Dr. Bob Gonzales, Academic Dean and a professor at Reformed Baptist Seminary as well as an Adjunct Professor of Old Testament Studies here at MCTS has posted an article defending Believer Baptism (Credobaptism) against Infant Baptism (Paedobaptism) on his new blog: “Why I’m Still a Baptist.”
(He is also teaching Old Testament Introduction I this fall at the Midwest Center. To learn more about his class, feel free to click here.)
I highly recommend reading his article while studying John 1:12-13. I find his case both exegetical and persuasive. As he concludes:
The question is one of divinely bestowed legal warrant (John 1:12). What the Credobaptist avers is that this demand for a credible profession of faith as the warrant for inclusion within God’s New Covenant family is not a substantial continuation of the state of affairs under the Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants with, of course, a few minor changes, like the switch from circumcision to baptism and from the Passover to the Lord’s Supper. It is, rather, a new state of affairs from a redemptive-historical standpoint. Hence, the church and her leadership are no longer warranted by God to include physical seed in the covenant by virtue of mere blood-ties to believing parents. To those who receive Christ and to those alone does God grant de jure the privilege of New Covenant member status.
CBTS Faculty fully subscribe to the 1689 Confession of Faith, hold an advanced
degree in their field of instruction, and possess significant pastoral experience.
