The Upper Register Blog

The third piece of evidence: 

(c) Paul’s instructions concerning parents and children

Continuing in the same paragraph, Kline writes (BOC, p. 94):

Another significant fact is that Paul instructed the children of various congregations to obey their parents in the Lord, and in support of his charge cited the pertinent stipulation of the Sinaitic Covenant together with its accompanying covenantal sanction (Eph. 6:1-3; Col. 3:20; cf. Ex. 20:12). Clear confirmation is also found in Paul’s directive to covenant parents to bring their children under the nurturing and admonishing authority of the Lord (Eph. 6:4). In this exhortation the apostle takes for granted that it is the very authority of Christ as covenant Lord that reaches and claims children through the authority of their parents.*

It is therefore a matter of express scriptural teaching that the disciple of Christ is bound to bring those who are under his parental authority along with himself when he comes by oath under the higher authority of his covenant Suzerain. From this it follows that the Scriptures provide ample warrant for the administration of baptism to the children of confessing Christians, for baptism is the New Covenant rite whose precise significance is that of committal to Christ’s authority and of incorporation within the domain of Christ’s covenant lordship.

*The text reads:  “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord [ἐν παιδείᾳ καὶ νουθεσίᾳ κυρίου]” (Eph 6:4). Kline appears to take κυρίου as a subjective genitive. This is the view taken by Ernest Best in his commentary on Ephesians:  ”The Lord [is] seen as the ultimate instructor who works through the father … The father mediates the Lord’s instruction” (Ernest Best, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Ephesians [ICC; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1998], 569-70). 

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 13th, 2007 at 4:28 pm and is filed under By Oath Consigned, Kline, Infant Baptism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.