We had the privilege of bringing Luke to be baptized by Pastor Rogers and Elder Hawkins today! It was a wonderful, joyful, emotional time for our family. We marvel and praise God for this great thing He has done in bringing Luke into our family. Long before His birth, we began praying that the Lord would send us a covenant child, and we continue to pray that God will save Him and that we will see the fruit of that salvation come to pass. We do not take lightly the weighty responsibility of raising him up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. There is no greater task set before us than teaching him the Word of God that he may know early in his life the truth of the Scriptures and come to believe.
The baptizing of infants is an issue that has been debated among theologians far wiser than we are for a very long time. Tom and I did not make the decision to baptize Luke on a whim or because we were pressured to do so. We carefully searched the Scriptures and considered both sides of the issue for quite some time. Both sides of the issue can cite Scripture that supports their position, but in the end, we found that the scale was heavier on the side of baptizing infants. We did not come to the conclusion because our church believes in the baptizing of infants; rather, we came to believe these things based on our searching of the Scriptures. We do not seek to do things out of tradition or for the approval of man -- our only desire is to do that which the Lord God has commanded us in order to bring honor and glory to Him. We constantly seek to understand the truth and doctrine of the Holy Scriptures, and if we find we have believed anything in error, we will repent and change our position.
There are many visitors that come to this blog on a weekly basis that may question why we would baptize an infant that has no knowledge of salvation at this point in his life. Our pastor, Wayne Rogers, has put together an explanation on the baptism of covenant children which I have included below.
Grandma Hawkins with her grandbaby, Nate, and our little Luke
Nate with his mommy, Lauren
THE BAPTISM OF COVENANT CHILDREN
THE BAPTISM OF COVENANT CHILDREN
"But You are He who took me out of the womb; You made me trust while on my mother's breasts. I was cast upon You from birth. Fro my mother's womb You have been my God," Psalm 22:9-10
Most professing Christians have been baptized with water. Christian churches can be divided into two groups - those that baptize only adults on the basis of a profession of faith, and those who baptize adults on the basis of a profession of faith and their children. And although the outward appearance or form of tthose who baptize both adults and their children is the same, they actually do so for different reasons. We want you to understand that we do not baptize out of sentimentality or tradition, but because we believe it is biblical to do so. Moreover, we do not believe that baptism itself saves infants or adults. It is possible for infants or adults to possess the sign and seal without the inward reality. The danger in summarizing our practice of baptism is that it subjects itself to superficial analysis and critique. However, we want those who bring their children for baptism to understand the significance and obligations of baptism, and we want those who are in the first group to understand why we do this.
THE MEANING OF BAPTISM
Baptism is not a sign just of one thing. Jesus commanded His church to baptize "in" or "into" the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, (Matt. 28:19). Baptizing "into the name" denotes a covenantal relationship with the person into whose name you are baptized. The Children of Israel were baptized (united) into Moses and the Red Sea (I Cor. 10:2). to be baptized signifies and seals a covenantal union with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in their saving work. It signifies union with Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection (Rom. 6:1). The use of water signifies the cleansing or purification from sin's defilement and guilt (Col. 2:11, Titus 3:5). Also, because the name of the ordinance is "baptism," it is a sign of Christ's baptism of His people with the Holy Spirit (John 1:33, Acts 1:5, 2:33, I Cor. 12:13) which unites them to Christ and the other persons of the Trinity in their saving work of regeneration, purifying, justifying and cleansing.
THE MODE OF BAPTISM
The Greek word "baptizo" can, but does not necessarily mean immerse, and at times cannot mean immerse. Purifications performed by pouring or sprinkling in the Old Testament are called "baptisms" in the New Testament (Heb. 9:13, 19, 21, 10:22, 12:24). Other passages also associate the cleansing work of christ and the Holy Spirit with sprinkling or pouring (Ezek. 36:25, Isa. 52:15, I Pet. 1:2, Titus 3:5-6). John said that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit (Matt. 3:11). This was fulfilled on Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was "poured" out upon the disciples (John 1:33, Luke 3:16, Acts 1:5, 2:17 [Joel2:28-32], 33, Acts 10:45, Titus 3:6). the Biblical use of the Greek word "baptizo" can and does refer to sprinkling or pouring.
Baptism refers to the application of christ's work to us, not to His death which is signified in the Lord's Supper. Romans 6:3-4 does not refer to the mode but to union with Christ in His death.
THE BAPTISM OF COVENANT CHILDREN
While there is no direct verse or command in the New Testament to baptize the children of believers, neither is there a command to baptize only those who make a personal profession of faith either. Neither do the examples of believer's baptism in the New Testament rule out the baptism of their covenantal children which is outside the context of the evangelistic appeals to adults. Furthermore, just as there is no specific verse that says there is a Trinity in the godhead, there is no biblical need for a specific command or verse to tell us to baptize the children of believers. We deduce that from Scriptures the theological unity of the covenant is so evident that NOT TO BAPTIZE the covenant children of believers would, we believe, require a clear repeal in the light of the promise of the Abrahamic covenant, of which the gospel was the fulfillment, Gal. 3. The "presumption," if you will, is the continuity and continuation of the covenant.
