Jul 21, 2026 · 3 min · 1 segments
During a live Clearly Reformed Q&A Event, Kevin DeYoung answered a range of questions presented to him by attendees. This episode is focused on Kevin’s response to the question: “How Do You…
Kevin DeYoungHost
How do you reconcile covenant baptism with the reality of wayward children? This is a very painful question that all of us know, either firsthand or secondhand, children or grandchildren.
There's different terms given to this, but I'll use the simplest, is to say that the covenant always has an objective and a subjective element.
Other language is the covenant as relationship and covenant as legal arrangement.
So there's lots of, or covenant as formal bond and covenant as relational commitment.
But it's getting to that objective, subjective aspect distinction that I would say one of the friendly differences I have with my Baptist friends is that I see there is a continuing objective nature to the covenant.
Yes, our children need to put faith in Christ for themselves, that is the subjective element, but there is still an objective.
You are a child of at least one believing parent, and therefore you are considered set apart and a part of the covenant community.
So you have those external blessings of the covenant, you have the privileges of the covenant, you do have God's promises of the covenant, and You need to make those promises your own.
I think that Hebrews Chapter 12, when it talks about some have trampled upon the blood of the covenant, that's a New Testament text.
And I think it's saying that even in the new covenant, it is possible for someone to have tasted and been enlightened by these things.
that they would have some external relationship to the blood of Christ and yet trample upon those things.
And at the same time, we know that God gives warnings to us for a reason, and he tells us to embrace these promises for a reason.
Almost every week, somebody will shake my hand and say, can you, well, once a month at least, someone will say, can you pray for my son, my daughter, who's far from the Lord, that they would come back? And we pray that God will use all of those seeds that have been planted to bring to fruition.
How do you reconcile covenant baptism with the reality of wayward children? This is a very painful question that all of us know, either firsthand or secondhand, children or grandchildren.
There's different terms given to this, but I'll use the simplest, is to say that the covenant always has an objective and a subjective element.
Other language is the covenant as relationship and covenant as legal arrangement.
So there's lots of, or covenant as formal bond and covenant as relational commitment.
But it's getting to that objective, subjective aspect distinction that I would say one of the friendly differences I have with my Baptist friends is that I see there is a continuing objective nature to the covenant.
Yes, our children need to put faith in Christ for themselves, that is the subjective element, but there is still an objective.
You are a child of at least one believing parent, and therefore you are considered set apart and a part of the covenant community.
So you have those external blessings of the covenant, you have the privileges of the covenant, you do have God's promises of the covenant, and You need to make those promises your own.
I think that Hebrews Chapter 12, when it talks about some have trampled upon the blood of the covenant, that's a New Testament text.
And I think it's saying that even in the new covenant, it is possible for someone to have tasted and been enlightened by these things.
that they would have some external relationship to the blood of Christ and yet trample upon those things.
And at the same time, we know that God gives warnings to us for a reason, and he tells us to embrace these promises for a reason.
Almost every week, somebody will shake my hand and say, can you, well, once a month at least, someone will say, can you pray for my son, my daughter, who's far from the Lord, that they would come back? And we pray that God will use all of those seeds that have been planted to bring to fruition.
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