There are so many things that churches of different backgrounds agree on. But baptism is one of the areas where there’s disagreement and the average person is often left confused. To say that churches disagree on baptism is an overstatement. Even churches with historic disagreement largely agree on the symbolism and meaning of baptism. You could quote many sections of the Roman Catholic Catechism on baptism and think that you were reading a baptist discipleship text. And the same could be said for the baptismal teaching of other denominations. There’s a lot of agreement. But one significant disagreement is with the baptism of infants. Some church denominations do it. Others don’t. Let me try to explain why.
1. In the New Testament, baptism is the normal way that people express their faith in Jesus.
Virtually all churches are in agreement that, in the New Testament, baptism is the normal way that people express their faith in Jesus. For example, many who heard Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost were convicted and wanted to know how they should respond. He invited them to, “repent and be baptized” (Acts 2:38) and it says, “those who received his word were baptized” (Acts 2:41).
As the good news goes out, people continue to respond in faith and express that faith in baptism. For instance, as the message reaches Samaria, it says, “when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women” (Acts 8:12). Baptism is just the normal way that people respond to the gospel and put their trust in Jesus. It’s not a special ceremony for a certain class of Christian. Again, churches are in agreement so far.
2. Baptism, as an expression of faith, assures a believer of vital truths.
Churches are also largely in agreement about what baptism signifies. When the apostle Paul was converted, the person who witnessed to him urged him to respond with these words, “And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name” (Acts 22:16). The outward washing with water symbolizes an inward cleansing from sin.
It also pictures our death to sin and rebirth to a new life with God. In Romans 6:3-4, it says, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” Baptism declares that sin’s penalty has been paid and sin’s power has been broken. These are important reassurances for the believer. And churches are, for the most part, in agreement that this is what the Bible teaches.
3. Baptism, in the hope of faith, promises an unbeliever things that aren’t true of them.
Churches that baptize infants argue that something so critical shouldn’t be withheld from babies. The Roman Catholic Catechism, for instance, teaches that not baptizing a child shortly after birth, “would deny a child the priceless grace of becoming a child of God” (Catechism of the Catholic Church #1250). In the same section, they teach that “children also have need of the new birth in Baptism to be freed from the power of darkness and brought into the realm of the freedom of the children of God.” The hope is, of course, that the child will eventually come to faith in Jesus Christ. But in the meantime, they are communicating the belief that baptism alone is enough to make the infant a “child of God” who is “freed from the power of darkness.”
Churches that don’t baptize infants object for two reasons. The first is that neither the baptism of infants nor the reasoning for it can be seen in Scripture. But the second is that baptizing an infant – or anyone else – who doesn’t trust in Jesus is declaring things about them that aren’t true. Baptism without faith doesn’t make someone a child of God. Baptism without faith doesn’t cleanse a person’s sins or make them a new creation. It promises an unbeliever things that aren’t true of them because until they personally repent and trust in Jesus, they are still in need of salvation.
Baptizing someone without faith is like giving a sick person a needle without any medicine in it. It’s dangerous for a sick person to think that they’ve already received the cure. It gives them reassurance when what they need is to hear the good news and be invited to faith.
In my pastoral ministry, I regularly meet people who think that they’ve ‘done Christianity’ because they were baptized as a child. “I’ve done that. It didn’t work for me.” I’ve met other people who believe that they’re a child of God because they were baptized as an infant. But when I’ve asked about their faith in Jesus Christ or understanding of the gospel, it’s not there. They’ve gotten the needle but there wasn’t any medicine in it. My prayer for all people is that they’d receive the cure and that cure only comes through faith in Jesus.
May God guide all of us as we seek to understand His Word.
In awe of Him,
Paul
