Shorter Catechism Q. 95
95. To whom is baptism to be administered?
A. Baptism is not to be administered to any that are out of the visible church, till they profess their faith in Christ, and obedience to him; but the infants of such as are members of the visible church are to be baptized.
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“And Peter said to them, “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. 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.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.” (Acts 2:38–41 ESV)
“And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.” (Acts 16:15 ESV)
“Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.” (Acts 18:8 ESV)
“(I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.)” (1 Corinthians 1:16 ESV)
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Infant baptism (sometimes called paedobaptism) is one of Reformed churches’ distinctive practices. However, it is distinctive today, because by and large most Christians take for granted the Baptist position of baptizing only those with the ability to profess their own faith. But when we look at infant baptism against the current of the 2,000 years of Christian history, infant baptism is not so distinctive. In fact, infant baptism has been the majority practice across different Christian traditions until very recently. One reason why this is the case, surely, is that today we are not rightly understanding the function and the meaning of sacraments in general, and baptism in particular.
In baptism, what God says to man is far more important than what man says to God. The Bible is very consistent about shining the spotlight on God’s work as opposed to man’s work, however noble and necessary man’s work may be. Thus, from the outset, it seems to me a serious mistake to insist that baptism’s main function is man professing his faith to God and the church, rather than to understand baptism as God speaking to us, signing and sealing to us the finished works of Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection, and thereby drawing faith out of our struggling hearts. Reformed theology understands baptism as “a means of grace,” an instrument by which God draws us to Christ and all the spiritual blessings in him.
Our Baptist brethren (they are our brothers and coheirs of the promises) oppose infant baptism because, they say, they do not see it in the New Testament. It is commendable. We should all strive to live according to God’s word. Yet, even if the principle is surely right, the practice of the principle is lacking.
The New Testament explicitly mentions entire households being baptized even though only one person is demonstrably converted. So in Acts 2:38–41 Peter exhorted the Jews to be baptized, with the explicit addition “For the promise is for you and for your children.” Baptism is God’s promise to them and to their children. Likewise, in Acts 16 Lydia and her household were baptized. And again in Acts 16, when the Philippian jailer was converted, “he was baptized at once, he and all his family.” We read likewise of Crispus, who with his entire household was baptized (Acts 18:8). Paul also comments he baptized the household of Stephanas (1 Cor 1:16).
All this is to belabor the point that in the New Testament a convert to Christ was baptized, and his household with him. Thus our Baptist brethren face a challenge. They will need to either insist that infants were not counted as part of the household, or that none of these households actually had any infants or small children who could not profess their personal faith. They seem to me insurmountable obstacles. On what biblical basis would you, or the Jews, think the infants and small children were not part of their household? I cannot think of any. And it seems to me beyond reasonable to insist there were no infants or small children in any of the households mentioned in the New Testament. In every ancient culture, the infant mortality was high. And lacking reliable methods of birth control, a woman was likely to be pregnant if she could be! Children were very much desired and pregnancy was counted a great blessing. Thus to argue that none of these households had infants or small children seems a little strange.
That is, if we honestly examine the data of Scripture rationally without prejudice, we will see what a forced conclusion it is to deny infant baptism.
Instead, let us briefly consider the rich meaning of baptism. Paul teaches us that New Testament baptism corresponds to the Old Testament circumcision (Col 2:11–12). Paul says our baptism means what Old Testament circumcision always meant, dying to sin and living to God. Abraham received the sign of circumcision (Gen 17). He was commanded to baptize everyone in his household, both Isaac and Ishmael. Only Isaac received the spiritual blessing of salvation, but Ishmael was also circumcized. Circumcision served not as the circumcised man’s profession of faith to God, but God’s promise. Every time a circumcised man thought about his circumcision, he would remember father Abraham, whose faith was counted as righteousness (Gen 15:6). Circumcision was thus a reminder of faith that justifies, as well as a promise that God will forgive, justify, and accept everyone who turns to him with faith and repentance. Circumcision thus “drew out” faith from the heart to trust the God of promises. As for those who were circumcised and did not believe, they received the just consequence due for scorning God’s gracious promises.
Baptism works the same way. Not everyone who is baptized will be saved. Not even the Baptists can guarantee this! Rather, baptism “draws out” faith from our heart by proclaiming to us the death and the resurrection of Christ, and the cleansing of our hearts in him. Everyone who believes this promise will be saved. Everyone who scorns this promise will be judged.
In other words, God gives baptism to our infants and children, because he wants them to grow up knowing and remembering the promises, and obey the call to believe and repent. In this day and age of endless search for new and better parenting methods, have you considered God has given you a great parenting resource in baptism? You who are parents can, and must, constantly celebrate God’s gracious promises to your children. The promise is for you and for your children. Let them know that God loved them and gave them this token of his promise to them, and that from the moment of their conception they were under God’s loving and watchful eye.
Frankly, as a parent, I need all the help I can get to spiritually nurture my children. I am so thankful that God has given me this great resource, and would not want to be without it!