Many credobaptists cite the following passage to show that there is not a continuity in substance between the biblical covenants, and that therefore their unity cannot be alleged as a grounds for infant baptism.
"The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day." (Deuteronomy 5:2-3)
A few things may be said in response to this argument:
[1]. Many times in Scripture, something is said to be "made" in the sense of being renewed or made more clear. Paul says "Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith." (Romans 16:25-26). Yet he also says that the gospel was preached to Abraham (Gal. 3:8), and that those under the Mosaic covenant also heard this same gospel (Heb. 4:2). Therefore, as Witsius says, "what God says here [Deut. 5:3] may be taken in the same sense; that he did not make this covenant with their fathers, namely, in the same manner and form, by speaking to them from the midst of thunderings and lightnings, giving them the law of the covenant written with his own hand, with an addition of so many ceremonies." (The Economy of the Covenants, 1:323)
[2]. The Mosaic covenant is founded on the basis of the Abrahamic covenant in terms of its essential substance and promises. This is shown clearly by passages such as Exodus 2:24, 3:6; Deuteronomy 7:12, 29:13.
No comments:
Post a Comment