Adopted children and Baptism

PuritanBouncer · #1 (**permalink**) 07-21-2004, 02:14 PM

While reading the long discussion on infant baptism Scott said this:

[quote:2abaad53b2]The credo side of the coin is correct. However, in the realm of the reformed, our children are now holy. We believe them to be Christians and part of the visible body. We trust that Gods promise will prevail; holiness will reign and sin will be destroyed. The exhortation to the believer is to raise our children in the way they should go and they will not depart.....The promise is to our children, and our childrens children......

Acts 2:39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

So, ultimately, we are faith filled about conversion. Much like the saints mentioned in Hebrews ch 11, we look to Gods faithfullness and not our dilligence[/quote:2abaad53b2]

My daughter (my avatar) is adopted....how does this apply to her? Or does it?

LauridsenL · #2 (**permalink**) 07-21-2004, 03:55 PM

I, too, am very interested in the board's collective thoughts on this issue. I have two adopted daughters from India (in addition to my four "natural" sons). When deciding whether to adopt, and whether to adopt my first daughter in particular, we told God that if she is his covenant child, we wanted her. (She's know 4 1/2; see my Avatar.) She was 1 1/2 when we brought her home, and she was baptized as a covenant child in our family. Were we wrong in doing so?

I should add that we did not have our second daughter baptized. She was approximately 7 to 9 years old when we brought her home. Our church has grown very rapidly in the past ten years or so and there are a lot of refugees from credo-baptist backgrounds who are slowly being won over to reformed doctrine by solid, Christ-exalting, reformed, expositional preaching. However, as I understand it, our session has been a little reluctant to baptize older children (unless they do make a profession of faith) lest they cause any confusion in people's minds about the nature of the baptism. Of course, we have infant baptisms very regularly. I haven't pressed the issue about my older daughter's baptism, but perhaps I should. Thoughts?

Craig · #3 (**permalink**) 07-21-2004, 04:26 PM

baptize each of your children...whether born of your flesh or by adoption.

fredtgreco · #4 (**permalink**) 07-21-2004, 04:28 PM

Title modified and moved to Baptism Forum for clarity.

Your friendly neighborhood Admin,

LauridsenL · #5 (**permalink**) 07-21-2004, 04:38 PM

[quote:b6d67f26da="Craig"]baptize each of your children...whether born of your flesh or by adoption.[/quote:b6d67f26da]

I agree with that -- but am curious whether any one else disagrees. Also, although I agree that my adopted daughters are just as much my children as my sons, and thus enjoy the covenant blessings, I don't know whether to press the issue to have my oldest daughter baptized now, given the session's concern about baptizing older children who haven't made a confession of faith. Again, although I haven't discussed the issue with any of the Elders in awhile, as I understand it they are reluctant to baptize older children until they make a profession of faith because there are so many new members all of the time who don't understand paedo-baptism and who might be further confused. As I'm writing this, I'm realizing that I need to discuss it with some of the Elders to make sure I understand the position correctly, though I think I do. In the meantime, I would appreciate any thoughts you folks might have.

PuritanBouncer · #6 (**permalink**) 07-21-2004, 05:09 PM

Yep!

My daughter is 21 now!

Craig · #7 (**permalink**) 07-21-2004, 05:19 PM

21? Yeah, that's up to her at this point.

Lee-
how old is your adopted daughter? I can imagine adoption of children who might be older could make the decision more difficult...I'll leave the response to a more seasoned Presbyterian...scripturally, if even servants were baptized, then I would say if your daughter is still under your roof and in your protection, I would hope she'd submit and be baptized. Has she professed faith or anything in regards to Christianity?

pastorway · #8 (**permalink**) 07-21-2004, 05:21 PM

[quote:8498f00490="LauridsenL"][i:8498f00490]emphasis added[/i:8498f00490]
Our church has grown very rapidly in the past ten years or so and there are a lot of refugees from credo-baptist backgrounds who are slowly being won over to reformed doctrine by [b:8498f00490]solid, Christ-exalting, reformed, expositional preaching[/b:8498f00490].

Thoughts?[/quote:8498f00490]

Our church also has solid, Christ-exalting, reformed, expositional preaching, but no one in our midst is being won over to infant baptism....

