Questions about children and baptism can be deeply personal. Perhaps you were christened as a baby, or you brought your own child to be baptized because you wanted to honor God and give your child a foundation of faith. Learning that Scripture approaches baptism differently may leave you wondering how they view your family’s decision.
Our purpose is not to question your love for your children or to speak dismissively about something meaningful to your family. It is to explain what we understand the Bible to teach—and to invite you to examine those passages with us.
Our conviction has two parts: baptism is a response of personal faith in Jesus, and little children are safe in God’s loving care. Here is why.
Baptism Is Joined With Faith and Repentance
As we read the New Testament, we consistently find baptism joined with hearing and receiving the gospel, believing in Jesus, confessing Him, and turning from sin (Matthew 28:19–20; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38–41; 8:12, 35–38; 18:8; Romans 10:9–10). Baptism is not an isolated ceremony, but the obedient response of a person who has been taught and has placed faith in Christ.
When Peter’s listeners asked what they should do, he urged them to repent and be baptized in Jesus’ name for the forgiveness of their sins. Luke then tells us that those who responded to Peter’s message were baptized (Acts 2:38–41). Similarly, when Philip preached in Samaria:
“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).
The same connection appears in Corinth, where people heard the message, believed, and were baptized (Acts 18:8). Paul explains that faith grows through hearing the message about Christ (Romans 10:17). These passages lead us to understand baptism as the response of someone who can hear the gospel, trust its promises, and choose to follow Jesus.
Paul describes those baptized as being buried and raised with Christ “through faith in the powerful working of God” (Colossians 2:12; compare Romans 6:3–4). Peter likewise says that baptism saves, not as a physical washing, but as an appeal to God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:21). These passages do not present baptism as a human achievement that earns salvation. Salvation is God’s gracious gift, received through faith, leaving no room for boasting (Ephesians 2:8–9; Titus 3:4–7). In baptism, our confidence rests wholly in Christ and in the God who raises and saves.
Because an infant cannot yet hear the gospel with understanding, repent, confess faith in Christ, or appeal to God from a believing heart, we do not see the New Testament pattern for administering baptism to an infant. We therefore wait until a person can respond personally to Christ. We state this conclusion humbly, recognizing that sincere Christians read some passages differently; nevertheless, we believe this practice most closely follows Scripture's explicit examples and instructions.
Little Children Are Safe in God’s Care
Behind the question about infant baptism is often a more tender concern: How does God regard my baby?
We do not understand Scripture to teach that an infant bears personal guilt for another person’s sin. Ezekiel states that “the son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father” and repeatedly emphasizes that the person who sins is accountable for that sin (Ezekiel 18:4, 20). God also distinguished Israel’s little children, who did not yet know good from evil, from the accountable generation that had rebelled against Him (Deuteronomy 1:39; compare Isaiah 7:15–16). Although these texts arise in particular historical settings and do not directly address infant baptism, they support a biblical distinction between living in a world affected by sin and bearing personal guilt for knowingly committed sin.
Jesus’ treatment of children is especially reassuring. When people brought children to Him, He welcomed them rather than turning them away:
“Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:14).
Luke specifically mentions that people brought infants to Jesus, and Mark describes Him taking the children into His arms and blessing them (Luke 18:15–17; Mark 10:13–16). These accounts are not instructions about baptism, but they show us something precious about His heart toward children.
Taken together, these passages give us confidence that babies are not separated from God because they have not been baptized. We do not withhold baptism because we think children are outside His care. We refrain because we believe they are already within it.
For a parent grieving the loss of a baby, this question deserves tenderness, not merely an argument. We also find comfort in David’s words after the death of his son: “I shall go to him, but he will not return to me” (2 Samuel 12:23). That verse does not, by itself, settle every question about life after death. Yet we read it with hope, alongside the welcome Jesus gave to little children.
Our conviction is that a grieving family need not carry the additional fear that a baby’s standing with God depended on whether a ceremony took place.
