I'm not sure that was my question. Is there a scripture that condemns it? My wife showed me a few verses that make me think it is a good thing to baptize our son now. I know my Southern Baptist relatives won't like it at all that I am baptizing my son but I can't find any scripture to convince me not to.
First, do not be troubled by the fact there is no verse in the Bible that commands us not to baptize infants. There also is no verse in the Bible that commands us to baptize infants. That does not mean the Bible is silent on the matter. Far from it. A little history on infant baptism is a good place to begin.
Both infant baptism (paedobaptism) and believers baptism (credobaptism) were practiced during the early church period (the Patristic age). Debates raged over the topic as they did about many other doctrinal areas during the early centuries after Jesus' ascension. In the 5th century, Roman Catholicism began to flourish and one of their most important sacraments was baptism. Roman Catholicism believes in baptismal regeneration, that water baptism is necessary for salvation. When the Reformation began in the 16th century, the practice of infant baptism carried over from Roman Catholicism. However, many of the Reformers viewed baptism as not necessary for salvation, but as a sign and seal of the New Covenant that is to be applied to the children of believers. This is what most branches of Presbyterianism believe today. They believe that children of believers are to be baptized, and that baptism makes them visible members of the New Covenant. However, unlike Roman Catholicism, Presbyterians believe baptism does not save the infant, it only places them inside the covenant community, i.e. the local church.
So, is the baptism of infants a command that believers must obey? What can we learn from scripture?
Acts 2:37-39 37 Now when they heard
this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” 38 Peter
said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
Presbyterians use this passage quite often. They point to verse 39 as a strong inference that infants are to be baptized. What they miss is that Peter's emphasis is not on baptism alone but on repenting (verse 38). The chronology is very clear: repent first and then baptism. The "promise" of verse 39 is that this offer of forgiveness of sins will extend to each successive generation until the whole number of God's elect have been saved. Maybe you can see the inherent problem with applying this passage as a command to baptize infants? A person must be able to hear and understand the gospel in order to repent. This is not the case with infants.
Acts 16:25-34 25 But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; 26 and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. 27When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” 29 And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. 33 And he took them that
very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his
household. 34 And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household.
Our Presbyterian friends like to use this passage to support household baptism. They are partly right about that, but they are also wrong. In this familiar story, Paul and Silas were freed by God from jail while in Philippi. Believing that the prisoners had escaped, the jailer was about to kill himself instead of facing shame and execution for his supposed failure. Paul cried out to him, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!" The jailer took Paul and Silas to his house where they preached the gospel to all that were there. The Holy Spirit prevailed upon the hearts of those who heard and they all believed with one accord. As their first step of obedience, these new believers were baptized. That is an important fact to mark. Verse 34 reads, "And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly,
having believed in God with his whole household." The emphasis here is on belief, not baptism. All of the jailer's household,
that believed, were baptized. Infants are incapable of belief.
One last passage for consideration:
Acts 8:26-38 26 But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert
road.) 27 So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.” 30 Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this:
“HE WAS LED AS A SHEEP TO SLAUGHTER;AND AS A LAMB BEFORE ITS SHEARER IS SILENT,SO HE DOES NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH.33“IN HUMILIATION HIS JUDGMENT WAS TAKEN AWAY;WHO WILL RELATE HIS GENERATION?FOR HIS LIFE IS REMOVED FROM THE EARTH.”
34 The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please
tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. 36 As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” 37 [And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”] 38 And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.
In this story, Philip came upon an official of Candace, queen of Ethiopia. The official was reading from the prophet Isaiah. He did not understand what he was reading. Philip engaged the official in conversation and wound up preaching the gospel to him. At the end, we read where the official said, "Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?" There is a lot that went on between when Philip began preaching and the Ethiopian official asked to be baptized; namely that the official believed what was preached to him. It was on the basis of his belief that Philip agreed to baptize him. That is why verse 37 is in brackets. It was added by redactors to emphasize belief on the part of the official.
So, here is my point. The New Testament provides ample evidence that baptism is always on the basis of a credible profession of faith. It is not to be applied to infants or unbelieving children on the basis of their parent's faith. Believe and be baptized is the biblical model and the biblical command. I certainly am not going to intrude between you and your wife, but I implore you to be convinced on this very important subject by the preponderance of scripture and to lead your family accordingly.
May God grant you wisdom and courage.
