Scholten
Puritan Board Freshman
This post is another in a series having to do with the book Believer's Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ More can be found on this at:
Infant Baptism - Believer's Baptism - Christian Dialogue
Your input is greatly desired.
The Abrahamic covenant is very diverse. It includes not only spiritual elements linking it to the new covenant, but it also includes national and typological elements which resulted in significant discontinuity as the transition is made into the age of fulfillment. The best example of this is contained in the different senses Scripture gives to the genealogical principle, the different meanings of "you and your seed" (Genesis 17:7). Covenantal theologians understand "you and your seed" as "you and your physical seed," that is, believers and their children. For them this understanding remains essentially unchanged from Abraham through to Christ. But this understanding does not do justice to the Abrahamic covenant in its own context. This is apparent once the important question, "Who is the seed of Abraham? Who is the true heir of God's promise?" is answered. Scripture teaches that there are four senses in which this phrase is used and they must be distinguished and not confused. *The four senses are given below. (Believer's Baptism, page 133.)
This first sense in which the phrase "seed of Abraham" is used refers to all the physical descendents of Abraham such as Ishmael, Isaac, the sons of Keturah etc. all of these children of Abraham received circumcision even though many of them were unbelievers.
The second usage of the "seed of Abraham" also refers to the natural or physical descendents of Abraham but more specifically the special seed connected to God's saving purposes. This includes Isaac and by extension Jacob and the entire nation of Israel due to God's covenant relationship with Israel, they are a special, chosen people (Deuteronomy 7:7-10). As a nation this "mixed" entity comprised both believers and unbelievers--Elijahs and Ahabs simultaneously-- even though all males within the covenant nation, regardless of whether they were spiritually regenerate or not, were marked by the covenant sign of circumcision.*
The third usage is found in Galatians 3:16 where Paul argues that the singular use of "seed" in Genesis 12:3 and other places is a reference to the true/unique "seed of Abraham," namely Christ. Christ is the promised seed, the mediator of God's people, the one who fulfills all God's promises, not just the Abrahamic promises. For this reason he is the true seed of Abraham, the true Israel, and David's greater Son. In this important sense, then, Jesus is the unique seed of Abraham both as a physical seed through a specific genealogical line and is the anti-type of old covenant mediators of the Old Testament.*
In this fourth and last sense of the "seed of Abraham," the New Testament emphasizes its spiritual nature now that Christ has come. This spiritual seed of Abraham includes both believing Jews and Gentiles in the church. Given this new era that Christ has inaugurated, the way now into Abraham's family is not dependent on circumcision or the Torah, it comes only through faith and spiritual rebirth. Only those who have experienced conversion are Abraham's "seed" in this spiritual sense. To be a member of Abraham's family is no longer tied to a specific physical lineage, nor circumcision, nor any other kind of physical links to other believers. Rather one becomes a part of Abraham's family only through faith in Christ (Galatians 3:26-29). Thus, in the coming of Christ, a new era of redemptive history has dawned where the structures, types, and shadows of the old have given way to the reality and fulfillment of what the Old Testament was all along pointing to. (Believer's Baptism, page 135.)
Dr. Wellum says in the statement that covenant theology’s understanding of "you and your seed" is not correct. He then goes on to claim,
*
But this understanding does not do justice to the Abrahamic covenant in its own context. This is apparent once the important question, "Who is the seed of Abraham? Who is the true heir of God's promise?" is answered.
*
What Dr. Wellum needs to prove here now is that the first sense of "seed" no longer exists in the New Testament age. He claims in the above quoted statement that this is "apparent," yet he does not succeed in establishing his claim as biblical. It is not at all apparent to this reader. The reader must judge whether his statements are evidence for his position or if they are limited to simply stating what his position is.
Infant Baptism - Believer's Baptism - Christian Dialogue
Your input is greatly desired.
