John Starke of The Gospel Coalition has a very insightful article about whether or not parents should wait to baptize their young children who have already made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. This is a question that I, as a father and pastor, am wrestling with right now. My eight-year-old son has made such a profession of faith and he has expressed desire to be baptized. What should I do?
Here’s Starke’s conclusion:
“Without reverting back to “easy-believism” Christianity, I believe the Bible gives us good reasons for parents to baptize their children upon observing a clear profession of faith in the gospel without a probationary period.”
You can also get the other side of the argument from Trevin Wax here.
These are just two recent articles and by no means the concluding word on either side. But they remind us that as parents, this is a question we need to face head on and settle in our minds as best we can. The key here as parents is to devote the necessary time on behalf of our children to do our homework and study of the Scriptures. Our children are precious to us and even more precious to Jesus.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this issue. If anyone has further resources on this topic that you think would be helpful to other parents, feel free to post them below.
(HT: Justin Taylor)
I thought Starke made some really great points in his article. I have not read Wax’s yet. It does seem that if we are to look at the example of Scripture first and foremost, there definitely is no account of delaying baptism. Without having done further research on my own, I’d say I would lean toward baptizing at conversion vs. postponing until 10 or 12.
I personally made a confession of faith at 5 and I know I wanted to trust in Christ, even if I didn’t fully comprehend the depths of God’s grace and mercy that had just been extended to me (but do I now?). I was not baptized until I was 12 and can identify with Starke’s second point “A probationary period seems to imply that there is something more than faith we need to do in order to be a Christian.” I grew up feeling this way…that I was the only sinner in my church; that if you’re saved and baptized, you won’t sin as much or struggle with sin.