Theology for the Church Baptism and the Relationship Between the Covenants with Steve Wellum
Mar 2, 2026
Steve Wellum, professor of theology and covenant specialist, offers a compact tour of baptism and covenant theology. He discusses why baptism matters as a commanded sign tied to the gospel. He explains what is truly new in the new covenant, the structural differences of the new covenant community, and practical implications for baptism, membership, and church practice.
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Baptism Is A Central Covenantal Sign
- Baptism is a commanded sign of church membership and the new covenant, tied directly to the gospel mandate to proclaim and baptize all nations.
- Steve Wellum emphasizes baptism's theological weight: it signals what it means to be Christian and belongs within the whole covenantal storyline, not isolated texts.
Covenant Framework Drives The Baptism Debate
- The baptism debate is fundamentally a covenantal one about how Abrahamic, Mosaic, and the new covenant relate, not merely isolated New Testament prooftexts.
- Wellum argues differing baptismal practices depend on whether one views covenant continuity or discontinuity across redemptive history.
One Covenantal Plan Yet Distinct Historical Administrations
- The covenant of grace is the single redemptive plan centered in Christ, unfolding through historic covenants from Genesis 3:15 to the new covenant.
- Wellum affirms theological unity but warns that unity doesn't erase redemptive-historical distinctions between covenants.
