Good morning and welcome again to each one. It
is such a blessing to be back in the congregation
again and to bring the Lord's Word to you from
the book of 1 Corinthians. We are going to be
looking today at verse 14, taking a close look
at the latter part of this verse. as I promised
two weeks ago when I preached on the passage
from verses 10 through 16. So let us turn in
our Bibles to 1 Corinthians 7 and verse 14. Here
is the word of God for us today. For the unbelieving
husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving
wife is sanctified by the husband. Your children
would be unclean, but now they are holy. The
subject today that we're going to be considering
from this passage is holy children. The covenant
status of believers' children. Let's pray and
ask for God's blessing on this time. Father,
we look in your word today, Father. And there
are many things that we do not understand as
we ought. So we pray today that you would enlighten
us, that you would give us of the power of the
Spirit, that we might be able to understand every
word, Lord, for it proceeds from your mouth.
And so we humble ourselves before you in obedience
to you, and we pray for the illumination of the
Holy Spirit. Please help us, Lord, to understand
and for me to expound. on this passage today,
that it might be glorifying to you and for the
upbuilding of your church here on the earth.
We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. The Apostle Paul,
in speaking of the relationship of the possibility
of one or the other, of a spouse being come and
converted to the Christian faith, and the other
one still remains an unbeliever, speaks to this
in this passage, from verses 12 through 16. And
in this situation, Paul clearly says that the
unbelieving or the believing is not to depart
from the unbelieving. I spoke of that at length
the last time that I preached, and so I'm not
planning to go into all of that again today.
But in the midst of this, Paul drops this statement.
About children being either unclean or holy.
Now this, he does not right here go into this
and greatly expound it further. So we're not
going to do a deep exegetical sermon on what
Paul says about this where he explains himself.
This is more of an assumption. And he gives it
to them saying kind of as a matter of fact. If
there is a believing parent, the children that
are born are not unclean, but they are holy.
So today, I'd like to take a closer look to understand
what the Apostle Paul means when he says this.
And we're going to look at a whole number of
other passages. This subject is a very important
one. or a family believes and understands this,
makes a big difference on how children are raised,
how they are taught, or how they are discipled,
or sometimes not. There's a widespread general
understanding in much, not all, thankfully, but
in much, of broader evangelicalism that children
often will not follow after their parents in
the faith. This is kind of a tacit understanding,
and it's kind of joked about sometimes. Now,
thankfully, this is not universal, but it is
a common one, especially in certain circles.
Rather than emphasizing the covenant promises,
the holiness of believers' children, and the
inclusion of the household and faithful nurture
with real expectation of fruit, there's just
kind of an understanding that, oh well. What
can we really do? It's up to them after all.
So I ask this question today. Are our children,
the children of believers, are they outside of
the kingdom of Christ? Are they on equal footing
with pagans? Are they not inheritors of the promises
made to us? Are they to be viewed not as being
disciples? Not the servants of God? not holy,
not separated unto God. And some even go so far
as to say they're not even able sincerely to
pray to God because they are not yet converted.
And as Proverbs 15, 29 says, the Lord is far
from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the
righteous. Is the church to treat children in
her midst? As the Reverend James Thornwell, that
prominent southern Presbyterian pastor from the
1800s who taught in this manner. He said, the
church is to treat children precisely as she
treats all other impenitent and unbelieving men.
She is to exercise the power of the keys and
shut them out from the communion of the saints.
She is to debar them from all the privileges
of the inner sanctuary. She is to exclude them
from their inheritance until they show themselves
meet to possess it. Is that what this scripture
is teaching? Today, I beg to differ with the
renowned pastor and with others who say otherwise,
but rather, I believe that the passage here is
speaking of a covenantal holiness. That is, little
Christians who are to be loved, they're taught
to pray and to love the Lord and... welcomed
as members of the church. My belief in the thesis
of this sermon is that in understanding the covenants
of God to us and to our children, this passage
teaches that the children of believers are not
unclean like the children of pagans, but are
holy. That is, they are set apart as members
of the visible church and covenant community.
