Baptism infant baptism and christening
A quick explanation why people confuse baptism christening and infant baptism
Baptism infant baptism and christening
A quick explanation why people confuse baptism, christening and infant baptism.
It is understandable why people confuse infant baptism and baptism and christening. As all of these has death as a symbolic core. Death to self, live for God.
Catholic Church and Protestant churches like Calvinistic churches, practice infant baptism. The practice has fundamentally the idea that the parents make a vow before God. They will bring their children up in God’s ways and teach him / her about God. The community stand with the parents in this and also vow to help.
Infant baptism comes from the Old Testament starting with Abraham where he circumcised himself, Isaac and everyone male in his households – slaves included.
Crystallised in the Mosaic Law, each male baby had to be circumcised.
The idea behind it – is a symbolic sacrifice, blood spilled, (speaking of Christ ultimate sacrifice) where the person get’s offered up to God, and dedicated. The person comes under the covenant between God and God’s people (covenants are made by both parties by the spilling of blood)
That person is then guided, overseen and nurtured in God’s nation and expected to keep all God’s laws. It symbolises what will happen to the party in the covenant which does not keep the agreement of the covenant. Blood will flow if you don’t keep God’s laws.
In the New Testament, the old covenant is superseded by the new. Jesus became our sacrifice and took the punishment kept for us for breaking God’s laws. This is way Paul says:
Listen! I, Paul, am telling you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you. Once again I testify to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obliged to obey the entire law. You who want to be justified by the law have cut yourselves off from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.' (Gal. 5:1-4)
To come to a short and sharp conclusion:
If you practise infant baptism because you think it give you any insurances or to the child of eternal salvation or standing with God. You are wrong.
Baptism is also connected to death. Baptism is the believer’s (not necessarily adult) choice and free will decision. Baptism associates you with the death of Christ, to be buried with Him. To be raised from the dead with Him. It is a symbolic act speaking of His death, and your hope to be raised with Him once your body fails. It speaks about your faith in Him.
Jesus was circumcised (todays ‘Christian infant baptism’) under the Old Testament covenant, and baptised as an adult – submitting is live to God, starting His ministry.
Last updated: 4th June 2010 byAdverts
