A Brief Explanation of Infant Baptism
Why do many Christians, such as Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, and the Eastern Orthodox baptize babies? By claimed adherence, these groups comprise the vast majority of Christians today. Historically, the baptism of infants and children has been the norm through most of Christian history. In brief, the first real challenge to the practice of infant baptism arose during the Reformation among those various groups that are collectively called Anabaptists, notable for their insistence in baptizing again those who were previously baptized as infants. Anabaptists and their modern descendants have falsely claimed that the practice of infant baptism arose during the fourth century, but historical evidence has shown definitive proof of the practice existing at the latest in the second century.[1] However useful an overview of Christian practice and history might be, we Lutherans and, indeed, all Christians, seek to ground their teaching and practice in Holy Scripture. As such, it is necessary to see that the practice of infant baptism is a biblical practice in conformity with the command of Jesus Christ.
Origin of Baptism
Baptism was commanded by Christ in the “great commission,” which is recorded at the end of Luke, Mark, and Matthew. Of particular note is Matthew 28:19-20a, “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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”[2] In brief, our Lord Jesus commanded His church to make disciples of all nations by baptizing and instructing in the Christian faith.
This brings a second and related question: if baptism is a mandate by Jesus, how and when should it be done? The Greek word for baptism, βαπτίζω (baptizo), means to wash or cleanse, especially by dipping or submersion. It also often has connotations of a ritual sort of washing as in religious rites.[3] Despite some commentary by those who deny infant baptism, the word, while indicating a preference for immersion, does not require it as the only valid form. In other words, the word means to be washed with water and the amount needed is not specified. This means that besides the instruction of Christ and the formula He gave His church for conducting baptisms, the person doing the baptizing only needs some water. For this reason, historic, biblical Christianity has recognized the legitimacy of sprinkling, pouring, and immersion forms of baptism.
What Baptism Does According to the Scriptures
But this does not address the reasons for being baptized. The Lord Jesus, unfortunately, does not elaborate on the “why” of baptism in His final instructions to the Christian church before ascending to the right hand of the Father beyond noting that it is a requirement along with belief in Mark 16:16, “Whoever believes and is baptized [4] will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” Thankfully for us, the Apostles commissioned by Christ in Matthew to baptize and teach do expound on what Baptism does in the Epistles of Holy Scripture.
St. Paul makes a number of claims about Baptism in His canonical, biblical writings. In Romans 6:3-11, he connects baptism to the death and resurrection of Jesus. Specifically, he notes that when a person is baptized, he is buried with Christ into death and is raised to a resurrection, a new life, like Jesus was. The image of submersion and subsequent coming out of water is hard to miss here. But we would ignore the plain meaning of Paul’s words to see this only as symbolic of the new life that one receives by faith in Christ. Paul is speaking to Christians, that is, to those who have faith in Jesus as their God and Savior. But he does not speak of Baptism as without any function or use; it connected the Romans to whom this letter was addressed to the death of their Savior such that they are able to rise to a new life in Christ, both in terms of Christian living here and now as Paul goes on to explain, but also by giving the promise of resurrection from the grave in a specific and certain manner. To be brief, baptism unites to the death of Christ such that a baptized person receives the benefits of the death of Christ and with that new life and resurrection, both now and at the return of Jesus Christ (Heb. 9:28, 1 Thess. 4:16-17).
The Apostle Paul uses similar language in his letter to the Christians in Colossae: “In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.” (Col. 2:11-13). Here Paul speaks of a spiritual circumcision, not of the flesh but of the Spirit, which is done by Christ and is tied to Baptism, which, again, unites with the death and resurrection of Christ. It is important to note that Paul also goes on to note the importance of faith, echoing the words of Jesus that baptism, though it does these great things, does not provide any benefit to people apart from their faith in Jesus Christ and the work He does through baptism.
Since we know from the words of Jesus and the explanation of St. Paul the Apostle that Baptism is a washing of water and the very saving Word of God, that is according to the instruction and in the name of God by the command of Jesus, we can see that other places in Scriptures that talk of washing refer to baptism. In the letter to the Ephesians, Paul notes that husbands should love their wives just as Christ loved His church and “cleans[ed] her (the church) by washing with water through the word,” (Eph. 5:26). This is a simple and straightforward reiteration of what Paul said elsewhere as we already noted above: baptism is not a mere outward ritual, but a spiritual thing that cleanses and makes holy and leaves without stain or blemish in the eyes of God.
