Where In The  Bible Will I Find: That Babies Should Be Baptized?  By:  Gary Colley Date:  July 28, 2002 Past/Future Articles

It is not unusual to have a call from a confused, frustrated, tender hearted, and desperate mother, wanting to know if she should have her baby baptized.  These mothers are sincere and honest in their quest, but have been led astray and deceived from what the Bible teaches by false teachers who teach false doctrine.  Denominational teaching for years has sinfully said that babies should be baptized, and the Catholics even believe that an aborted “fetus” should be brought to them for baptism.  First of all, most if not all of these false teachers have prostituted the word baptism to mean something completely different than the meaning found in the Bible.  Instead of the original meaning of to dip, submerge, or bury in water, they have changed the action to sprinkling or pouring, and call it baptism!   This is an addition to what the Lord taught, and is not approved by inspiration.  Next of all, let it be understood that children are not subjects for baptism in anyway, since its purpose was to wash away sins (Acts 22:16), and they do not have any sins to wash away.  When the disciples had a fuss over who was the greatest in the kingdom, Jesus called to him “a little child” for an object lesson to them (Matt.18:1-3).   He did not call “a little sinner,” but a pure little child.   In their purity, Jesus taught the disciples that they must develop the teachable, loving, and pure character of a little child in order to be what they should be as members of the church of Christ.   All can see from this teaching of the Lord, that to baptize little children would be to make a mockery of the purpose of baptism (Acts 2:38).   All children from Adam to the present time have been born into this world as pure as the driven snow.  The Bible says, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die (spiritually).  The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him” (Ezk.18:20).  With their free moral agency given them by their Creator (Heb.12:9), little children are not sinful until they come to the age of accountability and choose to transgress God’s law (I Jn.3:4).   Next of all please notice, that to be one subject to baptism in order to become a Christian, one must be old enough to know what he or she is doing.  This is called belief.  Also repentance of past sins must be accomplished within the sinner, along with confession of our faith in Jesus as the Christ.  Then and only then is any soul able to be baptized into Christ for their salvation.  Only willful ignorance can allow for “pastors” or “clergymen” to “baptize babies.

–Gary Colley