This status flows from the unchanging covenant
of grace, and it calls us to faithful nurture.
Now, I'm going to expound on the covenant of
grace in just a little bit, because I think it's
very helpful to understand. But in order to understand
that, let's begin first of all by examining the
key words in this passage. As I noted two weeks
ago, This section of 1 Corinthians contains some
of the more challenging verses to interpret.
Paul writes that the unbelieving husband is sanctified
by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified
by the husband. Now, we understand that the unbelieving
spouse is not automatically saved, but is hagiazo,
is the Greek word, sanctified or set apart. As
Anthony Thistleton helpfully explains, that is
the lifestyle of the believing spouse, their
example and witness, prayer and faithful living
out of the gospel is bound to affect the ethos
and to some extent the values and the lifestyle
of the home. They live, that is the unbelieving
spouse lives in a sacred environment. a sphere
in which God's holiness and transforming power
operates. And then I added this to it, that while
a Christian is not supposed to marry an unbeliever,
for that is being unequally yoked together, the
union of believer and unbeliever in which one
has come to faith in Christ is approved and permissible.
It is blessed and sanctified by God as a consequence
and extended blessing of this conversion. Now
the word sanctified there is also used in other
places of the scripture. It's like, it's as it
is used, for example, in 1 Timothy 4 regarding
food. Every creature of God is good and nothing
is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving,
for it is sanctified. By the word of God and
prayer. So that's dealing with the spouses. But
now let's consider what the apostle says about
the children. Holy children. And so our first
point today is the meaning of holy children.
Paul now turns to the children. He contrasts
them with those who are unclean versus those
who are holy. Now this word is hagios, holy.
It is closely related to the word sanctified.
But throughout the New Testament, it is used
and translated in two primary ways. 168 times
it's translated as holy. And around 60 times
it is translated as saints. Consider these examples.
Same word here. Romans 1 verse 7. To all who
are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints.
Ephesians 1 and verse 1. To the saints who are
in Ephesus and faithful in Christ Jesus. And
Philemon 1 verse 4 and 5. Hearing of your love
and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus
and toward all the saints. Now it is of note.
That Paul in referring to children as holy here.
When he addresses the saints in a whole number
of the epistles. He will at times speak directly
to the children. Colossians chapter 2. He says
children obey your parents in the Lord. Ephesians
chapter 6. He says children. Again, he addresses
the children. He also addresses fathers, that
they're to raise up their children, they're to
nurture them in the faith, to disciple them and
to teach them. But my point there is that they're
part of the congregation and God's holy word
in the letter to the church sometimes addresses
specifically. the children in the congregation.
He treats them as part of the church that he
is addressing. So what does it mean then that
the children are holy, that they are saints?
Again, contrary to Reverend Thornwell, of such
is the kingdom of heaven and of God, as Jesus
taught. When he said in multiple times in the
New Testament. Let the little children come to
me. The word holy here I believe means that they
are covenantally holy. They are numbered with
the Christian church and the covenant congregation.
They are not unclean. That is they are not treated
as pagans or outsiders. Or separated from the
gathered or assembled and recognized people of
God. This stands in sharp contrast to the unclean
person which is described in Ephesians verse
5. This person, the unclean, has no inheritance
in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Paul says,
for you know that no fornicator, unclean person,
nor covetous man who is an idolater has any inheritance
in the kingdom of Christ and God. Now in light
of the first part of this verse, Does then, this
is a question that often comes up when we're
looking at this, saying, well, does the holiness
of the children mean something more than the
sanctification of the unbelieving spouse? We
look deeply into what that meant. What does it
mean that the unbelieving spouse is sanctified?
And I'm not going to go through all of that again
for the sake of time. So the question is, The
children being holy, is that the same thing?
Is he just saying the same thing as what he did
to the unbelieving spouse? I think, according
to the word of God, which we're going to look
at, the holiness of this children means something
more, way more than it does of the sanctification
of the unbelieving spouse. The answer is a clear
and emphatic yes. But to see why, we need to
look more deeply into the biblical understanding
of covenant. Of covenant. We're going to examine
how children are included in the covenant of
grace in both the Old and the New Testaments.
