From time to time we hear of members in our churches who question the validity of the baptism they received as infants and who have themselves re-baptized in churches which restrict this sacrament to those who have come to conscious faith in Christ. It all seems so clear to them. Doesn't the New Testament teach that people first believed the Gospel and that only then they were baptized? Therefore, what value can this sacrament possibly have for little children since they cannot believe and make a profession of their faith?

Often such people were quite indifferent during their childhood and teen years. They never thought much about baptism or about spiritual things in general until the Lord brought them to their senses and they seriously began to seek salvation in Christ. If this change in their life came about as a result of contacts with Baptists or other Christians who deny infant baptism, they were probably encouraged to be baptized "the right way" as a seal upon their faith and initiation into their new life in Christ.

The issue of re-baptism is not new. Our fathers had to deal with it shortly after the Reformation. When Luther and the other Reformers broke with Rome, there soon emerged a radical wing in the Protestant camp which felt that their leaders had not gone far enough in reforming the church. For instance, they thought that the whole notion of infant baptism was a Roman Catholic invention for which no support could be found in God's Word. To be faithful to Scripture therefore, they insisted that only adult believers should be baptized. Since most Protestants had been baptized as infants in the Roman Catholic Church, this meant they had to be re-baptized, hence their name Anabaptists (from ana=again).

Strictly speaking of course, they did not consider this believer's baptism a second baptism, for the first one, in their opinion, had been illegal and meaningless. But the Reformers did think of it as another, additional baptism, an unnecessary repetition of the sacrament received in infancy.

Our Confession of Faith deals with this issue in Article 24.

We believe that every man who is earnestly studious of obtaining life eternal ought to be but once baptized with this only baptism without ever repeating the same since we cannot be born twice. Neither does this baptism only avail us at the time when the water is poured upon us and received by us, but also through the whole course of our life; therefore we detest the error of the Anabaptists who are not content with the one only bap­tism they have once received, and moreover condemn the baptism of the infants of believers whom we believe ought to be baptized and sealed with the sign of the covenant, as the children in Israel formerly were circumcised upon the same promises which are made unto our children. And indeed, Christ shed his blood no less for the washing of the children of the faithful than for adult persons; and therefore they ought to receive the sign and sacrament of that which Christ has done for them.

Our Reformed fathers detested what they considered a serious error on the part of the Anabaptists. Admittedly this is very strong language, which we hesitate to employ today. We tend to be a bit more generous when it comes to evaluating this gentler and kinder attitude on our part is largely the fruit of our ignorance of the issues at stake.

It seems to me that the doctrine of baptism has almost become a "stepchild" among the doctrines we hold dear. Seldom does one hear believers speak of any comfort experienced as a consequence of serious reflection on their baptism. Even the sermons preached on this subject tend to be largely polemical, that is, we preachers often feel we have to warn against the danger of overestimating this sacrament, so that our people are left with the feeling that baptism is little more than an empty ritual which does not really help you very much, either in coming to faith or in coming to assurance of salvation. Just the other day I read a fine article on this very subject in De Wekker by Rev. Jonkman who complained about the same thing, namely that in his pastoral ministry he hardly ever met Christians who were exercised about their baptism.

Is it any wonder then that our young people are confused about this sacrament and that they are open to the influence of baptists who do attach great importance to their (believer's) baptism? If our children seldom or never hear their parents and elders speak of the rich meaning of baptism as a sacrament of the covenant of grace, we need not be surprised that they remain more or less indifferent to it.

The problem, as I see it, is that we hesitate to take at face value what Scripture says about the sacrament of baptism. We know that Scripture speaks of baptism as the divinely appointed means of incorporation into Christ, but we tend to restrict this blessing to those who experience Spirit baptism, in other words, to those who are brought to faith and repentance as a result of the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. This means, in fact, that we place ourselves essentially on the standpoint of the Baptists.

