In some ways the title for this article should be longer and thus read: "Does the Baptism of Children Born to Believing Christian Parents Still Matter?" Why mention the longer version? To underline the fact that this is not about the baptism of all infants as such, but only about those infants who are born to believers or to Christians who are living and active members of a local faithful church of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Why this Article?⤒🔗

With that clarification out of the way, you might be wondering, "Why this article anyway? What occasions it?"

There are a number of developments that have led me to ask this question. The first has to do with the rise of various organizations in which those who come from different theological traditions on this matter are coming together on a regular basis. One can refer for example to the Gospel Coalition, which has among its leaders such well-known adult Baptist only proponents as Donald Carson and John Piper, as well as any number of openly infant baptism proponents such as Ligon Duncan and Tim Keller. Then too there are the Conferences organized by Ligonier, the Banner of Truth, and others. In short, it is not unusual to see adult baptism only speakers and at­tendees at conferences sponsored by organizations with infant Baptist roots, and vice versa.

A second development that leads me to ask the ques­tion is the rising popularity of any number of adult Bap­tist only writers and scholars in Reformed circles. Here I am thinking not just of Carson and Piper, but also of Mark Dever, Tom Schreiner, Albert Mohler, and Andreas Kostenberger. I can also include such more established figures as Charles Stanley and John MacArthur. Indeed, one can even go further back and include John Bunyan and Charles Spurgeon. The list of Baptist notables is long and deep. As well, there is ample evidence that their popularity is growing. Part of the resurgence of what has been called "the new Calvinism" owes its existence and growth of the efforts of these men.

A third development calling forth this question has to do with things that happen at the local level. By this I mean that it is not unusual to come across people who were born into homes in which infant baptism was the norm, who received the sacrament as babies, but who on becoming older departed and sought membership in a Baptist church of one type or another. It would appear that neither the fact that they had been baptized already nor the fact that they would (in most cases) need to be baptized again, held them back.

Does it Still Matter?←⤒🔗

Taking these three developments together, as well as some other factors that I have not mentioned, you can perhaps see why I am asking this question: "Does infant baptism still matter?" Of course, it is still in our confes­sions and practiced in our churches, but is it still seen as an important and meaningful part of our Reformed identity? Or is it so that it has slipped into the minor, optional, even indifferent category?

Now, in asking these questions it is not my inten­tion to start a new round of sacramental wars. Indeed, I have great respect and esteem for many, if not all, of the names that I have just mentioned. I buy their books, learn from their insights, recommend their publications, and listen to their speeches. These men have and continue to contribute much to the growth and vitality of the Christian church. They need to be read by you and me.

And yet they should not be read uncritically. Neither should they be read with an attitude that assumes that no differences exist between us. Baptism still matters! Whether you are someone who believes in both infant and adult baptism, like me, or someone who believes in adult baptism only, it matters!

Why? In what way does it matter?

Why it Still Matters – because God Matters←⤒🔗

A number of ways come to mind and the first is that this matters because it has to do with my God. It has to do with who he is and what he does. Now, that may surprise and even perplex you. Is this subject of such an import­ance that it has a direct bearing on our view of God?

Yes, it is. For consider this: the general Baptist view is that baptism is a human-response sacrament. In other words, the gospel command goes out "believe and be bap­tized." Every person who hears the call of the gospel needs to respond to it with repentance and faith and once they do so, they may rightly request to be baptized into the name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. In other words, here is something that we as people and as human beings must do. We need to repent. We need to believe. We need to confess. We need to be baptized.

This is not wrong. Whenever the gospel goes out and confronts adults, it calls for this type of response.

Nevertheless, there is more to it. Much more! For at bottom baptism is not just a matter of human response, it is first and foremost a matter of God inventing, God initiating, God calling, and God covenanting. When it comes to baptism generally, and to infant baptism in particular, we need to see that this is above and before everything else a matter of God and his work.

