Two brief arguments for the baptism of children

[G. N. Barkman]

Even after conceding these have nothing to do with baptism, the deduction is made that denying baptism is somehow discouraging them from coming to Christ. Hmmm.

If that is what you got from my posting, then you obviously misread it. I did not indicate in any way that “denying baptism is somehow discouraging them from coming to Christ.” The connection I made is that children are to be allowed to become believers and express their faith (and that adults ought to have that same type of simple faith), and then the passage in Acts 8:36-37 clearly indicates that being a true believer (as determined by the individual’s self-reflection and confession of such) is what qualifies one for baptism: no arbitrary age qualifications apply.

This is world’s apart from infant baptism. Infants cannot even communicate their needs verbally, much less any “beliefs” they may or may not have; and without language, they cannot mentally self-reflect to determine if they really believe in Christ. So there is no grounds for infant baptism.

But some young children have the capacity to do self-reflect and communicate (and each gains that capacity at different ages), so when they show that capacity, I see nothing scriptural to deny them baptism, and in fact a clear statement of the opposite that they should not be hindered from it. So regarding baptism, I appeal to the clearest text that states the qualifications for baptism, the one that best represents why baptists hold to a believers baptism, which leaves age out of the equation.

But if one wants a passage that strongly hints at believing children not being denied baptism (i.e. it mentions both baptism and children in context), then Acts 2:38-39 would seem to qualify there (NKJV):

38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

The promise is as much to the children as to the adults, but the children must also “repent.” This fits with the Acts 8 statement about what denies water baptism or not.

My only point is that we should not impose arbitrary age limits on something the Bible has given clear direction on what does qualify as making one eligible: belief. The only thing we need to be sure of is that a person, whatever age, can articulate, on their own, the basic grasp of their sinfulness (Acts 2:38) and Jesus (the true version of Him in relation as both Christ and Son of God) as the answer (Act 2:38, 37), with such belief based on God’s testimony (which both Peter preached before in Acts 2, and Phillip instructed the eunuch on in Acts 8).

[Dan Miller]

Therefore, whether baptized as an infant, child, or adult, I expect Biblical parents and churches should treat children as presumed elect, simply on the basis of their being in our families.

I have to say I presume otherwise. That is, I presume all children are sinners (which is not really in need of presuming, since I know so: Rom 3:23) in need of salvation. And once they evidence direct rebellion, they have become willful sinners (Jam 4:17). So I see them as all lost in need of finding (Lk 15:4-7), all children of wrath until faith comes (Eph 2:1-9). I don’t “presume” anyone is elect until they evidence belief.

But I also don’t categorize people as elect/non-elect. I categorize them as unbelieving sinners and believing sinners, the latter having spiritual advantages (i.e. a renewed spirit and the Holy Spirit dwelling in them) over the former in overcoming their sinful tendencies.

I am currently working through my own thoughts on these issues as we have 2 young children in the church who have recently professed faith in Christ. I have a few thoughts.

First, the contention that you should not baptize a child because there is a high percentage of apostasy in baptized children as they become adults really does not hold water with me because I imagine there is also a high percentage of individuals who apostatized even though they were baptized as adults. I appreciate the desire to limit baptism to “credible” professions of faith…. but what exactly makes a credible profession of faith? If you look at the baptisms in Acts, there are no classes or sit-downs with the elders. No discipleship books that need to be finished first. There is faith and then, very soon after in fact, there is baptism. I don’t see the church as having a biblically defined role of evaluating the credibility of a person’s profession of faith as regards baptism. Certainly in other areas the church has a role in evaluating genuine faith, but, when it comes to baptism, the natural flow is confession then baptism.

Second, and I may perhaps be in the minority here, but I think we cause some issues when we link baptism and 21st century IFB church membership. For many practical reasons, church membership in our day and age looks different than church membership in the early church. I believe in church membership and encourage it in my congregation (even have a class once a quarter), but I think our modern conception of church membership is shaped by our institutional and organizational mindset. So when someone expresses their faith in baptism, they then automatically become a member of an organization (an organization with rights, responsibilities, and procedures). Now this is not necessarily a bad thing, but it can be problematic when we speak of adding children as members of that organization by virtue of baptism. Especially as concerns church discipline (which was one of his reasons for allowing children to be baptized). I don’t have the answers here but I think we maybe need to rethink the organizational connection between baptism and membership, especially as it concerns the baptism of children.

Imagine this conversation:

I believe that only believers should be baptized.

Is this child a believer?

I think so.

What makes you think so?

Well, they want to be baptized.

(Would this work for you if it was an adult instead of a child?)

