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Originally Posted by joshua  Quote:
Originally Posted by Semper Fidelis My opinion: I don't like it and I think it confuses categories.
I wouldn't want to speak in terms of regeneration the way that he did for the confusion it presents. It's sufficient to speak about the things that are revealed (Covenant participation and belief in Christ) rather than the things that only God knows.
I think the reason why we have confidence when our children die is that they were in the Covenant of Grace, set apart from the world by God's Word itself, and we have no revealed or circumstantial information that would undermine our every confidence that they are with the Lord. The Word considers little ones born into believing households to be disciples. Just like we don't doubt the salvation of a grown man who is a disciple we don't doubt little ones who are disciples. In neither case do we judge based on regeneration, which only God knows. | I just had to stop and  and wonder "What was he thinkin' when he wrote this?" |
Don't get me wrong, it might be possible to understand this without going off the deep end. The term regeneration has taken on a more limited meaning than it used to have in theological parlance.
There is, after all, a sense of life, or the appearance of life, in the parable of the sower. Hebrews speaks of tasting of the heavenly gift.
I just believe that later distinctions were useful for the reasons that we've seen where people start using language like the above and construct views that some of the Baptized have a half-way union with Christ.