Marie,<br><br>Even if we were to improve upon the argument by saying that the New Covenant is made only with believers and that, therefore, we should try to "ensure" that only professing believers are baptized, the argument is still invalid. The reason being, both the old and new covenants were made strictly with the elect! Baptists insist that the Old Covenant was made with both believers and unbelievers and that the New Covenant is made only with believers. From this position they argue further that the sign of the Old Covenant (as opposed to the New) was to be administered to all who were included in it, both believers and unbelievers.... However, if you will remember Abraham desired that his son Ishmael would live and walk before God -- i.e., be in covenant with God. God, however, said NO; God went on to say that His covenant would be established with Isaac and NOT Ishmael. Romans nine underscores this very point as well. The point is, the covenant was always established only with the true seed in Christ, the elect, (Romans 9; Galatians 3), yet the household of any professing believer was to be numbered among the people of God under the old economy. So you see, the covenant although made strictly with the elect in the Old, was still to be *administered* to both the those who professed faith (e.g. Abraham) and those who were too young to profess faith whether elect (Isaac) or not (Ishmael). So on what ground is this precedence to be broken?<br><br>In sum, Baptists will argue that the covenant was established with both the elect and non-elect in the O.T., and with only the elect in the New. Therefore, they say, the sign of the covenant was to be administered to both professing believers and their offspring in the Old, and only to those who profess faith in the New. Given the Baptists starting point their conclusion would seem reasonable. The problem with the argument is not so much in its form, but rather in the assumptions that are pumped into the equation. Where Baptists go wrong is that they fail to realize that the ONE covenant of grace is made with Christ -- and in Him the elect. From there it is easy to establish the Old Testament precedent that those who have not professed faith are to receive the mark of entrance into the covenant -- even though they may never come to faith or profess faith.<br><br>Blessings,<br><br>Ron