Covenant Children

What is SO annoying to me is how one side of the Reformed circle of Christians is saying how the “other side” disregards it’s children as second-class, not “full” in the covenant, or calls them Baptist Presbyterians. This is so NOT the case.

Just because we don’t give our small children admittance to the Lords Supper, which is known as paedocommunnion, does not mean we are treating our children in such a bad way.

My children are part of God’s New Covenant. They were born into a Christian family, and Baptised as the New Covenant with God requires. When they are able to take the Lord’s Supper, they will. The differences between some Paedocommunionists and non-paedocommunionitsts are just that the first set believes in giving small children Communion, and the other waits until a child shows readiness in understanding what it is. Some Reformed churches are guilty of setting legalist standards that a child must reach before admittance to The Table, but this is not an across the board way in the “other side”.

Our church, one that is spat upon by many these days, doesn’t withold the Table in such legalist ways. We catechize and teach and particularly accept the fact that are children are in the Covenant. We don’t lift our children ABOVE the Covenant though.

We are accused of pushing them out of the covenant, keeping them in the dark, treating them as “children of the devil”. How far fetched is THAT?!! That’s a fantasy of some peoples minds, but not reality.

Sin permeates us all. But the Christian has victory over sin, so that it does not have the hold on us, as it does on the unregenerate. Our children are born with the tendancy to sin, just as we all were. Being regenerate doesn’t mean we don’t sin, but neither does it mean that if we beleive our children were born into Original Sin, or Totally Depraved, that they will understand sin when they are very young, and know what it is to put it to death. Understanding Christ’s Atoning Work on the Cross is an important part of The Lord’s Supper.

My children are being taught what the Bible says, who Christ is, what He did. When they demonstrate that they understand this, then we will go to the Elders immediately. What’s so wrong with THAT?

We teach our children what truth is. We don’t with-hold the truth. They aren’t “starved”, any more than I was when I was a regnerate child at a very early age. I wasn’t baptized until I was 13. Outside of the Reformed Faith I was brought up. I have the testimony of a Covenant Believer. I was regenerate and just wansn’t baptised and admitted to the Table until I was much older. I sure didn’t starve or go down a rebellious road. Far from it, I search for the deeper truth, and found the Reformed faith.

Believe me when I say, if a child of mine is able to understand Christ’s work, I’ll recognize it.