How Can We Baptize Children Who Don't Understand What is Happening to Them?

Did the babies circumcised under Abraham and Moses understand what was happening to them? Of course not. How were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob saved? By grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.⁷⁶ The fact God require children of the believers to understand the sign of admission to the visible covenant community before it was given, doesn't mean that they did not need to understand it as they grew up. They certainly did. The same responsibility rests with every Christian today. Every time Christians come to the Lord's table, they renew the covenant, receive the promise of the Gospel again, take up their oath of obedience to God and renew their baptism.

In fact, every complaint raised against Covenant baptism can be raised against covenant circumcision. If those complaints were invalid for circumcision, they are invalid for baptism.

⁷⁶ It is astonishing that many Bible-believing Christians think Abraham was saved by works. This is not true. No one in the history of the fallen human race has ever been saved by works. When Jesus says, "I am the way and the truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through me." (John 14:6) he was speaking of Abraham and Moses as well as us. See John 12:41 where John says, "Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him."

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