Covenant baptism is based on biblical, covenantal, principles derived from Scripture and, we believe, also best accounts for the household baptisms in the New Testament church. The ground of baptism for many Christians is a profession of faith, but for others the ground of baptism is the covenant of promise to believers and their children. "To ground the application of the sign of the covenant on a profession of faith shifts the soteric (saving) center of gravity away from God to man - it is to say, 'I am saved because I have believed.' Instead one must always say, 'I am saved because God has saved me' (Gal. 4:9)." Word, Water and Spirit, J. V. Fesko, Pg. 360.
From the beginning, God included the children of believers in His covenant community. In I Peter 3:20-21, we read that Noah and his children were "baptized" in the flood. The children of Israel were baptized into Moses in the Red Sea, I Cor. 10:2 (Ex. 12:37). Abraham had the "gospel" preached to him in the Old Testament (Gal. 3:8), "believed God," his faith "reckoned to him as righteousness" (Gen. 15:6), and he entered into a covenant with God, signified by the sign of circumcision (Rom. 4:11). He was commanded that this sign be applied to his infant seed. The reason for this is found in God's promise, "I will be a God to you and your children," (Gen. 17:8). Although salvation is ultimately by election, the saving purposes and covenant promises of God include the children of believers. Because He is also their God, the children received the sign of the covenant promise and were included in the covenant community.
When we come to the NT, no new principle is introduced. The NT is not a new way of salvation; it is "new" in that it fulfills the promises foreshadowed in the OT. The NT tells us that this is a better covenant with greater promises, not less, Heb. 8:6. Children are not now excluded from the covenant community. when Jesus took infants into his arms and blessed them (Luke 18:15-17) he demonstrated that passive infants of His covenant people, the Jews, are the objects of God's favor and grace. At Pentecost, Peter refers to the promise made to Abraham in Gen. 17:1-6 saying, "For the promise is to you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call to Himself," Acts 2:39. Whole households are thereafter baptized, Acts 16:14-15, 31. While the Bible does not say that infants were in those households, the biblical use of the word "household" refers primarily to infants and children: Gen. 18:19, 36:6, 46:27. Thus, on the biblical presumption of the biblical meaning of the word house and household, in the context of the fulfillment of the promises to Abraham, whole households were baptized, believers and their children, whoever was included in the covenant "house." Paul addresses children directly in Eph. 6:1-3, including them among those identified as "saints" in the church at Ephesus, Eph. 1:1, not on the basis of professions of faith, but because as children of believers, they ar within the covenant community.
Baptism itself does not save our children or adult believers, nor is it primarily a sign of their faith; it is an outward sign of the promises of God to them through faith. Thus believers are baptized and their children, based on the promise. They, too, must repent and believe the gospel, which is a covenant obligation or they break the covenant and are subject to the curses of the covenant. The Covenant Christian family, however, serves God's covenant purposes of grace, not in an automatic wy, bur rather through parental faith and faithfulness, looking to God for the salvation of their child, and by the responsibility of providing spiritual nurture so tha the child grow up in the knowledge of the Savior, Gen. 18:19, Eph. 6:4, looking to an electing and covenant keeping God for their salvation. Baptism therefore is not a ground for careless presumption of salvation for our children, but is a motivation for greater diligence by parents to keep covenant with God, believing that their labors are not in vain in the Lord.
When baptized covenant children come to years of discretion (not an age of "accountability") they must personally and publicly confess Christ as their lord and Savior and partake of the Lord's Supper. Thus, what their baptism signified and sealed as a promise from their infancy, is ow confirmed by their faith, repentance, and obedience. Where parents are faithful to the covenant obligations, the presumption, based on God's covenant promise, is to be able to say to their children, "From a child thou hast know the Holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation," 2 Tim. 3:15, Ps. 22:9-10, and for their children to confess, "I have never known a time when I did not know I was a sinner needing a savior, confessing, repenting, and trusting in the Lord Jesus as my Savior, Lord, and King, and seeking to obey Him." To summarize, a Christian family, with the support of a God-centered, Bible believing church, is the womb and school of Christ.
Robert Reymond thus writes, "A believer who refuses for any reason to have the sign and seal of God's covenant placed upon his child and to vow solemnly to train that child in the way that he should go, nurturing and admonishing him in the Word of God, actually ignores and repudiates the Lord's special claim upon and promised blessing to his child," What About Baptism pg. 89.
EXHORTATION
Let everyone be reminded of their own baptism, of God's grace promised to them in infant baptism which grace has been confirmed in their professions of faith, of the privileges of the covenant into which they entered, and of their responsibility to live holy lives and serve God with thanksgiving.