In 1 Corinthians, he also identifies washing, that is a baptism, with being sanctified and justified in the name of Jesus (1 Corinthians 6:11). In other words, Paul identifies the act of baptism with two of the most basic parts of the Christian faith: being made holy, that is sanctified, and being justified, that is being declared righteous in the eyes of God. Baptism in this passage is presented as a converting thing; Paul notes that the Corinthians were sinners of all sorts: idolators, sexually immoral, thieves, greedy, drunks, etc. previously. But that was in the past; now they are those who have been washed, sanctified, and justified and no longer should participate in these things as such sins are not for those of the household of God. Baptism has a theme in Paul’s teaching of being a means that moves from pagan unbelief to Christian identity, hence the common refrain of baptism bringing an obligation to living like a Christian.
Paul again reiterates this simple identification of being baptized to being in Christ in Galatians; those who have been baptized in the Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27) To reiterate, baptism clothes someone in Christ and puts them in Christ, thereby identifying a person with the Lord Jesus. This is made simple in the instructions of Jesus Himself: Christians are to be baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. This Name is the identification that claims them in the eyes of God, which is to say, it clothes them in Christ such that they are no longer seen as those outside of Christ but are now those in Christ.
As Paul instructs us, baptism is a washing by water according to the Word of God, or, as Martin Luther puts it in the Small Catechism, baptism is a washing of water with the Word of God. The Apostle notes in his letter to Titus that “when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:5-7). While some modern teachers, who have been influenced by the novel and recent teaching of the Charismatic movement would divide the baptism of the Holy Spirit from the washing of “water baptism,” the Scriptures only teach one baptism which is both of water and of the Holy Spirit. This is implicit in the word “baptism” itself, which means to be washed by water. The washing Paul talks about here is not a metaphoric washing, but a plain and simple washing, that is, a baptism, that also grants regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. Jesus speaks this way as well in His conversation with Nicodemus in the Holy Gospel according to John. There the Lord notes that no one can enter the Kingdom of Heaven unless he or she is born again by water and the Spirit (John 3:1-7). That is to say, this passage of Paul makes the same point that our Lord does: the commanded washing of water and the work of the Spirit resulting in new birth are both one holy baptism, as Paul has consistently taught through his letters and in accord with the teaching of Jesus Himself. Furthermore, Paul says quite plainly that there is only one baptism (Ephesians 4:5) just as there is one Lord. For this reason, baptism is not to separated into water and Spirit, nor is it to be redone.
St. Peter also holds baptism in high regard. He says in his First Epistle that baptism “now saves you” (1 Peter 3:21). He goes on to explain that baptism is not an outward ritual, a simple removal of dirt from the body like a bath or shower but is the basis for a clean conscience. How does a conscience become clean? By Christ and faith in His work, work which is visited on a person by Baptism. And such is the intimate connection between baptism and the salvation won in Christ that Peter says that baptism saves us. There is worry in certain circles that baptism might trusted in apart from Christ. However, this misunderstands what baptism is, what it conveys, and how one receives the benefits of it. Baptism does save, that is, imparts the salvation of Jesus Christ just as the Scriptures teach in the above passages. Further, it is not an outward ritual of men akin to a bath to clean up the outside of the body. But this does not mean that it grants the benefits contained in it without faith. Just as Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world and yet not all people come to salvation because not all come to saving faith, so too do those people exist who have been given the wonderful work of Christ in baptism but who do not receive the benefits of it because they lack faith in the one who established baptism, Jesus Christ.
