Paedo-Baptism Answers Baptism as a command

[Jim6]

Hi, I’m interested to know how my paedobaptist friends would answer these questioned in regard to baptism. A friend has concerns regarding infant baptism, thinking that the child is passive when baptized and then is never able to actively obey the command to be baptized when they are grown and become a believer.

1. Is baptism a command of New Testament?

3. Is an active obedience to this command required by the one being baptised?

4. Where does it say our children do not have to actively obey this command?

 

[MW]

"Be baptised" is an imperative, and so it is a command. It is also passive. Everyone who "is baptised" is passive in that sense. All who are baptised (passively) are actively obeying the command to be baptised. If children are to actively obey this command it will mean that they "are baptised" (passively). Hence parents or guardians bring them forward to be baptised.

None of this addresses the real state of the question, Whether children of believers are to be baptised. Paedobaptists say yes, and antipaedobaptists say no.

But what the questions reveal is that an antipaedobaptist instinctively feels that some degree of voluntary, conscious consent is necessary for one to be baptised. This is where we enter the territory of burden of proof.

 

[Jim6]

I think the abtipaedobaptist would say that when Peter says, “repent and be baptized’ it means that repentance must precede baptism and then the person seeks baptism out of obedience. But a child being baptized isn’t personally seeking to obey that command.
How would you reply to such a position?

 

[Jerusalem Blade]

Hello Jim, @Jim6

Welcome to Puritan Board!

The context of what Peter said is this, after the crowd in Jerusalem were convicted of being a party to the crucifixion of their Lord and Christ,

Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 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 (Acts 2:37, 38, 39) [emphasis added]​

This was the beginning of the change of the covenant sign and seal from circumcision to baptism, so that the women and even infant girls could receive the covenant seal. Infant boys always could, it being mandated for them on the eighth day. Not all who receive the covenant sign are the elect (as Scripture abundantly shows), but for the sake of the elect all are baptized.

As we are the seed of Abraham – "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Gal 3:29KJV) – the requirement to present our children to the LORD to circumcise their hearts remains the same (cf Deut 30:6KJV: "And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.")

The initial command to Abraham's seed was given in Gen 17:10KJV and Gen 17:14KJV.

That baptism is the New Covenant sign what Old Covenant circumcision signified is seen here:

In whom [Christ] also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through faith in the working of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened [made alive] together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses (Col 2:11-13)​

We adults are subject to the same command to present our children to receive the sign and seal of the covenant as were the saints of old. When the elect among them are actually regenerated is in the hands of God.

I hope this clarifies somewhat.

 

[Jakob Hiebert]

Hi, I’m interested to know how my paedobaptist friends would answer these questioned in regard to baptism. A friend has concerns regarding infant baptism, thinking that the child is passive when baptized and then is never able to actively obey the command to be baptized when they are grown and become a believer.

1. Is baptism a command of New Testament?

3. Is an active obedience to this command required by the one being baptised?

4. Where does it say our children do not have to actively obey this command?

Hello, Jim.

Before I do my best to answer your questions, I think it is important to remember that every baptism we see in the new testament is that of a new convert coming from a pagan religion to Christianity.

1. Yes it is a command.

3. The command as found in Acts 2:38-39 is; "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 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." Baptism is a sign and seal of the covenant God has made with believers and their children. Similar to how all of Abraham's offspring were to receive the sign of the covenant (circumcision), paedo-baptists believe that our children are also born into the covenant that God has established with believing parents. The promise that was given to me as an adult believer is also to my children, thus they too should receive the sign of the covenant. So to answer this question; If an adult is being baptized: yes, they need active obedience. If an infant of believers is being baptized, than no, they do not need active obedience.

4. With the correct understanding of what baptism is, we can see why children do not need to be actively obeying the command. In fact, I would argue that it is exactly because no such verse exists that we can conclude our children too need the sign of the covenant. Since the time of Abraham, the promise of the covenant was always to you and your children. credo-baptists suggest this changed in the New Testament and that children now needed an outward expression of their faith before they can be baptized. If this was the case, there would be an uproar amongst the Jewish converts! At the very least, Peter would need to give an explanation as to why all of a sudden our children are no longer included in the covenant.

I hope this helps even a little.

Jakob H

 

[MW]

I think the abtipaedobaptist would say that when Peter says, “repent and be baptized’ it means that repentance must precede baptism and then the person seeks baptism out of obedience. But a child being baptized isn’t personally seeking to obey that command.
How would you reply to such a position?

He is speaking to adults. In the very next verse he says, "For the promise is unto you, and to your children." Being Jews brought up in the covenant of circumcision they would have understood that this meant bringing their children to be baptised and they would have responded accordingly.

 

[Reformed Trini]

Hello, Jim.

Before I do my best to answer your questions, I think it is important to remember that every baptism we see in the new testament is that of a new convert coming from a pagan religion to Christianity.

1. Yes it is a command.

3. The command as found in Acts 2:38-39 is; "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 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." Baptism is a sign and seal of the covenant God has made with believers and their children. Similar to how all of Abraham's offspring were to receive the sign of the covenant (circumcision), paedo-baptists believe that our children are also born into the covenant that God has established with believing parents. The promise that was given to me as an adult believer is also to my children, thus they too should receive the sign of the covenant. So to answer this question; If an adult is being baptized: yes, they need active obedience. If an infant of believers is being baptized, than no, they do not need active obedience.

4. With the correct understanding of what baptism is, we can see why children do not need to be actively obeying the command. In fact, I would argue that it is exactly because no such verse exists that we can conclude our children too need the sign of the covenant. Since the time of Abraham, the promise of the covenant was always to you and your children. credo-baptists suggest this changed in the New Testament and that children now needed an outward expression of their faith before they can be baptized. If this was the case, there would be an uproar amongst the Jewish converts! At the very least, Peter would need to give an explanation as to why all of a sudden our children are no longer included in the covenant.

I hope this helps even a little.

Jakob H

I would agree with these points. But even to add to point #4 is covenant theology in the reformed tradition.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

This is a pretty good article that provides a lens on how baptism is not fundamentally pointing at the individual's profession but upon a much broader idea that that party baptized is brought into the bosom of the Father and is a means of discipleship and sanctification. Discipleship is not a "one and done" thing but is a call to growth and endurance with the Saints. It serves as both a comfort and a reminder to press forward.

Baptism and Discipleship | Modern Reformation

One of the more common questions I have heard over the years from my Baptist friends is, "How can an infant benefit from baptism?" The common assumption is that an infant has no capacity for faith, and therefore the child has no concept of what is occurring in his or her baptism; hence, baptism...

www.modernreformation.org

 

[MW]

This is a pretty good article that provides a lens on how baptism is not fundamentally pointing at the individual's profession but upon a much broader idea that that party baptized is brought into the bosom of the Father and is a means of discipleship and sanctification. Discipleship is not a "one and done" thing but is a call to growth and endurance with the Saints. It serves as both a comfort and a reminder to press forward.

Baptism and Discipleship | Modern Reformation

One of the more common questions I have heard over the years from my Baptist friends is, "How can an infant benefit from baptism?" The common assumption is that an infant has no capacity for faith, and therefore the child has no concept of what is occurring in his or her baptism; hence, baptism...

www.modernreformation.org

That says much in a little. It helpfully grounds baptism in the Old Testament and focuses on the baptism of Christ for its meaning. At the end, however, my mind was jarred by the use of "she" and "her." That does not apply to males, whereas "he" and "him" is generic and far more appropriate.