Should infants be baptized, or only believers?
In the New Testament, baptism is given to those who repent and believe, following a profession of faith: the Gospels and Acts consistently show belief leading to baptism. Some faithful churches, seeing the covenant as one sign given from infancy, baptize the young children of believers as well. This is an honest difference among godly Christians, tried since the early church. Follow Scripture, your church, and a clear conscience, and hold the shared center: baptism belongs to those who belong to Christ.
This question arose from studying What is baptism? and Why do I need the church?.
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Not a summary of these passages: the passages themselves. Read them, then come back to the study below.
The study
What the Scripture says
In the New Testament, faith leads to baptism
The consistent New Testament picture is a person believing and then being baptized. Peter tells the crowd, 'Repent, and be baptized, every one of you,' and 'those who gladly received his word were baptized.' The eunuch is baptized after believing; the jailer is told to believe in the Lord Jesus and is baptized immediately, he and his whole household, having believed in God. Wherever Acts shows people baptized, faith has come first.
Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Then those who gladly received his word were baptized. There were added that day about three thousand souls.
As they went on the way, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Behold, here is water. What is keeping me from being baptized?”
They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
He took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes, and was immediately baptized, he and all his household.
He brought them up into his house, and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, with all his household, having believed in God.
Baptism is for disciples
Jesus' command links baptism to discipleship: make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to observe all that He commanded. Baptism is the sign given to those who are being made disciples, who have heard the word, believed, and come. In the pages of the New Testament, it is the mark of a person who has entered the school of Christ, not merely a stamp on a birth.
Go,and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
The households that were baptized
The Gospels and Acts speak of whole households being baptized: Lydia and her household, the jailer and all his, the household of Stephanas. Faithful readers understand these differently. Some see in them entire families, including little children, baptized with the believing head. Others point out that in the accounts the household 'believed' and 'rejoiced greatly, with all his household, having believed in God,' and so see believers baptized with their believing children and household. The text is read both ways, and has been for centuries.
When she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and stay.” So she persuaded us.
He took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes, and was immediately baptized, he and all his household. He brought them up into his house, and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, with all his household, having believed in God.
(I also baptized the household of Stephanas; besides them, I don’t know whether I baptized any other.)
The covenant view: the sign from infancy
Those who baptize infants point to the covenant. In the Old Testament, God's sign was given to children at eight days old, as a token of the covenant with their parents (Genesis 17:11-12). Paul links baptism to circumcision as the New Testament counterpart, a circumcision 'not made with hands' in Christ, and Peter says 'the promise is to you, and to your children.' On this reading, the sign belongs to believers and their covenant children, as circumcision did.
You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin. It will be a token of the covenant between me and you. He who is eight days old will be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he who is born in the house, or bought with money from any foreigner who is not of your seed.
in whom you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
How to hold this difference as a family of God
This is a question the church has never settled into one answer, and both sides have loved the Lord and His word. What Scripture does make plain is that the heart of baptism is union with Christ, that its proper recipients are those who belong to Him through faith, and that the patterns of preaching and conversion lead to water. Where faithful churches differ on the timing, Paul's spirit rules: 'Let each man be fully assured in his own mind.' Seek your church's teaching, examine Scripture yourself, and do not make the age of baptism the dividing line of fellowship.
One man esteems one day as more important. Another esteems every day alike. Let each man be fully assured in his own mind.
For you are all children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
As you read, you may wonder…
Scripture raises the next question
Studying the Word naturally opens more of it. Follow what you just read: it leads somewhere.
Continue this trail
How often should the church celebrate the Lord's Supper?→“When he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in memory of me.” In the same way he also took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in memory of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”What is the church?→“I also tell you that you are Peter,and on this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hadeswill not prevail against it.”What is church discipline?→““If your brother sins against you, go, show him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained back your brother. But if he doesn’t listen, take one or two more with you, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembly. If he refuses to hear the assembly also, let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector.”Does baptism save a person?→“for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast.”What is the difference between baptism and the Lord's Supper?→“Go,and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”Who may take the Lord's Supper?→“Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks the Lord’s cup in a way unworthy of the Lord will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy way eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he doesn’t discern the Lord’s body.”How is Christ present in the Lord's Supper?→“He took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and gave to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in memory of me.” Likewise, he took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”What does a church need from its leaders?→“The overseer therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, modest, hospitable, good at teaching;”What kind of authority did Jesus give church leaders?→“It shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you shall beyour servant. Whoever desires to be first among you shall be your bondservant, even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.””What does Peter say about Peter?→“Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. I also tell you that you are Peter,and on this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hadeswill not prevail against it.”Does God require His servants to stay unmarried?→“forbidding marriage and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.”What is the church's mission in the world?→“Go,and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”Who are God's chosen people?→“and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.””Hold onto these
Verses to meditate on
Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
As they went on the way, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Behold, here is water. What is keeping me from being baptized?”
Go,and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
in whom you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin. It will be a token of the covenant between me and you. He who is eight days old will be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he who is born in the house, or bought with money from any foreigner who is not of your seed.
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