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Ask FGBC #20: How can I clearly explain credo baptism to teenager who grew up paedo?

Jim Butler · 2024-11-06 · 1,168 words · 7 min

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Okay, next question. And we've touched on this in 
previous questions on this Ask FGBC series. This is kind of 
targeted to all ages. So how can I clearly explain 
credo baptism to a teenager who grew up pedo or pedo? So can 
you please provide a clear, concise explanation of why we believe 
in credo baptism and not pedo in such a way that it would make 
sense to a pedo? So this discussion comes up a lot, and this person 
is struggling through, just stumbling through how to explain that, 
and asks to gear that to all ages. Yeah. I would say the simplest, you 
know, response is, what does the Bible say? And, you know, 
and Pado-Baptist theologians have recognized this. They have 
said there's no text in the New Testament that demands sprinkling 
babies. It's an argument based on implication, 
good and necessary consequences, as far as they're concerned, 
and covenant. So, if you're dealing with somebody 
that is younger, I'm not going to assume they're not as bright, 
but if they're younger and concepts are a bit more difficult, you 
probably don't start with covenant. You probably don't start with 
good and necessary consequences. You start with what does Scripture 
say. And, you know, one of the clearest 
passages in terms of how we carry out baptism would be the Great 
Commission. So, Jesus says, go make disciples, 
baptize those disciples, and then teach those disciples to 
observe all that I've commanded you. And then we go to the Book 
of Acts, and that's precisely what we see those disciples doing. They go to various places, they 
preach the gospel, they make disciples, they baptize those 
disciples, and then those disciples are joining churches or part 
of churches. So, those two legs of the Great 
Commission are being carried out. They're getting converted, 
they're being then baptized, and then they're being taught 
as believers what they should, you know, do in terms of obedience 
to their Lord. So, I would say that's probably 
the most basic and simple answer. If, you know, they hadn't invented 
all these other arguments, that probably would have carried the 
day. But they have, you know, had 
all the, I shouldn't say invented, that sounds pretty cruel, but 
there are these other arguments. So, if the young person is a 
bit more theologically inclined, you can show how, you know, they 
connect it to Abraham and his circumcising babies, and therefore, 
they think that baptism of babies is legit. But there's a few problems 
with that particular view, and so I think just having a good 
understanding of the theology that's used to support paedo-baptism, 
it doesn't take a whole lot to sort of dismantle it. And again, 
I'm speaking as a convinced Baptist. And for any Paedo-Baptists that 
watch this, I'm sorry. But so yeah, what does the Bible 
say? If they do think beyond those 
texts, and they ask about covenant, answer the question. I mean, 
just as you would an adult who is in tune with all of this theological, 
you know, all of the theological background. I think perhaps another 
way to go as well is to ask, what is baptism? Which, if you 
were to ask a pedo, as far as what I'm about to say, they would 
agree with me as it pertains to baptizing adults. I think 
they would agree with a lot of what is said in chapter 29 of 
our confession on what the baptism is or what it is. It's a sign, 
well, unto the party baptized, it's a sign of fellowship with 
Jesus. in his death and resurrection. 
So it's a sign that one is united to Christ in his death and resurrection. It's a sign of being engrafted 
into him. It's a sign that our sins have been forgiven and there's 
remission. And it's also of us giving unto 
God through Jesus to live and walk in newness of life. A baby 
can't do any of those things. And not only that, is baptism. I know sometimes we can get things 
wrong as far as who we baptize, we're not omniscient. But baptism 
really is an outward sign of an inward work. And so there's 
really no way to recognize that in an infant. And that's why 
the order in scripture is pretty clear. As Pastor Butler said, 
it's faith and then baptism. It's baptism, then a member of 
the church. And even in Hebrews 10, You know, we draw near to God. 
How do we draw near? We certainly draw with our hearts 
sprinkled from an evil conscience, which probably highlights regeneration. But then some commentators highlight 
our bodies washed with pure water could refer to baptism there. 
So there is, you know, it's an outward sign of an inward work. 
And so that is something that is definitely not the case when 
it comes to an infant, but certainly is the case for those who profess 
and believe. Those key texts like the Acts 
2, 37 and the Mark 16, 16 is like repent and be baptized. It's a willful, obedient act. 
You're not being forced or coerced or anything like that. For sure. 
And can I add as well, as far as the household texts are concerned, 
I mean, those are pretty scant, if you ask me, and pretty unclear 
as far as what's going on. I mean, Lydia isn't married. 
Certainly, some of the other texts indicate that, you know, 
they believed as well. But also to recognize that in 
that time, the way in which they lived is different, perhaps, 
than North America, primarily, in that everybody lived together 
under one roof. So, you know, you had the grandparents, 
and then the kids, and then their kids, and everyone lived together 
in that way. the servants, everyone was there. So, you know, it perhaps 
just helps to describe the whole family rather than recognizing 
every individual in that way. So that's important to remember, 
especially for North America, where we, we leave our families 
and live on our own, generally speaking. But even around the 
world, most people still all live together in sort of that 
Graco-Roman way. So that needs to be taken into 
account as well. Yeah. And obviously, having gone through 
that process myself from coming from that position to being believers, 
immersion only, it's just going back to the scripture and being 
really honest with it. What's the context? What was intended 
here? And there's a lot of layers and interpretations that get 
stacked on it that you've got to shove to the side to get back 
to it. the history of the church. Yeah, 
that was the early days of the church. And now we're established. 
So it's different now. And there's a lot of rationalization 
gets added. You got to get past. Even on 
the Great Commission, it's like they're getting the order wrong. 
And that's people are preaching in that, right? They're teaching 
that.