I think I understand what Dan is getting at on how children are “treated” as believers. In my church, children who are too young for any sort of profession, or older children that have made a profession and there are no warning signs that they are simply trying to deceive are treated as believers, and considered a full part of the life of the church, even to platform service. That doesn’t mean we try to give them any false assurance, and our pastor preaches fairly often on our doing self-examination to see if we really are a part of the faith.

Once children turn 16, we ask them to join the separately from their parents, to confirm that they are indeed believers and that they want to be part of our church. We call it associate membership, and it has no voting rights for legal purposes, but we do want them to think about and experience what real church membership is like before they are away from the church, which usually happens about the same time as their majority. We obviously ask the parents to agree, but our policies state that without joining at 16, the child’s opportunities for church service are limited, and although we don’t say it, to all intents and purposes, we “treat” them as if they are non-members.

Regarding baptism, we have no hard and fast rule on the age, but we don’t generally baptize children who are very young. Personally, I’m of two minds on the subject. My youngest daughter gave every sign that she was regenerate, and was able to cogently answer questions from the pastor on her conversion, what it entailed, what it meant, and how it affected her(without any prompting from either him or her mom and I), so the pastor at our previous church baptized her. When she was about 16, she decided she hadn’t really been a Christian before, so she asked to be re-baptized, and after counseling and meeting with church leadership as we do for all who want to be baptized, the pastor at our current church baptized her. This experience would certainly give weight to the idea of waiting for some period.

However, like Scott, I see no good biblical reasons to deny baptism to a child who as far as we can tell truly understands and gives every indication of being regenerate. I’m curious how those of you who wait until the teenage years explain it to one who wants to follow Jesus and do the right thing.

[Ron Bean]

Imagine this conversation:

I believe that only believers should be baptized.

Is this child a believer?

I think so.

What makes you think so?

Well, they want to be baptized.

(Would this work for you if it was an adult instead of a child?)

In my view, it would not work for either an adult or a child. In order for me to affirm “I think so,” about them being a “believer,” it would not be based on “they want to be baptized” (whether child or adult). It would be based on whether they can articulate (without explicit leading questions) their need for a savior, their acceptance of Jesus as the only one who can save them, and the desire to follow in obedience in baptism.

I have to say I presume otherwise. That is, I presume all children are sinners (which is not really in need of presuming, since I know so: Rom 3:23) in need of salvation. And once they evidence direct rebellion, they have become willful sinners (Jam 4:17). So I see them as all lost in need of finding (Lk 15:4-7), all children of wrath until faith comes (Eph 2:1-9). I don’t “presume” anyone is elect until they evidence belief.

Yeah, and I would agree that our greatest confidence in the eternal destiny of those we know and love comes from external evidence of belief. I’d include in that verbal expressions of belief as well as actions that show faith. But I also believe that there’s a level of trust that we are called to have that God will extend the promise to our children

I have prayed every night since he was born that God would bring my son to faith. That’s because I believe that God must bring him to faith.

I get that you don’t think elect/non-elect. But I think you should :)

My son is 9 and even though he has professed faith, I have not baptized him. I tend to see Baptism as a choice of faith individually AND a choice of the family/church on the basis of observing credible faith. Like you, Scott, I don’t believe we should declare that level of credence in the faith of a child until he/she is old enough to separate his own desires from his desire to please his family and until he/she is old enough to be making independent decisions, which show true inner faith more credibly.

This isn’t very hard, in my opinion. It depends on whether the child can explain the Gospel, and why he has accepted Christ. Riley wroote:

But it seems quite self-defeating, for fear of seeing a child profess faith and then walk away, to deny him the discipline that might save his soul.

Here’s my approach:

• Does the kid have spiritual fruit (ask parents, friends, observe at church)?
• Can the kid explain what “sin” is, and whether he’s a “sinner?”
• Can he explain the three things Jesus did for him (perfect for him, died for his crimes, raised to life to defeat Satan)?
• Can he explain what repentance means?
• Does he know who Jesus is (e.g. co-equal, co-eternal Son of God)?
• Does he know what Jesus will do to make everything right (e.g. He’ll come back, destroy Satan, punish the wicked, and rule as our king)?

If the kid can explain this, and the pastors believe he really gets it, then I’ll baptize. The age is irrelevant, but the complexity of the questions means they’ll be older before I baptize.

What if the child realizes later he really wasn’t a believer when he was baptized? Oh, well! What else should I have done? My list (above) is pretty comprehensive. We’ll just baptize him again, then! All we can do is try. We aren’t all-knowing. I think God is happy is we try our best to make sure the kid “gets” it. Beyond that, all you can do is try.

I’ve always encouraged children wanting to be baptized to wait. I cannot recall a single time that the child showed any objection. They were fine with waiting. None of them walked away from the faith. I did often , however, receive a bit of pushback from parents and grandparents. Many of these parents were also actively involved in the interview process, clarifying and coaching answers form their children.