Baptizing Infants?
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As a baptist pastor, I've met with many people who were previously "baptized" as infants or small children but were considering if they should be baptized as a professing believer of Jesus Christ. I appreciate this question. Let us consider this matter.
The argument for pedobaptism (infant-baptism) goes like this: Colossians 2:11-12 argues that we were circumcised in a non-human circumcision, that is, a spiritual one when we were buried with Christ in baptism. Therefore, explains the pedobaptist, baptism is the new circumcision. Since the Old Covenant calls for all males to be circumcised on the 8th day, infants should be baptized. Besides, the argument suggests this is how children of believing families enter the covenant community of God. They suggest that it's not a sign that the child is a Christian but instead part of the Church (as a family member of a Christian). Furthermore, the pedobaptist points to Acts 16:31 and notes that it suggests that all his household was baptized and assumes this means there were babies in the house, and that they were baptized too.
In response to the pedobaptist position, we indeed should agree that baptism marks God's people who have died with Christ, just as circumcision marked God's people who were a part of the Nation of Israel. But they are not exactly alike, or baptism would still be circumcision. The Nation of Israel is not the Church. There is but only an illustration here, just as there is an illustration in 1 Peter 3:21-22.
Peter explains that baptism corresponds not to circumcision but to Noah and the flood. He then calls baptism "a pledge of a good conscience toward God," which sounds nothing like infant circumcision into citizenship in the nation of Israel. Nor is it possible for an infant to make such a pledge.
If baptism corresponds to the Old Testament covenant marked by circumcision on the 8th day, there is no provision for circumcising females, so there is no instruction or command for baptizing female infants. Doing so would be inconsistent with Scripture if we believe that infant baptism replaces infant circumcision.
One must also ask if the true Church can be made up of unbelievers? If infant circumcision of children to believing parents brings those children into the covenant family of God, is that family not the True Church or is belief not a prerequisite for adoption into God's family, i.e., the Church? And what happens when that child rejects God later in life? Often one says that life and profession is a confirmation of the baptism, but shouldn't the baptism be confirmation of repentance and belief?
Belief is a condition of salvation. Acts 16:31 says, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household." Who must believe? One person the house and then by proxy every human living under that roof is also saved whether he or she believes? No. "But wait," the pedobaptist says, "babies are exempt." Why, and at what age do they not receive this exemption? And how do we know there were babies present? And is this not a call to the entire household to believe? Let's be sure we understand Acts 16:31 is saying and what it is not saying?
It is easy to see why parents would want their children to be baptized, especially if we mistakenly think that baptism is what saves someone. In Luther and Calvin's day, this idea was widely held. One could not be buried in the church cemetery if he or she wasn't a member, but to be buried outside the church cemetery was fearful because it might mean that one was destined for hell. Of course, parents want to hope for their child's salvation, but let us remember that salvation does not hinge upon baptism, where he or she is buried, or even the faith of the parents. Salvation is through faith in Christ, by His grace.
The Bible says we are saved by faith in Christ alone, through His grace alone. There is no proxy for this. Yet, baptizing an infant depends upon the parent's faith, serving as proxy faith until the child is old enough to have his or her faith apart from the parent's beliefs. That's antithetical to the New Testament.
What should a person do if he or she was baptized as a baby?
First, be grateful for your parents, who hoped for your salvation from the very start of your life. They might have had poor theology in this matter, but their hope was good.
Second, if you have made a profession of faith, that is, you repent and believe that you are a sinner in need of a savior and that Jesus Christ is both that Savior and your Lord, by all means, get baptized! The New Testament commands believer's baptism as an act of obedience to Christ and a public profession of the inward work Jesus has done and is doing in your life.
Third, be grateful and kind to pedobaptists. I do not believe that the Bible sufficiently supports their position, but neither do I think this misunderstanding means they are not Christians. Martin Luther preached a sermon titled "Beware of False Prophets" from Matthew 7:15-25. In this sermon, he argued that all who disagree with his position of pedobaptism are wolves in sheep's clothing and agents of the devil. While Luther is a hero of the faith, in this regard, we must reject his example and should show grace in this area of difference. Let us seek Scripture and ask the Lord to help us work it out together.
