"Let the little children, and do not hinder them, to come before Me, for of such as these is the Kingdom of the Heavens." (Matthew 19:14)
Here we have a commandment and a relevation from Almighty God. Why should a person risk being in contradiction of these, by denying Christian baptism to a child?
(2) The Lord Jesus also taught:
"Amen, amen, I say to you, if someone is not born forth from water and spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. What is born forth from the flesh is flesh, and what is born forth from spirit is spirit." (John 3:5-6)
(3) Speaking of salvation, the Lord taught:
"The one who believes and is baptized will be saved, but the one who was unbelieving will be condemned." (Mark 16:16)
(4) The first recorded preaching of the Church is:
"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 of the Apostles 2:38-39, AKJV)
(5) The earliest historical documents about the Church record several household baptisms:
(i) "...and when she [Lydia] was baptized, and her household...." (Acts 16:15)
(ii) "...and he was baptized, he and all of his [household]...." (Acts 16:33)
(iii) "...I baptized also the household of Stephen...." (1 Corinthians 1:16)
A fourth New Testament text likewise describes how "all thy house" can be saved: "Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter; who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved." (Acts 11:13-14, AKJV)
A fourth New Testament text likewise describes how "all thy house" can be saved: "Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter; who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved." (Acts 11:13-14, AKJV)
(6) Baptism and trust in Christ is the only way to be set free from slavery to sin (Romans 6:20).
If churches and parents do not baptize and teach trust in Christ to their children, they are
(i) dividing their own households (risking downfall, Mark 3:25),
(ii) leaving their children in the worst type of bondage, i.e. to the Devil, sin, and death,
(iii) risking their children to be eternally condemned,
(iv) very possibly, violating Christ's commandments to receive little children in Christ's name (Matthew 18:5), and not to despise a little one or cause a little one to stumble, which Christ warns is judged with tremendous wrath by God (Matthew 18:6, 10-11).
"And whoever would receive one such little child in my name, receives me. Yet whoever would cause one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and he be sunk in the depth of the ocean.... See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heavens through all see the face of my Father in heavens. Indeed, the son of the human came to save the lost." (Matthew 18:5-6, 10-11,CFB)
If churches and parents do not baptize and teach trust in Christ to their children, they are
(i) dividing their own households (risking downfall, Mark 3:25),
(ii) leaving their children in the worst type of bondage, i.e. to the Devil, sin, and death,
(iii) risking their children to be eternally condemned,
(iv) very possibly, violating Christ's commandments to receive little children in Christ's name (Matthew 18:5), and not to despise a little one or cause a little one to stumble, which Christ warns is judged with tremendous wrath by God (Matthew 18:6, 10-11).
"And whoever would receive one such little child in my name, receives me. Yet whoever would cause one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and he be sunk in the depth of the ocean.... See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heavens through all see the face of my Father in heavens. Indeed, the son of the human came to save the lost." (Matthew 18:5-6, 10-11,CFB)
(7) The New Testament's directions to parents and to children are not consistent with children in the household who are not baptized into Christ and taught to trust Christ, thereby being set free from sin-slavery:
(i) "You children, heed the parents of yours in the Lord, for this is righteous." (Ephesians 6:1)
(ii) "And you parents, do not infuriate your children, but raise them in the child-training and teaching of the Lord." (Ephesians 6:4)
(iii) "You children, heed the parents regarding all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord." (Colossians 3:20)
Consider also the proverb, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6, AKJV). How can a child be trained as a Christian while he or she is in bondage to sin?
(8) There is no age too young to receive the Holy Spirit.
(i) "And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams...." (Acts 2:17, AKJV)
(ii) "If you would love Me, my commandments you will keep. And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever." (John 14:15-16)
(9) The Old-Testament antetype of baptism involved people of all ages.
"Indeed, I do not want you to be ignorant, siblings, that all our parents were under the cloud, and all traversed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea..." (1 Corinthians 10:1-2, CFB)
(10) Almighty God's wrathful judgement reasonably and evidently falls upon those who prevent babies from entering the Kingdom of Heaven. Christ said the Kingdom belongs to "such as these". People who work to prevent infant baptism, i.e. by preaching and practising against it, can very often be seen to experience family tragedies centred on their children.
Consider also the proverb, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6, AKJV). How can a child be trained as a Christian while he or she is in bondage to sin?
(8) There is no age too young to receive the Holy Spirit.
(i) "And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams...." (Acts 2:17, AKJV)
(ii) "If you would love Me, my commandments you will keep. And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever." (John 14:15-16)
(9) The Old-Testament antetype of baptism involved people of all ages.
"Indeed, I do not want you to be ignorant, siblings, that all our parents were under the cloud, and all traversed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea..." (1 Corinthians 10:1-2, CFB)
(10) Almighty God's wrathful judgement reasonably and evidently falls upon those who prevent babies from entering the Kingdom of Heaven. Christ said the Kingdom belongs to "such as these". People who work to prevent infant baptism, i.e. by preaching and practising against it, can very often be seen to experience family tragedies centred on their children.
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AKJV: Scripture quotations from The Authorized (King James) Version. Rights in the Authorized Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Reproduced by permission of the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press.
CFB: Scripture quoted from the Christ Family Bible. Copyright © 2017 by M.A.K. Thomas. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Great thgoughts and reasons. May God bless us to make people know how to approach Him, repent, and be baptized :)
ReplyDeleteHi friend :) These passages do not help in pointing to good reasons for baptizing babies. Children, yes, when they understand the gospel and can make sense of what it means to die in Christ and be baptized. Babies do not understand this and therefore baptism has no effect on them because original guilt is not biblical, original sin is. Same goes for baptizing someone who isn't in faith and doesn't understand what it means to be baptized, the baptism wouldn't make a difference.
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