On the Justification of Infant Baptism

John 3:5
	Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Romans 10:9-13
	 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

	(Faith and belief in Jesus can be present before conscious articulation as shown below)

Acts 2:38-41
	And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

Acts 16:32-34
	And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

Galatians 3:23-29
	Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.

Mark 16:16
	Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

~~~*** ON MARK 16:16 ***~~~
	"He who believes *AND* is baptised will be saved..."
	Some people mistakenly think the text means you have to believe *before* you can be baptised. From that, they assume infants can't be baptized because they aren't able to believe yet. For this logic to hold for the first half of the sentence, it MUST hold for the second half of the sentence as well. "...but he who does not believe will be condemned." Does this mean that infants who die are condemned?

~~~*** INFANTS ARE FREQUENTLY SAVED IN THE BIBLE ***~~~
Psalm 22:9-10
	Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother's breasts. On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother's womb you have been my God.

2 Samuel 12:15-23

	Then Nathan went to his house.

	David's Child Dies
	And the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and he became sick. David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. And the elders of his house stood beside him, to raise him from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them. On the seventh day the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he did not listen to us. How then can we say to him the child is dead? He may do himself some harm.” But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David understood that the child was dead. And David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “He is dead.” Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate. Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”

1 Kings 14:13
	And all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found something pleasing to the Lord, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam.

Jeremiah 1:4
	Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Luke 1:41-44
	 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

~~~*** 3 EVERLASTING SIGNS ***~~~

A denial of infant baptism is a denial of one of the three everlasting signs.
In the Old Testament these were 1. The Passover 2. The Sabbath 3. Circumcision which
Jesus replaced in the New Testament with 1. Lord's Supper 2. Lord's Day 3. Baptism

The three signs of the Old Testament were replaced by the three signs of the New Testament and Jesus said that His words will stand beyond Heaven and Earth passing away. These new everlasting signs have been established by the New Covenant (1 Corinthians 11:23-29, Hebrews 8-10).

~~~*** BAPTISM AS A GIFT ***~~~

Baptism is a GIFT of what GOD has done for YOU. You are born with sin and can not turn to God of your own free will and choice. God must lead you to Him. When the false doctrine that you must "understand" Baptism to accept it, it turns a gift into LAW. It makes baptism what YOU can do to satisfy GOD. There is nowhere in the Bible that says baptism is a "declaration" or a "show of faith" or an "outward sign of an inward change". These are purely man made definitions.

There is no scripture that says there is an age of accountability to God. It does not exist.

~~~*** WHY BAPTISE INFANTS ***~~~

1. Grace
	Faith in the Holy Spirit is God's decision, not ours.
	John 1:13 - "who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God."

	God is the one who gives new birth, it is not a decision we can make. Baptism is never described in scripture as OUR work or testimony.

2. Infants are included in "all nations"
	Matthew 28:19-20 - "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. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

3. Infants are sinful
	Psalm 51:5 - "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me."
	Babies and adults alike die. The Holy Spirit works faith through baptism.

4. Because all people (including babies) must be born again
	John 3:5 - "Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."
	There is no age limit imposed in scripture. Every person MUST be born of water AND spirit

	This was also foretold in the Old Testament - Ezekiel 36:25-27 - " I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules."

	This shows how baptism, a new spirit and wanting to follow Jesus come from baptism.

5. Infants can believe
	Matthew 18:6 - "but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea."
	Faith and belief come from the Holy Spirit, not adult wisdom. Scripture never describes baptism as our work.

	Mark 10:13-16 - "And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them."
	God welcomes children into the Kingdom of Heaven without the need to intellectually assent.

6. Witness of the Early Church
	The early Church baptised infants. Why would they do that if the apostles forbid it? Polycarp (69 AD - 155 AD) wrote that he was baptised as an infant.

7. "and your children" - Acts 2:38-39
	"And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”
	The promise is for you AND your children.

8. Entire households were baptised in scripture - Acts 16:15 and Acts 16:33
	"And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us."
	"And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family."
	Entire households were baptised

9. Baptism v. Circumcision - The new covenant everlasting sign
	This comparison is made in Colossians 2:11-12 - "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."
	Infants were circumcised at eight days old (Genesis 17:9–14). Why would baptism be compared to circumcision if infants weren't to be baptised?

