Transformation in Christ - The New Humanity and the Identity of God's People, Part III

The consideration of the identity of the "people of God" in the light of Christ's fulfillment of sacred space extends beyond the Jew/Gentile question to the relation that now exists between Israel and the Church. All Christians acknowledge that, in some sense, the Church has supplanted Israel in the present age of fulfillment. But they differ greatly in terms of how that circumstance is viewed and understood. Dispensationalism sees in the Church's present ascendancy the abiding promise of future fulfillment for Israel. On the other hand, Covenant Theology sees in the Church a new "economy" of the one "people of God" formerly expressed in the covenant nation of Israel. Covenant Theology emphasizes constancy in the identity of the "people of God" as much as (perhaps more than) transformation. This is especially true with respect to the constituency of God's covenant people. Toward the goal of a truly biblical understanding of the identity of God's people in the "fullness of the times," this sermon examines the Reformed doctrine of paedo-baptism. More than simply calling for the baptism of infants and children, paedo-baptism is the conviction that water baptism has replaced circumcision as the sign of the covenant and is, therefore, the determinative identity marker for the people of God. What circumcision was for the covenant community in the Israelite "administration," water baptism is in the present administration.