Did You Ever Wonder... Why do we Baptize infants?…

Every now and then, I get the question of why do we baptize young children. This is a fairly controversial topic within the church, as some denominations only baptize children when they feel the child can make their own decision about baptism.

The first thing that you should know is that most Christians do belong to denominations that do infant baptism, so we are in the majority. Now, just being in the majority doesn't necessarily make oneself right, so let us discuss a few other reasons.

Martin Luther took very seriously the commandment of Jesus to his disciples in Matthew 28, to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit." Jesus himself never sets an age limit. The Lutheran stance, and in your pastor's opinion, the correct one, is that "all nations" means "all nations". In other words, that includes, men, women, young people, old people, and yes, even babies.

In the book of Acts, Peter is teaching the church on Pentecost, and he says the following: "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children." If the promise is there for the children, surely they are also included in the baptismal promise.

As Lutherans, we believe that baptism is something that God does, and that there is a holy and mysterious quality to it. Since we are graceful as Lutherans, we should be graceful in who we baptize, taking very seriously that phrase "all nations."