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Baptism of Infants

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Mungo

Mungo

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Please read the following
It is a starting assumption of this thread that (christian) baptism is salvific. It is the instrument whereby the fruits of Jesus' life, passion, death and resurrection are applied to us.

Jesus said "He who believes and is baptized will be saved" (Mk 16:16)
Peter wrote " Baptism………. now saves you" (1Pet3:21)

If you believe that baptism has no salvific purpose then this thread is not for you. There are plenty of such threads in the Theology Forum. Any such comments here will be deleted.

I'm not having this thread diverted into another baptism vs faith alone thread.

Objection to infants being baptised (as opposed to adults) are of course OK.
 
Should babies/infants be baptised? The answer depends on whether baptism has some spiritual value. There is no point if it doesn't - for example if baptism is just getting wet, or just a public witness that a person has "accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Saviour".

But if baptism has spiritual value then it is justified. Indeed Justification is the most important aspect of this.

The Council of Trent defines Justification as "being a translation, from that state wherein man is born a child of the first Adam, to the state of grace, and of the adoption of the sons of God, through the second Adam, Jesus Christ, our Saviour." (sess 6 Chap IV)

According Paul in the letter to the Romans chap 5
12. "Therefore as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned"
Who was this one man? Adam.

Then verse 15-19 spell out the consequences for us all.
15. For if many died through one man's trespass………
16. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, ………….
17. If, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, …………
18. Then as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all men,………
19. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners,……
Adam's sin affected all mankind; it affected our nature and brought death into the world and we became separated from God and subject to condemnation.

"For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive." (1Cor 15:22).

When we are born we are "in Adam". We need to be "in Christ" because "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Rom 8:1)

Paul says in Eph 2:3 "we [Christians] were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind."
But in Gal 3:25 he says "for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God"

When we are "in Adam" we are "children of wrath" but when we are "in Christ" we are children of God.

That movement from being "in Adam", subject to death, subject to condemnation, being "children of wrath", to being "in Christ", made alive, brought out of condemnation, being children of God, is effected by baptism.

We are born "in Adam" but to have life we must be "born again", renewed, born by the Spirit in baptism (John 3:5, Ti 3:5).

When we are baptised we "put on" Christ (Gal 3:27); we become part of the body of Christ, and therefore children of God (1Cor 12:13); we become part of a new creation in Christ (2Cor 5:17); we receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38)

Jesus said "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God."(Jn 3:5) and yet he also says "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven." (Mt 19:14)

All this is good and necessary for adults. All this is equally good and necessary for children.

As the Bible says "For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to him." (Acts 2:39).
 
Mungo said:
When we are born we are "in Adam". We need to be "in Christ" because "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Rom 8:1)
Click to expand...
I don't disagree with you with regard to infant baptism however, using Romans 8:1 as you did may not be the best use of a proof text because you left out the rest of the sentence and the verse. To be "in Christ" one would also walk according to the Spirit and not the flesh. There are many who have been baptized as infants and yet still walk according to the flesh, are there not?

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
Romans 8:1 NKJV
 
jasonc said:
Then a command isn't obeyed by them


They can't have communion ,don't know what sin is.
Click to expand...
They can receive communion when they are old enough to understand what it is.
No, they don't know what sin is, but it is primarily their parents responsibility to teach them the faith, what is right and wrong.
 
WIP said:
I don't disagree with you with regard to infant baptism however, using Romans 8:1 as you did may not be the best use of a proof text because you left out the rest of the sentence and the verse. To be "in Christ" one would also walk according to the Spirit and not the flesh. There are many who have been baptized as infants and yet still walk according to the flesh, are there not?

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
Romans 8:1 NKJV
Click to expand...

When they are old enough to understand what is right and wrong then yes, they need to walk according the Spirit. It is primarily the parents responsibility to bring them to that understanding.
Baptism makes them "in Christ". Whether they stay there is then up to them.
 
A question that hasn't been asked but perhaps should be answered is - what about faith?
The Catholic Church teaches that baptism is the sacrament of faith.
Yet a baby/infant cannot yet believe if they are too young to understand.

The answer is the the parents supply the faith.
At the beginning of the ceremony the priest/deacon asks:
"Are you willing and able to fulfill your duties to bring up this child in the Christian faith?" (Directed at an infant's parents and godparents).

Later he asks the parents
  • "Do you renounce Satan? And all his works? And all his empty promises?"
  • "Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth?"
  • "Do you believe in Jesus Christ?"
  • "Do you believe in the Holy Spirit?"
To which the parents reply "I do"

But would God accept the faith of the parents instead of the actual recipient of baptism?
The Church believes so and there are examples in scripture of Jesus acting on the faith of others.
Examples are Jairus' daughter (Mk 5 & Lk 8) and the healing of the paralytic (Lk 2)- vs 5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “My son, your sins are forgiven.”
 
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