In a way that is unique. Now, I want to clarify
here. When I say that they're in the covenant,
I am not teaching that all children born to Christian
parents are automatically regenerated or saved
simply because they are born to Christian parents
or because they are baptized and marked with
the name of Christ. What I am teaching is that
there is a unique covenantal category for the
children of believers in that they are recipients
of the promises of the covenants of grace. of
the covenant of grace extended to believers they
are children of the covenant they are set apart
as visible members of the visible church in the
covenant community this status flows from the
unchanging covenant of grace and it lays a serious
responsibility upon us as parents for the faithful
nurture and discipleship of them but the children
still must exercise personal and believing faith
as they get older. And as now their parents acted
on behalf of them and they are blessed in this
covenant relationship that they have, but also
as they grow older, they must also exercise their
own will and heart in faith toward God. This
is a must. And so I want to be clear on that.
Now the question might arise, So if they are
holy, if the children of believers are holy,
does that mean that children are innocent? That
is, that they are born without sin and that they
remain in a state of innocence until they reach
what some call an age of accountability. An age
of accountability. Now some will claim this,
but the scripture will not allow it. There are
two major problems with this view. First, our
passage itself distinguishes between the children
of unbelievers as unclean and the children of
believers as holy. These children share the same
fallen human nature, and yet one group is unclean
and the other is holy. So there's not an innocence
in here. But second, there's not an innocence
because the Bible teaches Adam's covenantal headship.
And when Adam fell, Sin and death passed to every
one of his descendants. All of his descendants.
Paul explains this in Romans 5 verse 12. Therefore
justice through one man, sin entered into the
world, and death through sin, and thus death
spread to all men, because all sinned. Again,
1 Corinthians 15 verse 22. For as in Adam all
die. This is the doctrine of original sin and
of federal headship, that Adam, on behalf of
all of his descendants in the human race, that
when he sinned, that sin passed upon all of his
descendants. This is why Jesus, the perfect one,
could not be born as a descendant of a man. He
had to be born of the seed of a woman. Just a
side note there. God would be perfectly just
to condemn all humanity on this basis alone,
that we all die in Adam. We sin because we are
born sinners and not the other way around. In
other words, we're not sinners because we sin.
No, we're... We sin because we're sinners. We
were born that way. David confesses the same
reality. Behold, he says, I was brought forth
in iniquity and in sin my mother conceived me.
Psalm 51 verse 5. One only needs to observe a
two -year -old openly rebel against a clear command
to see that the root of rebellion runs deep in
the human heart. Children are not born pure and
innocent before a holy God, although we will
gladly acknowledge there's a relative innocence
in their ignorance of the world's grosser. evils
all human beings are children of wrath by nature
as paul says in ephesians 2 verse 3 among whom
also we also we once conducted ourselves in the
lusts of the flesh fulfilling the desires of
the flesh and of the mind and were by nature
children of wrath just as others so the children
are not holy because they're innocent That is
my point in going through this. They are not
holy because they are innocent, for indeed they
are not. So, when Paul says that the children
are either unclean or holy, he cannot mean that
believers' children are sinless while others
are not. Nor is he merely saying that believers'
children have a better chance of hearing the
gospel because of godly parental influence. Though
that is certainly true, that there is a great
influence. This explanation falls short because
it ignores the rich covenantal framework that
runs through the entire Bible. And that is this,
that the covenantal understanding that God extends
his promises and his blessings to his people
and to their children. And this is said, repeated
over and over again. You belong to the kingdom
of heaven. You are greatly blessed. You receive
the covenant blessings of God. And these blessings
flow in a unique and special way from believing
parents to their children. Here's a way that
several godly commentators and expositors explain
this truth. Matthew Henry, children of believers
belong to the holy enclosure and not to the common
world. Or Hodge, this passage recognizes the
great scriptural principle that the children
of believers are holy. They are holy in the same
sense that the Jews were holy. They are included
in the church and have a right to be so regarded.
