Should babies be baptized?

Why do people still baptize babies even though we do not read anything from Scripture on this practice? What is infant baptism actually, and is it demonic? So first I'll answer kind of where this comes from. This is a very old debate. Very, very old. We see it's starting to show up about 250 A.D. and it comes mainly from a few verses in the Bible. There is no Bible verse that says babies should be baptized, but this is where they'll get it. Now, I'll just read some for you so we can kind of start there. We Read in Acts 16, verse 14, One who heard us was a woman named Lydia from the city of Teatra, a seller of purple goods who was a worshipper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul was saying. And after she was baptized and her household as well, she urged saying, if you have judgment, you'll be faithful. Come to my house and stay. So the big thing here is that she was baptized, okay? And her household as well. And so the Catholics, the Orthodox, and some other denominations, they hold to this idea that because it mentions that the household was baptized, this means that infants, babies were also baptized. Yes, it mentions a household. But the question we should be asking ourselves is, is there any reason we might believe that infants would not be included in baptism according to the biblical teaching on what baptism is? Now, I'll just read this from James W. Scott. He's an Orthodox Presbyterian, and he believes in infant baptism. And this is what they say. There is no example of anyone born to Christian parents being baptized in the New Testament at any age. And no precept addresses their specific situation. The time and circumstances that are appropriate for baptizing such children must be inferred from general biblical teaching concerning baptism. Okay? So again, they're admitting it's not in the Bible directly. They are inferring it based off a broader viewpoint. And I want to submit that this viewpoint that they have is that baptism is a mere ritual. It is a thing that we do as an act before others to show that we are dedicating our life to God. And people are witnessing it. You know, they're praising God for it. And baptism has for a long time been that and only that. And I don't actually believe that's what the Bible teaches baptism is. Baptism can be a celebration. Don't get me wrong. It is a dedication of our lives. But it's more than that. The Bible talks about a decision that is made to die with Christ, that baptism becomes this instrument that God has given us in order to partake in the crucifixion with Christ, just like the thief on the cross was next to him, dying with him. And Yeshua, Jesus, he leans over and he says, you will today I tell you, you will be with me in the kingdom that death to oneself. To pick up our cross and follow him and to be crucified is what baptism allows us to do. That's why Paul talks about baptism being an act of repentance. Let me read a few of what is written in Acts chapter 22 regarding baptism. And we see that he says, and now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name, right? So we see two things here. Why do you wait? In other words, that infers that there is a decision, this person is waiting. Do not wait, make the decision today to get baptized, right? And secondly, call on his name as you get baptized. In other words, you have this act of faith towards God, this crying out to God for God to come and do a work in you as you lay your life down to follow Him. So another one. Let me read one more. Acts 2, verse 38. We see. 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. Okay, now we see this act of repentance that goes hand in hand with baptism. You see, you cannot have baptism without repentance because baptism in its nature is to repent. It is to turn away, pick up your cross, and follow God, leaving sin behind. And so the question is, is an infant capable of the three things that we just highlighted from the Scriptures of what baptism is? We highlighted repentance. We highlighted calling on his name, this act of faith, and trust in God to do a work. And this decision that is made to be baptized, an infant can do none of that. A baby is a baby. A baby is still learning to use his or her senses, never mind make lifelong serious decisions, like picking up a cross to be crucified with Christ. Right? So that's the. The thing I guess we need to wrestle with regarding it. You know, what's interesting is when we look at the denominations who do infant baptisms, I think that we are seeing a sort of dedication of a child. And this is. Let me just see something good here, because there is something good. We see the sincerity in a mom and a dad and a family and in a church community to come and say this child, oh, Lord, we come and we dedicate this child to you. We want this child to grow up knowing you. We want you to guard this child, right? Like these are beautiful things. So please don't get me wrong here that I am. I am not discounting the amazing heart behind