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Transcript 006B — What Does the Bible Teach About Infant Baptism?
CALLER: Hello. Could you tell me what the Bible teaches about infant baptism?
HC: OK. Let me say at the outset, first of all, that nowhere in the Bible does it say that infants are to be baptized. This is not something that is laid out that plainly. But the Bible does say something about how God intends salvation to be accomplished. And the Old Testament believers were saved just as we New Testament believers. Now in the Old Testament, God gave a sign to those who became involved with the kingdom of God, and that sign was circumcision. And so when Abraham was circumcised, back in Genesis Chapter 15 or 16, he not only circumcised his children, that is, his son Ishmael (he then only had one son, who was 13 at the time), but he also circumcised all of his servants in the house, and from that time forward, any boy baby 8 days old was circumcised, to indicate that he became a member of the kingdom of God, or the church of God. Now this did not guarantee salvation for that youngster, but it simply indicated the parent's desire for that child to be a citizen of the kingdom of God, which they belonged to.
Now in the New Testament, the sign of circumcision was set aside. It was part of the ceremonial law, and God did not want it to be used anymore. But He gave a New Testament sign to indicate we belong to Christ, and that is the sign of baptism, that is, water baptism. And so many believers believe that children ought to be baptized just as parents. And they look at a passage like Acts 16, where the jailor of Philippi was saved, and immediately all his household was baptized. Or, in the same chapter, we read about Lydia, and she was saved, and her family was baptized, the same as Abraham and his family were circumcised when that sign was used in the Old Testament. And so this becomes a very heavy reason why some believe that infant baptism ought to be employed.