ManleyBeasley
Puritan Board Junior
The promises God gives to the Jews and their physical children translate to a spiritual family now. We WERE of Adam and now we are of Christ. Does this mean we are physically/genetically of Christ's blood line? No we are born again. Jesus said "What is born of the flesh is flesh, what is born of the Spirit is spirit." Our children in the covenant are our spiritual children or children according to the gospel. As John said it brought him joy when his "children walked in truth". That being said, the promises are promises to a spiritual family not physical. We Credos DO believe in baptizing infants, SPIRITUAL infants. New born Christians.
OLD COV--physical infant is circumsized
NEW COV--spiritual infant (newly saved believer) is baptized
There seems to be a fundamental disconnect here insofar as circumcision came through Abraham, not Adam. And Abraham circumcised more than his physical offspring. Circumcision was never a purely matter of genetics.
The physical to spiritual does not fit exactly fit all the data we have in the Bible.
First of all, OT circumcision was not strictly physical in nature. Physical circumcision was intended to be an external display of an inward circumcision of the heart (spiritual, Deut. 10:16).
Secondly, NT baptism is not purely spiritual. Like circumcision, there is a physical dimension that represents the spiritual.
When speaking of the physical to spiritual element I'm speaking of the Old vs New Covenants not refering to the fact that both circumcision and baptism are physical (they have to be because they are testaments to the 2 covenants; 1 being flesh, 1 being spiritual). The first being a covenant of works (and so of flesh) the second being a covanent of grace. The law was given over time with Abraham (circumcision represented the Law in Galations) and ultimately going through Moses. At the same time the Cov of grace was being established through promises to Abraham, David,etc and was fully revealed through the coming of Christ and the completion of the NT. Both Covenants (grace and works) always co-existed and grew in revelation (though grace took longer for the full revelation)
Circumcision was commanded for the infants of the Jews because of their bloodline (though certainly others were circumcized when they converted). Their flesh circumcision (law) was seperate from the heart circumcision (grace). Regeneration is where the new covenant starts in a person and so baptism is for the believer.