Parents, you are especially charged to provide a godly example, to pray with and for your child, to instruct them in the Word of God, to make use of the Catechisms (teachings) of the church, and to bring them weekly to the public assembly of the worship of God by the church of Christ.
THE COVENANT PROMISES
1. Do you acknowledge your child's need of the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ, and the renewing grace of the Holy Spirit?
2. Do you claim God's covenant promises in their behalf, and do you look in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ for their salvation, as you do for your own?
3. Do you now unreservedly dedicate your child to God, and promise, in humble reliance upon divine grace, that you will endeavor to set before them a godly example, that you will pray with and for them, that you will teach them the doctrines of our holy religion, and that you will strive, by all the means of God's appointment, to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord?
4. To the congregation: Do you undertake the responsibility of assisting these parents in the Christian nurture of this child as you have opportunity?
When we come to the NT, no new principle is introduced. The NT is not a new way of salvation; it is "new" in that it fulfills the promises foreshadowed in the OT. The NT tells us that this is a better covenant with greater promises, not less, Heb. 8:6. Children are not now excluded from the covenant community. when Jesus took infants into his arms and blessed them (Luke 18:15-17) he demonstrated that passive infants of His covenant people, the Jews, are the objects of God's favor and grace. At Pentecost, Peter refers to the promise made to Abraham in Gen. 17:1-6 saying, "For the promise is to you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call to Himself," Acts 2:39. Whole households are thereafter baptized, Acts 16:14-15, 31. While the Bible does not say that infants were in those households, the biblical use of the word "household" refers primarily to infants and children: Gen. 18:19, 36:6, 46:27. Thus, on the biblical presumption of the biblical meaning of the word house and household, in the context of the fulfillment of the promises to Abraham, whole households were baptized, believers and their children, whoever was included in the covenant "house." Paul addresses children directly in Eph. 6:1-3, including them among those identified as "saints" in the church at Ephesus, Eph. 1:1, not on the basis of professions of faith, but because as children of believers, they ar within the covenant community.
Baptism itself does not save our children or adult believers, nor is it primarily a sign of their faith; it is an outward sign of the promises of God to them through faith. Thus believers are baptized and their children, based on the promise. They, too, must repent and believe the gospel, which is a covenant obligation or they break the covenant and are subject to the curses of the covenant. The Covenant Christian family, however, serves God's covenant purposes of grace, not in an automatic wy, bur rather through parental faith and faithfulness, looking to God for the salvation of their child, and by the responsibility of providing spiritual nurture so tha the child grow up in the knowledge of the Savior, Gen. 18:19, Eph. 6:4, looking to an electing and covenant keeping God for their salvation. Baptism therefore is not a ground for careless presumption of salvation for our children, but is a motivation for greater diligence by parents to keep covenant with God, believing that their labors are not in vain in the Lord.
When baptized covenant children come to years of discretion (not an age of "accountability") they must personally and publicly confess Christ as their lord and Savior and partake of the Lord's Supper. Thus, what their baptism signified and sealed as a promise from their infancy, is ow confirmed by their faith, repentance, and obedience. Where parents are faithful to the covenant obligations, the presumption, based on God's covenant promise, is to be able to say to their children, "From a child thou hast know the Holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation," 2 Tim. 3:15, Ps. 22:9-10, and for their children to confess, "I have never known a time when I did not know I was a sinner needing a savior, confessing, repenting, and trusting in the Lord Jesus as my Savior, Lord, and King, and seeking to obey Him." To summarize, a Christian family, with the support of a God-centered, Bible believing church, is the womb and school of Christ.
Robert Reymond thus writes, "A believer who refuses for any reason to have the sign and seal of God's covenant placed upon his child and to vow solemnly to train that child in the way that he should go, nurturing and admonishing him in the Word of God, actually ignores and repudiates the Lord's special claim upon and promised blessing to his child," What About Baptism pg. 89.
EXHORTATION
Let everyone be reminded of their own baptism, of God's grace promised to them in infant baptism which grace has been confirmed in their professions of faith, of the privileges of the covenant into which they entered, and of their responsibility to live holy lives and serve God with thanksgiving.
Parents, you are especially charged to provide a godly example, to pray with and for your child, to instruct them in the Word of God, to make use of the Catechisms (teachings) of the church, and to bring them weekly to the public assembly of the worship of God by the church of Christ.
THE COVENANT PROMISES
1. Do you acknowledge your child's need of the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ, and the renewing grace of the Holy Spirit?
2. Do you claim God's covenant promises in their behalf, and do you look in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ for their salvation, as you do for your own?
3. Do you now unreservedly dedicate your child to God, and promise, in humble reliance upon divine grace, that you will endeavor to set before them a godly example, that you will pray with and for them, that you will teach them the doctrines of our holy religion, and that you will strive, by all the means of God's appointment, to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord?
4. To the congregation: Do you undertake the responsibility of assisting these parents in the Christian nurture of this child as you have opportunity?
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