Child of God?

I have been thinking a lot about baptism lately. For a few reasons: First, I have been able to baptize 3 infants in the first 10 months of ministry. Second, I have started a new tradition in our church by introducing the baby after I have baptized it. When I do so, I say "(Child's name) is a child of God..." As a result of that I have had some interesting conversations about baptism with someone. Third, as I go through the Heidelberg Catechism, I have reached the discussion on sacraments and especially baptism. Finally, even before I received it in the mail, the Calvin Theological Seminary Forum has the entire issue dealing with baptism. To read this go here: http://calvinseminary.edu/pubs/forum/08fall.pdf

I find it interesting that all of these things have come together in the past few months. The main thing that has caused me to think so much about baptism, and infant baptism in particular is the discussion I had. In this discussion, the person was challenging me on what I meant when I said the baby was a "Child of God." In this discussion this person wanted to know if I meant they were physically a child of God, or spiritually. I agreed with this person that physically everyone is a child of God, since God created everyone. But for this person to be a spiritual child of God meant you were saved.

It is at this point we disagree. We agreed that baptism itself does not save the child. So, for this person, the child cannot be a spiritual child of God. For this person, they feel that a child of believing parents is blessed to be born into a home of believing parents, but would not consider them to be a spiritual child of God. In our conversation, it really seemed to hinge on this person's definition of a child of God.

We agreed on a lot of things. This person did not want to give any false assurance to parents, I agree. This person felt that baptism is a sign, not an actual saving element, I agree. But for this person, only those who are saved should be called children of God.

For this person then, Baptism should only be given to those who have a personal relationship with God. That is why I think the Forum article is so timely for me. It reaffirms everything I said to this person about infant baptism. It isn't about the person's choice to choose God. In infant baptism, God is the one choosing the child. As a community we also make promises to do our part in raising this child in the covenant.

I think that is what makes infant baptism so special. It is God who is doing the action. God alone is saying that this child is a child of his. That he loves this child so much, that he sent his son to die on the cross for him or her, even before they were born. The thing that made this whole discussion so challenging is the person's view on what is a Child of God. I couldn't fully agree with this person's definition because I know that baptism doesn't automatically save the child. But yet, God is separating the child and calling it to be his own, so I am still confident in saying at an infant baptism, "This is a child of God."