The child of a Jewish parent had a right to circumcision
and to all the privileges. So the child of a
Christian parent has a right to baptism and to
all the privileges of the church so long as he
is represented by the parent. That is until he
arrives at the period of life when he is entitled
and bound to act for himself. Then his relation
to the church depends on his own act. The church
is the same in all ages. That is Hodges' explanation
of this. The man in Psalm 128 who fears the Lord
is called blessed. And how is he blessed? His
wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very
heart of his house. And how are his children?
His children are like olive plants. All around
his table. See the glorious imagery there. They
are not weeds. They are not separated from the
church. They are not alienated from the church.
Or from the people of God. But they are planted
in the courts of God. There to be brought up
in the training. And the nurture and the admonition
of the Lord. As Ephesians 6 .4 says. So now let's
do a quick. overview of covenants in the scripture.
And that is my second point. I'd like to give
a brief primer on covenant theology in the Bible
because in order to understand this verse, we
need to understand what God means by covenant.
So I'd like to get into that for a bit. First
of all, what is a covenant? We need to understand
this. What is a covenant? What's the definition?
It is a binding commitment that establishes relationship.
Since all have been alienated from God through
the sin of Adam, which passed on all mankind,
and then followed by our own sins in failing
to keep God's law and actively disobeying His
commandments, the distance between God and His
creatures is so great. It is so vast. That there
could be no blessing, there could be no rewards
without a voluntary condescension by God who
chose to make covenant with us. He chose to do
this and he calls us his people. It is a voluntary
establishment of a relationship by God with.
Those who are fallen and were excluded because
of that fallen state. This is covenant. Now there
are three covenants that form the backbone of
what we call covenant theology. And they help
us to understand God's dealings with humanity
from creation to eternity. These three are described
like this. Number one, there is something that
is called the covenant of works. Sometimes also
it's called the covenant of life. Now in this
we also see God's grace manifested, but this
was between God and Adam as the federal covenantal
head of all humanity. This was made in the Garden
of Eden before the fall. The condition of this
covenant was perfect personal and perpetual obedience
to God's law. Do this and live. The promise was
life, continued fellowship with God, and eternal
blessing. And the penalty was death. Spiritual,
physical, and eternal separation from God for
disobedience. We see this in Genesis chapter
2, verse 16 and 17. God tells Adam, of every
tree in the garden you may freely eat. There's
the grace. But then he says, but the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil you shall not
eat for in the day that you eat of it you shall
surely die. You're going to die. Paul explains
this again in Romans 5 verse 12. Therefore justice
through one man sin entered into the world and
death through sin and thus death spread to all
men because all sinned. So in summary, Adam represented
all mankind. When he broke the covenant through
sin, the curse of death and corruption passed
to every human being. No one after Adam can fulfill
or obey the covenant of works because we are
born sinners. This covenant is still in force
in the sense that God's holy standard and the
penalty for breaking it remain, but there is
no hope of salvation in this covenant. For this,
there needed to be another covenant, and that
is the covenant of redemption. The covenant of
redemption. This is when the three persons of
the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit, and this happened in eternity past
before creation, which was an eternal agreement
within the Godhead for the salvation of a people.
It was for the salvation where the Father would
choose a people and give them to the Son. And
the Son would become incarnate. That is, He would
be born on the earth. He would live a perfect
life of obedience, thus fulfilling the covenant
of works. He would suffer and die and rise again
as the substitute and representative of His people.
The Holy Spirit then agrees to apply the redemption
accomplished by the Son to... those who are saved,
to those who believe. We see this again in multiple
places. This is the covenant of redemption. And
again, it's in both the Old and the New Testament.
The Old Testament sacrifices for sin. They pointed
to Christ, but it was the same principle. There
must be an atonement for sin because man cannot
have a relationship with God and God just excuse
the sin. No, there had to be blood that was shed.
