There is not an explicit verse in Scripture which states that God is One in three persons, but God’s Word teaches the existence of the Trinity throughout. When thinking about the sacraments, we likewise need to have a broader approach to Scripture than simply looking for proof-texts. We need to think about how the old and new covenants relate to one another.
There is no explicit command “baptize infants”, however, in light of the place that children have in the old covenant, this should not surprise us. Under the old covenant, children were considered part of the covenant community and they received the sign of belonging to God’s people (circumcision) (Genesis 17:7). The New Testament makes it clear that the children of believers are likewise to be seen as belonging to God’s people, almost as if they are ‘little Christians’ (Mark 10:13-16; 1 Corinthians 7:14; Acts 2:39; Ephesians 6:1). Nowhere in Scripture is there a declaration that children of believers are no longer considered part of the covenant community. The pattern established in the covenant of grace is not revoked. In fact, covenant privileges are widened since the sign of belonging is now also given to female infants. As a result, we are confident in giving our children the new covenant sign of Baptism since the children of believers belong to the covenant community of God.
If one needs an explicit command to baptize children then by the same logic we should stop admitting women to the Lord’s table, since there is no direct command to allow women to come to the table (New Testament letters are written to ‘brothers’). Similarly, there is no command that children must not be baptised nor is there a command that children must first be raised in the Christian faith before they are baptised.
It is certainly true that infants could not embrace the words of Peter for themselves. Peter was speaking to a crowd of adult Jews. They were being called to repent and believe in Jesus Christ. Peter then goes on to say that the promise of the Gospel (salvation through faith in Jesus Christ) is also a promise which God makes to the children of believers.
Peter’s words appear to deliberately echo the Abrahamic-covenant promise made in Genesis 17:7. From Galatians 3 we know that the Abrahamic covenant has not been annulled, it is still operational. Therefore, just as the children of believers were considered part of the covenant community in the past, they are also to be considered part of the covenant community in the new covenant. Promises are also for them. Adult believers have a responsibility of baptising their children (giving them the sign of belonging to the covenant community) and then teaching them what their baptism means (a call to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ).
It’s true that the clear examples of baptism in the New Testament always follow conversion. This should not be a surprise to us.
In the first place, the New Testament (especially the book of Acts) tells the story of the growth of the church in a non-Christian (missionary) environment. Those who came to faith are adults (Jews or Gentiles) and they were baptised (Acts 2:38), together with their families (Acts 16:33-34). This household would have included children if they were present.*
Secondly, the New Testament records a time of transition from the old to the new covenant. Circumcised Jews who came to believe in Jesus Christ had to be baptised. They had to receive the new covenant sign of Baptism.
We have no example in the New Testament of individuals who were reared and raised in Christian homes being baptised as adults. We have no example in the New Testament of the children of believers being excluded from baptism.
*See also 1 Samuel 22:16,19; Genesis 17:12,23, 18:19, 45:17-19, 46:6,7 for clear examples of the Biblical idea of ‘household.' Whilst the argument for infant baptism is not based on Acts 16 or 1 Corinthians 1:16, these passages certainly suggest that infants would have been baptised if they were part of the household. In such cases infants would have received the sign of belonging before or at the time of conversion.
For adult converts, baptism is a means by which they identify themselves with the promises of God as they receive the mark of belonging to God’s people. This mark is only given to adult converts following a profession of faith (Romans 10:9) and in that sense Baptism is tied to repentance.
As a sacrament however, baptism is not a sign of repentance, but a sign and seal of the promises of God (Romans 4:11; Heidelberg Catechism Lord's Day 25).
If Baptism is primarily a sign of my faith/repentance, then it becomes man-centered. We would have to doubt our baptism as soon as we doubt our faith/repentance and be baptised whenever we felt assured once again. Baptism would then not be a sign of initiation into the covenant community, but a sign of renewal.
God ordinarily uses means to work true faith in the hearts of believers (Heidelberg Catechism Question 65, Canons of Dort 3/4 Article 11 and Article 17). He does so at the time of his choosing, he may even do so whilst a child is in his mother’s womb (Luke 1:15).
It is not proper to separate circumcision of the heart from circumcision of the flesh. Circumcision of the flesh was always meant to correspond with circumcision of the heart (Romans 2:25-29). It pointed to humility, new birth and a new way of life (Leviticus 26:40-42; Deuteronomy 10:16; 30:6; Jeremiah 4:4; 6:10; 9:25). Consider also Psalm 78:1-8. Children of believers (they would have been circumcised) are encouraged in the psalm to learn from the example of the previous generations so that they would put their trust in God (Psalm 78:7) and not be like those whose hearts were not loyal to God (Psalm 78:8). They are encouraged to live in the light of God’s promise (signified by their circumcision).
Abraham believed in the LORD (Genesis 15:6) before he was circumcised (Genesis 17; Romans 4:11). He was given the sign of circumcision not as a testimony to his faith, but a sign and seal of the righteousness he had by faith (Romans 4:11). That is, circumcision was a sign and seal of God’s promise to Abraham that he would be his God and the God of his descendants, a promise that through faith in God Abraham would be made righteous in God’s sight (Genesis 15:6).
The spiritual sign of circumcision was not only given to adults who embraced the same faith as Abraham, he was commanded to circumcise his whole household. Uncomprehending children were given the same sign as believing adults. Children were circumcised not because it was assumed that they had faith, but because God commanded them to be circumcised. They belonged to the covenant community and the promise (righteousness through faith in God) was a promise also for them.
