The Promise unto you and your children

The promise declared by the word of the gospel to the New Testament church on Pentecost includes this aspect: that "the promise is...to your children,..." Acts 2:39. It is to this aspect of the promise that we would turn our attention. This is, in another form, the promise to the Philippian jailer as father and husband, concerning his house, " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." Acts 16:31 (emphasis added). The same promise is spoken to Abraham, " I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and thy seed after thee." Genesis 17:7 (emphasis added). Now that seed, as we have seen, is a spiritual seed, children of the promise, (Romans 9:6-8,Galatians 4;28) who are counted for the seed. The words of Peter also speak of your children, "...as many as the Lord our God shall call." This spiritual seed is gathered in the generations of the natural seed of believers. God sets His grace in families, saving and gathering to Himself believing households. This is how the grace of God, Whose promise we are considering, works.

How are we then to understand this promise of God more fully? To begin with, we find in Scripture a certain norm or consistent viewpoint, a set of scriptural glasses we must wear in discussing this. To do so, we should note a thread that runs through the whole Bible about worship and the gathering of God's people and about marriage and family, all of which are interrelated matters in Scripture.

God Sets His Grace in Households

According to the promise, as we have seen, God separates to Himself a spiritual seed of the woman in the generations of our first parents by setting in their home a godly Abel and after him, Seth, "And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew." Genesis 4:25. In Seth's generations we find the worship of God, so that in his son's days we read, "...then began men to call upon the name of the LORD" (Genesis 4:26, which expression is also used of Abraham's worship in Genesis 12:8; Genesis 13:4). In those generations we find Enoch and Noah, preachers of righteousness (Hebrews 11:5,7).

According to the promise, God establishes His covenant with Noah (Genesis 6:18; Genesis 9:9) and Noah builds an ark "to the saving of his house," (Hebrews 11:7) which deliverance, according to I Peter 3:20,21, was also a type of baptism. A household of parents and children and married couples (Noah's sons and their wives) was saved in the ark and separated unto God by the flood.

According to the promise, God will be Abraham's God and the God of his seed "in their generations," Genesis 17:7. The spiritual seed of promise would be gathered in the generations of his natural seed. God confirmed this by the token of the covenant promise: Abraham received circumcision as a seal of the righteousness of faith (Romans 4:11) and a seal of God's regenerating grace to cut away sin (Romans 2:29). This was to be administered, in the worship of God, to all his house: his children and even his servants (Genesis 17:9-13). It was to be administered also to Ishmael, though he was not a child of the promise, but as one outwardly included in the administration of God's covenant

According to the promise, God delivers the families of Israel from the house of bondage and sin, of which slavery in Egypt was a picture. God caused them to be baptized as families in the Red Sea (I Corinthians 10:1) and separated them to himself. They dwelt with God as the "church" in the wilderness (Acts 7:38) The Greek word there is the normal word for church, and if your version has a different word, it is a corrupted paraphrase). They dwelt with God as households by tribe, their tents surrounding the tabernacle. As households they entered Canaan and received the land of promise, as the picture of a heavenly country (Hebrews 11:16). In the midst of that nation were the true Israel of God who walked by faith (Romans 9:6). As households they were scattered by the captivity and restored in the return (Ezra 8:21).

It is also as households that they assembled for worship so that we read in, the days of Jehoshaphat, (II Chronicles 20:13) that in their trouble and distress, "...all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children." This is the pattern of the Word of God. Households and families form the basis of the life of the people of God. They are formed as the household of God. Into that household of God, built on Christ the cornerstone, God's saving grace now brings the Gentiles, that in Abraham's seed, which is ultimately Christ, all the nations might be blessed. This is the point the Apostle Paul makes concerning the Gentiles who were once aliens and strangers to these blessings and excluded from that household of God. We read,

"But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." Ephesians 2:13-22

The spiritual reality of the household of God which was Israel has now come to its completion in the New Testament church. Into the blessings which were once limited to Israel, the Gentiles have now come. The "twain," Jew and Gentile have become one. The glory of Israel in the gathering of the nations has come by the gospel. The essential nature of that household of God has not changed; it has been brought to its spiritual fulfilment by the outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost. The principle of a spiritual seed gathered in the generations of believers, who as families form the church, has also not ceased. It is this fact which Peter's sermon on Pentecost to the Jews (" ...and to your children," Acts 2:39) sets before us. It is this fact which Paul's preaching to the Gentiles ("...and thy house," Acts 16:31) sets before us.

