Hey, great question! We certainly believe, teach, and confess that infant Baptism is Biblical, and I think there are several things we should consider. I've copied and pasted some text from an earlier post that may be helpful. I'd be glad to elaborate on any of this if you're interested. God bless!
(Original thread:
Attending An LCMS Church But Have Some Problems With Their Theology
I also expand a bit on it here:
Question about Adult Baptism)
Baptism
It may be good to start with that God's Word does not forbid Baptism of infants. That's only assumed if we think that Baptism is a work that we do for ourselves or for God. But this is not how Baptism is expressed in Scriptures. The Christian Church is commanded to Baptise in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, but the individual receives Baptism as a gift. That is, God gives the gifts of His Word and Sacraments through the Church. So God is the one doing the work, and His Law and Gospel, and Baptism and the Eucharist are gifts.
Who can receive Baptism?
Everyone. Christ has commanded us to make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and that certainly includes children. We can think of it this way: Make disciples
and then baptise them. And also, make disciples
by baptising them. Both are true.
God wishes to save children
God's love for children is apparent throughout the Bible. In
Matthew 19:14 and
Matthew 18:10-14, our Lord teaches us that He invites children into His kingdom.
The Gospel is for all
It’s true that children are pure relative to adults, but every human being is a sinner before God. We are all born in sin and are by nature children of wrath (
Ephesians 2:3). Psalm 51:5 we read:
“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Yet, we are not without hope, for the Gospel is also for all. In Acts 2:38-39, we read that Baptism is for us and for our children, and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Himself. That is, God's promise of grace is for all, regardless of age, and it is given through His Word and Sacraments as gifts to us. An adult and a child are equally helpless to save themselves — they both need Jesus.
One must be born of water and the Spirit
Our Lord says in
John 3:5:
“Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” To be in the kingdom of God means to have been born of water and the Holy Spirit, which means Baptism. So we can rightly understand from this that children are ordinarily adopted and welcomed into the kingdom of God through Baptism. An adult may hear the Gospel and believe, or he may hear the Gospel, be baptised and believe, but a child can receive the Gospel through Baptism and be raised in the faith.
Children are to be raised in the faith
The model for Church membership in the Bible is not that children should give their life to Jesus when they reach a certain age. That idea is foreign to the Scriptures. In the Great Shema, in
Deuteronomy 6:4-8, we get a clear command and picture of what it means to be God's people and that this very much includes children. The Bible does not command children to wait to accept God, but rather that children can belong to God and be raised in the faith.
Baptism and its relationship to circumcision
If we understand what circumcision is and consider how central it is in the Old Testament, it gives us context for Baptism in the New Testament. When Paul in
Colossians 2 connects circumcision to Baptism, we should contemplate the whole body of doctrine regarding circumcision, and understand that it found its fulfilment in Christ, who gives us Baptism as a new kind of circumcision; a circumcision of the heart by the Holy Spirit (
Romans 2). According to the old Law, circumcision was ordinarily for baby boys, though also for adult men, however, we can rejoice in that the gift of Baptism is certainly nothing less than that — it is greater! It is a gift for everyone!
Children can have faith
It would be a mistake to confuse faith with intellectual ability, because we know from God's Word that the Holy Spirit can work faith in children, even in the womb. We can call to mind Psalm 71:5-6 or
Matthew 21:16, for example. Or consider how John, filled with the Holy Spirit, leapt for joy in Elizabeth's womb in
Luke 1! He certainly had faith. Faith, as we learn in
Ephesians 2:8 is a gift from God, and this gift is ordinarily given to children through Baptism, but also through God’s Word.
The peace of Christ to you!
