This Sunday, November 13, Kaeta will be baptized. This has gotten me thinking about baptism, what it means, should she really be baptized as an infant when she won’t really understand what’s happening, etc.
In the Lutheran church, baptism is considered a sacrament — a sacred act, instituted by God, “in which there are certain visible means connected to His word.” In a sacrament, “God offers, gives, and seals unto us the forgiveness of sins which Christ has earned for us.” (I’m quoting from Luther’s small catechism.)
Does baptism meet this definition? It has visible means (water) connected to God’s word (because God commands baptism in Matthew 28, and baptism is made in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost). We know that God forgives sins in baptism, because Peter says in Acts 2:38, “repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins.” So baptism is definitely a sacred act in which God forgives sins.
Is it magic, then? Could we drive a fire truck around spraying everyone we see with the hose and blaring “in the name of the Father, …” over the P.A.?
Nope. In Mark 16:16, the Lord says “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.” Unbelievers are condemned regardless of baptism, so it’s not magic. From this verse, it looks like baptism is not absolutely necessary, since lack of baptism isn’t what condemns. But, baptism is intimately tied to belief, so all believers should be baptized.
What about Kaeta? Is she a believer? Does that even make sense? I mean, she’s not even a month old!
People (including Luther) often quote, “Go make disciples of all nations, baptising them…” (from Matthew 28:19) and interpret “nations” to mean “everyone” (including infants). Also, proponents of infant baptism site events like an entire household being baptized (an in Acts 16:33, for example). The whole household may have included infants — the Bible certainly doesn’t explicitly rule them out anywhere, so why shouldn’t we baptize infants?
To be honest, I don’t find those arguments that compelling. I mean, they sort of fit, but it’s not 100% clear from those passages that the apostles baptized infants. And it does seem like baptism might be more of a rite of passage for people who believe (like the Ethiopian eunuch who gets baptized in Acts 8:38, right after coming to faith). But writings from early church fathers make it pretty clear that they practiced infant baptism. For example, 66 bishops at the Council of Carthage in 254 said: “We ought not hinder any person from Baptism and the grace of God….. especially infants. . . those newly born.” Earlier than that, Origen (185-254) wrote in his Commentary on Romans 5:9: “For this also it was that the church had from the Apostles a tradition to give baptism even to infants. For they to whom the divine mysteries were committed knew that there is in all persons a natural pollution of sin which must be done away by water and the Spirit.” I pulled those examples from this article, which is short and pretty good.
But still, how in the world can baptism make any sense for Kaeta? She won’t have the slightest idea what’s going on.
I recently read a short book about baptism (“Welcome to the Family!”, by Richard A. Melheim), and it had some interesting thoughts about this. Basically, you have to ask yourself, who is doing the work in baptism? Is being baptized something you do for God (out of obedience, etc.), or something God does for you? I think it’s God’s gift to you, since you are baptized “for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38 again). Also, 1 Corinthians 12:13 says, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized…” The Holy Spirit is at work in baptism, washing away our sins, giving us new life, and making us part of His family. To quote from Melheim’s book,
God is the initiator of life, of love, and of faith. To assume that God cannot accept a child unless the child first accept God is to place the responsibility for faith in the wrong court. God is the lover. “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
Having said that, I wasn’t baptized as an infant. Even after I became a Christian, I wasn’t baptized for over 2 years — I didn’t really understand baptism or that it was important. I still have a lot to learn about it 11 years later.
Our pastor in Pittsburgh told us something like this: In baptism, the Old Adam (aka, sinful nature) is drowned, and we are raised to new life in Christ. We are given a new name, the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. When you were growing up and you misbehaved, did your parents ever say something like, “You are a Kurth! Kurths don’t behave that way?” Your family name defines you are in some sense, and no less the name you receive in baptism — it defines who you are, and to whom you belong. And it is never too late to return to Him, to repent and receive again the benefits of baptism. Luther said we should remember our baptism daily. When we make the sign of the cross in prayer or in worship, we remember our baptism, and the family to which we now belong. This Sunday, Kaeta will join that family, too!
“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried there with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father we too might walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:3-4)