~~~*** WHO CONFERS BAPTISM? ***~~~
All baptisms are done through a baptiser as a conduit. They are the means by which God speaks the Word and which God applies the water. The Reverend Pastor delivers the spoken Word of God and God Himself applies the gift of baptism.

Titus 3:5 - "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"
	This text shows baptism is connected to salvation by God's work alone, not our own works.

In The Great Commission Jesus gave instructions to the Apostles in Matthew 28:16-20:
	Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

	He gave these instructions and authority to the Apostles to act as a conduit, but God would confer the gift of baptism itself. This is further supported in Acts 3 where the Apostles use primary discourse (ie. 'I forgive you', 'I baptise you').

This formula in Matthew 28 is also seen in John 20 where Jesus said to the Disciples - "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

The phrase "In the name of..." in Greek means "in the stead of / by command of / as proxy to" - God is doing the act through means of His servant.

Luke 10:16 - "The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” Baptism is not gifted by the Reverend Pastor but by God alone.

~~~*** GOD'S WORK ALONE ***~~~

God gets us to heaven entirely by His own work. Not by our knowledge, or our works. Christ stands for us at God's right hand having finished all that is necessary to restore our fellowship with the Father. In the sacrament of Baptism we most intimately experience the unity of that fellowship shown in John 17:21 - "that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me."

In The Creation God:
1) Separated substances from each other
2) Named (promised) them
3) Declared these things 'good'

This pattern continues throughout the Bible when new things are introduced into the world (ie. new world, man, new people)

In the Old Testament God:
1) Separates Israel from Egypt
2) Calls them by name (Deuteronomy 28:10 - "And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you.")
3) Declares them holy (Deuteronomy 7:6 - "For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.")

In the New Testament Jesus's Baptism:
1) Separates Jesus from the World
2) Jesus is named 'Son of God'
3) In Jesus, God is well-pleased

Our baptism puts us in that baptism with Jesus:
1) We are separated from the World
2) We are named in the Lord
3) We are declared 'good' or 'justified'

Our justification is an OBJECTIVE FACT so long as -
Jesus is at the right hand of the Father; and
Stands before God as perfect; and
The Church is the Communion of Saints in the Body of Christ

The liturgy is the substantiation of that truth.

~~~*** ARE WE 'IN' JESUS? ***~~~
We are in the Body of Christ. Therefore it is objective and witnessed that as the Church is Christ's bride, with Christ who sits at the Father's right hand in perfect fellowship, we are in communion with Christ and in that perfect fellowship.

~~~*** HOMILIES ON LEVITICUS 8:3 (WRITTEN 248 AD) ***~~~:
	"Every soul that is born into flesh is soiled by the filth of wickedness and sin in the Church, Baptism is given for the remission of sins and, according to the usage of the Church, baptism is given to infants. If there were nothing in infants which required the remission of sins and nothing in them pertinent to forgiveness, the Grace of Baptism would seem superfluous."

~~~*** HOMILIES ON GENESIS 10:23-39 (WRITTEN BY AUGUSTINE 354-430 AD) ***~~~:
	"The custom of Mother Church in baptizing infants is certainly not to be scorned… nor is it to be believed that its tradition is anything except Apostolic."

~~~*** HOMILIES ON LUKE 14:5 (WRITTEN BY ORIGEN 185-254 AD) ***~~~:
	“Every soul that is born into flesh is soiled by the filth of wickedness and sin... For this reason, the Church has received the tradition from the Apostles to give baptism even to infants."