erin74 said:
I don't have a problem with kids going to communion - it is a symbolic reminder to us of Jesus death, and I don't see any problems with kids being reminded of this also.
The Lord's Table is more than symbolic of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, but is also a means of grace that is to be approached with great reverance, and not treated in a cavalier fashion. You may remember that in Corinth there were some who abused the Lord's Table and treated it with little respect, and Paul said some of them were sick and had died because of it.
Too many modern churchs do not approach the Lord's Table with the reverance due it. We have to keep fresh in our hearts and minds that table is the Altar that the Lamb of God gave Himself as a sacrifice for us on, and it is through that Sacrifice that Grace is extended to all of us who do not deserve it.
erin74 said:
I don't fully get the children are part of the covenant family bit though. I'm not trying to argue by the way - genuinely trying to understand this. I assume this comes from the concept of children being saved by their parents faith.
I understand what you are saying, but thats a misconception. In the Covenant Community, the children are not saved by their parent's faith, that would be contradictory to everything we as Calvinist believe about salvation being purely the act of God for individuals and the Church as a whole. God grants faith to whomever He so chooses in accordance with His purpose and pleasure. However, Scripture, and thereby God, does say that the Covenants are for "you and your children." We are admonished to raise our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, to teach and train our children in the ways of God. By the way, that does not apply to the parents only, but to the entire community. Shillery Klinton's book, "It takes a village to raise a child" is a perversion of God's plan for children; "It takes a Church to raise a child". As members of the covenant community children also enjoy the blessings, benefits and protection of God in the covenant. That in no way means they are saved by their parents faith.
But, speaking of the "age of accountability", there is only one way one must be saved, that is through Christ. "No one comes to the Father, but by Me", is what Jesus proclaimed.
All children are born depraved, all children are worthy of judgment and hell, just as adults are. All it takes is one sin to land someone in hell, and as Jeremiah says, we all come from the womb speaking lies, depraved, lost and blind. A child's depravity simply has not reached it's zenith for lack of time.
Therefore, there is no "age of accountability" with God.
Having said that, can an infant be saved? Can an unborn baby who is murdered through abortion be saved?
Yes.
Why?
Because God has chosen His sheep before the foundation of the world, before any of us ever had done a thing. Just as our salvation is the miraculous work of God, so is that infants, since their life is in the germ stage, but chosen regardless.
That does not mean that all are.
erin74 said:
But there seems to be a tension with individual responsiblity - cause we all know people who are not living as christians who's parents are christians - surely their parents faith does not cover them forever. Surely we are each responsible for our own faith (as given by God).
If we are resonsible for our own faith, then we are all lost with no hope. Being dead in sin and trespasses, dead to God, not seeking God whatsoever, with no goodness within us with which to want God, we can only rely solely on God and His Sovereign Grace for Redemption.
Its one thing for parents to claim to be Christian, or even being Christian and not following the mandate to raise their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, and parents who do.
However, even when parents do, that does not mean that a child may become rebellious later, as per the parable of the prodigal son.