BAPTIST STATEMENT
To reduce the Abrahamic covenant to only its spiritual aspects is to run the risk of reading new covenant realities into the old era too fast. In order to properly understand the Abrahamic covenant we must understand it in its context. God approaches mankind in different ways through the ages of human history.The Abrahamic covenant is very diverse. It includes not only spiritual elements linking it to the new covenant, but it also includes national and typological elements which resulted in significant discontinuity as the transition is made into the age of fulfillment. The best example of this is contained in the different senses Scripture gives to the genealogical principle, the different meanings of "you and your seed" (Genesis 17:7). Covenantal theologians understand "you and your seed" as "you and your physical seed," that is, believers and their children. For them this understanding remains essentially unchanged from Abraham through to Christ. But this understanding does not do justice to the Abrahamic covenant in its own context. This is apparent once the important question, "Who is the seed of Abraham? Who is the true heir of God's promise?" is answered. Scripture teaches that there are four senses in which this phrase is used and they must be distinguished and not confused. *The four senses are given below. (Believer's Baptism, page 133.)
This first sense in which the phrase "seed of Abraham" is used refers to all the physical descendents of Abraham such as Ishmael, Isaac, the sons of Keturah etc. all of these children of Abraham received circumcision even though many of them were unbelievers.
The second usage of the "seed of Abraham" also refers to the natural or physical descendents of Abraham but more specifically the special seed connected to God's saving purposes. This includes Isaac and by extension Jacob and the entire nation of Israel due to God's covenant relationship with Israel, they are a special, chosen people (Deuteronomy 7:7-10). As a nation this "mixed" entity comprised both believers and unbelievers--Elijahs and Ahabs simultaneously-- even though all males within the covenant nation, regardless of whether they were spiritually regenerate or not, were marked by the covenant sign of circumcision.*
The third usage is found in Galatians 3:16 where Paul argues that the singular use of "seed" in Genesis 12:3 and other places is a reference to the true/unique "seed of Abraham," namely Christ. Christ is the promised seed, the mediator of God's people, the one who fulfills all God's promises, not just the Abrahamic promises. For this reason he is the true seed of Abraham, the true Israel, and David's greater Son. In this important sense, then, Jesus is the unique seed of Abraham both as a physical seed through a specific genealogical line and is the anti-type of old covenant mediators of the Old Testament.*
In this fourth and last sense of the "seed of Abraham," the New Testament emphasizes its spiritual nature now that Christ has come. This spiritual seed of Abraham includes both believing Jews and Gentiles in the church. Given this new era that Christ has inaugurated, the way now into Abraham's family is not dependent on circumcision or the Torah, it comes only through faith and spiritual rebirth. Only those who have experienced conversion are Abraham's "seed" in this spiritual sense. To be a member of Abraham's family is no longer tied to a specific physical lineage, nor circumcision, nor any other kind of physical links to other believers. Rather one becomes a part of Abraham's family only through faith in Christ (Galatians 3:26-29). Thus, in the coming of Christ, a new era of redemptive history has dawned where the structures, types, and shadows of the old have given way to the reality and fulfillment of what the Old Testament was all along pointing to. (Believer's Baptism, page 135.)
PAEDO-BAPTIST RESPONSE
Covenant theologians do not read new covenant realities into the old era. According to covenant theology, for example, in Old Testament times the Abrahamic covenant contained a promise of the land for the Jews. The covenant ranged from such earthly aspects all the way up to the promise that God would be a God to them and they would be his people. Covenant theology acknowledges the earthly aspects of the Abrahamic covenant in the Old Testament; it does not reduce the covenant only to its spiritual aspects. The discussion of the four senses of "seeds" is the key issue here; it is not clear how this supposed reduction of the covenant to its spiritual aspects is relevant.Dr. Wellum says in the statement that covenant theology’s understanding of "you and your seed" is not correct. He then goes on to claim,
*
But this understanding does not do justice to the Abrahamic covenant in its own context. This is apparent once the important question, "Who is the seed of Abraham? Who is the true heir of God's promise?" is answered.
*
What Dr. Wellum needs to prove here now is that the first sense of "seed" no longer exists in the New Testament age. He claims in the above quoted statement that this is "apparent," yet he does not succeed in establishing his claim as biblical. It is not at all apparent to this reader. The reader must judge whether his statements are evidence for his position or if they are limited to simply stating what his position is.
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