Limerick Reformed Fellowship

Federal Vision: Heresy at the Root
David J. Engelsma
Reformed Free Publishing Association~
Jenison, MI, 2012
Hardback, 252. pp.
(Click here to buy)

This reviewer grew up in a Presbyterian denomination in Ireland. Although the church was not very doctrinal, one thing sticks in my head even now. It concerns baptism. At every occasion of baptism, the minister said (whether this was an official baptismal form I do not know), “Baptism is a testimony to the divine initiative, that God takes the first step in our salvation ...” I often wondered what that meant, but since there was no teaching on the covenant in that church I never did find out. Now, I thank God for my ignorance because it meant when I did learn about the covenant it was the pure teaching of an unconditional covenant as developed in the Protestant Reformed Churches without the distressing detour of a conditional covenant dependent on the faith (and faithfulness and obedience of faith) of the sinner.

Most Baptists, and even many Calvinistic Baptists such as John Piper¹, John MacArthur² and Charles Spurgeon³, teach that all children that die in infancy go to heaven, where infancy is extended to anyone under the “age of accountability”.⁴

In other words, they teach a universal salvation for children.

This doctrine certainly appeals to all of us, for by nature we especially pity little children. It is only human to wish that this doctrine were indeed true. However, it is our conviction that, though it may be hard for us to accept (as are many other things in Scripture), this doctrine is not according to Scripture. Exegesis cannot be based on emotions or personal wishes, but must be based solely on God’s Word.

Much could be said about this doctrine. We will restrict ourselves to (a) why this doctrine is unbiblical, (b) what the biblical doctrine concerning children who die in infancy is, and (c) why, in our opinion, most Reformed Baptists hold to this error.

Most Baptists repeat the same, very poor, arguments. They rely on people's ignorance of the Reformed position. John MacArthur's arguments here are representative, and taken from this article: http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/80-369/is-infant-baptism-biblical#.Tp7nQpsUq30

Initially I tried to provide succinct and effective refutations of these very common Baptist arguments. I consider now that I have failed to be as succinct as I would have liked, but instead I hope at least I have produced a helpful level of comprehensiveness for the defence of the Reformed practice of infant baptism. John MacArthur's points are listed briefly as headings, and my answers are below. Thanks to a Lutheran (with whom I have strong disagreement), Charles Wiese, for directing me to this article. Some of his arguments are also repeated here.

With the growing influence of Brethrenism and many of its distinctives, including premillenial dispensationalism and lay preaching, their ideas of “open time” in the public worship of the church are also being more widely adopted by Evangelical churches.

Strictly speaking, a true Brethren meeting consists exclusively of “open time;” that is, there is no set format to the meeting and it is up to the “brethren” in attendance to ask spontaneously for a hymn, pray or even preach (although it is, at least in some groups, permitted to prepare for a sermon beforehand). For all their boasting of having no set format, Brethren meetings end up following the same format every Sunday.

Many Evangelical churches have adopted a semi-brethren approach in which a part (usually around 15 minutes) of the church service is “open time.” During this time, people (often even women and children! See I Tim. 2:11ff) are free to “share” something from Scripture or ask for a hymn. Some churches even devote one Sunday in four completely to “open time.”

But what does God’s Word say about this practice? Is it according to God’s revealed will? This question every child of God involved in this practice must ask himself, for the “Apostle of Love,” John, says, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God” (I John 4:1). So we ought to be like the Bereans, and “search the Scriptures” to see “whether those things [be] so” (Acts 17:11).