those who are bringing a child to the Lord. In fact, we see this idea in the Exodus where God speaks of dedication of the firstborn. He says, consecrate to me all the firstborn, whatever is first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and beast is mine, right? We also have the story of Samuel where Samuel's mother wasn't able to get pregnant. And she said to the Lord, if I can have a baby, I'll dedicate the baby to you. And then in 1 Samuel 2, 1 Samuel 1:27, we see that he says, she says, therefore I have lent him to the Lord. Now I am now giving him to God for God to do what he wants to do with Samuel, who becomes the prophet Samuel, of course. And so a child can be dedicated to the Lord. And I think that is a beautiful thing. But here's. Now, I guess what I would want to get to as the real problem with infant baptism. Besides for a baby not being able to perhaps make large decisions that go along with being baptized or repenting and so forth. But what culture and ideas it creates. When comfort is taken in infant baptism, it often comes along with the idea of securing the salvation of the child. Even when that child one day grows up, we see that families will think things like, oh, well, they at least the child got baptized. Now he's grown up and he's, you know, of age, and yet he is living a ratchet life. He's living a life opposite of what he should be as a person who has now died with Christ in baptism. And so suddenly we have this idea that you can live a life without repentance and without true dedication to God, but because you got baptized, your salvation is secure and you have nothing to worry about. And this idea is now a works mindset that the baptism is what saves, first of all, while in reality we are saved by our true faith. And whenever someone walks away from the faith that their family may have had, that must be concerning, because faith is what we are saved by. And so in churches where the culture of being, being a fief, because my mom and dad is a fief and their mom and dad is a fief. And my tradition is what informs my faith. Like I grew up Dutch Reformed and my parents were. And their parents were right and so forth. And so forth. And so the whole church structure becomes a very generational thing whereby which you are a Catholic or you are whatever, and that's why you are secure in God. No, we are secure in God because of our faith. And we are not secure in God if we have no faith. And so baptism can easily become a tradition that we attach wrong connotations to. So infant baptism only typically works in a religious system where, where individual repentance is not required and not something that keeps being an important aspect of one's faith. Now, of course I'm drawing some very general statements here. I believe that there are people who may fall out of these parameters that I'm setting forth, right? There are people who believe in infant baptism who are really on fire and who really believe that you must continue a very on fire life with the Lord. And anyone who lacks that needs to be concerned because it is an all or nothing thing. And so I do see that. But I just am warning regarding what we often see in denominations where infant baptism is typical. And so is it, as Jonathan asked, is infant baptism demonic? No, it's not demonic because I believe the intention is usually pure to dedicate a child to the Lord. But I do believe that there are real concerns with it and that a person truly needs to undertake baptism as a choice in faith, in repentance. And I have seen baptism most powerfully work out in people's lives when it's seen as more than a symbol, but as a true work of God where the person is coming to God with their burdens, their sins, and they are saying, God, I am tired of this God, I want to bury this in the water and I want to be coming out of this as a resurrected person. There is power when a person goes into the water with that faith. And so I do recommend if a person got baptized as an infant, to consider baptism as an adult when they are able to enter it knowing what they are actually doing in faith. We're excited to announce the Feast of Passover online conference. Join me with six incredible speakers as we explore Passover and the earth shattering event of Yeshua's sacrifice and resurrection and what it means to have blood on the doorpost on April 10, Thursday at 7:30pm this free conference will introduce you to ways to celebrate the Feast of Passover, hear updates from the land of Israel and hear miraculous stories and testimonies and be encouraged to enter the harvest. We will be having worship with Braden and Tali Waller, Trinity Karakov as well as our speakers being Nathan Harmon, Zach Waller of Heyuvel, Joe and Jackie from the Almond House and Pastor Chris Franke. We'll have a special Q and a live stream with our panel of speakers as well, so come and be a part of it. To join us, text Passover to 94000 to be reminded and notified and go to Passoveronline.com for more information. We'll see you there.