Gee, I wonder how all those jewish baby boys agreed to the covenant at 8 days old when they were circumcised?
The Jewish covenant was to those born of Jewish parents. The Christian one is to those born again...
” Note this carefully. We began by saying that Abraham’s faith was counted unto him for righteousness. When this happened, was he a circumcised man? He was not, he was still uncircumcised. It was afterwards that the sign of circumcision was given to him, as a seal upon that righteousness which God was accounting to him as yet an uncircumcised man! God’s purpose here is twofold. First, that Abraham might be the spiritual father of all who since that time, despite their circumcision, show the faith that is counted as righteousness. Then, secondly, that he might be the circumcised father of all those who are not only circumcised, but are living by the same sort of faith which he himself had before he was circumcised...
...Now this counting of faith for righteousness was not recorded simply for Abraham’s credit, but as a divine principle which should apply to us as well. Faith is to be reckoned as righteousness to us also, who believe in him who raised from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, who was delivered to death for our sins and raised again to secure our justification.”
Why wonder? GO TO GOD'S WORD! Praise God!
"A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical." Romans 2:28
"No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God." Romans 2:29
" The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live." Deuteronomy 30:6
" Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, circumcise your hearts, you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done--burn with no one to quench it. Jeremiah 4:4
They did not, as there were no requirements to repent and believe, and instead circumcision of 8 day old males was explicitly commanded. And in Jewish distinction, they both circumcised and baptized.
And circumcision has only limited correspondence to baptism:
“In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. “ (Colossians 2:11-12)
The Christian “circumcision” of baptism signifies washing and regeneration, but unlike circumcision, repentance and faith were explicitly commanded preconditions.
“Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. “ (Acts 2:38)
“But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. “ (Acts 8:12)
“And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. “ (Acts 8:36-37)
And in contrast to circumcision, there is absolutely no command to baptize infants (but to “teach all nations, baptizing them”), nor are there any manifest examples of infant baptism, and in Acts 16 the subjects were those who heard the word, which does not mean unintelligible speech.
The Holy Spirit is neither negligent nor superfluous, and the contrast btwn the commands for circumcision and baptism, and absence of any manifest examples of paedobaptism is incongruous in the light of the cardinal importance Catholicism places on it.
But then again, teachings of Rome do not rest upon the degree of Scriptural warrant, only that they do not contradict it in their view, and this is another inherited tradition of men, which some CFs (for what little that is worth) counseled against.
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Baptism is not circumcision.
Are you aware that a Gentile who converts to the Jewish faith is required to undergo a baptism by immersion? Baptism, "Mikveh" in Hebrew, is a ritual immersion signifiying repentance from sin, cleansing and a new life). Mikveh practice preceded John the Baptizer by many centuries, and it was not a "creation" of the New Testament church. In the New Testament, the Mikveh finds fulfillment in its incorporation into the witness of the church.
I'm all for people publicly declaring their commitment to raise their children with a sensitivity and receptiveness to faith in Jesus the Christ, and asking the organized church to join them in prayer and effort to those ends. But that is not baptism.
Unfortunately, some folks believe believe they put some kind of "lucky charm" on their children at their infant "baptismal" ceremony, thus confusing the entire concept of "salvation," and cheapening the meaning of faith, though they may not intend to do so.
Ouch!!!
They were a part of the CHosen People.
Chosen by GOD.
It was a CORPORATE convenant - with the entire NATION; not an individual one that we now embrace.