DAY 75
CHALLENGE
“Infant baptism is unbiblical. One requirement for baptism is to have belief in Jesus, which infants don’t have.”
DEFENSE
The New Testament nowhere restricts baptism to people who are above a certain age. In fact, we read of entire households being baptized, and there are indications that baptism was given to the children of believers, regardless of their age.
The New Testament never establishes an age requirement for baptism. Most of the people we see being baptized in its pages are adults, but this is because Christianity was a new movement, and most of its converts would naturally have been adults.
The New Testament also records entire households being baptized (Acts 10:47–11:17, 16:15, 30–34, 18:8, 1 Cor. 1:16). This establishes the principle that whole households were baptized at once, and it does not exclude young children. In fact, Luke records: “Now they were bring-ing even infants to [Jesus] that he might touch them; and when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such be- longs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it” (Luke 18:15–17).
Christians, reflecting on this passage, recognized that if the kingdom belongs to children—“even infants”—then they are appropriate recipients of baptism, just like adults who are willing to receive the kingdom like a child and be baptized.
Further, the Jewish expectation at the time was that the children of believers would share in the blessings of the covenant along with their parents. Thus on Pentecost Peter told the crowds: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children” (Acts 2:38–39).
As the Christian initiation ritual, baptism is the Christian equivalent of circumcision, the Jewish initiation ritual. Paul explicitly identifies baptism as “the circumcision of Christ,” telling his readers: “In [Jesus] also you were circumcised with a circumcision not made by hands, by the removal of the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism” (Col. 2:11–12, LEB).