Many times people in our generation do not understand the rites and Sacraments of the Christian Church. In each generation, we need to explain and Biblically ground what we do in our worship. This article is an article which I have used for over 20 years. I hope it answers your questions...
Why Baptize Babies
The first
mention of baptism in the Bible occurs early in each of the four gospels. In
these accounts the colorful wilderness preacher, John the Baptist, lifts his
strident voice to call a self-righteous but beleaguered populace to repentance
and baptizes those who respond. It catches on like wildfire. Soon "all
Jerusalem" parades to the Jordan River to be baptized by the man who lives off
the land and dresses in animal skin.
John's
water baptism symbolized cleansing; the decision to be baptized initiated a
changed life for contrite adults. But to claim that God, through baptism,
actually changes an infant's relationship to himself in our day, as some
Christian churches teach, seems fantasyland to many people.
Today,
however, probably at least 85 percent of all Christians have been baptized in
infancy. But lately an increasing number of those so baptized express the wish
that they themselves might recall the experience of baptism - much along the
lines of what John's baptism meant to people. Part of the problem for those who
question the baptizing of infants is the failure to recognize the difference
between John's baptism and that which Christ established (see Acts 19:4-5).
THE
QUESTION
A new emphasis on direct experience, a smoldering spirit of anti-institutionalism, and an increasingly scientific approach to biblical studies have combined with the natural tendency of people to question ancient practices in the church and have raised the question: Why baptize infants?
Let's face
the issue squarely. How did the church get this practice and is there
justification for continuing it? Does infant baptism among Lutherans, for
example, rest on any foundation other than Luther's centuries-old catechism?
Basic to
the question is this statement attributed to Jesus: "That which is born of the
flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:6). In
other words, because they are members of the human family, infants are
inheritors of sinful inclinations. Sinfulness is a universal condition. Paul
points out in Romans 3:23: "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
Infants, like adults, need help from God.
BAPTISM
SAVES
God's love
for the human race, evidenced by his costly plan for its salvation through the
death of his Son, Jesus Christ, made provision for us to come to him in spite
of our sinful condition. That provision includes baptism. When applied to any
human being who does not reject or despise it, baptism establishes a new
relationship with God. Through Christian baptism, we have our sin forgiven,
become heirs of eternal life, and can remain his children forever. Amazing
grace!
In his
Large Catechism Luther wrote that baptism is a living, saving water. The power,
effect, benefit, fruit, and purpose of baptism is to bring to completion that
restored relationship to God that Jesus' atonement gained for all humanity. In
1 Peter 3:21 we are told: "Baptism . . . now saves you, not as a removal of dirt
from the body but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ." If this is the case, then certainly a loving God
would not provide baptism as a means for adults and make no provision whatever
for infants who are just as precious in his sight.
JESUS
COMMANDS
The most
direct continuing reason for baptizing infants rests in the simple command that
Christ gave to his church: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"
(Matt. 28:19). Note that all people of all nations are to be made disciples. It
would be difficult to argue that children are not to be considered part of a
nation's population until they reach a certain age. Even census takers require
that all members of a family be counted regardless of their age. If children are
that important to a nation, how much more precious they must be to the Lord who
has given them life. Would God exclude infants when it comes to the method by
which persons are reclaimed for fellowship with God for all eternity?
It is
important to remember that baptism is a sacrament complete in itself. It is a
once for-all-time experience. Even if a person afterwards walks away from God,
rejects him, but later returns, that individual is not baptized again. Like the
biblical prodigal, the lapsed person upon repentance reenters the covenant
relationship which God not only initiated but which he also never canceled.