Passage of the Day - January 7, 2013

Malachi 1:2-5

² “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have You loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob; ³ but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.” ⁴ Though Edom says, “We have been beaten down, but we will return and build up the ruins”; thus says the Lord of hosts, “They may build, but I will tear down; and men will call them the wicked territory, and the people toward whom the Lord is indignant forever.” ⁵ Your eyes will see this and you will say, “The Lord be magnified beyond the border of Israel!”

Then the paedobaptist runs into this passage.  The fate of Esau was decided before he was even born as seen in Genesis 25:23.  If the fate of our children is decided before they are even born, then how will we know they will remain faithful to the Lord?  What efficacy does baptism really have on an infant?  What does it actually do?  If Esau can forsake his birthright, can our children do the same?  Can we?  Can we who are reborn forsake the privileges our rebirth brings us?  Is eternal security even true?  When you dig deep into one theological area, it often opens Pandora’s Box.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®,
© Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (http://www.lockman.org/)