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Transcript 006E — Your View on Infant Baptism
CALLER: Mr. Camping, I'd like to have your view on infant baptism, and the Scripture that says, "Baptism does not save us."
HC: You're thinking of First Peter, Chapter 3. Let me look at that a second, so we'll get the right context. First Peter 3:21: "Baptism which corresponds to this now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ." I think that is the verse that you're thinking about.
Well, first of all, what is baptism? Baptism, in its ultimate sense . . . the word baptism means to wash, or to cleanse, or to purify. And the Bible teaches that there is one baptism, and that's the baptism that occurred when our sins were washed away by the Holy Spirit, at the time that we were saved. And so God has given water baptism to the New Testament Church as an outward sign that we have entered the kingdom of God at the time that we were saved.
Now in the Old Testament they used a number of outward signs to identify with the fact that their hope was in the Messiah. There was the activity of bringing offerings: a burnt offering or a blood sacrifice. And there was also ceremonial ablutions of one kind or another. But the sign that was particularly emphasized in every family was that of circumcision. And when Abraham was circumcised (and that was really the official beginning of the nation of Israel) he had his whole household circumcised—his slaves, his servants, all the male children—everyone, as well as himself, was circumcised, because Abraham's household had entered corporately into the kingdom of God. And this was the sign of identification, to indicate that they had entered the kingdom of God.
Now when Christ came, the sign of circumcision was invalidated. That was not to be used anymore, probably because it was so totally interrelated and integrated into the Old Testament ceremonial law. But Christ did give the New Testament a sign indicating membership in the kingdom of God, or the fact that we were looking to the Messiah for the washing away of our sins, and that was baptism. Now the question is, "Do we baptize infants like they circumcised infants in the Old Testament?" Now we know that the Old Testament believers are saved like the New Testament believers; we know that. They're saved by repenting of their sins and throwing themselves on the mercies of Christ. Their salvation is identical to ours in that regard.
Does God expect us now to baptize our little children? The Bible doesn't give us specific detail. In the Old Testament they were told to circumcise a son at the age of 8 days. Nowhere does it say to baptize a youngster at any particular day, or even to baptize a youngster. But the circumstantial evidence points to the fact that they did baptize children. We find in Acts, Chapter 16, for example, when the jailer of Philippi was saved, that he was baptized at once, with his household. And we read in Acts 16 of Lydia, that when she was saved, then she also was baptized, with her household.
And so we begin to see that even as God employed circumcision in the Old Testament as an evidence of trust that our children too are in the kingdom of God, because God has declared, "I will be a God to you and to your children," so in the New Testament He has given baptism as the outward sign or seal. This close relationship between circumcision and baptism is strongly suggested in Colossians, Chapter 2. There we read, in verse 11: "In Him also you were circumcised." Now that's an Old Testament rite, you see, and yet he's talking to New Testament believers: "In Him also you were circumcised with the circumcision of Christ," indicating that that Old Testament rite was pointing to what salvation was.
And then the next verse: "And you were buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God Who raised Him from the dead." And this baptism, of course, is the baptism in the Holy Spirit—the cleansing work of the Holy Spirit when He saved us—the water baptism just being a sign of this, even as the circumcision was the sign. And so there are churches, therefore, who practice infant baptism, and on the basis of what I read in the Bible, I would say that this is not unscriptural. There are other churches that only baptize people upon their profession of faith, and every church does that, if they have not been previously baptized, even those churches that practice infant baptism.
But I must say this. Here I am, a parent, and I'm saved; I am born again. I can't know, when that baby is born, whether at that moment it's born again. It could be, because babies can be born again. The work of salvation is God's work. All I know is that God promises that, or asks me to bring up that child in the fear and the nurture of the Lord. And He has promised that salvation is very close to my child: "You and your household will be saved." And so I am delighted that I can employ a sign that will show my trust that God will save my child, too. And so I have had my youngsters baptized, even as I was baptized as a youngster. Therefore, I am declaring that our whole household, hopefully, is in the kingdom of God. Corporately we are. We pray that individually we may all be, if not presently, some day.
CALLER: Does that go hand in hand with the prayer of a believing parent? It talks about this in First or Second Corinthians.
HC: First Corinthians 7 . . . yes in verse 14 or 15. If one parent is a believer, the children are made holy. That is, they are brought very close to the kingdom of God. Whatever promise accrues to believing parents in regard to their children becomes effective. Now of course, if the parent baptizes the children, and then makes no effort to train that child in the fear and the nurture of the Lord, it indicates that he did not mean business with the Lord at all when he had his children baptized. By this action he is showing that he doesn't … this was just a form that he was going through, a ritual. And the odds of his children growing up as being saved are very minimal.
CALLER: OK, but one final question. I always thought, as in the scripture, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." That's why it's a little hard for me to understand about infant baptism.
HC: Well, you see, here is a nation that doesn't know God. Now they first become acquainted with the Gospel by the hearing of the Word, don't they? But once a parent is saved, then the promises also flow to the children. And God can save at any age because salvation is from God. Actually, faith and hearing are the response to the Gospel, or are the response to the fact that God is working His salvation power through us.
CALLER: I was thinking, too, that there was a scripture: "The baby jumped for joy in the womb."
HC: Yes, that is Mary's experience with Elizabeth. Elizabeth was six months pregnant with John the Baptist. Now John the Baptist, we read, was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb, and there are two wonderful, truths that become evident when we read this in Luke 1:41: "Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary. The baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit." Verse 44: "For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy." And there are two wonderful truths that are found here.
First of all, that a baby in the womb, at six months, is aware of what's going on outside, and mothers should realize this. Already they're beginning to form the character of that baby. When that baby is even six months old in the womb, it's a personality; it's a real person.
Secondly, the fact that this baby reacted to the presence of Mary, who had just become pregnant with Jesus, indicates that John the Baptist, in the womb of Elizabeth, was already saved. This is a second proof on top of the fact that he would be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb.