Holy Baptism (2)

The Vein

There is a vein in our Form for Baptism. After three examples have been given as proof for the biblical basis of infant baptism, a conclusion is made: “since baptism is come in the place of circumcision…”

The corollary to this sentence is the answer to the question as to why we baptize our children. They are not too young to deal in the terrible punishment of God; they are partakers of the condemnation in Adam. It is true that they are too young to understand this but not too young to fully share in it. Because they are not too young for condemnation, they are also not too young to share in the grace of God. Therefore, they are also not too young to carry the mark of God’s covenant of grace. Hereafter our forefathers let Scripture speak:

a. As God speaketh unto Abraham, the father of all the faithful, and therefore to us and our children. Do you appreciate the connection from out of Genesis until today? From a parent out of the Old Testament to the parents in a New Testament church? What a rich comforting instruction! Just as the Lord spoke to Abraham, He still does so today. “Jehovah’s truth shall stand forever, His covenant bonds He will not sever” is what we sing so fittingly at the administration of the Baptism of our little ones. “I am Thy God.” Abraham wondered about that for one hundred years and after that eternally, but now something is added: “I am also the God of thy seed.” Lord, how is that possible? I do not even have any children; therefore, it is completely impossible. Well, the Lord does know that. For today’s parents the difficulties are definitely not fewer. They are of all types, “Lord, when I look upon myself, when I look at the times in which we are living, how must it go? Even then we hear, “I am thy God...and the God of thy seed…” I do not end the possibilities when the parents are no longer there. I shall sovereignly show that I am the LORD, the covenant God throughout the generations.

b. These were also the circumstances during Peter’s sermon on Pentecost (Acts 2:39). There stood stricken people with manifold sins and cares which they carried within them. They thought of what had they left behind, some in faraway lands, even all of the lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, where they lived in the midst of the heathens. Then God says, by the mouth of Peter exactly the same thing. God promised willingly to perform the same work of grace through Jesus Christ in the younger generation. No matter how far they may have been driven or how deeply they have sunk away, there shall be as many as He shall powerfully call by His Word and Spirit.

c. In the last place our forefathers pointed to the Covenant Mediator Himself (Mark 10). How apparent is it that He has an eye and a heart for little ones. His disciples were not in agreement with it. To them it would be better if He concerned Himself with more important matters then to bother with little children. He shames them by taking time out for these children, for He draws them near to Him, lays His hands upon them, and blesses them. The Mediator of the covenant of grace is still the same today. He is the God of Abraham and certainly the God of Pentecost. This is what God will show to parents and to the little ones. The riches of God’s covenant of grace, from child to child, is hereby emphasized.

Hereafter, our forefathers come to the conclusion, “Since then baptism is come in the place of circumcision…” It is the same from Abraham to Peter and even until today! Do you see how there is a continuous vein in the administration of the covenant of grace? Do you see that the new covenant definitely is not inferior to the old? That is what the Church of all ages wishes to emphasize—the biblical duty of infant baptism. It is because there is a continuous vein in the administration of the covenant of grace. It emphasizes that the covenant faithfulness shown to Abraham’s seed has not diminished through the ages. Also, the power of the blood of Jesus has definitely not become less. Notice the unity of the entire Word of God, the unity of the godly revelations in both the Old and New Testament. Do not sever this vein, for the church will hemorrhage to death. Then the church will suffer from lack of blood. Then we seriously minimize God’s faithfulness in the generations.

What must we still say to our children? We lose so much when we condemn infant baptism (Confession of Faith 34) as “they condemn the baptism of the infants of believers, whom we believe ought to be baptized and sealed with the sign of the covenant, as the children of Israel were formerly circumcised upon the same promises which are made to our children.” This is how we reaffirm with our whole heart the tried and faithful Scriptural confession about this vein.

(To be continued)

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