The Case for Infant Baptism

In my church we recently completed a study of Infant Baptism...particularly focusing on the book Children of the Promise by Robert Booth. The following is my final essay for the class....
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The question of infant baptism is one that many reformed paedo-baptists take for granted and do not consider carefully. Often times church members forget to ask “Why” when believing something and so have a difficult time explaining to others why we do things the way we do; I believe that infant baptism is one of these cases and so I would like to try to give a brief explanation for why Reformed churches baptize the children of believers.

The whole foundation of baptism is in the Bible, and deeply ingrained in this is the basis for infant baptism. It is generally understood that God’s covenant with His people is found throughout the Bible in the general terms of “I will be their God and they will be my people”. In Ezekiel 34:31 the word of God is “You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are people, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign LORD.” In the Old Testament, though circumcision was the sign of the covenant, temple sprinklings (‘baptisms’) were not uncommon. In fact God himself says this

For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land.  I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.  You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God. (Ezekiel 36:24-28 emphasis added)

This is the basis for baptism (also an argument for the sprinkling baptism that most reformed churches generally practice).

            Now that the basis for baptism has been defined as the covenant one must understand who is included in the covenant in order to understand why infants ought to be baptized. Although there is no ‘explicit verse’ to show that God specifically commands infants of believers to be baptized it must be understood that according to the principles of hermeneutics the Bible is unified (as God Himself is a God of unity) and ‘scripture interprets scripture’. So rather than whining about the absence of a verse, look to the ‘old covenants’ and discover that the covenant and its sign included children; Abraham was commanded to circumcise every male in his household as a sign of the covenant (see Genesis 17:10). There is indication that baptism replaces the sign of circumcision in the New Testament (see Romans 4:11,12) but no indication that God’s familial covenant changes. The church of the Old Testament and the church of the New Testament are based on the foundation of God’s covenant to his children including their children; thus we may safely believe that God’s covenant is the same today and that baptism is for infants as well as believers. (Acts 2:38-39 says to the repentant people that they must be baptized and that the promise if for them and their children).

            When you understand the unity of God and the unity of the scriptures you can also begin to follow the continuity of the covenant. Just as children of believers in the Old Testament were circumcised as a symbol of inclusion of the covenant of grace so children of believers in the church today ought to be baptized. Baptism shows the same symbolism that circumcision does without the blood; it distinguished the children of believers fro m unbelievers and with it bring responsibility for the parents of the child to teach what the covenant is and for the child to accept the terms of the covenant and embrace Jesus as Lord. The Holy Spirit works in believers and their children (and others who will believe) a faith in what is taught in the Bible that becomes evident in the life of the child, or if the child turns away from the faith they face the consequences of suppressing the Truth of God.

            In essence, the very basis for infant baptism lies in the belief in the continuity of God’s covenant to His children. In order to defend this view point people must view scripture through the same ‘spectacles’ and if they have an opposing opinion must work to rethink their presupposition. Another important thing to remember is to remember that God is a God of unity, and the scripture is modeled after this attribute; it is unified with no contradiction so people must remember this not follow the all too common idea that ‘the Old testament was then and the New Testament is now’. Both eras are tied together in the same foundation and roots and cannot fully explain salvation without each other; the Old Testament is the foundation that explains sin and prophesies a Savior and the New Testament show Jesus to be the savior through whom salvation is brought, and it also explains the life of service and thankfulness that believers live.