Ministers of the New Covenant - Is There a Case for Infant Baptism?

Is There A Case For Infant Baptism?

by Matthew Janzen

I would venture to say most people who call themselves Christians today have given much thought to the title of this short article. Should we or should we not baptize infants? Is it wrong if we do baptize infants? Is it forsaking Scripture to not administer baptism to infants? I will do my best to answer these questions and others in the remainder of the article.

Who Do We Baptize?

We are commissioned by Christ to baptize in both the evangels of Matthew 28:19-20 and Mark 16:15-16. Both texts necessarily imply that infants are excluded from this New Covenant Baptism.

Matthew 28:19-20 reads, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.” Here we see that those who we baptize must also be taught. Infants are not capable of being taught, and therefore are excluded from Matthew 28:19-20.

The same can be said for Mark 16:15-16 which reads, “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” Once again, please notice we are to preach the gospel to those who we later baptize. You don’t preach the gospel to infants, they aren’t able to understand the gospel, and therefore are excluded from this verse. We also add that here belief is seen to be a prerequisite to New Covenant baptism; seeing that an infant is incapable of believing, he is therefore not to be baptized. This brings us to our next points.

Prerequisites for Baptism

We saw above that those who are baptized must believe (in Christ) before baptism. This same necessary implication can be found in the following Scriptures:

Acts 2:38 “Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Yahshua (the) Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 2:41 “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.”

Notice that those who were baptized first repented, and received Peter’s word from the Holy Spirit. An infant can do neither of these things, and therefore cannot meet the Scriptural prerequisites of baptism, and such teaches they are excluded from baptism. In relation to this Acts 2:42 reads, “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Can infants continue in doctrine and fellowship? Of course not. Those continuing in the things mentioned in verse 42 were those who received the word and were baptized in verse 41, and therefore this does not include infants.

The Ethiopian Eunuch

In the conversion of the Eunuch in Acts 8 we find another proof that infants are not required to be baptized. We read in Acts 8:36-37:

Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Yahshua (the) Christ is the Son of (the) Almighty.”

The eunuch here asked what hindered him from being baptized, and Philip gave a condition. He said if you believe you may, which does indeed necessarily imply that if you do not believe you may not. Infants cannot believe, they are not even capable of believing, and therefore baptism does not have to be administered to infants.

Appealing to Yahweh for a Good Conscience

We find the following in 1 Peter 3:20-21:

…who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward (the) Almighty), through the resurrection of Yahshua (the) Christ.

Here we see that baptism is done in order for us to have a good conscience towards Yahweh. Some translations of the Bible say that it is an appeal to the Almighty for a good conscience. Infants cannot appeal to Yahweh for a good conscience, they are not cognizant of what a conscience even is, and therefore do not have to be baptized.

The same thing applies in Acts 22:16. In this verse we see that calling upon the name of the Lord (Yahweh) is done through water baptism. Infants cannot call upon the name of Yahweh, they would have no idea what you were doing if you baptized them, and therefore infants, once again, do not need to be baptized.

Men and Women were Baptized

In Acts 8:4-12 we find that Philip was preaching the kingdom of the Almighty in the city of Samaria. We also find that the Samarians accepted the good news because of what is stated in Acts 8:12.

But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Yahshua (the) Christ, both men and women were baptized.

It is very interesting that the text mentions both men and women being baptized but says nothing about infants. Surely out of the peoples of the city of Samaria there were some infants, yet the text says nothing of infants being baptized. The same can be said of Acts 5:14 were it shows that men and women were being added to the Lord. This means they were receiving the gospel plan of salvation which included belief, repentance and baptism. The text says nothing of infants being added to the Lord. Some of the men and women who were added may have had children, but nowhere do we find where the children were baptized, or believed or repented for that matter.

Household Baptisms

Many of those peoples holding to the practice of infant baptism point out that entire households were baptized in the Bible. Let’s examine these household baptisms.

Lydia’s Household – In Acts 16:14-15 we are told Lydia and her household were baptized. However, does the text state that there were infants in her household? No. Therefore we cannot assume that there were. The argument is mute either way, I cannot prove there were not infants in the household, neither can anyone prove there were.
Jailer’s Household – In Acts 16:33-34 we find the jailor who held Paul and Silas captive was baptized along with his household. However, in verse 34 we find that he “believed in (the) Almighty with all his household.” This shows that the household believed together; seeing that infants cannot believe, the jailor had no infants in his household.
Crispus’ Household – In Acts 18:8 we find Crispus’ household was baptized, but we also find that Crispus’ household all believed before baptism. An infant is incapable of believing therefore there were no infants in Crispus’ household.
Stephanus’ Household – In 1 Corinthians 1:16 we find Paul baptized Stephanus’ household. However, in 1 Corinthians 16:15 we find Stephanus’ household devoted or addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints; something an infant cannot do, thus there were no infants in this household.

We see that there is nothing in the text of Scripture at all that necessarily implies that any infants were baptized although household baptisms are mentioned.

Baptism and Circumcision: A Parallel?

Some ministers who advocate infant baptism attempt to parallel it with Old Covenant circumcision. They reason that since circumcision was administered to infants (Genesis 17) and since baptism is New Covenant circumcision (Colossians 2:12) we must baptize infants. However, their reasoning is faulty of a few accounts.

Firstly even if baptism is New Covenant circumcision, it is not parallel in every respect. No minister I am aware of baptizes only his sons, nor baptizes them only on the eighth day of their life; two things that were strongly associated with physical circumcision.

Secondly, Colossians 2:12 does not say that baptism is New Covenant circumcision. It rather reads:

In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of (the) Almighty, who raised Him from the dead. (Colossians 2:11-12)

Here we see that New Covenant circumcision is the forgiveness of sins, i.e. the putting off the body the sins of the flesh. This does occur at baptism (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16) but baptism is not the spiritual circumcision itself.

Infants Do Not Need Baptism

In conclusion let me state that an infant does not need baptism. Sons do not bear the iniquity of their Fathers (Ezekiel 18:21), and therefore do no inherit the personal sin or the original sin of Adam, as some teach. Yahweh made man upright (Ecclesiastes 7:29) not in a state of original sin. There is a time in a child’s life when he doesn’t know to choose the good or refuse the evil (Isaiah 7:16) and in this time they have no knowledge of good or evil (Deuteronomy 1:39). It is for these reasons that they do not need to be baptized. When a child comes to the accountable age, and has the knowledge of good and evil they are then commanded to be taught or preached to (Matthew 28:20; Mark 16:15), believe (Mark 16:16), repent (Acts 2:38) and appeal to Yahweh for a good conscience (1 Peter 3:21). At that time they will be forgiven for their sins, which then they will be accountable for.

Is this Important?

Some people may wonder, “Well, we know that you don’t have to baptize infants, but if we do it doesn’t matter.” This type of reason is not Scriptural. We must take heed to our doctrine for our salvation and the salvation of others (1 Timothy 4:16). When we teach for doctrines the commandments of men it causes us to have vain (worthless) worship (Matthew 15:1-9). We must have authority for practicing doctrine, and there is none at all for infant baptism in the Bible. Therefore knowing the terror of the Lord, I write this article to all who practice infant baptism in order to persuade them out of the doctrine (2 Corinthians 5:11). May we seek to please our heavenly Father in what we doctrinally practice.

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