September 2025
Infant Baptism – The ROCK – September 2025 – Rev. Logan Landes
Infant Baptism occupies a place of central and continuing importance in the doctrine and practice of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). Although other Christian traditions maintain this ancient sacrament, some abandon it for alternative practices such as "believer's baptism." In response to these opposing positions, it is our duty who maintain and practice infant baptism to establish our belief firmly on the testimony of Holy Scripture and on the tradition of the historic Church.
Infant baptism is the sacramental practice of baptizing infants, even infants too young to comprehend the rite, or verbally to make a confession of faith. The LCMS does so because baptism is not considered a symbolic act of the human will, but a Means of Grace—a divinely instituted means whereby God imparts forgiveness, life, and salvation to His Church. Scripture repeatedly attests that baptism is an instrument of grace:
Acts 2:38–39: "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins… For the promise is to you and your children."
1 Peter 3:21: "Baptism… now saves you."
Titus 3:5: "He saved us… by the cleansing of the regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit."
As baptism really is a gracious act of God, it cannot be based on human reason, understanding, or merit. Rather, baptism is absolutely a gift from God—a sovereign work of God's unmerited favor to sinners. As a gift of grace, it is to be given to all individuals, irrespective of age, for the forgiveness of sins.
Infant baptism is no innovation of recent times, nor a Lutheran oddity; it is a faithful tradition and practice of the Christian Church from its earliest centuries. The writings of the early Church Fathers, such as Origen and Augustine, testify to the apostolic origin and universal custom of infant baptism, requiring that it was "handed down from the apostles." Opposition to this sacrament exists largely in the era of the Reformation, particularly among the Anabaptists, who rejected infant baptism in favor of baptizing only confessing believers- an act offered referred to as a “believers’ baptism”. The 16th-century Anabaptists rejected infant baptism because they believed that baptism should only follow a voluntary, intellectual, and individual profession of faith in Christ. The Radical Reformation gave birth to the Anabaptists, who argued that infants cannot have saving faith or repent and thus believed that infant baptism was invalid. Baptism for the Anabaptists was a public testimony that an individual made- a personal decision to become a Christian and not an avenue of grace. This conviction led them to "rebaptize" baptized adults who had already been baptized, thus the name "Anabaptists" ("re-baptizers"). Their refusal to practice infant baptism revealed a greater theological emphasis on personal choice, personal discipleship, and separation from state-controlled churches. By holding fast to infant baptism, the LCMS stands firmly in the unbroken tradition of the historic Church, steadfastly administering the sacrament as Christians have throughout the centuries and as Scripture instructs.
One of the fundamental reasons LCMS believes in infant baptism is that all human beings, including the newborn, are sinful and require redemption. Although it may be difficult to identify particular sins committed by an infant, the Scriptures clearly instruct us that all are born and conceived in sin:
Psalm 51:5: "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me."
Romans 3:23: "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
Since even infants are sinners, they too require God's forgiveness. Baptism is the loving vehicle through which this forgiveness is gifted.
In the Old Testament, babies were not excluded from God's covenant community. Male babies entered the covenant through circumcision, and females were included in their fathers' or husbands' covenant membership. Baptism, the fulfillment of circumcision in the New Testament, includes both males and females:
Colossians 2:11–12: "In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by the removal of the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead."
As infants were not excluded from the Old Covenant, therefore, it follows that they cannot be excluded from the New Covenant, baptism.
Jesus Himself commands His Church to baptize "all nations" (Matthew 28:19), a term which necessarily includes infants. Also, Christ's invitation of children—"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them" (Mark 10:14)—demonstrates His will that even the weakest and smallest are blessed with His grace. In Acts, household baptisms (Acts 16:15, 33) also attest that children are included in the Church's sacramental life, as Scripture nowhere excludes them from God's promises.
Infant baptism is not only theologically proper but reassuring too. As Martin Luther says in the Small Catechism:
"Baptism is not plain water, but it is the water contained in God's command and mingled with God's Word… It works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare."
If baptism actually saves us from eternal death and bestows salvation, what greater comfort can the Church or parents have than to be assured that even the youngest of Christ's flock are in His grace? To deny infants this gift would be to withhold from them the very blessings which Christ has assured.
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod still affirms infant baptism, upholding the authority of Scripture and the testimony of the historic Church. Here, we neither innovate nor depart but continue in firm continuity with apostolic teaching, the testimony of the early Church Fathers, and the Reformation's faithfulness to God's promises. Infant baptism is a tangible, visible demonstration of the grace of God—a positive and certain assurance of salvation to all sinners through all the ages.
Standing on the firmer ground of God's Word when we are enabled to defend this practice against its critics with the conviction of faith and the testimony of God Word’s, but we do so not in hatred, but in the love of Christ. The LCMS trusts that God will remain true to His promises in Christ's name and will, through the waters of baptism, keep forgiving, giving life, and grant salvation to all who are brought to Him by the power of the Gospel, both those infants being held up in their parents' arms and those adults who confess His name.
In Christ's Name
Amen!