No. Churches of Christ do not baptize babies, because every baptism in the New Testament follows something a baby cannot yet do: hear the gospel, believe it, and turn from sin. Baptism is a believer’s response. Scripture shows little ones already safe with God.
This question usually arrives with several smaller ones attached, so here they are, one at a time.
Who Actually Got Baptized in the Bible?
People who heard and believed first. “But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women” (Acts 8:12). Men and women, old enough to listen to preaching and weigh it for themselves. Plus, men and women clarifies a level of maturity must be there.
Didn’t Jesus Command Everyone to Be Baptized?
He did, and He put something before it: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16). Peter put something before it too: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38). And faith has its own starting place: “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). An infant cannot hear with understanding, cannot believe, and has nothing to repent of.
Isn’t My Baby Born With Sin?
“The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son” (Ezekiel 18:20). Guilt does not pass down a family line. It stays with the person who sinned. Sin is something you do (1 John 3:4), not something you arrive carrying.
Then Where Do Children Stand With God?
Safe!: for, Jesus said so by holding them up as the model for adults to spiritually become rather than the problem: “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:14). David said the same thing through grief. When his infant son died, he said, “But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me” (2 Samuel 12:23). He expected to see that child again.
A baby has no need of baptism for the same reason a baby has no need of forgiveness.
So What Do I Do Now?
Open Acts 2, 8, 9, 10, and 16, and ask each account one question: what happened right before the baptism? Hearing, believing, repenting, every time. No infants are mentioned in the Word.
Also the most familiar Bible chapter is John 3. In the 16th verse “God so loved the world” but the illustration of baptism is in the same context (or verses surrounding the verse). Jesus told a grown man he must, “be born again” to enter the kingdom of God. If there was a problem with birth wouldn’t Jesus have said that. Born “again” indicates the first birth, (depicted with the innocence of an infant), is the condition sinful adults, and teenagers, and pre-teens, are trying to get back to. It is our sins that separate us from God, not our innocence. So “born a second time” means getting our spiritual life to look just as innocent as our first natural entrance into the world.
There’s a Seat Saved for You
If a question like this has been sitting with you, a room full of open Bibles is a good place to bring such questions to a discussion. At the Church of Christ at South Bumby we keep our Bibles open.
Want to see what the Bible says about being saved? Start here.
When we meet:
- Sunday: Bible Class 9:30 am · Worship 10:30 am
- Wednesday: Bible Class 7pm
