The baby is just laying in the baptismal,,it has no idea what da heck,is going on.
In the bible,the adults,repented,they made a decision,
One more time...
In the bible, everybody was a Jew, or pagan... grown ups needed to A) be converted to Christ and B) then "get saved"...
How did they get saved? Meaning redeemed... They were baptized and two things happened to them when they were.
1) Original Sin was removed and they were reconciled back to God from being born into the human race, (Adam represented the human race), A race who set itself apart from God. They went from Adam to Christ... Jesus is the new Adam, who now represents the human race... when we are baptized, we are baptized
into Christ.
Into this mystery. Out of Adam and into Christ.
With me so far? good... lets continue.
# 2 thing that happens, what ever personal sins they committed for themselves and were guilty of, was forgiven as well. A clean slate. and neither Adam' sin nor any of the sins of their past can ever be held against them again.
Now they can go on to commit a bunch of new sins and chances are they did but since they have been "born again", they won't need another baptism, there is only ONE baptism for the forgiveness of sins... meaning since they are Christians, children of God, they have that right, like a birth right, that when they repent, God will grant them forgiveness.
So after they were born again in baptism, as the bible says, they would bring their households to be baptized as well.
Now seriously, if you don't honestly think there were babies in the households, then I don't know how to even respond to that unreasonable assumption.
But going on the reasonable assumption babies were part of these households, the children of the first converts were brought for baptism.
keep in mind now, baptism is not a outward sign of your choice to get saved... it is the pascal mystery,
the new covenant, the passover, passing from death in sin to life in Christ.
So babies were baptized once the parents converted.. those who were converted who then after that, bore children, we see in the very early Church, they baptized their children.
That is the bible explanation to your query.
Now to answer you other question...
So you adhere to a works based salvation?
The baby is being freed of being born into a world that rejected God. The baby is having
Adam's sin removed from him, none of his own sins for the simple reason- he has none at this stage in the game.
I really do not know why you think one saves themselves with their good decision to be saved... but that isn't how it works.
We don't start out sinning but we end up sinning, ie, we are all sinners.
So a baby in only is need of being reconciled to God becuase he was born into Adam and baptism is how he goes from Adam to Christ- ie "born again."
Since none of us chooses to be born, let alone born sinners, we aren't require to have to choose to have the sin removed from us. It is a free unmerited gift of Jesus.... that is why he died, becuase ADAM'S sin needed satisfaction so we could be reconciled back to God
baptism removes Adam sin, makes us children of God, so one really has to ask, what do you have against giving your child this free wonderful gift?
You love them right? Why on earth can't you give them this gift?
The baby, when he grows up and begins to know what sin is, he is most certainly free to choose it. baptism does not mean he is saved, just that he is redeemed from being born Adam's seed.
If he wants to go to heaven when he dies, he will have to as an adult, like you say, accept the grace of God that was given to hi so long ago and cooperate with the grace if he will be saved in the end.
capisci?
Just answer the question! The suggested answers are yes, or no, then we can go!
