wet or dry kids?

A Paedobaptist aswers some good Baptist questions:

• Do you believe that infant baptism saves the child?
No. Neither does adult baptism save the adult. The relationship of baptism and salvation is that of a ring to a marriage. The ring is part of the reality of the marriage. But no one treats a ring, in and of itself, as the marriage.

• Why baptize children if they do not understand the meaning of baptism?
Baptism is like circumcision. For adults it is entered with understanding, for infants it is “remembered” with understanding. In principle, one cannot object that a sign of an inward reality be given to an infant, because it is so clear in the case of circumcision. Is it meaningful that my little children are citizens of the United States? Though they do not comprehend it now, they have all the rights and protections of a citizen, though under age. As they grow, they will learn their duties, along with all the rights and privileges that their citizenship afforded them, while they were yet unaware of it. So it is with baptism.

• What about baptized children who grow up and forsake the faith?
Apostasy is a reality for children baptized as infants, for believers’-baptized children, and even for adult converts who were baptized with the most ardent professions of their faith. It is the Biblical function of church discipline (Mat 18:15-20), not baptism, which purifies church membership of those who willfully and unrepentantly deny the faith.

• What if a baptized child has a dramatic conversion later, are they to be baptized again?
A Christian (child or adult) should only be baptized once, since baptism signifies a reality that only takes place once, regeneration. We do not always know when regeneration takes place, especially in the case of children growing up in the discipline and admonition of the Lord (Eph 6:4). The reason many re-baptisms take place is (wrongly, I believe) because baptism is viewed as meaningful only if the one baptized has a certain prior experience (i.e., baptism is a testimony to my conversion experience). In fact, according to official statistics, one prominent baptist denomination reported that over 40% of its baptisms one year were for “rededication.” This is a misunderstanding of baptism.

• Shouldn’t baptism be done by immersion?
If we compare baptism with the Lord’s Supper, whether the Lord’s Supper is actually a “supper” (deipnon, an evening meal), is not essential to its purpose, meaning, or sacramental quality. In the same way, the mode of baptism, whether by immersion, pouring, or sprinkling, is surely less important than its meaning and recipients. Reformed Christians do not usually require a particular mode to be necessary for baptism. However, Biblical baptisms or “washings” in the Tabernacle were performed by sprinkling (baptismois in Heb 9:11, see verses 9:13, 19, 22). And, the baptism of the Spirit is spoken of as the Holy Spirit “poured out upon the Gentiles” (Acts 10:45-47).

• If you believe in infant baptism, by the same principles aren’t you bound to believe in infant communion?
Not necessarily. After all, the Passover meal was simply not edible to infants any way. The question of paedocommunion involves (a) whether infants or toddlers, in fact, partook of the Passover meal, (b) if not, were there spiritual qualifications, such as asking and understanding, “What does this mean?” (Exo 12:26), and (c) thus, whether the recipients of Christ’s passover in the new covenant are qualified differently. The Princeton Theologian B. B. Warfield said, “The ordinances of the Church belong to the members of it; but each in its own appointed time. The initiatory ordinance belongs to the members on becoming members, other ordinances become their right as the appointed seasons for enjoying them roll around.”

- taken from: "Infant Baptism: Does the Bible Teach It?" by Dr. Gregg Strawbridge