Question 74: Should infants also be baptized?

 

Question 74: Should infants also be baptized?

Answer: Yes. Infants, as well as adults, are God's people under His covenant. Like adults, infants have been promised forgiveness of sins through the blood of Christ and the Holy Spirit, who gives faith. Therefore, through baptism, a sign of the covenant, infants are incorporated into the church of Christ and are distinguished from the children of unbelievers. In the Old Testament, this was accomplished by circumcision, which in the New Testament was replaced by baptism.

There is no specific mention of infant baptism in Scripture, other than the Old Testament law requiring circumcision on the eighth day after birth. However, in the New Testament, Jesus speaks of this through the parable of a young child.

Matthew 19:14 “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” This is a message that the saints should simply accept the word of God like children.

When Abraham was 99 years old, God appeared to him and promised him a son the next year. He laughed to himself, thinking, "Next year, I will be 100 and Sarah will be 90. How can a son be born?" However, when he was 100, he began to have faith. And he gave birth to a son, Isaac. God is God, and nothing is impossible. He performed all kinds of miracles, such as raising the dead like Lazarus, walking on water, performing the miracle of feeding the five loaves and two fish, and curing lepers. However, believers accept faith as their own belief. Faith is a faith that comes from heaven.

Mark 9:37, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

Jesus is heaven. The Bible tells us to repent, for heaven is at hand. This heaven represents the kingdom of God within the hearts of believers—the temple within the soul (the parable of the vineyard). A temple is established in a person from birth, and we are to think of this temple through a child. Welcoming a child is to recognize that a temple is also established within the heart of the one who welcomes them. When we understand the relationship between the old and new temples through a child, we can discover Christ through the child. Welcoming a child is the same as welcoming Christ.

1 Corinthians 7:14 "For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean; but now they are holy."

Children are susceptible to stumbles in their faith. They can be influenced by their parents' faith. Furthermore, children cannot survive without their parents. Similarly, believers, too, cannot survive spiritually without the Word of God. Therefore, when Jesus speaks of children, he speaks of the spiritual state of believers, telling them to understand the kingdom of God through them.

Since circumcision is based on Old Testament law, infant baptism can also be seen as based on Old Testament law. Circumcision does not confirm one's membership in the covenant people. Ishmael, though circumcised, did not become a member of the covenant people. Even if a believer receives a formal baptism, if they fail to recognize their union with Jesus' death on the cross and do not believe, they are not confirmed as a member of the covenant people. Therefore, infant baptism does not confirm one's membership in the covenant people.

The Apostle Paul speaks very clearly about this in Colossians 2:11-12: "In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead."

If an infant, who knows nothing about salvation, dies before being baptized, is not saved, it is beyond human discretion to say. However, salvation lies not in the formality of baptism, but in union with Jesus' death on the cross and faith in his resurrection in union with Christ.

Therefore, infant baptism, based on the law, has nothing to do with salvation. Some family members will be saved, while others will not. Some families will experience discord because of Jesus Christ. However, if one person is saved, the likelihood of the family being saved will greatly increase. Infant baptism is a pledge from parents to raise their children well so that they can grow up to be Christians.