A Regenerated Heart

An uncircumcised heart is the same as one that will not confess sin and iniquity – one which refuses to repent.  In other words, to have an uncircumcised heart is to be unconverted and ungodly.  By implication, a regenerate and converted heart is a circumcised heart, in which there is sorrow over sin, repentance, and confession.  This is the kind of heart that physical circumcision was to signify.  Baptism, likewise, holds the same significance.  This meaning for circumcision is seen in Deuteronomy 10.16: “Circumcise, then, your heart and stiffen your neck no more,” and in Deuteronomy 30.6: “Moreover, the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live.”

From: Children of the Promise: The Biblical Case for Infant Baptism by Robert R. Booth (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 1995), p. 101.

 

Spiritual Descent

Spiritual descent has to do with faith, not DNA.  Anyone who received the covenant sign of circumcision, whether as an adult or an infant, but who did not embrace and own that covenant by faith, was never a true heir of Abraham and did not obtain the promised blessing, which is redemption.  God’s people have always and only been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  God’s people have always been united in the one seed of Abraham, who is Christ.  The Old Testament believer had much more knowledge of saving truth than most people think (see John 8:56; Galatians 3:8; 2 Peter 2:5; Jude 14-15).  How can we think that New Testament believers have greater faith than the “father of faith,” Abraham, or more than Moses or Joshua?

From: Children of the Promise: The Biblical Case for Infant Baptism by Robert R. Booth (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 1995), p. 77.

 

God’s Covenants

God has always condescended to relate to humanity through covenantal relationships.  These covenants are relationships between a superior (God) and an inferior (man).  All such covenants are gracious in character since the creature is not in a position to demand anything from his Creator.  Even God’s creation covenant with Adam was gracious.  After man’s fall into sin, God’s covenants with man were not only gracious but also redemptive.  Their purpose was to redeem unrighteous people from their sinful rebellion and reconcile them with God.  This redemptive plan was established from all eternity by the triune God, each person of the Trinity working in harmony to accomplish the divine purpose.

From: Children of the Promise: The Biblical Case for Infant Baptism by Robert R. Booth (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 1995), p. 8.