Baptismal meditation

Baptismal meditation May 7, 2006

Luke 18:15-17: And they were bringing even their babies to Him so that He would touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them. But Jesus called for them, saying, Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.

The Reformers insisted that our justification, our right standing before God, was by God’s grace alone through faith alone. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, and that response of faith to the gospel is the way of salvation. The sacraments, they also insisted, genuinely offered grace, but this grace had to be received by faith if it was going to be of any benefit.


Yet, the Reformers continued to baptize babies, and for Anabaptists at the time, and for many Baptist believers today, that is a contradiction. How can we say that salvation is by faith if we are baptizing infants who clearly cannot have faith? How can we say that salvation is by faith and then treat infants as if they were believers? Isn’t it absurd to think that infants can be believers?

One of the key answers to this question is to recognize that at the heart of the Reformation was the recovery of a more biblical view of God. Many medieval theologians frequently talked and thought about God in philosophical terms; God is the Supreme Being, Being itself. The Reformers read their Bibles and found that Moses did not use the language of Aristotle. Rather, God is a Person, who makes decisions and acts in the world and who has bound Himself in covenant with His people. Within that context, they insisted that faith is not merely assent to truth, but preeminently trust in the promises of the Triune God.

This clears up the issue of infant faith, and the Reformers were willing to talk about the infants of the church as having some “seed” of faith. The issue is not, Are infants able to understand and formulate and speak truth? They aren’t. Though that is expected as faith matures, the essence of faith is something else. The question is, Are infants capable of trust? And the answer is clearly Yes. It doesn’t take long for an infant to recognize her mother’s voice, her mother’s touch, her mother’s face. It doesn’t take long for an infant to discover that her mother is a reliable source of nourishment and comfort. And if an infant can know and trust her mother, how can we say that her heavenly Father, who is nearer to her than she is to herself, is locked out? How can we say she is incapable of knowing and trusting Him?

Jesus certainly believed that infants and children could receive Him as He received them. When mothers brought their babies to Jesus, the disciples tried to keep them away. But Jesus rebuked the disciples, not the mothers. And he went further than merely affirming that infants could receive the kingdom: He said that they were model believers, and that all who seek the kingdom should aspire to become like little children.

Your goal as parents is certainly to nourish and nurture Adeline’s faith, leading her toward maturity. But never forget what mature faith looks like. Remember that we must all become like little children to receive the kingdom, confidently and instinctively trusting our heavenly Father, our heavenly Brother, and their common Spirit. Don’t train her to outgrow her childhood; train her instead to stand fast and keep her childhood; train her to become more and more perfectly a child.


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