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Dee said:
Adults I know who were baptized as infants tend to fall into two camps. They either come away from it with a view I believe is called baptismal regeneration, that the ritual itself imparted something to them, physically or spiritually, which made them Christians. Or, they come to think of baptism by itself as the whole definition of Christianity, and their parent's action on their behalf as an infant made them one. The sheer luck of being born to Christian parents made them Christians. The thinking seems to be similar to the error the Jews fell into, thinking that being a genetic descendant of Abraham made them right with God.
Dee,

I hear ya! <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/BigThumbUp.gif" alt="" /> Even in a couple of recent threads on this subject of Infant Baptism, I have expressed my rejection of ANY form of presumption of salvation in regard to baptized infants, yet . . . I hold to infant baptism. J_Edwards has already given you a very brief synopsis of the warrant to baptize infants so I won't spend any time dealing with that part of it. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Historically, there have been two groups or views held by paedobaptists; 1) Those who believe that infants of believers are to be presumed elect, or regenerate, or should be deemed Christians and who at baptism are united to Christ and share in all the blessings associated with Him. and 2) Those who believe that baptism is rightly the N.T. sign of the covenant which replaces the O.T. sign of circumcision. The blessings expressed in baptism truly belong to all who believe, i.e., those who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and who by faith have been united to Christ. However, infants are not to be deemed an exception but rather the blessings ONLY belong to those who have faith. Thus, baptism does not primarily signify the recipients spiritual state but rather it is a general proclamation of the Gospel, i.e., all those who repent of their sins and believe on Christ are washed in His blood, justified and are promised eternal life. Whether these salvific blessings actually belong to the one baptized is another matter and cannot be automatically presumed.

Of course, baptism signifies many other things but again they only apply to those who have actually been born of the Spirit, e.g., regeneration, ingrafting into Christ, accepted into the covenant of grace in a salvific sense (internal relationship), etc.

You can find some good reading material here: Ecclesiology - The Doctrine of the Church. Just scroll down to the "Sacraments" section.

In His grace,

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simul iustus et peccator

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