The first is the account of the original Passover (Exodus 12). I am thinking especially of Exodus 12:7: "Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it." An elementary aspect of that verse is the typology of the redeeming sacrificial blood of Jesus, applied to the elect, that the judgment of the Father would pass us by. However, that is not the only thing taught in that sentence. Notice first what it does not say. Nowhere does Moses tell the people to apply the blood to themselves, as if they would be saved from death one by one. Rather, it was applied to the entrance to the house, so that everyone inside was preserved.
Making that connection made me think of some of the words of Peter in the New Testament: "The promise is for you and for your children" (Acts 2:39). We also have the words of Paul to the Philippian jailer: "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household" (Acts 16:31). This is not the atomistic view of evangelism that we see in our baptistic society, with one convert here and another there. God's evangelism is directed toward the conversion of whole families. And that shouldn't be news, considering the Exodus account above, and God's promise: "All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children" (Isaiah 53:13).
This is the basis of Paul's encouraging words to Christian parents: "The unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy" (I Corinthians 7:14). God isn't primarily concerned about individuals, but rather about families!
I had similar thoughts a few months back, and wondered why I'd never seen paedobaptists use that argument.
ReplyDeleteIt's a really good argument, but I don't think it bears the weight of the entire Scripture. That is, I think the strongest case that could be made from the totality of scripture is that there is a protective effect of believers on their households, but this does not get their unbelieving spouses or children into heaven.
The Passover sacrifice protected all who were in the household at the time, but the time would come when the children would grow up and establish their own households, and then it was necessary for them to keep the Passover themselves or be cut off from the people. Similarly, the believing parents may protect their children, but the time will come when the children are adults, and if they do not make the covenant with God themselves, their parents' covenant with God won't protect them any more.
"This does not get their unbelieving spouses or children into heaven." Of course. I didn't say such a thing, nor do I knwo anyone who does.
ReplyDeleteWhat would you say is "the salvation of households"? Temporal only?
ReplyDelete