Seriously though, to be consistent, you should have baptized all of your children. Your child by birth or adoption is still your child. In the Presbyterian view, the child of a believer is a covenant child, period. You don't pray to adopt a covenant child as opposed to a non-covanant child, because when you adopt, that child IS a covenant child.

But as a Credo-Baptist, of course, I think that no child is a covenant child unless they have been saved. It is regeneration/salvation that puts them in the covenant, not their parentage.

Phillip

PuritanBouncer · #9 (**permalink**) 07-21-2004, 05:43 PM

[quote:42f51c1ef1] You don't pray to adopt a covenant child as opposed to a non-covanant child, because when you adopt, that child IS a covenant child. [/quote:42f51c1ef1]

THIS is what I want to believe!

I felt lead of God to adopt her, I feel His presence in our relationship, and my wife and I love her more than I can even express.

LauridsenL · #10 (**permalink**) 07-21-2004, 05:43 PM

Craig -- our oldest daughter is legally 9 (though biologically she may be 11 or 12; it's a long story, but the orphanage wasn't sure because she was one of the street children in Mumbai). She has not made a confession of faith. If she were 14 or 15, I think we'd clearly wait until she makes a profession of faith. She's just kind of at that in-between age where it's not entirely clear to me what to do. Having said that, if it were entirely up to me, I'd have her baptised as a covenant child.

Pastorway said -- "Our church also has solid, Christ-exalting, reformed, expositional preaching, but no one in our midst is being won over to infant baptism.... "

I didn't mean to suggest that all good, reformed, expository preaching will inevitably lead to credo-baptism, and certainly am not interested at this point in starting a paedo v. credo debate. On the other hand, now that I think about, perhaps the reason no one in your midst has become a paedo baptist (yet) is that you haven't given your congregation enough time? (Just kidding).

As noted, I do believe that it would be most consistent (and my preference) that she be baptized as a covenant child. I probably will raise this again with our Elders.

Scott Bushey · #11 (**permalink**) 07-21-2004, 07:16 PM

Gen 17:10 This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.
Gen 17:11 And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.
Gen 17:12 And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.
Gen 17:13 He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

C. Matthew McMahon · #12 (**permalink**) 07-21-2004, 07:32 PM

It shoudl be noted that in Jewish thought there were two classes of children:

1) Children born of natural descent.

2) Adopted children.

A Jew could disinherit a natural child. He could cast him out of his house and call him son no more. BUT, an adopted son he could NEVER do this to. If the son is adopted by him, it is impossible to cast him away.

Now that is just the Jewish view of children in general. You can walk down to the local synagogue and ask them that question and they will tell you the same thing. Imagine, then, how much more, biblically speaking, that adopted children are or shoudl be viewed by us? And furthermore, WE ARE ALL ADOPTED by God as sons and daughters in Christ. How does God view us as adopted?

NKJ Romans 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." (verse 23) Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.

NKJ Romans 9:4 who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises;

NKJ Galatians 4:5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

NKJ Ephesians 1:5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,

That about sums it up for those adopted in God's family. How then should you look upon your own children? As God looks at us....

PuritanBouncer · #13 (**permalink**) 07-21-2004, 07:54 PM

Thanks brothers! How very uplifting!

LauridsenL · #14 (**permalink**) 07-21-2004, 08:30 PM

[quote:d9e7bcfa24]That about sums it up for those adopted in God's family. How then should you look upon your own children? As God looks at us....[/quote:d9e7bcfa24]

I agree wholeheartedly. Adopting our two daughters has been such a blessing in so many ways. We often reflect on the many ways in which it portrays God's graciousness and His sovereign love. Our two daughters were both "untouchable" orphans in Hinduistic India, without any real hope for even sustenance, much less salvation. There are approximately 4 million people living on the streets, everywhere, in Mumbai; many, many of them are orphaned or abandoned children who must fend for themselves. Out of all of those children, God reached down and selected two of them to place in our family and to be adopted as our own, to be part of our covenant family, to hear the gospel, etc. (And, similarly, he has done the same for many others, including about a dozen other Indian kids from the same orphanage who are now with various families in Lawrence.) Praise be to God!