The authors of the New Testament regard the children of believers as recipients of God’s promises (Acts 2:39). They are “holy” (1 Cor. 7:14), “in the Lord” (Eph. 6:1), and “little ones who believe in [Jesus]” (Mt. 18:5-6). The operating assumption of the New Testament is that the children of believers, like other members of the visible church, are Christians. Since children of believers belong to the covenant community, they must be given the sign of belonging (baptism).
Peter compares God’s judgement-flood to baptism (1 Peter 3:20,21, see also 2 Peter 3;6, 7). Noah and his family were saved (kept dry in the ark) whilst the inhabitants of the land were destroyed (wet with water).
In these verses, when Peter talks about Baptism, his focus is on the topic of ‘washing’. The filth of the earth was cleansed by the flood waters. This water destroyed the ungodly but God preserved Noah. In the future, fire will come to purify and cleanse the earth (2 Peter 3; fire is often used in the Bible in the context of cleansing/purification - Numbers 31:23; 1 Peter 1:7).
Baptism doesn’t save by washing water from the body (as if the sign itself is the thing signified). Baptism saves by what it signifies - as surely as water washes dirt from the body, those who have faith in Jesus Christ are assured of a good conscience toward God on the basis of Christ’s death and resurrection.
These verses from Peter certainly help us to understand what Baptism signifies (washing) but they don’t really relate to the proper subjects of Baptism (believers only or believers and their children).
We agree that a child is not saved by baptism. We believe, however, that at baptism, God makes certain promises to the child - promises which the child should later accept in faith. Think of Jesus’ act of blessing the little children, after their parents had brought them to him (Mark 10:13-16). Jesus said that the kingdom belongs to them. But as these children grew up, they would have to accept the promise of the kingdom in faith.
The majority of old covenant believers were physical descendants of Abraham, but the covenant community also included Gentiles. It included Egyptians (Exodus 12:38), Canaanites (Joshua 6:22-23; Joshua 9) and Moabites (Ruth). The list of names in places like Ezra 2 also includes people who are of foreign origin. These foreigners would be expected to be circumcised (the males) when they joined the covenant community. Thus, though the old covenant community was made up primarily of physical descendants of Abraham, it also included Gentiles who came to faith (Hebrews 11:31 mentions Rahab’s faith).
The old covenant community was also a mixed community. It included those who were truly converted as well as those who rejected the promises of the Gospel (Romans 2:28-29; Romans 9:6). Have you ever noticed how often the psalms talk about those who do evil (ignoring God) and seem to get away with it (e.g. Psalm 73)? These songs were written by members of the old covenant community and they affirm that it was a mixed community.
In the New Testament, we notice that the new covenant community is also mixed:
- Some people are baptised but they do not truly belong to God (e.g. Acts 5:1-11).
- There are several people who were part of the new covenant community (the church) but they were not true believers.
- Some of Paul’s fellow Gospel workers fell away (1 Timothy 1:18-20 and 2 Timothy 4:10, 16).
- The writer to the Hebrews suggests that there are some who have probably even participated in the administration of the sacraments (“been enlightened” and “tasted of the powers of the age to come”) who nevertheless fall away (Hebrews 6:4-6). Similarly, he also warns those who belong to the church community that there is no salvation for those who deliberately keep on sinning and thereby show themselves to be unconverted (Hebrews 10:26-27).
- 1 John 2:18-19 also talks about individuals who were part of the church community but then left.
- Jesus’ instructions regarding church discipline also assume that there will be true believers and unbelievers in the new covenant church community (Matthew 18:15-20; see also Matthew 13:25-30).
- Jesus’ parable of the weeds (Matthew 13:24-30) shows that the church in this world will always be a “mixed” church. Only on the Day of Judgment will the wheat (true believers) be separated from the weeds (false believers).
The new covenant community (church) is therefore not a community that only includes those who are truly converted.
The Old Testament Scriptures also talk about the need for a circumcision of the heart (Deuteronomy 10:16). This refers to a true faith which only God the Holy Spirit can work in the heart of his people (Romans 2:29). The people of Israel were thus taught from Old Testament times that the sign of circumcision (in the flesh) does not make a person right with God. The sign itself called for repentance and faith (Deuteronomy 10:16; Jeremiah 4:4), a faith which only the LORD can truly work in our hearts (Deuteronomy 30:6). Thus a true Jew, according to Paul, is not someone who is circumcised outwardly but inwardly (Romans 2:28-29).
Those who truly belong to God, whether in the old covenant or the new covenant, are those who have God’s law written on their hearts and who have been called to him in repentance and faith. Both covenant communities (old and new) include those who are truly converted and those who are not. Both covenant communities (old and new) included Gentiles.
The children of God are those who are born again by the Holy Spirit (John 3) and have a true faith in Jesus Christ.
This argument does not speak to the topic of whether or not the children of believers should be given the sign of belonging to the covenant community. Children of believing parents are not baptised on the assumption that they are regenerate (have faith) but because we believe that they belong to the covenant community and therefore they must receive the sign of belonging.
Paul certainly refers to baptism as burial with Christ into death (symbolised by immersion into water) and the rising with Christ to a new life (symbolised by the rising out of the water - cf. Romans 6:1ff). Through faith, the death of Christ is considered as our death (payment for sin, as confessed also in Heidelberg Catechism Question 43).
Though Baptism can be seen as an emblem of the believer’s dying and rising again (as in Romans 6:1-4), elsewhere in the New Testament it is primarily connected with the idea of washing/cleansing/forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38, 22:16; 1 Corinthians 6:11; Titus 3:5; Hebrews 10:22; 1 Peter 3:2).