Who Baptism is for
Who should be baptized? Our Lord answers this very plainly in His institution of baptism: it is for all nations (Matthew 28:19). ”All nations” is broadly inclusive of all people. It does not exclude anyone by sex, ethnicity, language, race, or age. To argue otherwise ignores the plain meaning of “all nations.” This is reiterated by the example of St. Peter’s teaching on the day of Pentecost as recorded in the book of Acts. After preaching a sermon after the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Apostles, Peter answers the question, “what shall we do?”, Peter tells them to repent, that is, turn from their sins and attempts to save themselves and to Christ, and to be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins. It is important that Peter says that baptism grants the forgiveness of sins, that is, serves as a means by which Christ grants the forgiveness that He won on the cross. He goes on to say that this promise, which refers to the forgiveness of sins that comes by baptism, is for them, their children, and all others who are called to faith in Jesus (Acts 2:38-39). In other words, Peter understood the instruction of Jesus to baptize all nations to include children as his words plainly indicate.
Some will raise here the objection that faith is needed for baptism and that faith is not present in children or, especially, infants. However this is a fundamental misunderstanding of what faith is by assuming that faith is primarily an act of the intellect or human reason. Instead, faith is in its essence a trust in Christ, which people of even very limited intellectual means are still able to do. Indeed, infants implicitly exhibit this kind of trust when they cry out for their mothers, trusting that someone will hear their cry and attend to their needs. Biblically, this is demonstrated in the example of the in-utero St. John the Baptist, who leapt with joy in the womb when in the presence of his Lord Jesus (Luke 1:41). This is a clear demonstration of faith, that is recognition of and trust in the Savior even by one yet to be born.
Others will object to infant baptism on the grounds that infants are not accountable for their sins. This, however, contradicts the plain understanding of Romans 3:22-24, which states that all human beings die because all have sinned. In other words, the reason human beings die is because they are sinners. Infants, even those who have yet to be born, also fall prey to death and, as Paul argues, this is due to their status as sinners. If they were not sinners, they would not be subject to death. Therefore, they need the remedy of the forgiveness of sins that comes in baptism.
Still another objection to infant baptism because baptism is frequently taught to go with repentance such as in Acts 2 as cited above. This also misunderstands the nature of repentance. Repentance is not a precondition to faith, a work that a potential convert must do in order to come to faith. Further, repentance is not an act of the intellect at its root, though in many circumstances involves the intellect. It is in its essence a refusal to depend on one’s sins or attempts to save one’s own self and a consequent turning of attention to faith in Christ, rather than an intellectual exercise only capable by those of sufficient rational capacity or maturity. It also has as its goal not intellectual conviction or understanding of one’s own sins, but faith in Christ, which is, as mentioned above, something that even those yet to be born are capable of by the work and grace of Almighty God.
A further objection to infant baptism argues that infants cannot be known to have faith and therefore are unable to demonstrate by their baptisms that they have faith in Christ. This understanding of baptism is flatly unbiblical and no biblical passage that discusses baptism refers to it in terms like this.
Summary
Baptism confers a number of benefits from Christ to those who are baptized such as regeneration, renewal, new birth, and forgiveness of sins. These benefits are for all sinners in need of them regardless of age and must be received by faith in Christ Jesus in order to enjoy these gifts and promises earned for us in Christ Jesus. To put conditions on the work and gift of God is to elevate the work and cooperation of men above the passive reception of Christ’s work and denies the central article of the Christian faith that salvation comes from Christ alone. Baptism is a work of God the Holy Spirit by the Word of God used in accord with the command of Christ, not a work done on the part of a believer to demonstrate something to God or to other human beings. It is a means, that is to say, a vehicle of God’s grace, granting us a in definite and certain way the salvation won by Christ, not something that opposes or leads away from Him. It certainly can be abused as indeed all of God’s good gifts may be, but abuse of it cannot unmake the teaching of the Scriptures. As such, the Christian church must confess this one baptism for the remission of sins as does the Nicene Creed as a central and irrefutable biblical doctrine, that is, a teaching of Holy Scripture that is in accord with the very will of our Lord Jesus.
[1] Irenaeus, Against Heresies 2:22:4. This was written in 189 AD and is the earliest explicit mention of infant baptism in Christian practice that has survived to the present.
[2] English Standard Version. All further citations from the Bible will be from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.
[3] Thayer’s lexicon as found at https://biblehub.com/greek/907.htm
[4] Emphasis mine.
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