ANSWER: Most definitely, and most sadly, yes.
3. Have baptized Baptists ever apostasized?
ANSWER: Yes, they have. Apostasy is a falling away, or a turning away…the formal abandonment or renunciation of one’s religion. A baptized baptist who later in life renounces that faith has, in fact, turned away from his profession. That’s what apostasy is. This is why a baptized infant who never professes faith cannot be an apostate, because they never claimed faith in the first place.
I also had this comment: “I think the major distinction between our positions is that Paedos equate those in the new covenant with the visible church, and Credos equate those in the new covenant with the body of Christ.”
Let me know what you think.
Arthur Sido said
That is exactly right. The big difference is that Baptists, at least of the Reformed variety, would never baptize someone who shows no sign of being regenerate but paedos do exactly that all the time. Being baptized and holding membership in the local church does not make you part of the New Covenant, nor does beign baptized as an infant because your parents are Christian. As you said, what makes you part of the New Covenant is being regenerated, which is why the New Covenant is both different and better than the Old.
Les said
Brian, thanks for the referral.
Les