And so it was for the animals, but they all pointed
to Christ, who is the perfect sacrifice. This
is the covenant of redemption. We can look at
many different passages on this. Again, I'm not
going to take the time. They are on the outline
sheet that I gave you. Psalm 2, Psalm 110, Isaiah
53, John 6, verse 7 to 37 to 39, John 17, verses
1 to 6, Ephesians 1, verses 3 to 14, and Titus
1, verse 2. But here's just a quick explanation.
This is how and why we can understand that in
Revelation, chapter 13, verse 8, It speaks of
the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
From the foundation of the world. That is because
the decision for this occurred in eternity past.
That there would be a covenant of redemption.
This is the covenant behind the covenant, so
to speak. It's the eternal plan and purpose of
the triune God to redeem sinners. The covenant
of redemption is the foundation for everything
that happens in time in what we now turn to as
the covenant of grace. The covenant of grace.
And this covenant extends to the children of
believers. It is said to do this on multiple
times. And that's why I'm tying this in to this
passage because I believe this is what Paul is
alluding to and explaining when he says that
your children are holy. The covenant of grace
extends throughout the scripture. It's where
God... Especially the father in and through Christ
the mediator. And his elect people represented
by Christ. This was announced immediately after
the fall. To Adam and Eve right there. When they
had sinned. There was a promised redeemer who
would come. And grace was extended to Adam and
Eve. In that they did not die immediately. Although
God could have struck them down. But no he chose
to extend grace. to them this covenant of grace
is progressively unfolded throughout redemptive
history it's kind of like this maybe this illustration
will help you the covenant of grace so you see
here a dark room and in that dark room it's pitch
black and then god lights one candle And he begins
illuminating that room with his word. And he
shows it to Abraham. And then he lights another
candle. And he shows it more to Moses. And first
of all to Abraham. And then to Moses. And so
the candles keep getting lit. And the room gets
brighter. Until the son of righteousness comes.
That is Jesus Christ the Lord. And he fully illuminates
the whole room with the brightness of his coming.
That's what I mean by the progressive revelation
of the covenant of grace. where we see it more
and more. What is the condition for this? It
is faith in the promised Messiah who fulfills
the covenant of works on our behalf. And so grace
and not works is the principle. The promise of
the covenant of grace is the forgiveness of sins.
It is righteousness. It is adoption. It is eternal
life. And it is restored fellowship with God.
The covenant of grace is one unchanging covenant
throughout the whole Bible, although it is administered
differently under the Old and New Testaments,
some through promises, types, sacrifices, and
prophecies, and ultimately through the finished
work of Christ and the sacraments in the New
Testament. Again, there are multiple texts that
we could look at this. This is where we would
see the Abrahamic covenant in Genesis chapter
12 and 17. It is where the new covenant promise
is in Jeremiah chapter 31, 31 to 34. And then
spoken of again in Luke chapter 22. Also in Hebrews
chapters 8 through 10. That explains it very
thoroughly. And also in Galatians chapter 3 verse
16 to 29. In summary then, because we broke the
covenant of works, God in his great mercy established
the covenant of grace. Christ, as the second
Adam, fulfills the covenant of works for us.
And so all the blessings of salvation flow to
believers. And to their children through this
covenant. Let me show you here from the word
of God. We will notice as we look at these various
ones. That obedience is still commanded. But
all of this is God's grace revealed to each generation.
Listen here. We're going to start with Noah.
Noah chapter 7 and verse 1. We see the grace
of God revealed to him. When the Lord said to
Noah. Come into the ark. You. and all your household,
because I have seen that you are righteous before
me in this generation. There are great blessings
to Noah's descendants based on the fact that
Noah was a man of God and his children were told,
or God said, your household is to come into the
ark and be saved compared to all of the rest
who were destroyed. We see this in Abraham. Abraham
17 verse 7. God says to Abraham, I will establish
my covenant between me and you and your descendants
after you in their generations for an everlasting
covenant to be God to you and to your descendants.
To be God to you and your descendants after you.
This is the covenant promise. The covenant of
grace and the promise to Abraham. Circumcision
then was instituted as a sign of that covenant.