The promise has not changed. It has been fulfilled. This is the glad tidings of the gospel. This is important not only in understanding what the church of the New Testament is and how it is to be viewed, but more especially, because it is a matter of the gospel itself. The glad tidings, "I will be thy God in Christ." are still the gospel. That God will be a God unto us in our generations, gathering a seed of promise in Christ after us, "...as many as the Lord our God shall call," is the word of God's grace to us. God sets His grace in households.

The Household of God and that of a Believer and His Children

In harmony with the promise, the children of believers are always found in the service and worship of God. They belong there. They are not there as objects of mission work, but as members of the household of God, partakers of the grace of God, as a body, fed by the preaching of the Word from their youth, and members of the life of the church and its worship. This, as we saw, was how the church worshipped in Jehoshaphat's day. "And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children." II Chronicles 20:13

While men, the heads of households are often on the foreground in Scripture, so that we might receive the impression that their wives and children were not present, the fact is that Scripture assumes they are always present. When we read of John the Baptist's labors we read of the questions of men, soldiers, and servants. But we read in Matthew 3:5 that "Jerusalem, and all Judea and all the region round about Jordan" went to John's baptism. When Jesus feeds the five thousand, the count is of the men as heads of households. We read, "And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children." Matthew 14:21. Children, and families, husbands and wives, heard Jesus' sermons, sat together under His word and were fed by Him. Similarly, children are in the temple, when Jesus cleanses it after His royal entry. We read,

"And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise? (Matthew 21:15,15 ; Psalm 8:2).

The presence of children in home and family is the norm of human life. It is the norm also of the life of the church. It would be strange, scripturally, if they were excluded. Indeed, it is children's exclusion that stirs Jesus' holy indignation so that we read,

"And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God." Mark 10:13,14.

Nor is it any different on Pentecost when Peter preaches. The apostles and the women who were at the grave are on the foreground in Acts 1:13-15, when the church gathered, at about 120 souls, there is nothing inconsistent with this that married couples, parents and children would be present. Peter (Cephas) and the Lord's brethren, James and Judah or Jude, were married as were other apostles. The apostle Paul mentions this, "Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?" I Corinthians 9:5. Mary, the Lord's mother, with her children, James and Judah, was there. The Apostles James and John were there with their mother. Households are present. Nor were children excluded, so that they, together with their adult caregivers, missed the blessings of Pentecost morning. When the Spirit is poured out on Pentecost there is nothing in the power of grace that excludes children, nor even the servants of the house, when we read,

"And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Acts 2:3,4.

The prophecy of Joel itself says

"And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:," Acts 2:17,18.

This prophecy explicitly includes the children, sons and daughters, and even the servants. Servants such as Rhoda, a maidservant, are found at the gatherings of the church, Acts 12:13. Are they explicitly mentioned by name on every occasion? No, why should they be? The promise of the Spirit was for children as well as adults, "your sons and daughters." If they were to be deliberately excluded, that would be a matter of note, but such exclusion is never taught in Scripture.

In his sermon, Peter addresses those who are pricked in their hearts, as heads of households. The promise is unto them and their children, exactly because that is, and always has been, the promise of God. God saves His people in families, gathering His church of believing households. This has not changed on Pentecost with the beginning of the New Testament form of the church. Further, as the gospel goes to the Gentiles this same word is proclaimed upon the same promise of God, "And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." Acts 16:31. Paul says this to the Philippian Jailer, as a promise to him, and says it without first seeing his household. Why? Because God sets His grace in families, works in Christian marriage, and gathers the children of promise in the generations of believers. The promise to the Gentile is the same promise spoken to the Jew. It is a spiritual reality for a spiritual seed, so that we also read these words to Gentiles:

"For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Galatians 3: 27-29.

In Scripture, Abraham is not merely, nor primarily, the father of the Jews after the flesh. He is rather, spiritually, the father of believers (Romans 4:11,16,18). Believers, Jew or Gentile, are his spiritual seed and inherit his blessings according to the promise. In harmony with this grace of God and the promise, we find that Cornelius is instructed to send for Peter, "Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved," Acts 11:14 (emphasis added) We read of Peter's preaching to Cornelius and his household, that,

"While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word....Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord..." Acts 10:44, 46-48.

As God promised Cornelius, so it happened unto him: God saved his household.

