The next episode has been uploaded. I get into the relationship between circumcision and baptism and the need for saying only about baptism what one can say about circumcision. I think this is crucial to the idea of infant baptism being defensible. In the next episode I'll say a bit about how it relates to believers baptism. Readers and listeners should know by now I have little time for the way infant baptism is articulated in creeds and reformed discussion. It is muddled at best. So, for those whose tradition includes infant baptism, I'm offering a better way to talk about it. I don't take any position beyond that. The baptism issue for me is close to eschatology on the "whatever" meter, so long as it doesn't contradict the gospel. The problem is that infant baptism is married to election (incorrectly equated with salvation) and consequently runs contrary to the simple gospel and a doctrine of perseverance (whether reformed theologians want to admit that or not -- witness the preceding three podcast episodes). That much I care about.
Dr. Michael Heiser addresses the theological confusion caused by historic Christian creeds that conflate the function of baptism—particularly infant baptism—with salvation, thereby obscuring the gospel. He proposes a correction based on Colossians 2:11–12, urging consistency: we should say no more about baptism than what Scripture says about circumcision. Circumcision did not save or guarantee spiritual regeneration, but marked entry into the covenant community, where truth could be heard and believed. Similarly, baptism signifies membership in the faith community, not automatic salvation. This framework untangles the creedal muddle and provides a coherent biblical theology of baptism for both infants and adults.
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