Infant Baptism > DKPC 나눔터

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As we look forward to some of the Spring Season holidays (Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Resurrection Sunday, and Mother's Day), I would like to think about one day. This year, Children's Sunday is on May 5 ^th (same day as Cinco de Mayo).

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Our church (Dae Hueng Korean Presbyterian Church) administers the sacrament of infant baptism twice a year: at the Christmas Day service and on Children's Sunday.

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As Presbyterians, there are two sacraments ( sacrament). We believe the Lord instituted in Scripture: The Lord's Supper (Communion) and Baptism (KAPC Book of Church Order, Article 10). As Reformed people, we believe baptism is for professing believers and their children - paedobaptist. The other perspective on baptism is the view that only professing believers should be baptized - credobaptist. This view is held by baptist denominations and most independent churches.

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I often think there are some "secret" baptists in our church because they do not really understand why we baptized children (more commonly known as "infant baptism"). We see a baby a few months old as a year or two years ago. "Is this really a baptism? How can a child be baptized when the child does not understand salvation, God's holiness, sin, repentance, etc.? "

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I would like to do my best to explain from the Bible why we should be baptizing our children. That means, every Christian (even baptists) who believes in the God of the Bible is required to baptize their children.

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FIRST, IT's Important Important to understand is God ares Covenant ( Covenant) making God. It's too bad we do not use the word covenant enough in our church. We "should" because God has made several covenants with His people in the Bible. One famous one is the covenant God made with Noah after the flood. In Genesis 9: 8-11, we read:

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The then God said to's Noah and to the HIS amp; Sons with the HIM: "the I Now establish My Covenant with you and with Your Descendants the After you ^10? and with the Every Living Creature that was with you-Is the Birds, Is the livestock and Trade shows All Is the Wild Animals, Trade shows All Those that came out of the ark with you-every living creature on earth. I establish my covenant with you: Never again will life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth. "?^???^?

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A covenant is a "promise" God makes with people. And, since God is making the promise, He will never break it.

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God gave the rainbow as the "sign" of the covenant with Noah. The sign is a visible memorial of God's covenant. The Lord has a symbol that helps us remember his love, grace and mercy. Whenever we see a rainbow, we should remember God's promise that he will never again judge the earth with water.

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After this covenant with Noah, God made a covenant with Abram (ham). We can read the story in Genesis 12-17. The covenant is basically God's promise that Abraham will be the father of a multitude of nations, that he will be blessed, a blessing to other, and he would have a land. Abraham believed in God's promise and because of Abraham's faith, God credited him as righteousness. But the Lord does something interesting when he repeats the promise to Abraham in Genesis 17: 6-8

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I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after your generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your offspring after you. (Bold mine) , and I will give to you all the land of your souls,

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God makes His covenant with Abraham AND Abraham's offspring (children). One thing to remember is that Abraham does not have any legitimate children yet. (He did have a child "of the flesh" - Ishmael, but he was not a son of the Promise). This is incredible!

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This indicates that God has a special plan for families in His work of redemption. And, He makes a covenant to prove His special plan.

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But, there's more! Remember the "sign" of the covenant God gave to Noah? Well, God gives me a sign to Abraham too. Genesis 17: 9-13

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And God said to Abraham, "As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you through generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. He who is eight days old will be circumcised. Every single day throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought from your money, any foreigner who is not in your offspring, both he who is born in your house and he bought in your money, shall surely be circumcised. So I will covenant you in your flesh an everlasting covenant.

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The sign of the covenant is Abraham (a professing believer in God's promise) will be circumcised. In addition, his children and the children will also be circumcised when they are eight days old. But one might ask, why would an eight-year-old boy need to be circumcised? He does not know what's going on. He does not know anything about the God of Abraham or his promise. God instituted this sign to show love, grace and mercy to the future. This future will be the Lord of a New and better Covenant. This is also the history of God's redemptive history: a husband and a wife and their children.

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At the beginning of this article, I mentioned Infant Baptism. What does God's Covenant with Abraham and the sign of Circumcision have to do with Infant Baptism? I'm glad you asked.

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If we jump forward to the New Testament in Colossians 2: 11-12, we read the following:

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In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made by hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ , having been buried with him in baptism , of God, who raised him from the dead.

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It's hard to miss the connection between circumcision and baptism in these verses.

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We live in the New Covenant era. Christ has come (and left to be seated at the right and of God the Father). Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Covenant and the New Covenant that offers salvation to everyone who believes in Him as Savior and calls Him Lord of their lives. For those trusting Jesus, they are part of His Kingdom.

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The New Covenant is professing believers are baptized as the Old Covenant believers were circumcised. And remember, not only were the Old Covenant believer circumcised, but ALSO the children (the sons) of the Covenant. Then, it makes logical sense the children of the New Covenant would be "baptized" after their believing parents have been baptized. And while circumcision was only for the "boys", infant baptism is for both boys AND girls because the Gospel is broader and more expansive, as Christ has fulfilled the Promise.

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Well, one may ask, is there any biblical precedence for children being baptized? Here is a few verses to consider:

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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,?

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16-Acts: 30-33 Then OUT of He brought them and said, "? Sirs, the What Must the I do to be the Saved" And they said, ". Believe in Is the Lord Jesus, and you will be the Saved, you and Your Household" And They spoke the word of the Lord to him and 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.? ?

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These two passages are from Acts, the story of the early church after Jesus ascended to heaven. It appears that the Promise of salvation is offered to adults AND children (families). This makes sense because of what happened when God made His Covenants with Noah and Abraham thousands of years before the time of the Acts of the Apostles.

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Children of the Promise who are baptized as infants as a sign of the Covenant become part of the Covenant Community / Family of God. Infant baptism is not just a cute act of baby dedication. Nor, is it some holdover from Roman Catholicism. The Reformers (Martin Luther, John Calvin, etc.) were not sentimental to the practice of infant baptism in the Roman Catholic Church. Instead, the Reformers believed that infant baptism was a sacrament instituted by Christ Himself as He made the Great Commission: "All authority has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizingI have commanded you to teach them to the Holy Spirit. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. "(Matthew 28: 18-20)

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As we baptized the precious little ones God created in His image and heirs of the Gospel because of their believing parents, let's keep in mind that the Gospel is being visibly represented and the promise of salvation belongs to everyone who believes now and will believe in the future !

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