On God’s Covenant Promises

Chase Fluhart • Pastor
October 11, 2026

4 Minute Read

When we baptize infants and small children of Christian parents, we don’t baptize them on their own profession of faith, but rather on their parents’ profession of faith.

Now, some from a more baptistic background might find this strange, even unbiblical. Is this cheating? Are we sneaking our children in through a side door? Is that the case? The short answer is No.

The fuller answer centers on God’s covenant promises. For instance, in just a moment I will ask these parents, “Do you trust in God’s covenant promises concerning your child and do you look in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ for his salvation, as you do for your own?” We baptize the children of Christian parents on the basis of these covenant promises.

You would be right to ask what we mean by this. What are these so-called “covenant promises”? Let me give you a few examples from the Scriptures.

First, the Lord promises to be God not only to us, but to our children. This is the central covenant promise. When cutting covenant with Abraham, this is what the Lord said to him: “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” (Gen. 17:7).

Second, also to Abraham, the Lord promises the land to him and to his descendants: “Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God” (Genesis 17:8). As with all of God’s promises, this promise is expanded. In the new covenant, God promises not merely the land of Canaan—but everything. The heavens and the earth made new—it belongs to us and to our children.

Third, the Lord promises to sanctify and renew us, and to also carry out this work in our children. This is found in Deuteronomy when the nation of Israel was about to go into the promised land: “The LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live” (Deuteronomy 30:6).

These promises are not only present in the Old Testament, but they are expanded and renewed for the Church, sealed in the blood of Jesus Christ, thus making them even more certain. But don’t trust my word for it. This is what Peter says after his inaugural Pentecost sermon: “For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:39).

Therefore, since the covenant promises are for us and for our children, we as parents do not presumptuously set our hope in a secret side door, sneaking our children in hoping God won’t mind it. No, quite the opposite. We come boldly in faith, bringing our children to the Lord, through the entrance of the Church, with a heart fully trusting in His sworn and blood-sealed promises.

We bring our children to be baptized, even as Abraham circumcised his sons: hoping in nothing less than our Father’s faithfulness, Jesus’ bloody sacrifice, and the Spirit’s renewing power to save not only us, but also our children. And so we cast our children upon God from birth (Psalm 22:10), for He has promised to be their God, to give them the inheritance, and to cleanse and renew them by the blood of Jesus and the renewing presence of the Spirit.

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From this Collection: Baptisms
October 11, 2026 • 4 Minute Read
On God’s Covenant Promises
When we baptize infants and small children of Christian parents, we don’t baptize them on their own profession of faith, but rather on their parents’ profession of faith. Now, some from a more baptistic background might find this strange, even unbiblical. Is this cheating? Are we sneaking our children in through a side door? Is that the case? The short answer is No. The fuller answer centers on God’s covenant promises. For instance, in just a moment I will ask these parents, “Do you trust in God’s covenant promises concerning your child and do you look in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ for his salvation, as you do for your own?” We baptize the children of Christian parents on the basis of these covenant promises. You would be right to ask what we mean by this. What are these so-called “covenant promises”? Let me give you a few examples from the Scriptures. First, the Lord promises to be God not only to us, but to our children. This is the central covenant promise. When cutting covenant with Abraham, this is what the Lord said to him: “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” (Gen. 17:7). Second, also to Abraham, the Lord promises the land to him and to his descendants: “Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God” (Genesis 17:8). As with all of God’s promises, this promise is expanded. In the new covenant, God promises not merely the land of Canaan—but everything. The heavens and the earth made new—it belongs to us and to our children. Third, the Lord promises to sanctify and renew us, and to also carry out this work in our children. This is found in Deuteronomy when the nation of Israel was about to go into the promised land: “The LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live” (Deuteronomy 30:6). These promises are not only present in the Old Testament, but they are expanded and renewed for the Church, sealed in the blood of Jesus Christ, thus making them even more certain. But don’t trust my word for it. This is what Peter says after his inaugural Pentecost sermon: “For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:39). Therefore, since the covenant promises are for us and for our children, we as parents do not presumptuously set our hope in a secret side door, sneaking our children in hoping God won’t mind it. No, quite the opposite. We come boldly in faith, bringing our children to the Lord, through the entrance of the Church, with a heart fully trusting in His sworn and blood-sealed promises. We bring our children to be baptized, even as Abraham circumcised his sons: hoping in nothing less than our Father’s faithfulness, Jesus’ bloody sacrifice, and the Spirit’s renewing power to save not only us, but also our children. And so we cast our children upon God from birth (Psalm 22:10), for He has promised to be their God, to give them the inheritance, and to cleanse and renew them by the blood of Jesus and the renewing presence of the Spirit.

Chase Fluhart

Pastor