\n\t\t\t\t\t\tDownload Audio\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\tText: Romans 7:7-25<\/p>\nI. Historians will admit that infant baptism did not appear in the church until the second or\n third century\n
A. Roman Catholics<\/p>\n 1. “There is no express mention of the baptism of infants in the New\nTestament” [Question Box, page 23].\n 2. “It is difficult to give strict proof from the scriptures in favor of it.”\n[Catholic Dictionary, page 61]\n 3. “There is no express precept or rule given in the New Testament for the\nbaptism of infants.” [Bishop Burnet]\n 4. “Catholic controversialists soon proved to the Protestants that to be logical\nand consistent they must admit unwritten tradition. Otherwise by what\nright did they rest on Sunday and not on Saturday? How could they regard\ninfant baptism as valid, or baptism by infusion?” [Catholic Encyclopedia,\nVol. XV, page 7]\n 5. In other words, according the Roman Catholics, the practice of infant\nbaptism is based solely on their unwritten traditions and is not found in the\nScriptures.\n
B. Non-Catholics agree<\/p>\n 1. “It cannot be proved by the sacred Scriptures that infant baptism was\ninstituted by Christ, or began by the first Christians after the apostles.”\n[Martin Luther]\n 2. “I know of no one word in Scripture, that giveth us the least intimation that\never man was baptized without the profession of a saving faith, or that\ngiveth the least encouragement to baptize any upon another’s faith.”\n[Baxter]\n 3. Yet, the practice was continued and justified in much the same manner.\n“Christ did many things that were not recorded, and so did the apostles;\nwhereof this was one, for aught we know, the baptizing of infants.”\n[Willis]\n 4. Perhaps most bold, Henry Ward “Beecher said he had no authority from\nthe Bible for the baptism of infants, and that he wanted none; that he had\nbetter authority for it that if even the Bible commanded it; that he had tried,\nand knew from actual experience that it was a good thing; he had the same\ndivine authority for it that he had for making an ox-yoke – it worked well –\nand, therefore, it was from God.”\n C. The earliest mention is Irenaeus in c. AD 180: “For he came to save all through\nmeans of Himself – all, I say, who through Him are born again to God – infants\nand children, and boys, and youths, and old men.” [Against Heresies, vol. 1, p.\n391]\n D. Origen (185-c. 254) “Baptism according to the practice of the church is given even\nto infants.”\n E. It became a practice of the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox churches, both using\nit before their big break up. Anglicans (and Episcopals), Lutherans, Presbyterians\nand Reformed churches, and Moravian – all broke away from the Catholic church,\nbut continued this practice. Methodists, who broke from the Anglican, continue\nthe practice. Some Nazarenes, which broke away from Methodists also continue\nthe practice.\n
II. Why baptize infants?<\/p>\n A. I suspect the initial impulse was to imitate the Jews and have a ritual that would\nkeep children in the church as they grew up.\n 1. Later justification was sought for a practice already being\ndone.“Ecclesiastical custom with regard to the administration of Baptism\nhas undergone a change in the course of history. Whereas the early Church\nbaptized adults only, the baptism of children soon became the usual\npractice.” [Pastoral Medicine, pages 32-33]\n
B. A belief in inherited sin<\/p>\n 1. “Where in the fourth and fifth centuries the doctrine of original sin became\nbetter known, the practice of infant baptism progressed rapidly.”\n[Legislation on the Sacraments in the New Code of Canon Law, page 72]\n 2. “Do babies have to be baptized? Yes, because they have Original Sin in\ntheir souls, which means they have no grace.” [Catholic Catechism for\nAdults, page 71]\n 3. Origen said, “Infants are baptized for the remission of sins … that is the\nreason infants are baptized.”\n 4. Thus the primary reason for the practice is the belief that children born\ninheriting Adam’s original sin.\n
C. A doctrine not taught in the Bible<\/p>\n 1. The phrase “original sin” is not found in the Bible, though it accurately\ndescribes the sin committed by Adam was the first, or original, sin.\n a. But other than the fact that it was the first sin committed, the Bible\ndoesn’t treat Adam’s sin different from any other sin.\n 2. What has happened is that people have seen the universal nature of sin, the\nfact that every person, outside of Christ, has been charged with committing\nsin – Romans 3:23\n
a. There must be a reason for this!<\/p>\n
b. And the conclusion has been that sin is inherited.<\/p>\n
3. Sometimes Romans 5:12 is sited as proof, but read Romans 5:12-14<\/p>\n a. Paul does not say that death came to men because they inherited\nsin.\n b. Instead, he says death comes to men because they all actively\ncommit<\/i> sin.\n c. Further, even though everyone is not guilty of the same sin\ncommitted by Adam, death still holds sway.\n (1) Note that if Adam’s sin was inherited, Paul’s statement\ncould not be true.\n
(2) We would be all guilty of the same sin, as well as our own.<\/p>\n
D. The origin of sin is in law, not Adam<\/p>\n
1. Sin is the breaking of law – I John 3:4<\/p>\n a. When you state someone has sinned, you are saying they broke a\nlaw\n
