Infant Baptism

Why do Methodist’s Baptize infants and small children?

Acts chapter 16: verses 22-34 is a good place to begin in the Bible to understand why we baptize infants as well as adults.  Look especially at verse 30 and 31 and the word “household” and then verse 33 and the word “household” again.

It appears in this Biblical story that often entire families left the pagan/roman world and became followers of Christ, often as the parents made the decision to accept Christ.  When this happened the act of baptism was the visible act of obedience and God’s grace that brought these families into the life of the Church, though faith in Christ is the door of God’s gift of Salvation.  This is called “justification by faith.”

We are not positive that infants were baptized the first couple hundred years of the history of the Church, the Bible is not absolutely clear on this.  But we do know that the last 1,700 year history of the Church infants have been baptized and brought intro the life of the Church through families that have chosen Christ and the Christian way.  In the last couple of hundred years there have been some churches that have rejected infant baptism and some that have held on to the tradition as the United Methodist Church has.

If adult baptism is believer’s baptism, meaning someone is converted from sin, turns to Christ and responds to that conversion by being baptized.  Then infant Baptism is a Christian family bringing their child into the Church and the Christian adventure through the act of God’s grace that allows a child, who is unable to profess faith, to participate in the wonderful symbol of Baptism and the grace of God made available as part of the sacrament.  The idea is that the child never knows any other way but the way of Christ.

Illustration
Billy Graham was converted at a youth for Christ rally, later was baptized, and the rest is history.  Reverend Graham speaks of his own Christianity and refers to another who was a better Christian than he, Ruth Bell Graham (who recently died) his wife.   Ruth was always a Presbyterian, never joined the Baptist Church, was baptized as an infant, served with her missionary parents in China, yet walked with Billy Graham through 60 years of ministry.  ?She would say she never knew any other way but the way of Christ.  In the early days of the Church as recorded in the Book of Acts, the only way to enter the Church was through Baptism.  The Church had yet to become a body that raised its children from scratch, teaching them the way of Christ from small childhood, and bringing them into the life of the Church at birth, its care, its teaching, God’s grace, and the way of Christ. With faith in Christ being the way to heaven and baptism being the door to the Church, it made sense that the Jesus who said. “Let the children come unto me, and do not hinder them” would accept infants into the life of the church through the sacrament He ordained, baptism.

As a pastor who has baptized hundreds of adults and children, I am convinced God is pleased when an adult is converted and then proclaims that conversion through baptism, becoming a part of Christ’s Church.  I am also convinced that when that converted Christian later has a child, and brings that infant to the same pastor for Baptism as a continuation of their faith commitment and love for God and that child, that God is equally pleased.