The legitimacy of infant baptism depends entirely on the question of the manner in which Scripture regards the children of believers and wishes us, consequently, to regard them. If Scripture speaks of these children in the same way as of adult believers, and if the promises which are made to them and the benefits of grace received by them are the same, then the legitimacy and, still more, the duty of infant baptism are securely established; we cannot withhold from children that which is granted to adults. (Pierre Marcel, Doctrine of Infant Baptism)
Category Archives: Baptism
Not Only in Our Hearts
Let us then realize that we are baptized on this condition, namely, that we should devote ourselves fully to our God…so that we may glorify Him who has shown Himself so liberal towards us and who has exercises such pity. Every time that God’s benefits are recalled to our memory, and especially the remembrance that it has pleased Him to call us to the knowledge of His truth, we should add this: that it is in order that our life should be dedicated completely to His honor and to His service.
Baptism is our confession before men inasmuch as it is a mark and token by which we openly declare that we wish to be numbered among the people of God, by which we testify that we agree and concur with all Christians in the service of the one God and in one religion, by which, in short we publicly assert and declare our faith, in order that God may be glorified not only in our hearts, but also that our tongues and all the members of our body may, to the utmost of their ability, sound forth His praises. For in this way all that is ours is employed, as is fitting, in promoting the glory of God, which ought everywhere to be displayed; and others are stimulated by our example to the same course. (John Calvin, quoted in Pierre Marcel)
Baptism is a Blessing
Many are baptized who nullify the grace of God. Baptism is the established means whereby a man declares publicly that he is a Christian. It is the mark of his Christian profession before men: it assures him the privileges of membership in the visible Church and, if he is sincere and faithful, it is the pledge given by God that he will participate in all the blessings of redemption. It is in this sense alone that the Reformed Churches teach the necessity of baptism-the necessity of a divine precept. Even though not a means of salvation, the advantages of circumcision were great (Romans 3:1); and it is the same with baptism, the blessings of which are still more excellent and the usefulness of which is great in every respect….Consequently, baptism is a duty. If a man desires to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, and to be regarded as such, he is bound to be baptized, thus submitting himself to the commandment of Christ, as well as the invariable practice of the Apostles and to the constant and universal usage of the Christian Churches in all ages and in all parts of the world. Pierre Marcel.
The Church Can’t Read Hearts
The visible Church is administered by men. If, then, the Church were composed only of regenerate individuals, it would be necessary for its ministers, or for the Church itself, to be able to read the very hearts of its members and to be absolutely infallible in their judgments concerning men’s internal state…nowhere has Christ promised to the Church or to any individual the gift of probing men’s hearts in order to decide whether the regeneration of grace has been effective in them or not, and if so to what degree. Pierre Marcel
Private Baptisms?
It is unthinkable to celebrate a baptism as a private ceremony, which borders on depriving the person baptized and his family of a portion of its benefits. Every baptism concerns the entire Church and ought to be celebrated before the Church and in the Church. The baptize person ought to be commended to God by the intercession of all. He ought to enter publicly into the covenant and into the Church and not secretly and unnoticed. The baptized person ought also to be publicly taken care of by the people of God. “Why is it that baptism takes place in the company of the faithful?…We have in it a mirror of the good which has already been communicated to us, so that we may benefit from it right to the end. For we see that unbelievers forfeit and exclude themselves from this adoption of God through their ingratitude. Thus, that we may be strengthened more and more, we ought to consider carefully when a baptism is celebrated that it makes contact with and that God calls us to Himself in order to show us in the person of another that by nature we were lost and damned. But since He has united to the body of our Lord Jesus Christ we are no longer regarded in our own nature, God does not consider who we are nor what we have merited, but He views us as if Jesus Christ was in us: as if, indeed, we ought never to be separated from Him.” Quote from Pierre Marcel. The section in quote marks is Marcel quoting John Calvin.
Singing & Slaying 