We find it difficult to believe that at bap­tism also our infants are incorporated into Christ, quite apart from any faith and repentance of which they are obviously incapable at the time. Yet at every baptism service we pray:

We beseech Thee that Thou wilt be pleased of Thine infinite mercy graciously to look upon these children and incorporate them by Thy Holy Spirit into Thy Son Jesus Christ, that they may be buried with him into his death and be raised with him in newness of life.

Following this prayer, the minister baptizes them in or actually into the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. "Know ye not," Paul asks the Roman Christians, "that as many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore we are buried with Him in baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:3, 4).

The Corinthians are reminded by the same apostle that their fathers "were all baptized unto (Greek eis, into) Moses in the cloud and in the sea" (1 Cor. 10:2). The key word here is the word eis or into. To be baptized into Moses meant that the Israelites were incorporated into the Mediator of the Old Testament. To be baptized into Christ means to be incorporated into the Mediator of the New Testament. It means to be joined to Him as the members of the body are joined to its head or as branches are part of a tree. We become one plant with Christ (Romans 6:5). But here is where many people have problems. They limit this incorporation into Christ and this union with Him to believers only, that is to say, to those who are regenerated and have come to faith in Christ. Since babies cannot believe, these people feel, they should not be viewed as being in Christ in any real sense.

But Scripture teaches that incorporation into Christ is a reality for all who are baptized, whether they are adult believers or their infant children. This incorporation, however, does not necessarily guarantee that all who receive this sacrament will be saved. That depends on whether or not their lives will show evidence of the new life in Christ. There must be fruits of faith and repentance. According to John 15 it is possible to be in Christ and yet to be unregenerate. There are branches in the Vine which remain barren, while others produce fruits. The unfruitful branches are cut off and destroyed, while the fruitful branches are pruned so that they will become even more fruitful. Thus real union exists between Christ and the branch that does not bear fruit (for example, Simon the magician, Acts 8). But we must realize that there are two aspects to this union. One is unto death, while the other leads to life. One is temporary, and the other is permanent. All the Israelites in the wilder­ness partook of Christ (1 Cor. 10:2ff.) and died there (Heb. 3:17). But they did not all die spiritually. Some lived and were savingly united to Him.

If it is possible to be incorporated into Christ through baptism without being saved, what value does this sacrament have for an infant? Is it not better to wait with this sacrament until one knows for sure that faith in Christ is present? The answer is NO and that for two reasons. First, God commands us to baptize believers and their children just as He commanded Abraham to circumcise himself and his male children, circumcision having been replaced by baptism (Col. 3:11). Second, God does not wait for us to come to Him with our faith so that He can give us His sacrament as a seal on our faith. Rather, He comes to us with His sacrament to seal to us and to our children His promise of salvation.

It is God who takes the initiative, not man, not even the converted man. In sovereign love and grace God takes us into His covenant and assures us that He will be our God (see our Baptismal Form). This wonderful act on God's part must be received in faith; in case of adults at the time of their baptism, in case of infants later when they grow up after they have been taught the meaning of their baptism by their parents and teachers.

In our baptism God gives us a tremendous pleading ground. We may remind Him of the promises He Himself confirmed to us by this sacrament and say with David, "Do as Thou hast said" (2 Sam. 7:25). We may show the Lord our baptized foreheads and ask Him to fulfil His promises in our lives by His Holy Spirit.

How ungrateful it is, therefore, to ignore our covenant God's gracious dealings with us and to say, my first baptism was of no value, I consider it an empty ceremony that means nothing to me, I will therefore ask for a second baptism. Scripture nowhere teaches the need for such an encore. Nowhere did God in the Old Testament command a second circumcision; nor did He order a second baptism in the New Testament.

All God's ordinances and institutions must be taken seriously, including baptism. In that sacrament also, God gives us a pledge of His good will and grace toward us (Confession of Faith, Article 33). As Calvin put it:

Whatever the Lord offers by the visible symbols must be confirmed and ratified by faith ... (but) we never have naked and empty symbols except when our ingratitude and wickedness hinder the working of the divine beneficence.Commentary on Romans, ch.6:3-4