Another
problem with the paedobaptist position that all infants of believers are in the
New Covenant is that it does violation to the doctrine of particular redemption.
Every New Covenant member has Jesus Christ as his effectual Mediator (Matthew
1:21). As Ridderbos says:
God’s
people are those who whom Christ sheds his blood of the covenant. They share in
the remission of sins brought about by him and in the unbreakable communion with
God in the new covenant that he has made possible. (Ridderbos, Coming of the
Kingdom, 202)
To
call unregenerate infants “God’s people” and members of the New Covenant for “whom
Christ sheds his blood of the covenant violates particular redemption simply
because no one can be in the New Covenant without the effectual mediatorial
sacrifice that establishes the covenant with every member. (Fred A. Malone, The
Baptism of Disciples Alone: A Covenantal Argument for Credobaptism Versus Paedobaptism
[rev ed.; Cape Coral, Fla.: Founders
Press, 2008], 95-96)