Why it Still Matters – because His People Matter←⤒🔗

Added to this, it is also a matter of God and his people. Already before the beginning of time God decided that what he wanted was a people to call his own, a people who would love and serve him, a people who would bear his mark and emblem, a people of the promise, a people redeemed by his Son.

Once time began our God started immediately to work on the creation of that people. He made and called Adam and Eve. He watched them fall and started again with Seth and others. He became more explicit with Abraham. He rescued Israel and made it is his very own liberated possession. He sent his Son, and the calling of his people from all the nations began. God wanted a people then and he still wants a people today.

In a day and age in which me-ism and self-centered­ness are all the rage, we need to be reminded that while salvation is personal, it is not individualistic. The angel reminded Joseph that our Redeemer "will save his people from their sins" (Matt 1:21). The church is a corporate and communal body and it matters to God.

Why it Still Matters – because His Covenant Matters←⤒🔗

In this connection there is another question that needs to be asked, namely: "How and in what way does God gather his people together?" He does it through something else that matters, namely covenant. He revealed himself to Abram and established his covenant of grace with Abra­ham and his seed. He entered into a most amazing ar­rangement with Abraham, and with all of the children of Abraham, an arrangement full of mercy and grace, love and compassion, justice and holiness, communion and in­timacy. He made him into the father of all believers.

To underline the reality and veracity of this, he also created a special sign and seal. God ordained circum­cision (Gen 17:9-14). He demanded that all the males born or bought in Abraham's household were to be set apart through circumcision and thus identified as his. He claimed them all. Special mention is made of how he claimed Abraham and Sarah's son Isaac and of how his covenant was "an everlasting covenant" (Gen 17:19).

Hence the OT teaches us that God elects, calls, and sets apart a people for himself, a people wrapped in covenant, a people marked by circumcision, or, if you will, by God's special sign of ownership.

Does all of this turn into a different story in the NT? Some would have us believe that there the rules dras­tically change, but did they? It is true that in time God replaced circumcision (a blood ceremony) with baptism (a bloodless ceremony), but the essential meaning does not change. Circumcision and baptism both point to the removal of sin and the renewal of the heart (Col 2:11-13).

Why it Still Matters – because All of God's People Matter←⤒🔗

But then if God creates a relationship called covenant with and for his people and gives it a sign called circum­cision or baptism, he also uses this sign to lay claim to a whole people. In other words, all of his children matter. He is not just claiming a certain segment. He is not limit­ing himself to a certain group. No, our God claims people of all ages. When Moses gave his farewell address to the people of Israel, it is said that he "spoke to all Israel" (Deut 1:1; 31:1). He calls and claims them all.

He even claims the very young. Circumcision has to be administered to eight-day-old boys. And listen to what God says if this is not done:

Any uncircumcised male who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.Gen 17:14

Any adult who is not circumcised in Abraham's event or later in Israel, as well as any uncircumcised child, is a covenant breaker. He does not belong to God's people.

Rather harsh, we would say. In reality, it underlines the fact that God's covenant is not some minor, indiffer­ent, optional relationship and that circumcision is not some nasty, painful, and optional ritual either. God's covenant needs to be taken seriously.

And the same applies today. We believe that "baptism has replaced circumcision" (Form for the Baptism of In­fants, Book of Praise, 587). And then it may be true, that some aspects change as the OT sacrament gives way to the NT one; however, one thing does not change. And it is this: just like circumcision baptism remains God's way of claiming his people, of adding to his people, of placing his stamp of ownership on his people.

"Yes," but some will say, "Only this does not apply to children. There is no text in which God tells us that he wants us to baptize our children. So children are ex­cluded. They do not belong until they become adults and can properly 'repent and believe.'"

Interesting point! But is it valid? Did God say in the OT, "Circumcision is only for the adults in Abraham's tent"? No, he claimed them all. Children are deemed a "heritage from the LORD" (Ps 127:3). Children are called "a reward" (Ps 127:3). "Blessed" is the man who has lots of them (Ps 127:5). In the OT then children are part and parcel of God's people. They belong!