When we turn to Lydia we read, Lydia believed and was baptized "and her household," Acts 16:14 (emphasis added). God promised to the Philippian jailer salvation to his house. God also wrought grace in his household. He believed, "...was baptized, he and all his, straightway...believing in God with all his house." Households, families, parents and children are incorporated into the New Testament church and are also baptized. Likewise the apostle Paul speaks of baptizing, "the household of Stephanas," I Corinthians 1:16. To exclude children or infants from these households is to start from an unscriptural assumption. God, according to the promise saved believing households, not mere individuals. Salvation is personal but not individualistic. God saves a people whom He is pleased to gather in the generations of believers.

From Genesis 3:15 through the whole of the scriptures, God sets His grace in families, saving believing households and establishing His covenant with us, to be our God and that of our seed after us in our generations. This is an integral part of the true nature of grace, sovereign grace, and of the promise of the gospel. It is because this is the promise and the work of grace that all the duties of marriage, of being parents and rearing our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, are possible. Our calling rests upon grace. Our duties in marriage and as parents are the means by which God works His grace. Take that grace away, destroy the promise to a believer and his seed, and you have left only duties, which, being devoid of the promise of grace, are works of the law. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. Apart from grace, there can be no "children of the promise," for only that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 3:6). Apart from grace, there is no human promise keeper.

With this scriptural norm in view and the promise to us and our house, we may also find the proper foundation for Christian marriage, appropriate by faith the promises of God to our children, and rightly understand God's faithfulness. For in the promise and in God's faithfulness is our sure refuge in the grace of God in our needs.

Go to the promise respecting: Marriage, Children and God's Faithfulness.


	"For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call," Acts 2:39			The Promise Contents Preface Introduction PK The Promise of God ...and to your children (continued) God Sets His Grace in Households The Household of God and that of a Believer and His Children Marriage, Children, and God's Faithfulness

