Do Infants Need to Be Baptized?

This issue is nothing new, and it continues to stir-up debate between Christians today. What does the Bible have to say about baptism and infants? The Bible does not record one infant baptism. Only adult believers’ baptisms are recorded in Scripture (Acts 2:41; 8:12-13, 36-38; 9:17-18; 10:45-48; 16:14-15). Furthermore, Jesus was not baptized until he was about thirty years old (Luke 3:21-23).

Why do some churches baptize infants? That is because every human being is born with original sin (Rom. 3:10-12, 23; 5:12). They teach that baptism is necessary to redeem infants from original sin, so they will not go to hell if they die as infants. Others tend to argue that the child will go to hell only if his parents are unsaved. How does such teaching stack-up with 2 Samuel 12:13-14, 22-23? David’s newborn son was not condemned to hell when he died. David said, “I will go to him [my son], but he will not return to me” (v. 23b NIV).

That is precisely why I believe infants are protected by a certain grace period until they reach an age of accountability. The actual age varies from child to child. Some say the grace period ends once the child willingly and knowingly chooses wrong over right. Others say the grace period does not end until the child is mature enough to comprehend the gospel of Christ. Whenever the grace period actually ends is up for debate. Meanwhile, we can rest assured that God is always fair all the time. At the final judgment nobody will be free to complain, “God, that is not fair!”

Advocates of infant baptism argue that Acts 16:31-34 implicitly supports their practice. The apostles Paul and Silas baptized a Philippian jailer and his entire family. “Then immediately he and all his family were baptized” (v. 33b). Their argument is “Certainly their had to be at least one infant in his family, don’t you think?” That is nothing but an argument from silence. The passage does not say there were infants in his house; who are we to assume there were?

If you are born-again and trusting Jesus Christ for your salvation, then you are still saved no matter when or how you were baptized. I may vigorously debate against infant baptism, but I still see this as a peripheral Christian debate over which Christians can agree to disagree without being disagreeable. However, if you were baptized as an infant, then I would urge you with all due respect to be baptized again as a professing believer, so you can be in God’s perfect will.