Reformed Presbyterian Minutes of Synod 1997 - Rparchives.org

228 MINUTES OF THE 1997 SYNOD OF THE
gracious provision of the triune God, who is pleased to claim us as His
very own, we are baptized into the name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit. Since baptized persons are called upon to assume the
obligations of the covenant, baptism summons us to renounce the world
and the flesh and to walk humbly with our God in devotion to His
commandments."
When an infant is to be baptized, the minister shall give instruction as to the
ground of infant baptism;
"Although our young children do not yet understand these things,
they are nevertheless to be baptized. For the promise of the
covenant is made to believers and to their seed, as God declared to
Abraham, 'And I will establish My covenant between Me and you
and your descendants after you in their generations, for an
everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after
you' (Genesis 17:7). Under the New Testament, no less than in the
Old, the seed of the faithful, born within the church, have, by virtue
of their birth, an interest in the covenant and a right to the seal of it
and to the outward privileges of the church. For the covenant of
grace is the same in substance under both administrations, and the
grace of God for the consolation of believers is even more fully
revealed in the New Testament era. Moreover, our Savior admitted
little children into His presence, embracing and blessing them, and
saying, 'Of such is the kingdom of God' (Mark 10:14). So the
children of the covenant are by baptism distinguished from the world
and solemnly received into the visible church. They are baptized
because they are already, by birth, children of the covenant in the
line of the generations of the people of God and members of the
covenant community, the church."
When an adult is to be baptized, the minister shall give instruction as to the
distinctive basis of adult baptism:
"Although the children of believers are to be baptized as members
of the covenant, the baptism of adults must await their own
profession of faith in Christ. Having come to years of discretion,
they become the heirs of salvation and are admitted as members of
the visible church by way of personal belief in Christ as Savior and
Lord. So our Lord Jesus Christ commanded His church to 'make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit' (Matthew 28:20)."
The minister is also to admonish the congregation to look back to their own
baptism; to repent of their sins against their covenant with God; to stir up their
faith; to improve and make the right use of their baptism and of the covenant
which it sealed between God and their souls.