The fact is, of course that neither Malone nor Reformed Baptists in general are dispensational. It's just a stick that Malone picks up to beat them with.

The real difference between credo- and paedo-baptists is their starting point. If you start with Abraham, you inevitably end up imposing the promise upon the reality, the shadow upon the substance which is Christ (Col 2:17 ). I attatch a post which I made on the Puritan Board some time ago on the subject, 'When did the New Covenant start Biblically?'. It was deleted and I was banned for my trouble, so I offer it here (slightly adapted):-

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'The New Covenant starts with the cross (Luke 22:20). The Covenant of Grace was made in eternity between the Father and the Son for the redemption of mankind (Eph 1:3ff). We are in this covenant as the elect who are in Christ (See Larger Catechism Q.31).

The New Covenant is the outworking of the C of G. ‘I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself’ (John 12:32). We can make plans to go away on holiday, but the plans are not the holiday itself. We cannot say that we have been away until we actually go. Likewise, although the plans for man’s redemption were infallibly laid before the foundation of the world (eg. Titus 1:2), that redemption was not accomplished until the death and resurrection of the Saviour.

Two questions will immediately come to mind:-
1. How were the O.T. saints saved?
2. Where do the Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic and Davidic covenants fit in?

These two questions are really one. The O.T. saints were saved as they believed the promises of God. As we look back to the cross, they looked forward to the promised Seed or Messiah. Of course they could not see clearly; exactly how the Messiah should come and how He should achieve salvation was a mystery to them (Col 1:26-27), a mystery which would not be revealed until Christ should come (Eph 3:3-5; Heb 9:8). The Abrahamic and other Covenants then, were the Covenants of Promise (Eph 2:12). Each one spoke of the coming Seed or Messiah. When Abel made the ‘more excellent sacrifice’ (Heb 11:4) he was trusting in the Adamic Covenant (Gen 3:15, 21), believing the promise of God of a Seed who should bruise the serpent’s head, and understanding by faith that the lamb that he was sacrificing in some way portrayed the Lamb of God who should take way the sin of the world. How much detail did he understand? Not a lot, I think. But he saw himself as a sinner in need of redemption, hung on to the promise that he had and it was enough.

Abraham received a promise that his physical heirs should inherit the land of Canaan. That is all very well, but what he really sought and obtained by faith was ‘a better, that is, a heavenly country.’ His physical descendants did indeed inherit the land, but his spiritual heirs (Gal 3:7-9 etc) have inherited heaven and earth (Rom 4:13). ‘These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, were assured of them, embrased them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth’ (Heb 11:13).

The O.T. saints, then, were saved by grace through faith just as we are. But they were saved as they looked forward to the New Covenant (1Peter 1:10-11) of which the Old Covenant was merely symbolic (Heb 9:9-10) and the other Covenants were promisary.

My purpose in posting this is to make a point which I’ve made many times here before. Any understanding of the Covenants must start and finish with Christ. For all the promises of God in Him [not in Abraham] are Yes, and in Him Amen to the glory of God (2Cor 1:20). He, and no one else, is ‘the author and finisher of our faith’, the Alpha and the Omega. If you start with Adam or Abraham, you are not starting at the beginning (John 8:58) and you will inevitably end up missing the point.'

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Blessings to all,
Steve

Last edited by grace2U; Tue Mar 29, 2005 10:26 AM.