But the covenant was that of grace. God's pure,
unmerited favor on Abraham and to his descendants.
Moses speaks of this. Deuteronomy chapter 29,
there's several passages in here, but we will
see again all of them being gathered together.
They stand before the Lord your God, and Moses
details it. Your leaders, your tribes, your elders,
your officers, the men of Israel, your little
ones, and your wives. And also the stranger who
is in your camp. that you may enter into covenant
with the Lord your God and into his oath, which
the Lord God makes with you today. He then concludes
in the end of chapter 29 and verse 29, the secret
things belong to the Lord our God, but those
things which are revealed belong to us and to
our children forever. They belong to us and to
our children forever. that we may do all the
words of this law. The promise was given to David
and to his son, and this is spoken of or expanded
in Ezekiel 37, verse 24 and 25. Jeremiah prophesies
that those who would be gathered from captivity
after the exile, in chapter 32, verse 38, he
says, they shall be my people and I will be their
God. then I will give them one heart and one
way that they may fear me forever for the good
of them and their children after them. I will
make an everlasting covenant with them that I
will not turn away from doing them good, but
I will put my fear in their hearts so they will
not depart from me. Isaiah speaks of this. After
the sacrifice of Christ, which is given in such
wonderful prophetic form in chapter 53, the prophet
then follows up with chapter 54 and he speaks
great promises to the nations. What is this promise?
That God would establish his relationship with
them, keeping covenant with them like Noah. And
then God says in verse 13 of chapter 4, all your
children shall be taught. by the lord and great
shall be the peace of your children again the
covenant is to you and to your children now here's
the question and this is the one of obviously
that many in the church will disagree on all
right so does the new testament change this paradigm
that's the question does the new testament change
this paradigm in some way Does the new covenant,
which describes the work of Christ in dying for
their sins, in atoning for them and reconciling
them to God, change this? How do the apostles
and prophets teach this? We're going to look
at three major passages. The first one is on
the day of Pentecost. To the thousands of Jews
that are present in Jerusalem for the feast,
and in the sermon that Peter preaches after the
Holy Spirit, Is poured out on the people. On
the apostles. On the church. Luke then records
this. They. That is the audience. When they heard
this. They were cut to the heart. And said to
Peter and the rest of the apostles. Men and brethren.
What shall we do? And Peter said to them. Repent.
And let every one of you be baptized. In the
name of Jesus Christ. For the remission of sins.
And you shall receive the gift. Of the Holy Spirit.
Now look at that great promise. Repent. Believe.
Be baptized. You'll receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit. But then he continues. This great promise.
He says. For this promise. For the promise. And
here he's quoting the Old Testament. Is to you.
And to your children. Now he continues saying
it's to all who are far off as many as the Lord
our God will call. So the ones afar off are the
Gentiles and Jews who were not present and who
came in succeeding generations. But directly
to them, to the Jews and to the proselytes present,
Peter follows in the same theme of covenant in
the Old Testament and says this promise is to
you and to your children. Children are included.
as the people of God. And Peter here follows
right in that same pattern of thinking and preaching
as he preaches to them. That's the one passage.
Secondly, this is an Old Testament passage, but
it's prophesying of the New Testament times.
And that is in the promise in Isaiah when he
prophesies about the inclusion of the Gentiles
to the people of God. He says, they will fear
the name of the Lord from the coastlands and
from the west and from the east. And that the
spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard. The
Redeemer will come to Zion and to those who turn
from transgression in Jacob. And then look what
is promised. He continues. He says, as for me,
says the Lord, this is my covenant with them.
My spirit who is upon you and my words which
I have put in your mouth shall not depart from
your mouth. nor from the mouth of your descendants,
nor from the mouth of your descendants' descendants,
says the Lord from this time and forevermore.
Again here, showing the promises of God are given
to people and to their children or to their descendants.
That was in Isaiah 59 verse 21. And finally then,
in our passage today. I believe this is why the
children of believers are called holy or saints.
They are included in the visible administration
of the covenant of grace through the faith of
the godly parents and they belong to the covenant
community. Thirdly, we want to look at the internal
versus external aspects of the covenant of grace.
