Why Do Some People Baptize Babies?

Dear Reader,

 

Different parents have different reasons for why they "baptize" their babies. [Most actually do not really baptize (immerse) their babies in water; they only sprinkle water on them.] Probably the biggest reason that parents baptize babies is that they want their children to go to heaven. But do children have to be baptized (as infants) in order to be saved?

Jesus said in Matthew 18:3, "[U]nless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." This statement indicates that people are baptized and become Christians in order to be like little children! If little children are lost sinners, why would the Lord tell us all to be like children (read Matthew 19:14)? The truth is, little children (including infants) are not lost. They are not old enough to understand sin and its spiritual consequences.

As little children grow up, they are able to learn the difference between right and wrong. Eventually, they reach an age when they have the ability to choose to sin. It is at that time that we need to have our sins washed away by Christ's blood. It is then that we need to be baptized, not when we are innocent babies.

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