The Promise Serious Questions, Serious Issues The Real Promise, The Real Keeper 3. "... and to your children" The promise declared by the word of the gospel to the New Testament church on Pentecost includes this aspect: that "the promise is...to your children,..." Acts 2:39. It is to this aspect of the promise that we would turn our attention. This is, in another form, the promise to the Philippian jailer as father and husband, concerning his house, " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." Acts 16:31 (emphasis added). The same promise is spoken to Abraham, " I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and thy seed after thee." Genesis 17:7 (emphasis added). Now that seed, as we have seen, is a spiritual seed, children of the promise, (Romans 9:6-8,Galatians 4;28) who are counted for the seed. The words of Peter also speak of your children, "...as many as the Lord our God shall call." This spiritual seed is gathered in the generations of the natural seed of believers. God sets His grace in families, saving and gathering to Himself believing households. This is how the grace of God, Whose promise we are considering, works. How are we then to understand this promise of God more fully? To begin with, we find in Scripture a certain norm or consistent viewpoint, a set of scriptural glasses we must wear in discussing this. To do so, we should note a thread that runs through the whole Bible about worship and the gathering of God's people and about marriage and family, all of which are interrelated matters in Scripture. God Sets His Grace in Households According to the promise, as we have seen, God separates to Himself a spiritual seed of the woman in the generations of our first parents by setting in their home a godly Abel and after him, Seth, "And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew." Genesis 4:25. In Seth's generations we find the worship of God, so that in his son's days we read, "...then began men to call upon the name of the LORD" (Genesis 4:26, which expression is also used of Abraham's worship in Genesis 12:8; Genesis 13:4). In those generations we find Enoch and Noah, preachers of righteousness (Hebrews 11:5,7). According to the promise, God establishes His covenant with Noah (Genesis 6:18; Genesis 9:9) and Noah builds an ark "to the saving of his house," (Hebrews 11:7) which deliverance, according to I Peter 3:20,21, was also a type of baptism. A household of parents and children and married couples (Noah's sons and their wives) was saved in the ark and separated unto God by the flood. According to the promise, God will be Abraham's God and the God of his seed "in their generations," Genesis 17:7. The spiritual seed of promise would be gathered in the generations of his natural seed. God confirmed this by the token of the covenant promise: Abraham received circumcision as a seal of the righteousness of faith (Romans 4:11) and a seal of God's regenerating grace to cut away sin (Romans 2:29). This was to be administered, in the worship of God, to all his house: his children and even his servants (Genesis 17:9-13). It was to be administered also to Ishmael, though he was not a child of the promise, but as one outwardly included in the administration of God's covenant According to the promise, God delivers the families of Israel from the house of bondage and sin, of which slavery in Egypt was a picture. God caused them to be baptized as families in the Red Sea (I Corinthians 10:1) and separated them to himself. They dwelt with God as the "church" in the wilderness (Acts 7:38) The Greek word there is the normal word for church, and if your version has a different word, it is a corrupted paraphrase). They dwelt with God as households by tribe, their tents surrounding the tabernacle. As households they entered Canaan and received the land of promise, as the picture of a heavenly country (Hebrews 11:16). In the midst of that nation were the true Israel of God who walked by faith (Romans 9:6). As households they were scattered by the captivity and restored in the return (Ezra 8:21). It is also as households that they assembled for worship so that we read in, the days of Jehoshaphat, (II Chronicles 20:13) that in their trouble and distress, "...all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children." This is the pattern of the Word of God. Households and families form the basis of the life of the people of God. They are formed as the household of God. Into that household of God, built on Christ the cornerstone, God's saving grace now brings the Gentiles, that in Abraham's seed, which is ultimately Christ, all the nations might be blessed. This is the point the Apostle Paul makes concerning the Gentiles who were once aliens and strangers to these blessings and excluded from that household of God. We read, "But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." Ephesians 2:13-22 The spiritual reality of the household of God which was Israel has now come to its completion in the New Testament church. Into the blessings which were once limited to Israel, the Gentiles have now come. The "twain," Jew and Gentile have become one. The glory of Israel in the gathering of the nations has come by the gospel. The essential nature of that household of God has not changed; it has been brought to its spiritual fulfilment by the outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost. The principle of a spiritual seed gathered in the generations of believers, who as families form the church, has also not ceased. It is this fact which Peter's sermon on Pentecost to the Jews (" ...and to your children," Acts 2:39) sets before us. It is this fact which Paul's preaching to the Gentiles ("...and thy house," Acts 16:31) sets before us. The promise has not changed. It has been fulfilled. This is the glad tidings of the gospel. This is important not only in understanding what the church of the New Testament is and how it is to be viewed, but more especially, because it is a matter of the gospel itself. The glad tidings, "I will be thy God in Christ." are still the gospel. That God will be a God unto us in our generations, gathering a seed of promise in Christ after us, "...as many as the Lord our God shall call," is the word of God's grace to us. God sets His grace in households. The Household of God and that of a Believer and His Children In harmony with the promise, the children of believers are always found in the service and worship of God. They belong there. They are not there as objects of mission work, but as members of the household of God, partakers of the grace of God, as a body, fed by the preaching of the Word from their youth, and members of the life of the church and its worship. This, as we saw, was how the church worshipped in Jehoshaphat's day. "And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children." II Chronicles 20:13 While men, the heads of households are often on the foreground in Scripture, so that we might receive the impression that their wives and children were not present, the fact is that Scripture assumes they are always present. When we read of John the Baptist's labors we read of the questions of men, soldiers, and servants. But we read in Matthew 3:5 that "Jerusalem, and all Judea and all the region round about Jordan" went to John's baptism. When Jesus feeds the five thousand, the count is of the men as heads of households. We read, "And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children." Matthew 14:21. Children, and families, husbands and wives, heard Jesus' sermons, sat together under His word and were fed by Him. Similarly, children are in the temple, when Jesus cleanses it after His royal entry. We read, "And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise? (Matthew 21:15,15 ; Psalm 8:2). The presence of children in home and family is the norm of human life. It is the norm also of the life of the church. It would be strange, scripturally, if they were excluded. Indeed, it is children's exclusion that stirs Jesus' holy indignation so that we read, "And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God." Mark 10:13,14. Nor is it any different on Pentecost when Peter preaches. The apostles and the women who were at the grave are on the foreground in Acts 1:13-15, when the church gathered, at about 120 souls, there is nothing inconsistent with this that married couples, parents and children would be present. Peter (Cephas) and the Lord's brethren, James and Judah or Jude, were married as were other apostles. The apostle Paul mentions this, "Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?" I Corinthians 9:5. Mary, the Lord's mother, with her children, James and Judah, was there. The Apostles James and John were there with their mother. Households are present. Nor were children excluded, so that they, together with their adult caregivers, missed the blessings of Pentecost morning. When the Spirit is poured out on Pentecost there is nothing in the power of grace that excludes children, nor even the servants of the house, when we read, "And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Acts 2:3,4. The prophecy of Joel itself says "And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:," Acts 2:17,18. This prophecy explicitly includes the children, sons and daughters, and even the servants. Servants such as Rhoda, a maidservant, are found at the gatherings of the church, Acts 12:13. Are they explicitly mentioned by name on every occasion? No, why should they be? The promise of the Spirit was for children as well as adults, "your sons and daughters." If they were to be deliberately excluded, that would be a matter of note, but such exclusion is never taught in Scripture. In his sermon, Peter addresses those who are pricked in their hearts, as heads of households. The promise is unto them and their children, exactly because that is, and always has been, the promise of God. God saves His people in families, gathering His church of believing households. This has not changed on Pentecost with the beginning of the New Testament form of the church. Further, as the gospel goes to the Gentiles this same word is proclaimed upon the same promise of God, "And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." Acts 16:31. Paul says this to the Philippian Jailer, as a promise to him, and says it without first seeing his household. Why? Because God sets His grace in families, works in Christian marriage, and gathers the children of promise in the generations of believers. The promise to the Gentile is the same promise spoken to the Jew. It is a spiritual reality for a spiritual seed, so that we also read these words to Gentiles: "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Galatians 3: 27-29. In Scripture, Abraham is not merely, nor primarily, the father of the Jews after the flesh. He is rather, spiritually, the father of believers (Romans 4:11,16,18). Believers, Jew or Gentile, are his spiritual seed and inherit his blessings according to the promise. In harmony with this grace of God and the promise, we find that Cornelius is instructed to send for Peter, "Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved," Acts 11:14 (emphasis added) We read of Peter's preaching to Cornelius and his household, that, "While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word....Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord..." Acts 10:44, 46-48. As God promised Cornelius, so it happened unto him: God saved his household. When we turn to Lydia we read, Lydia believed and was baptized "and her household," Acts 16:14 (emphasis added). God promised to the Philippian jailer salvation to his house. God also wrought grace in his household. He believed, "...was baptized, he and all his, straightway...believing in God with all his house." Households, families, parents and children are incorporated into the New Testament church and are also baptized. Likewise the apostle Paul speaks of baptizing, "the household of Stephanas," I Corinthians 1:16. To exclude children or infants from these households is to start from an unscriptural assumption. God, according to the promise saved believing households, not mere individuals. Salvation is personal but not individualistic. God saves a people whom He is pleased to gather in the generations of believers. From Genesis 3:15 through the whole of the scriptures, God sets His grace in families, saving believing households and establishing His covenant with us, to be our God and that of our seed after us in our generations. This is an integral part of the true nature of grace, sovereign grace, and of the promise of the gospel. It is because this is the promise and the work of grace that all the duties of marriage, of being parents and rearing our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, are possible. Our calling rests upon grace. Our duties in marriage and as parents are the means by which God works His grace. Take that grace away, destroy the promise to a believer and his seed, and you have left only duties, which, being devoid of the promise of grace, are works of the law. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. Apart from grace, there can be no "children of the promise," for only that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 3:6). Apart from grace, there is no human promise keeper. With this scriptural norm in view and the promise to us and our house, we may also find the proper foundation for Christian marriage, appropriate by faith the promises of God to our children, and rightly understand God's faithfulness. For in the promise and in God's faithfulness is our sure refuge in the grace of God in our needs. Go to the promise respecting: Marriage, Children and God's Faithfulness.

