INFANT BAPTISM

A Biblical Perspective


How did Infant Baptism come about?

To answer this question, we must look to the Old Testament. It is in the Old Testament that we
are introduced to God's decision to include children as a part of his people. This was introduced with the Covenant made between God and Abraham.


God's Covenant with Abraham

In Genesis 17:1-14 God made a covenant with Abraham:

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. {2} And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous." {3} Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, {4} "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. {5} No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. {6} I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. {7} I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. {8} And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God." {9} God said to Abraham, "As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. {10} This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. {11} You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. {12} Throughout your generations every male among you shall be circumcised when he is eight days old, including the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring. {13} Both the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money must be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. {14} Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."


Some significant things to note about this Covenant:

1.  God is the one who initiates the Covenant. God is the one who makes the first move - verse 1. "The Lord appeared to Abram."

2.  Abram's name is changed to Abraham, and all of his descendants are required to keep this covenant. How?  Verse 10: "Every male among you shall      be circumcised."

3. Circumcision is to be the sign of the covenant - verse 11.

4. The child is to be circumcised when he is 8 days old - verse 12.

5. To not be circumcised meant to be cut off from the people/family of God - verse 14.

Certainly the sign (circumcision) did not guarantee that the child would love and serve the lord. It, nevertheless, was a sign that God had chosen the child. God ALWAYS makes the first move toward us. If we have our way, we would drift/walk away from God. There is much more to this covenant which could be read in the verses following verse 14.

God chose a people for himself, to be his own people, and he to be their God. God gave to Moses the Commandments, statutes and ordinances that his people were to live by - Deuteronomy chapter 5 and 6.



The Covenant With Moses

What did God require of the children of Israel - his chosen people?

(Deu 10:12-13 NRSV) So now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you? Only to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, {13} and to keep the commandments of the LORD your God and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well-being.

But they failed to live up to the requirements of God, as laid out in the Commandments, ordinances and statutes.



A Second Circumcision

What did God insist on?   (Deu 10:16 NRSV) Circumcise, then, the foreskin of your heart, and do not be stubborn any longer.

No longer was God satisfied with the sign of the covenant - circumcision, because, it meant that the people belonged to God in name only. They failed to be who God wanted them to be. God now required that their hearts be circumcised.

The first circumcision was physical, and done by human hands. The second circumcision would be spiritual and done by God.

So, the children of Israel, belonged to the people of God / the family of God, but from time to time, they turned their backs upon their God. With the introduction of the second circumcision, there were now two aspects to being a child of God or belonging to the people/family of God:

1.   Physical - Here, God chooses us, and we carry the sign of being chosen by God - physical circumcision of the flesh, done by human hands.

2.   Spiritual - Here, we must choose God, and show in our lives that we have chosen God - spiritual circumcision of the heart, done by the power
      of God in our lives.

(Deu 30:6 NRSV) Moreover, the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live.

(Jer 9:25-26 NRSV) The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will attend to all those who are circumcised only in the foreskin: {26} Egypt, Judah, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, and all those with shaven temples who live in the desert. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.


So the true Child of God is whom?

(Rom 2:28-29 NRSV) For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is true circumcision something external and physical. {29} Rather, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart--it is spiritual and not literal. Such a person receives praise not from others but from God.

So, the circumcised child, who knew nothing about his circumcision at eight days old, and had no choice in the matter, was expected to follow God when he grew into adulthood. This was the expectation, but there was no guarantee that this would happen. The parents were required by God to teach the children in the ways of God:

(Deu 6:7 NRSV) Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.

The parents were to teach them so that when they grow old, they would know what God required of them, and they then would be able to choose for themselves to follow God - God having already chosen them.



What does this have to do with Infant Baptism?

The New Covenant

The old covenant was fulfilled in the new covenant introduced by Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord.

(Heb 9:14-15 NRSV) how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God! {15} For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, because a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant.


Two facts about this New Covenant:

1.   The sign changed - from circumcision to baptism.

(Acts 2:37-38 NRSV) Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, "Brothers, what should we do?" {38} Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

2. Only male children were circumcised under the old covenant, under the new covenant - there is neither male or female, each person must stand for him/herself.

(Gal 3:28 NRSV) There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.


Why are there no examples of Infant Baptism in the Bible?

Those who repented and followed Christ were adults. When they did, they and their entire household was baptized.

(Acts 16:14-15 NRSV) A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. {15} When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home." And she prevailed upon us.

(1 Cor 1:16 NRSV) (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.)

(Acts 18:8 NRSV) Crispus, the official of the synagogue, became a believer in the Lord, together with all his household; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul became believers and were baptized.

Its hard to believe that none of these households had children in them.

However, there are historical accounts of the church as early as the first century AD, baptizing children. No records are found in the new testament, because the focus was on spreading the Gospel - and adults were the ones who received the Gospel - Hence, the message "repent and be baptized."

Why would God not accept the Christian Child, when he accepted the Jewish Child? The same requirements are laid out for the Christian child as for the Jewish child. Parents are required to train their children in the ways of the Lord.

(Eph 6:1-4 NRSV) Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. {2} "Honor your father and mother"--this is the first commandment with a promise: {3} "so that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth." {4} And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

As it was under the Old Covenant concerning God's acceptance of children, so is it under the New Covenant. Jesus himself rebuked his disciples when they tried to send them and their parents away:

(Mat 19:14 NKJV) But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven."


What is Christening?

The word "christening" refers to the act of giving a Christian name to a child. The children of Israel Named their children at the time of circumcision:

(Luke 1:59 NRSV) On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him Zechariah after his father.

(Luke 2:21 NRSV) After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

So, at baptism we christen our children - give them a Christian name. Usually, only the Christian names are used (not the surname) when the child is baptized.

Some churches christen and bless babies. As Methodists, we christen and baptize babies - using water.


What is the role of God Parents/Sponsors?

Their role is to assist the parents in the Christian upbringing of the child. If the parents should die, or fail to carry out this responsibility, the church holds the God parents/sponsors responsible to carrying out this duty.



What does Baptism mean?

Baptism is a sacrament of initiation into the body of Christ - the Church. In other words, baptism identifies someone as belonging to the family of God.

This definition of baptism gives support to the belief that, baptism can be received only once. If it is a sacrament of initiation, a person can only be initiated into a group or family once.

With adult baptism there are three agents involved: God, the individual being baptized, and the church. With infant baptism, there is a fourth agent involved, namely the child's parents. The parents are necessary because the individual being baptized, in this case an infant (usually less than one month old), cannot speak for him/herself.


Modes of Baptism

As Methodists we believe and practice three modes of baptism: Sprinkling, Pouring, Immersion.



Confirmation

Confirmation is the special occasion offered to children when they are old enough to choose God for themselves, and Confirm what was done for them at their baptism as infants.






This is a work in progress.

The material shared here is, in part, to the credit of a presentation on audio cassette by an Anglican Priest.

NRSV = NEW REVISED STANDARD VERSION of the Bible

NKJV = NEW KING JAMES VERSION of the Bible


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