And this is both in the Old Testament and the
New Testament. So the external is visible membership,
it is privileges, it is responsibilities in the
church community. We see this in Romans 11 and
in John 15 about being attached to the vine,
but bearing forth fruit. This also includes,
I believe, the taking of the Lord's Supper. Now,
why do I say visible, the visible membership
or visible church? It's because none of us can
see into each other's hearts. I can't look into
all of your hearts and see, do you really have
believing faith? Or are you putting on a false
front and just confessing some kind of a faith?
I can't see that. And sometimes we don't even
know our own hearts well enough. God is the one
who reveals that. But here's what I do know.
Right here are the people of God. Right here.
Even if there's someone in here where you have
a false faith, right now you're included as the
people of God. And I can address you that, and
that's what I mean by the visible church. You're
part of the visible church. There have been many
baptized and professing believers who did not
possess true faith, and it became evident as
time passed. Only God fully knows the heart,
and the Spirit pierces the heart with the sword,
the word of God. But the congregation of the
Lord, the gathered church, includes those who
are named with the name of Christ and who are
baptized in accordance with that naming, and
thus they are called the people of God or the
visible church. However, there's the internal
aspect of the covenant of grace. So in that sense,
we're saying you all are inheritors of the covenant
of grace. But at the same time, there's also
an internal aspect, and that is personal faith,
a new heart, and salvation required. That you
believe in your heart that Jesus is raised from
the dead, and you act and believe accordingly.
Romans 2, 28 and 29, and Romans 9, verse 6 and
8. And so parents and children alike must trust
in Christ for the internal reality to match the
external position. That of being in the covenant
of grace as we look and being gathered together.
Each one of these covenant promises to Abraham,
to Moses, to David, to Peter, and to Paul. In
each one of these, they were called the people
of God, and they received the mark of belonging
upon them, but they were also called to an inner
conversion, that is, or as it is phrased frequently,
both in the Old and New Testament, the circumcision
of the heart. In other words, like when you looked
at the Jews, who was the church at that time,
you saw there that they had an external circumcision.
But Moses still said, your hearts need to be
circumcised. In other words, you needed to experience
on the inside what you are on the outside. You
are the people of God, but you need to match
that. That needs to be an internal belonging
to God. And thus we see, as we look in the children
of Israel, that there were those who, were externally
part of the people of God, but they were filled
with unbelief. And so God destroyed them or God
brought them and cut them off. And so that same
warning is for us as well. We must have it within
an internal faith. Moses called for it. Isaiah
called for it. And Jesus calls for it as well.
there's an external covenant with blessings that
come to the people of god and it is to all of
the people and to their children but at the same
time they are called to have a heart after god
that matches the external position that they
have when jeremiah talks about the new covenant
he is talking about this but this was also called
for by the old testament prophets we have received
the benefits of christ who has come and who after
his ascension sent the holy spirit but the principle
is the same throughout the Bible. God's promises
are to his people and to their children. And
so when Peter stands up on the day of Pentecost
and he tells them, this promise is to you and
to your children and to all who are afar off,
he is making a special point like the Old Testament
covenantal promises, which that the promises
are for you and for your children. The new covenant
does not take this away, but it rather strengthens
it. For the new covenant is more, not less. the
promises are even greater in the covenant not
lesser they are more abundant not less abundant
they extend further they are not restricted more
they are greatly enhanced which is why we see
so clearly that the greater promise in the new
covenant is that both male and female receive
the sign of that covenant in baptism and not
the males only in circumcision Just another fascinating
thing. Children of believers enjoy the greatest
privileges on earth. They are surrounded by the
oracles of God. Romans 3 verse 1 and 2. And yet
they must personally believe the gospel. The
children of unbelievers, they are outside the
covenant. They are unclean. This does not mean
that they are reprobate and cannot be saved.
But they do not have this covenantal status and
privileges like the children of believers. Let's
look at just a few final implications and responsibilities.
Now, I understand some of this is kind of deep.
