God's Kingdom, Covenant Children, and Baptism: Understanding Biblically the Place of Our Children in the Visible Church

Book Description

This booklet grew out of a message I delivered at the 2025 Go & Teach Conference in Ontario, Canada. The theme of the conference was Christ and His Kingdom. My topic was the relationship between our covenant children and God's kingdom. More specifically, I explored the biblical place of our children in the visible church, which in this present age is the primary public expression and the citizen assembly of God's kingdom on earth.

Do our children really belong to Christ's kingdom? If so, in what sense? And if they do belong, should they not receive the visible mark of that belonging, namely baptism? What is the nature of God's kingdom, and how does baptism relate to it? How should we think about the visible and invisible church, the privilege and danger of covenant membership, and the way Christ views the children of believers? These are some of the questions this short study seeks to answer.

There are many helpful books on covenant baptism. This booklet is different in that it follows the path God used in my own journey from credobaptism (believer's baptism) to covenant baptism. It does so by taking a fresh, careful look at the kingdom of God, especially as Jesus describes it in the Parable of the Net (Matthew 13:47-50), and by drawing on the wider testimony of Scripture. I trace the themes of separation and mixture in God's kingdom, the continuity of His covenant dealings from Old to New Testament, and the place of believer's children within the visible kingdom. My aim is to show why our children should receive the sign of baptism.

My prayer is that this brief work will help both those who wrestle with the doctrine of baptism and the parents, elders, and pastors who long to think more biblically and pastorally about the children God has entrusted to them. (from the preface)

Author

Brian G. Najapfour (PhD, Theological University of Apeldoorn) has been a minister of the gospel since 2001 and has served both in the Philippines and in the U.S. He now lives in Canada, pastoring Heritage Reformed Congregation of Jordan, Ontario. He has authored and coedited numerous books and has contributed several articles to journals, periodicals, and encyclopedias.

Endorsements

“This booklet beautifully summarizes biblical truths that I have learned, believed, and taught for fifty years. Oh, that I had always known them in a way as understandable, memorable, and pastoral as they are here!”
--Dr. Theodore G. (Ted) Van Raalte, Professor of Ecclesiology, Canadian Reformed Theological Seminary

“Written in clear, accessible language, this work is also theologically sensitive to the nuances within our confessional Reformed context. With pastoral balance, the author maintains the necessary experiential tension between covenantal privilege and appropriation.”
--Rev. Pieter VanderMeyden, emeritus pastor, Free Reformed Churches of North America

“In this booklet, Dr. Najapfour has given [us] an eminently readable, biblically faithful, and confessionally informed resource, showing both the biblical-theological support for infant baptism and the rich blessing it is to the church.”
--Dr. R. Andrew Compton, Professor of Old Testament Studies, Mid-America Reformed Seminary

“Dr. Najapfour’s treatment of the Parable of the Net provides essential clarity on covenant children and baptism, avoiding both presumptive regeneration and unregeneration.”
--Dr. Adriaan C. Neele, President, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary

“This book would have been an immense help to me while I was wrestling through covenant theology and paedobaptism. Whether you are pondering anew the grace of God to us and to our children even unto a thousand generations or seeking to connect the dots of covenant, kingdom, and baptism, you would do well to take up and read this small book.” 
--Rev. Aaron L. Garriott, Managing Editor, Ligonier Ministries