Ok, here we go. Peter explained, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38 ). Baptism is a gift of the Holy Spirit, it is not a "public confession of faith."
Furthermore, he didn't restrict this to adults. "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" (2:39). These commands are universal, not restricted to adults. We must be baptized, we must believe, we must repent. There is no rule on the order.
No one can enter heaven unless he has been born again of water and the Holy Spirit (John 3:5). Aren't we all (infant, child, adult, and imbecile) capable of having a right to his kingdom? Jesus asserted such a right even for children: "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 19:14).
Most of you, of course, will not admit that the Bible nowhere says baptism is to be restricted to adults. You have just concluded that's what it should be taken as meaning, even if the text doesn't explicitly support such a view. Of course, the people whose baptisms we read about in Scripture (and there aren't many who are individually identified) are adults because they were converted as adults. This makes sense, because Christianity was just starting out and there were no "cradle Christians," no people brought up from childhood in Christian homes.
Even in the books of the New Testament that were written later in the first century, during the time when there were beginning to be children raised in Christian homes, there never--not even once--is an example of a child raised in a Christian home who is baptized only upon making a "decision for Christ." Children of Christian homes are already Christians; they have already been "baptized into Christ" (Rom. 6:3). If infant baptism were not the rule among early Christians, then surely there should have references to the children of Christian parents joining the Church only after they had come to the age of reason, and there are no such records in the Bible.
Just as you attempt to point to the lack of a specific reference to an infant baptism in the Scriptures, I too can point to a lack of an example of this Baptist practice.
Lydia was converted by Paul's preaching. "She was baptized, with her household" (Acts 16:15). The Philippian jailer whom Paul and Silas had converted to the faith was baptized that night along with his household. We are told that "the same hour of the night . . . he was baptized, with all his family" (Acts 16:33). Paul recalled that, "I did baptize also the household of Stephanas" (1 Cor. 1:16).
In all these cases, whole households or families were baptized. This means more than just the spouse; the children too were included. If Acts referred simply to the Philippian jailor and his wife, then it would read that "he and his wife were baptized," but it doesn't. His children must have been baptized as well. The same applies to the other cases of household baptism in Scripture. Nowhere does the Scripture say "everyone in the family of the age of reason."
It's true that Christ prescribed instruction and actual faith for adult converts (Matt. 28:19-20), but baptism (John 3:5) puts no restriction on the subjects of baptism. The same was true of circumcision; faith in the Lord was necessary for an adult convert to receive it, but it was not necessary for the children of believers.
Although the Bible does not explicitly state that infants are to be baptized (unless Acts 2:38 says so), it certainly implies it, which was the position of the earliest Christian practice and writings we have and there is no good reason to abandon it.
[ June 29, 2001: Message edited by: JBotwinick ]
Furthermore, he didn't restrict this to adults. "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" (2:39). These commands are universal, not restricted to adults. We must be baptized, we must believe, we must repent. There is no rule on the order.
No one can enter heaven unless he has been born again of water and the Holy Spirit (John 3:5). Aren't we all (infant, child, adult, and imbecile) capable of having a right to his kingdom? Jesus asserted such a right even for children: "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 19:14).
Most of you, of course, will not admit that the Bible nowhere says baptism is to be restricted to adults. You have just concluded that's what it should be taken as meaning, even if the text doesn't explicitly support such a view. Of course, the people whose baptisms we read about in Scripture (and there aren't many who are individually identified) are adults because they were converted as adults. This makes sense, because Christianity was just starting out and there were no "cradle Christians," no people brought up from childhood in Christian homes.
Even in the books of the New Testament that were written later in the first century, during the time when there were beginning to be children raised in Christian homes, there never--not even once--is an example of a child raised in a Christian home who is baptized only upon making a "decision for Christ." Children of Christian homes are already Christians; they have already been "baptized into Christ" (Rom. 6:3). If infant baptism were not the rule among early Christians, then surely there should have references to the children of Christian parents joining the Church only after they had come to the age of reason, and there are no such records in the Bible.
Just as you attempt to point to the lack of a specific reference to an infant baptism in the Scriptures, I too can point to a lack of an example of this Baptist practice.
Lydia was converted by Paul's preaching. "She was baptized, with her household" (Acts 16:15). The Philippian jailer whom Paul and Silas had converted to the faith was baptized that night along with his household. We are told that "the same hour of the night . . . he was baptized, with all his family" (Acts 16:33). Paul recalled that, "I did baptize also the household of Stephanas" (1 Cor. 1:16).
In all these cases, whole households or families were baptized. This means more than just the spouse; the children too were included. If Acts referred simply to the Philippian jailor and his wife, then it would read that "he and his wife were baptized," but it doesn't. His children must have been baptized as well. The same applies to the other cases of household baptism in Scripture. Nowhere does the Scripture say "everyone in the family of the age of reason."
It's true that Christ prescribed instruction and actual faith for adult converts (Matt. 28:19-20), but baptism (John 3:5) puts no restriction on the subjects of baptism. The same was true of circumcision; faith in the Lord was necessary for an adult convert to receive it, but it was not necessary for the children of believers.
Although the Bible does not explicitly state that infants are to be baptized (unless Acts 2:38 says so), it certainly implies it, which was the position of the earliest Christian practice and writings we have and there is no good reason to abandon it.
[ June 29, 2001: Message edited by: JBotwinick ]
