During our sermon today, the pastor told us that it was part of the Anglican catechism on baptism that made Charles Spurgeon become a Baptist. So I looked it up.
It says:
Q. What is Holy Baptism?
A. Holy Baptism is the sacrament by which God adopts us as his children and makes us members of Christ's Body, the Church, and inheritors of the kingdom of God.
Q. What is the outward and visible sign in Baptism?
A. The outward and visible sign in Baptism is water, in which the person is baptized in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Q. What is the inward and spiritual grace in Baptism?
A. The inward and spiritual grace in Baptism is union with Christ in his death and resurrection, birth into God's family the Church, forgiveness of sins, and new life in the Holy Spirit.
Q. What is required of us at Baptism?
A. It is required that we renounce Satan, repent of our sins, and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
Infants, of course, can do none of these things.
To be fair, the Catechism goes on to say this:
Q. Why then are infants baptized?
A. Infants are baptized so that they can share citizenship in the Covenant, membership in Christ, and redemption by God.
Q. How are the promises for infants made and carried out?
A. Promises are made for them by their parents and sponsors, who guarantee that the infants will be brought up within the Church, to know Christ and be able to follow him.
But in what way can parents "make a promise" on behalf of their children, to somehow induct them into the citizenship of the Covenant, membership in Christ, and redemption by God? Scripture teaches that all of this must come by the faith of the individual. The best any parent can do is promise to provide the most nurturing environment possible for faith to take place.
My point in writing this is not to pick a fight with any paedobaptistic brothers and sisters, but merely to seek to affirm that which Scripture says about our faith.
May all of us seek daily to renounce Satan and the world that he controls, to repent of our sins, and to commit to having Jesus as our Lord, since he is our Savior.
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