Mickey:
You and I both know the arguments. Nowhere in the Sacred Scriptures does it support your interpretation about the rejection of infant baptism–whereas there are numerous verses to support households being baptized and…well…you are familiar with the Catholic understanding (I’m aware you reject it).
The point is nowhere does Scripture ever support infant baptism. This unbiblical exercise was borne out of the
false notion that the “sacrament”* itself *washed away “original sin” in an infant and his soul was
infused with righteousness - all apart from personal faith in Christ.
Yes, there are instances in Scripture where “households” believed and were baptized.
In Acts eleven Peter gives the account of how he was instructed by the Lord to take the word of Christ to Gentiles that they might believe and receive the Holy Spirit. Cornelius was told to send for Peter, “
and he shall speak words to you (not baptise you)
by which you will be saved, you and all your household” (v. 14). Peter then remembered the differentiation Jesus made:Acts 11:16-17 "And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, BUT you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ "Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as {He gave} to us also
after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?"Take note in the above text that Peter was sent to them with “
words” by which they would be saved (not water). Those “words” were the message concerning the substitutionary sin-sacrifice of Jesus Christ for their sins and His subsequent, bodily resurrection. They
believed his words and afterward the Holy Spirit fell upon them:Acts 15:7-9 "After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, "Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would
hear the word of the gospel and
believe. And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; and He made no distinction between us (Jews) and them (Gentiles), cleansing their hearts by (
baptism? NO!)
faith."Take note that (
1) it was those who “
believed” that had their hearts cleansed, and (
2) the text says nothing about them being baptized. Of course one would assume they were, but the pouring out of the Holy Spirit and the cleansing of their hearts happened the moment they “
believed,” prior to and apart from any subsequent, ritual, water baptism. The emphasis and key word here is “
believed.” Something infants cannot do.
This pre-
faith requirement sets a precendence for all subsequent “
household” conversions and baptisms recorded in Scripture:
In Acts 16 a woman named Lydia was listening to the words of Paul, she
believed, along with her household, and they were
subsequently baptized.
In the same chapter Paul tells the Philippian jailer to “
believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household” (vs. 31). In verse thirty-four it explicitly states that both the jailer and his whole household “
believed.” Now you cannot assume this referred to infants since personal
faith was exercised by all in his household.
In Acts 18:8 Crispus, the leader of the synagogue,
believed in the Lord
along with his household. Again, it refers to those within his household that “believed.” And it goes on to say, “…and many of the Corinthians when they
heard were
believing and being baptized.”
In 1 Cor. 16 Paul speaks of the household of Stephanas, whom he baptized, saying they have devoted themselves to the ministry of the saints. Obviously infants cannot devote themselves the ministry of the saints.
Bottom line, it was always those who personally
believed within each household that were subsequently baptized. There was no baptism apart from personal belief in the words addressed to them concerning the death and resurrection of Christ. The word “
household” does not support the doctrine and practice of infant baptism.
The tragedy is that once faith was separated from ritual baptism (baptising infants), baptism took on a soteriological life all its own within the church. And men began to put their faith in the ritual, assigning soteriological powers to it, which belong only to Christ Himself and personal faith in Him alone.