Some of you are, okay, I know I tried to be more
simple, but in this one, I really wanted to get
into that and develop it further. And maybe you'll
have to kind of regurgitate it some more and
think on it. And certainly I'm available to ask.
For you to ask questions, although I don't necessarily
have all of the answers. But this is the rich
covenantal theology in the word of God that I
have tried to explain to you today. What are
some of the practical implications and responsibilities?
Also, number one, for parents, raise your covenant
children with the understanding that they belong
to God. They belong to God. And so you give them
the pure gospel along with God's word and you
discipline and instruct them and you pray with
them and you model faith yourself so that they
grow in piety and faith. Lord willing, next week,
I'm going to continue in this vein and we're
going to be looking more on how to raise covenant
children. In other words, just some practical
help, some biblical wisdom on the raising of
children. You all have been given children as
a gift from God, but God calls on your children
and all children in the covenant, He calls them
My children. In Ezekiel 16, when God reproves
unfaithful Israel for their idolatry and their
adultery, He tells them, Moreover, you took your
sons and your daughters, whom you bore to Me,
and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured.
Were your acts of harlotry a small matter that
you have slain my children? You have slain, he
tells them, my children and offered them up to
them by causing them to pass through the fire.
You took my children, God says. Your children,
dearly beloved, they belong to God. And now you
have the responsibility of raising God's children
faithfully and for the glory of God. And for
the church, receive and nurture these holy children
as part of the visible covenant community. Love
them. Care for them. Hold them close. Speak to
them. Treat them as your brothers and sisters
in Christ. You repeat that again. Treat the little
children in the church as your brothers and sisters
in Christ and build relationships with them.
Some of you might be wondering, aren't you going
to say anything about baptism in all of this?
Now, I have certainly intended here, I desire
to lay the covenantal foundation for it all.
This does enter, obviously, as we practice it
here, household baptism does enter into this,
but I did not want this to be the main focus.
I wanted to look at this whole understanding.
I will just say here, though, the inclusion of
children in baptism is a wonderful picture of
God's undeserved grace, for they received unearned
privileges. It is a picture of sovereign grace
to all believers. This principle of covenant
and grace undergirds the practice of household
baptism, which includes infants. Baptism is a
Christian rite of entrance into Christ's church,
the gathered body of believers. The New Testament
records nine named examples of Christian baptism.
Nine that are named, okay? Or people that are
named with it. Every time that a household is
mentioned, the household was baptized and brought
into the church. Cornelius, Lydia, the Philippian
jailer, Stephanas, and others. The remaining
three named examples were all single men who
were without households. The Ethiopian eunuch,
Saul, and Simon Magus, who ended up being a false
convert. Thus, household baptism is the same
covenant principle that is taught and demonstrated
throughout the Bible. The burden of proof in
rejecting household baptism Is on those who exclude
children. And not on we who include them. We
believe there is continuity with the sign of
the covenant. In circumcision that came before
Christ. Was applied to male children. And baptism.
Which is now the greater sign and seal. And no
longer has a male or female distinction like
circumcision. Which reflects the change. To Jews
and Gentiles being together in the New Testament
church. Bottom line. Our children are our disciples,
and disciple -making and teaching begins with
baptism as Jesus taught in the Great Commission,
and then we teach all things. I'm called as a
pastor and as a teacher to equip the saints,
which includes all of you, and right now I'm
speaking to you as parents that one of my jobs
is to equip you as parents to be able to minister.
To the body of Christ which is in your home.
It is in your home. As well as the full body
of Christ. This includes your children. To all
come in the unity of the faith. And the knowledge
of the son of God. Baptism marks belonging. It
points to cleansing a new life in Christ. And
does not create holiness. But publicly recognizes
it. And so as I close. Dearly beloved. Let us
take our children. And if you are persuaded by
the word of God, baptize them. But in all, raise
them up in the Lord. Rejoice in the faithfulness
of the covenant God who says, I will be a God
to you and to your children after you. For these
great and precious promises are to us and to
our children. Let's pray.