Baptism and infant faith - 18 October 2011 |
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I had a conversation recently about why we, like many other Reformed and evangelical churches, baptise children born to Christian households. This is one of those issues that is best dealt with personally face-to-face, but in case it’s helpful to anyone else here’s part of what I wrote by email before we met to talk in more detail.
I won’t try to deal comprehensively with the issue of infant baptism – that would take far too long, as there are so many parts of the Bible to look at. But let me just offer a couple of thoughts.
You’re right that the Bible contains many examples of people believing before being baptised. But the Bible teaches that infants, and not just adults, can have a close relationship with God. Indeed, the Bible teaches that infants can even believe - they can have faith – even though they would doubtless express their faith differently from adults.
For example, consider Psalm 22:9-10.
9 Yet you are he who took me from the womb;
you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.
10 On you was I cast from my birth,
and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
David says here that he trusted God (v. 9) from a very young age. We find similar teaching about the faith of young children, and about infants and even unborn children having a relationship with God, depending on God, praising God, and so on, in many other places. For example, Psalm 71:5-6; Psalm 139:14; Matthew 21:16 (see also Psalm 8:2).
This makes sense alongside the reaction of John the Baptist, who leaped in his Mother’s womb at the voice of Jesus (Luke 1:41). Clearly the unborn baby John had some sense that there was something special about the Lord Jesus.
Elsewhere we find Jesus welcoming little children warmly (Matthew 19:13-15). Indeed, he points to children as an example for adults to follow. We tend to get this backwards: we think that children must grow up and become like adults, which in some respects is correct. But Jesus says that adults must become like children – perhaps in the childlike trust and dependence that seems to come so naturally to babies and infants (see Matthew 18:2-3).
So it’s clear that children, infants, and even unborn can have a relationship with God, and are capable of a kind of faith. But does the Bible say that they should therefore be baptised? I think it does.
Again, let me emphasise that there are many other texts that we should look at. But here’s just one example. At the end of Peter’s sermon in Acts 2, the people asked, “What should we do?” (Acts 2:37). Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). So baptism is clearly part of the right response to hearing the gospel.
But then Peter says something very interesting. He clearly wants to encourage the people to come to Jesus (see v. 40), so he encourages them by reassuring them that this promise is for all of them. Here’s what he says: “For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself” (v. 39). Do you notice that he includes the children here? He doesn’t restrict his exhortation to just the adults; he explicitly includes the children when he’s talking about being baptised and forgiven and receiving the Holy Spirit.
As I said, this is just a small glimpse of the Bible’s teaching on this subject. But hopefully it’s a helpful pointer in the right direction.
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Posted by Steve Jeffery · Topics: Minister's Blog