What About the Households Baptized in the New Testament?
This is a fair and important question. Some Christian traditions understand baptism as including the children of believing parents and point to covenant promises and accounts of household baptisms. We want to represent that understanding fairly, rather than suggest that everyone who practices infant baptism does so for the same reason.
Acts records the baptism of Lydia and her household and of the Philippian jailer and his household (Acts 16:14–15, 30–34; see also Acts 10:44–48; 18:8). None of these accounts explicitly identifies an infant among those baptized. In the jailer’s case, the word of the Lord was spoken to everyone in the house, and the household rejoiced in faith after baptism (Acts 16:32–34). In the household of Cornelius, those baptized had heard the word and received the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:44–48); at Corinth, those who heard believed and were baptized (Acts 18:8). Lydia’s brief account does not describe each household member, so we do not claim that it proves more than it says. We understand it in harmony with the clearer passages that explicitly connect baptism with hearing, receiving, and believing the gospel.
A Word to Families Whose Children Were Christened
A christening may hold cherished memories: family gathered together, prayers offered, and parents expressing their desire to raise a child toward God. We can respect that love while understanding baptism differently.
Scripture distinguishes between a parent’s commitment to nurture a child’s faith and the child’s eventual response of faith in Christ. Both deserve thoughtful attention, but we do not treat them as interchangeable.
Paul describes baptism as burial with Christ and the beginning of a new life with Him (Romans 6:3–4). Alongside Peter’s call to repentance and baptism for forgiveness, this leads us to understand baptism as a believing person’s response to Jesus’ saving work—not simply a decision made by someone else on that person’s behalf.
For someone who was christened in infancy and later comes to this understanding, being baptized as a believer need not express contempt for their parents or their upbringing. It can be a grateful, personal response to Christ, while still honoring the people who first encouraged them to seek Him.
The question is not whether your family loved you. It is how you can respond to Jesus now.
We Begin Nurturing Faith Long Before Baptism
Not baptizing babies does not mean postponing their spiritual care. We want children to grow up surrounded by prayer, Scripture, affection, and examples of faithful living.
God instructed Israelite parents to make His words part of ordinary family life—at home, along the way, and throughout the day (Deuteronomy 6:6–7). Paul urged fathers to nurture their children in the Lord’s instruction rather than provoke them to anger (Ephesians 6:4). He also reminded Timothy that he had known the sacred Scriptures from childhood and that those Scriptures could lead him toward salvation through faith in Christ (2 Timothy 3:14–15).
That gives parents meaningful work to do from the beginning: read Bible stories, pray together, answer questions patiently, worship as a family, and let children see what repentance, forgiveness, and kindness look like at home.
As children mature, we look for personal understanding and faith rather than a particular birthday or pressure to follow what their friends are doing. Our hope is not merely that a child will participate in an event, but that each child will come to know, trust, and follow Jesus.
You Are Welcome to Study With Us
At the Temple Terrace church of Christ, we want our conversations to reflect the same Scriptures that shape our convictions. Peter calls believers to explain their hope with “gentleness and respect,” and Paul instructs the Lord’s servant to be kind, patient, and gentle in teaching (1 Peter 3:15; 2 Timothy 2:24–25). Those instructions apply to us, too.
We are not people who have everything figured out or who do not need God’s grace. Like the Bereans, we want to receive teaching eagerly while examining the Scriptures to see whether it is true (Acts 17:11). We are people trying to follow Jesus faithfully, ready to give reasons for our conviction, yet also ready to listen, learn, and correct our understanding wherever God’s Word requires it.
You do not need to arrive with every question settled. Come worship with us, join a Bible class, or sit down with someone to read these passages together. We would be glad to know you and your family.
Plan your visit or explore what the Bible says about becoming a Christian.
When we meet:
- Sunday: Worship 9am, Bible Class 5pm
- Wednesday: Bible Class 7pm