b. Thus sin cannot be inherited.<\/p>\n c. You can personally break a law and thus sin, but you cannot sin\nbecause an ancestor of yours broke a law. \n
d. It is “whoever commits” not “whoever inherits.”<\/p>\n
2. Sin is not inheritable – Ezekiel 18:20<\/p>\n a. Given that fundamental truth, then Seth was not guilty of Adam’s\nsin.\n
b. He only bore responsibility for his own sins.<\/p>\n
3. Sin is tied to the existence of law – Romans 4:15<\/p>\n
4. Paul’s discussion of the relation of law and sin – Romans 7:7-25<\/p>\n a. The question being addressed is: if sin comes because of law, is\nthere something in the nature of God’s law that causes people to\nsin.\n
b. The answer is a resounding, “No!”<\/p>\n
c. Law merely defines sin.<\/p>\n d. But in defining sin, people become aware of sins they might never\nhave thought about on their own.\n
e. Note Romans 7:9<\/p>\n (1) There was a period in Paul’s life when he was alive\n(without sin)\n
(2) That period was when he lived without law<\/p>\n
(3) When do people live without law? – Deuteronomy 1:39<\/p>\n f. In Paul’s dilemma concerning the conflict between what he desires\nto do and what he ends up doing\n
(1) Nowhere does Paul indicate he inherited sin<\/p>\n (2) The conflict arises from what he does<\/i> and not from what he\nreceives<\/i>.\n
(3) The point remains that Paul, like everyone else, sins<\/p>\n
g. What about Romans 7:18?<\/p>\n
(1) Paul is acutely aware of the sorry fact that he sinned<\/p>\n (2) He can’t excuse himself because he knows what he ought to\nhave done. His mind, in himself, testifies against his\nactions.\n (3) It is the same reason Paul said the Gentiles were in sin –\nRomans 2:13-15\n E. Some, like Lutherans, try to avoid this obvious fact that sin is not inherited by\nstating it is not the actual sins, but the nature to commit sins that is inherited.\n 1. “As a Lutheran I don’t believe we inherit the guilt of specific sins\ncommitted by our parents, but I do believe we inherit a sin nature – an\ninnate will toward sin which in itself is sufficient to separate us from God.”\n[E-mail from a Lutheran minister, 4\/25\/2007]\n
2. The guilt of sin is individual – Ezekiel 18:4<\/p>\n
a. It is not the soul who inherits sin, but the one that commits sin<\/p>\n
3. Isaiah 59:1-2<\/p>\n a. Note “your iniquities” and “your sins” do the separating, not\nAdam’s\n 4. If something is inherited that is sufficient to separate us from God, then a\ndilemma arises in explaining Jesus.\n
a. He knew no sin – II Corinthians 5:21<\/p>\n
b. He committed no sin – I Peter 2:21-22<\/p>\n
c. In him there is no sin – I John 3:5<\/p>\n
d. What happened to the “innate will toward sin?” – Hebrews 4:15<\/p>\n (1) You cannot excuse him because of his deity or else we\ncannot claim that Jesus was tempted like man.\n (2) It was because the potential for sin existed that it is\nsignificant that Jesus lived without sin.\n
5. Jesus’ life proves that man was never forced to sin.<\/p>\n
a. Sin has always been due to man’s free choice<\/p>\n
III. Justification for Infant Baptisms Sought<\/p>\n
A. Households were baptized – Acts 10:23-24, 47-48; 16:30-34<\/p>\n
1. The assumption is made that a household would include children.<\/p>\n 2. The problem is that it is not a necessary<\/i> inference. There are households\nwithout children.\n 3. In addition these households are said to believe<\/i>. Would that include the\nchildren? If anything, it would indicate that small children were not\npresent.\n
B. Baptism and circumcision are paralleled – Colossians 2:11-13<\/p>\n 1. The argument is that children were circumcised, so children can be\nbaptized. \n
2. This is probably one of the earliest arguments for baptizing children<\/p>\n
3. While they are a parallel, they are not exactly the same<\/p>\n
a. Only men were circumcised, but men and women are baptized.<\/p>\n b. Baptism puts off sins, which means sins must first exist, which\nmeans a child must be old enough to be accountable to the law\n c. Faith is required before baptism, which means the person must be\nold enough to have faith\n
IV. If infant baptism is required, then what happens to infants who are not baptized?<\/p>\n A. Denominations that believe in predestination say that it depends on whether they\nwere predestined.\n B. A few say they end up in hell. This was the teaching of Augustine in the fifth\ncentury.\n C. The Roman Catholics created a realm they called limbo that was said to be neither\nheaven or hell.\n
1. It was a “state of natural happiness.”<\/p>\n 2. Recently (April 20, 2007) the Vatican reversed its stance “Our conclusion”\nis that there are “serious theological and liturgical grounds for hope that\nunbaptized infants who die will be saved and brought into eternal\nhappiness.”\n 3. To keep from appearing to contradict their earlier stance, they hedged by\nsaying that this new stance is not “sure knowledge.”\n
4. They still want babies baptized because it is a sacrament of their religion.<\/p>\n 5. Of course some object. “It makes baptism a formality, a party, instead of a\nnecessity. There would be no reason for infant baptisms. It would put the\nCatholic church on par with the Protestants.” [Kenneth J. Wolfe, Catholic\nnewspaper columnist] \n 6. In a way, he is right. Infant baptism and the belief in original sin go hand-in-hand. If a unbaptized baby can go to heaven, then it means there is no\noriginal sin.\n
V. And so we arrive at what the Bible teaches<\/p>\n
