Turning the page…
Turning the page…
Glory · The Church
In the New Testament, baptism is given to those who repent and believe, following a profession of faith: the Gospels and Acts consistently show belief leading to baptism. Some faithful churches, seeing the covenant as one sign given from infancy, baptize the young children of believers as well. This is an honest difference among godly Christians, tried since the early church. Follow Scripture, your church, and a clear conscience, and hold the shared center: baptism belongs to those who belong to Christ.
https://glorystudy.com/questions/who-should-be-baptized · Scripture quoted from the World English Bible
Acts 2:37-41
As you read: The pattern Peter gives: repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and those who received his word were baptized that day.
37Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far off, even as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.”
40With many other words he testified, and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!”
41Then those who gladly received his word were baptized. There were added that day about three thousand souls.
Acts 8:26-39
As you read: A man reading Scripture is baptized after hearing and believing the good news about Jesus.
26But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise, and go toward the south to the way that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert.”
27He arose and went; and behold, there was a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, who had come to Jerusalem to worship.
28He was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah.
29The Spirit said to Philip, “Go near, and join yourself to this chariot.”
30Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31He said, “How can I, unless someone explains it to me?” He begged Philip to come up and sit with him.
32Now the passage of the Scripture which he was reading was this, “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter. As a lamb before his shearer is silent, so he doesn’t open his mouth.
33In his humiliation, his judgment was taken away. Who will declare His generation? For his life is taken from the earth.”
34The eunuch answered Philip, “Who is the prophet talking about? About himself, or about someone else?”
35Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture, preached to him Jesus.
36As they went on the way, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Behold, here is water. What is keeping me from being baptized?”
38He commanded the chariot to stand still, and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.
39When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, and the eunuch didn’t see him any more, for he went on his way rejoicing.
Acts 16:25-34
As you read: The question, the answer, and the baptism: 'Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household'; he was baptized that very hour.
25But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
26Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were loosened.
27The jailer, being roused out of sleep and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.
28But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, “Don’t harm yourself, for we are all here!”
29He called for lights, sprang in, fell down trembling before Paul and Silas,
30brought them out, and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
32They spoke the word of the Lord to him, and to all who were in his house.
33He took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes, and was immediately baptized, he and all his household.
34He brought them up into his house, and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, with all his household, having believed in God.
Colossians 2:11-14
As you read: Paul links baptism to circumcision: a circumcision not made with hands, buried with Christ in baptism.
11in whom you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ;
12having been 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.
13You were dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. He made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,
14wiping out the handwriting in ordinances which was against us; and he has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross;
Genesis 17:9-14
As you read: God's covenant sign was received by children at eight days old: the background some churches draw on for infant baptism.
9God said to Abraham, “As for you, you will keep my covenant, you and your seed after you throughout their generations.
10This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your seed after you. Every male among you shall be circumcised.
11You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin. It will be a token of the covenant between me and you.
12He who is eight days old will be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he who is born in the house, or bought with money from any foreigner who is not of your seed.
13He who is born in your house, and he who is bought with your money, must be circumcised. My covenant will be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
14The uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant.”
The consistent New Testament picture is a person believing and then being baptized. Peter tells the crowd, 'Repent, and be baptized, every one of you,' and 'those who gladly received his word were baptized.' The eunuch is baptized after believing; the jailer is told to believe in the Lord Jesus and is baptized immediately, he and his whole household, having believed in God. Wherever Acts shows people baptized, faith has come first.
“Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”Acts 2:38
“Then those who gladly received his word were baptized. There were added that day about three thousand souls.”Acts 2:41
“As they went on the way, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Behold, here is water. What is keeping me from being baptized?””Acts 8:36
“They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.””Acts 16:31
“He took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes, and was immediately baptized, he and all his household.”Acts 16:33
“He brought them up into his house, and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, with all his household, having believed in God.”Acts 16:34
Jesus' command links baptism to discipleship: make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to observe all that He commanded. Baptism is the sign given to those who are being made disciples, who have heard the word, believed, and come. In the pages of the New Testament, it is the mark of a person who has entered the school of Christ, not merely a stamp on a birth.
“Go,and make disciples of all 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 commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”Matthew 28:19-20
“He commanded the chariot to stand still, and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.”Acts 8:38
The Gospels and Acts speak of whole households being baptized: Lydia and her household, the jailer and all his, the household of Stephanas. Faithful readers understand these differently. Some see in them entire families, including little children, baptized with the believing head. Others point out that in the accounts the household 'believed' and 'rejoiced greatly, with all his household, having believed in God,' and so see believers baptized with their believing children and household. The text is read both ways, and has been for centuries.
“When she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and stay.” So she persuaded us.”Acts 16:15
“He took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes, and was immediately baptized, he and all his household. He brought them up into his house, and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, with all his household, having believed in God.”Acts 16:33-34
“(I also baptized the household of Stephanas; besides them, I don’t know whether I baptized any other.)”1 Corinthians 1:16
Those who baptize infants point to the covenant. In the Old Testament, God's sign was given to children at eight days old, as a token of the covenant with their parents (Genesis 17:11-12). Paul links baptism to circumcision as the New Testament counterpart, a circumcision 'not made with hands' in Christ, and Peter says 'the promise is to you, and to your children.' On this reading, the sign belongs to believers and their covenant children, as circumcision did.
“You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin. It will be a token of the covenant between me and you. He who is eight days old will be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he who is born in the house, or bought with money from any foreigner who is not of your seed.”Genesis 17:11-12
“in whom you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ; having been 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.”Colossians 2:11-12
“For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far off, even as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.””Acts 2:39
This is a question the church has never settled into one answer, and both sides have loved the Lord and His word. What Scripture does make plain is that the heart of baptism is union with Christ, that its proper recipients are those who belong to Him through faith, and that the patterns of preaching and conversion lead to water. Where faithful churches differ on the timing, Paul's spirit rules: 'Let each man be fully assured in his own mind.' Seek your church's teaching, examine Scripture yourself, and do not make the age of baptism the dividing line of fellowship.
“One man esteems one day as more important. Another esteems every day alike. Let each man be fully assured in his own mind.”Romans 14:5
“For you are all children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”Galatians 3:26-27
“one Lord, one faith, one baptism,”Ephesians 4:5