WHY WE BAPTIZE THE CHILDREN OF BELIEVERS

Many Christians may be surprised to learn that some churches baptize infants. Perhaps you grew up believing that baptism is only for those old enough to make a personal decision to follow Jesus. That's a fair and common perspective, and we understand why infant baptism might seem unusual at first. Our practice of baptizing the children of believers (sometimes called “covenant baptism” or “paedobaptism”) comes from our understanding of how God has always worked with His people throughout Scripture.

God's Promise Includes Our Children

The foundation of infant baptism is God's covenant promise. When God made His covenant with Abraham, He didn't just promise to be Abraham's God. He promised to be "a God to you and to your offspring after you" (Genesis 17:7). This wasn't merely a national or ethnic arrangement. The apostle Paul calls this Abrahamic covenant "the gospel" (Galatians 3:8), a spiritual promise of salvation through faith.

God commanded Abraham to give his infant sons the covenant sign of circumcision, even though they couldn't yet believe. These children received the sign of justification by faith before they could profess that faith. This pattern of including believers' children in the covenant community runs throughout Scripture. When the apostle Peter preached at Pentecost, he echoed this ancient promise: "For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Himself" (Acts 2:39). Notice the order: you, your children, and those far off. The promise extends outward, including more people, not excluding the children who had always been included.

Baptism Replaces Circumcision

God Works Through Families

Throughout the Bible, God works with families, not just isolated individuals. When God saved Noah from the flood, He saved his whole household. When God called Abraham, He made promises to Abraham's children. When Israel celebrated Passover, families participated together, with parents explaining the meaning to their children (Exodus 12:26-27).

This household principle continues in the New Testament. We read of entire households being baptized: Lydia and her household (Acts 16:15), the Philippian jailer and his household (Acts 16:33), and the household of Stephanas (1 Corinthians 1:16). The unqualified use of "household" language suggests what would have been obvious to first-century Jewish believers: children were included, just as they had always been.

The apostle Paul addresses children directly as members of the church (Ephesians 6:1), and he says that children with even one believing parent are "holy" (1 Corinthians 7:14). This doesn't mean they're automatically saved, but it does mean they belong to the covenant community, set apart from unbelieving families. They're raised in the nurture and instruction of the Lord, hearing the gospel and being called to personal faith in Jesus.

What Baptism Does (and Doesn't Do)

We should be clear about what we're claiming. Infant baptism doesn't automatically save children. Water itself doesn't wash away sins. Only Jesus Christ's blood and the Holy Spirit cleanse us from sin. Baptism is a sign and seal, pointing to spiritual realities and assuring us of God's promises. The sign is real and important, but it's distinct from the reality it represents.

God uses baptism to make visible promises to His people. Just as a wedding ring doesn't create a marriage but signifies and reminds the couple of their commitment, baptism doesn't create salvation but signifies and seals God's covenant promise. When parents bring their child for baptism, they're not presuming the child is already saved. They're claiming God's promise, pledging to raise their child in the faith, and asking God to fulfill His covenant word.

Some children baptized as infants will grow up to reject Christ, just as some who received circumcision in the Old Testament (like Esau) proved to be outside God's saving purposes. But many others, by God's grace, will come to embrace the faith into which they were baptized. They'll grow up knowing they belong to Jesus, marked as His from their earliest days, and called to live into the reality their baptism proclaimed.

Common Questions

But doesn't the Bible say you must believe before being baptized?

Yes, adult converts must believe before being baptized. Abraham himself believed before receiving circumcision. But Abraham's infant sons received circumcision before they could believe, based on God's promise. The same pattern applies to baptism: adult converts should be baptized upon profession of faith, and the children of believers should be baptized based on God's covenant promise.

Where does the New Testament command infant baptism?

The New Testament never commands it explicitly because it didn't need to. Given that families had included their children in the covenant for 2,000 years, the shocking thing would’ve been a command to stop including them. The absence of any such prohibition, combined with positive evidence (household baptisms, covenant promises extended to children, continuity between circumcision and baptism), points toward the ongoing inclusion of believers' children.

Shouldn't people choose for themselves?

Eventually, yes. Baptized children are called to personally embrace Christ as they mature. We teach them biblical truth, pray for them, and call them to profess their own faith. But God has always worked through families, establishing His covenant with believing parents and their children. We don't wait for children to choose their family; they're born into it. Similarly, we don't withhold the covenant sign until children can choose, but rather mark them as belonging to God's people and then raise them to claim that identity personally.

A Sign of Grace

Ultimately, infant baptism proclaims the truth at the heart of Christianity: salvation is God's work, not ours. A helpless infant who can do nothing to earn or achieve baptism perfectly pictures the gospel. None of us save ourselves. God graciously comes to us, claims us, and promises to be our God. Baptism, whether received as an infant or an adult, is God's pledge to us, not primarily our pledge to Him.

This is why we joyfully baptize the children of believing parents. We're not inventing a new practice but continuing what God's people have done since Abraham. We're trusting God's covenant faithfulness and raising our children in the hope that the God who claimed them in baptism will also grant them saving faith. And we're pointing them, from their earliest days, to Jesus Christ, in whose name they are baptized and to whom they belong.