A. Children are born sinless – Ecclesiastes 7:29<\/p>\n B. They might do wrong as they grow, but because they have no knowledge of good\nand evil; that is, because they have no concept of responsibility to the law, they are\nnot held accountable.\n C. When they are old enough to know that they are personally responsible to the law,\nthey sin when they break the law they now know exists.\n D. They need to turn to Christ, who died for our sins (not Adam’s alone) – I\nCorinthians 15:3\n E. In Christ’s death, through baptism, we wash away our sins (not Adam’s) – Acts\n22:16\n
F. Thereby we are healed – I Peter 2:24<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOrigins of Denominations\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: Romans 7:7-25 I. Historians will admit that infant baptism did not appear in the church until the second or third century A. Roman Catholics 1. “There is no express mention of the baptism of infants in the New Testament” [Question Box, page 23]. 2. “It is difficult to give strict proof from…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[726,300,282,1196,113,447,1599],"class_list":["post-30347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-church-history","tag-denominations","tag-infant-baptism","tag-inherited-sins","tag-original-sin","tag-orthodox-church","tag-roman-catholic-church"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11888,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-convince-a-roman-catholic-that-infant-baptism-is-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":30347,"position":0},"title":"How do I convince a Roman Catholic that infant baptism is wrong?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 5, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: A Catholic and I debated the topic of infant baptism. He used the argument of \"household\" referring to babies as well. When I told him that households could mean teens or servants he said that he would rather follow the practice of infant baptism followed by earlier Christians 2000\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54933,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-reasoning-behind-infant-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":30347,"position":1},"title":"What is the reasoning behind infant baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 30, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: There is a Catholic whom I talk to and he told me that the reason for baptizing infants is for the opportunity for them to put on the body of Christ if they were to pass away before reaching the age of accountability. They also say that Paul went\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38990,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-is-the-church-of-christs-view-of-baptism-different-from-the-denominations\/","url_meta":{"origin":30347,"position":2},"title":"How is the church of Christ’s view of baptism different from the denominations?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 23, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I recently came across a YouTube comment about baptism that puzzled me a bit: \"It's also important to know the church of Christ view of baptismal salvation is different from every other view; that of the Lutherans, Anglicans, Catholics or Orthodox.\" Is this a correct assessment? If so,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15798,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/infant-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":30347,"position":3},"title":"Infant Baptism (Shouse)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 19, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Roger Shouse published in\u00a0Biblical Insight, Vol. 5, No. 7, July 2005. Advocates of infant baptism wrongly assume that the term \"household\" includes infants. Baptizing a baby is often viewed as a very special event in the lives of young parents. Grandparents come to witness the special occasion. A white\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/InfantBaptism.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":30327,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/origins-of-denominations\/","url_meta":{"origin":30347,"position":4},"title":"Origins of Denominations","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 12, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Over the years, I've done lessons that look at various issues that caused the rise of the various denominations that we see today. Rather than leaving them scattered, I'm gathering them up on a single page so that they will be more easily found. Where Did\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9322,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-baptize-infants\/","url_meta":{"origin":30347,"position":5},"title":"Why Baptize Infants?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 9, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Whit Sasser \u201cBaptizing\u201d infants is practiced in the Roman Catholic church and some of the Protestant denominations as well. But why would one need to subject a baby to such? They are not sinners. Sin cannot be inherited (Ezekiel 18:20). Sin is not passively received but a violation of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/infant-baptism-300x169.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30347\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}