Where's the Proof Text?←⤒🔗

Where is the text for this in the NT? There is no text! It may even be asked, "Who needs a text to state the ob­vious?" For imagine that, as our Baptist friends allege, this all changes in the NT. What an uproar that would have created! For remember the NT church remained for many years a predominantly Jewish church. Such a church would have ignited into great controversy had God suddenly said through his apostles, "From now on your children will no longer belong to my people. They will have to wait on the sidelines until such time as they are able to repent of their sins, believe in my son Jesus Christ, and be baptized. Only then will they belong and be my children."

Nowhere does he say this! Indeed, he says the very opposite,

The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off — for all whom the Lord our God will callActs 2:39

That's Peter speaking on Pentecost day to all of those God-fearing Jews from around Asia Minor. He's telling them that the promise is still for them and for their children. He's telling them to come to faith in Jesus Christ and he is telling them to teach their chil­dren to do the same as they mature. Being baptized is not a guarantee of automatic salvation; it signals a call to all of its recipients to embrace what God has promised and to live as God expects.

Hence baptism matters to God. It matters when it comes to the teaching of covenant and it matters when it comes to his people, even to all of his people. What an encouragement this is!

Necessary and Needed←⤒🔗

This comes to light in any number of ways. A father is speaking to his son who has been bullied and reminds him that while he may not be special in the eyes of his peers, he is special in the eyes of him who matters most, namely his heavenly Father. This gives encouragement to a mother dealing with a wayward daughter who needs to be reminded that she has a Saviour to whom she can turn for understanding, forgiveness, and restoration. This helps a pastor or elder address a young member who is going astray by stressing that this is not about some dull and distant religion but about being an heir and having a glorious inheritance that can be lost and forfeited. Be­ing a covenant child represents a status to be embraced with joy, a treasure to be mined with vigour, and a life to be lived with confidence. It gives purpose, meaning, and direction to the lives of young and old alike.

On a Personal Note←⤒🔗

It does so especially in difficult circumstances. Thankfully, most of our children and grandchildren are born healthy and able these days, but some are not. Some have physical ailments. Some have mental issues. Some have both.

So what about those children who are not well and who cannot formulate or verbalize their faith? Where are they? Are they in salvation limbo because they cannot really "repent and believe" so to speak? Is God silent, in­different, non-committal about them? Do believing par­ents need to wring their hands in worry as they consider the eternal future of such children?

I have a young grandson who is autistic. He does not really speak and he may never really speak. Will he ever come to know the basics of the Christian faith? I don't know. Will he ever come to profess his faith in a clear, unequivocal, and adult manner? I don't know.

What I do know, however, is that he is a son of be­lieving parents, that he has been baptized and wears God's mark and emblem, that he is a recipient of God's promises, that he is part and parcel of God's covenant people and family, and that just as "God-fearing parents ought not to doubt the election and salvation of their children whom God calls out of this life in their infancy" (CD, I 17), so they need not doubt the status and sal­vation of their mentally challenged children either. Our God claims our children. He calls our children to love him and to live a holy life. And as for those of his chil­dren who are too broken to respond, he does not ignore them. He still loves them, claims them, and saves them. They are his and he will care for them eternally. He is gracious! He is merciful! He is faithful!

To my Baptist Friends←⤒🔗

So I would say to all of my Baptist friends, and all those who are leaning in their direction:

1. Do not restrict baptism to adults only. Do not deprive your children of the promises of God and of belong­ing to the people of God;
    
2. Be careful that you do not make baptism a sacrament only for the mature and the able, as if God is silent when it comes to the unable: the infants of believers who die, the severely mentally challenged and the demented;
    
3. Realize too that circumcision as a ceremony saves no one; so too the rite of baptism (whether infant, adult, or both) saves no one. What mattered in the OT is what one did with the promises and demands found in one's circumcision and what matters today is what one does with the promises and demands found in one's baptism;
    
4. If you are looking for a text that commands the church to baptize infants, change course and look instead for a text declaring that the little children of Abraham are no longer in covenant with God. When you find it, let me know.