				For Further Study The Gospel and the Promise The Gospel Section: What Jesus said about... Children and the Church God's Will and Believers and Their Seed The Nature of His Flock His Kingdom One People of God Children's Inclusion Section: Questions - The Issue: Children's inclusion Family A series of articles on Family and Marriage The Family: Foundations are Shaking, Family Life The Building of a Home As A Father Pitieth His Children Baptism Baptism Form Biblical Grounds for the Baptism of Infants Infant Baptism and Sovereign Grace The Mode of Baptism What Jesus said about....Marriage Marriage Divorce Remarriage Faithfulness in Marriage Section: Marriage Form for Marriage The Lord's Hatred of Divorce, Malachi 2 Marriage and Divorce Section: Covenant The Covenant - God's Tabernacle with Men The Children of the Promise The Wonder of Grace -Book Preface The Idea of Salvation by Grace Chosen by Grace Reconciled by Grace United With Christ by Grace Regenerated by Grace Called by Grace Believing Through Grace Justified by Grace Converted by Grace Working Out Our Salvation by Grace Good Works Through Grace Suffering Through Grace Victory Through Grace Assurance of Grace Glorified Through Grace The Sovereign Grace of God Saved By Grace -Book The Sovereignty of God in Salvation God's Sovereign Love our Comfort The Church Dispensationalism

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