Subjects of Baptism, Part 1 (in the Gospels)

Introduction to the Study of Infant Baptism and Methodological Principles

0:00 This adult Sunday school class was held on June 19, 1983, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now let's begin by asking the Lord's blessing upon our study this morning and seek His face in prayer.

0:27 Our God, as we come into Your presence, we know that You are the God of truth, the God of righteousness, the God of grace. And we pray, O Lord, that as we come to consider Your holy word together, that You and Your graciousness would draw near to us, that You would pour out of Your Holy Spirit upon us, that You would enable us to come to grips with the scriptures, and that You would write the scriptures upon our hearts. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

1:06 Now I will make an effort, because of the fact that we are not being amplified this morning, to crank up my volume. But if some of you on the back row, if I forget, if some of you have a hard time hearing me, please speak now. Make some kind of a motion. Go like this.

1:29 Or somehow let me know that you cannot hear what I am saying, so that I can once again crank my volume, volume up to an appropriate level for us to all be able to profit from our studies in the word of God.

1:47 Now we are considering together the subject of infant baptism. And we began our study last week in an effort to set this issue in perspective, in biblical perspective. And you'll remember that I laid out to you the fundamental, biblical perspective with which I was seeking to approach what has been and still is a controversial issue in the Church of Jesus Christ. I said that I was approaching it with some measure of reluctance because of the dangers identified with entering any controversial topic. And I laid out for you what those dangers are. I won't go through them again. Then also I said that I was approaching it with some measure of reluctance because of the dangers identified with entering any controversial topic.

2:49 Then also I said that I was approaching it with some measure of reluctance because of the dangers identified with entering any controversial topic. Then also I said that I was approaching it with some measure of reluctance because of the dangers identified with entering any controversial topic. Then also I said that I was approaching it with some measure of reluctance because of the dangers identified with entering any controversial topic. Then also I said that I was approaching it with some measure of reluctance because of the dangers identified with entering any controversial topic.

2:50 Then also I said that I was approaching it with some measure of reluctance because of the dangers identified with entering any controversial topic. Then also I said that I was approaching it with some measure of reluctance because of the dangers identified with entering any controversial topic. Then also I said that I was approaching it with some measure of reluctance because of the dangers identified with entering any controversial topic. to the paedo-baptists of the past from whom we have received much profit from the scriptures and a sense of love and unity with many of our brethren who differ with us on this issue who are currently and presently alive.

3:10 And so I should say for those that are listening to the tape, if my voice is loud this morning, it is not that I have renounced everything that I said two weeks ago. It is not that I've turned into a nasty Baptist. But the problem is with our amplification system and not with a violation or an altering of the principles with which we are approaching the subject. And then also I said last week that there are five basic lines of thought in which we must approach the question should infants or can infants be baptized.

3:49 First of all, the biblical witness with respect to the subjects of baptism. Secondly, the biblical witness with respect to the significance of baptism. Thirdly, the biblical witness with respect to the doctrine of the sacraments. Fourthly, the biblical witness concerning the church and the identity of the members of the church.

4:16 And fifthly, the biblical witness concerning the covenant community and in particular the members of the new covenant community. So you have the biblical witness to the subjects of baptism, the significance of baptism, the doctrine of the sacraments, the church, and the covenant. And we shall, the Lord willing, in the next several weeks, consider these issues one at a time. And we come this morning to the first of them,

Focusing on the Biblical Witness to the Subjects of Baptism

4:54 the first major area, which is the subjects of baptism. The biblical witness to the specific question at hand, which is the subjects of baptism. What does the bible say explicitly and directly when it addresses the question of the subjects

5:22 of baptism? must of necessity be the first and foremost issue to be faced. And the reason is because it is only here that we find explicit and direct biblical testimony concerning the subjects of baptism. When we ask the question, should infants be the subjects of baptism, then we must first and foremost consider the biblical testimony concerning the subjects of baptism.

6:00 And if baptism is a symbolic ordinance instituted by Jesus Christ to be perpetuated in and by his church, then any explicit scriptural statements concerning it must come from him and from the church. And his apostles. Else, where did we get the idea that there should ever even be such a thing as baptism? If we didn't get it from Jesus and from the apostles, where did the idea come from that there should be a symbolic water rite identified as a sacrament of the church of Jesus Christ? Where did it arise? If explicit and direct teaching did not come from them, where then did it come from?

7:01 So we must first of all consider those passages which directly and explicitly reveal the subjects of baptism. Now then, with respect to this question, there are three things, and we may be at this a bit longer than I originally expected, because there are three things which must be dealt with or which ought to be dealt with if we are to address and approach this question biblically. And the first is we must consider those passages which define and describe those passages which define and describe the subjects of baptism.

7:59 You say, well, what else is there but that? All right. Well, then. There are other passages.

8:05 And if this were not a controversy, of course, we would never even need to deal with these other passages. But there are other passages which are used to defend and support the assertion that infants are the proper subjects for baptism. And we must consider those as well.

8:30 In other words, there are other passages in the New Testament, other texts in the New Testament, which are used bipedally. To support and defend the assertion that infants are the proper subjects of baptism. Such passages as Jesus taking the little children, the infants, into his arms and blessing them and praying over them. Such passages as the text in Acts chapter 2 and verse 39, which says the promises to you and to your children, and to as many as are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto himself. Such passages as 1 Corinthians chapter 7 verse 14 and following, which speak about holy children. Else were your children unclean, but now they are holy. Such passages as Ephesians chapter 7 verse 14 and following, which speak about holy children. Else were your children unclean, but now they are holy.

9:37 Like Ephesians chapter 6 and the parallel passage in Colossians, which says, -"Children, obey your parents in the Lord." Now these are the types of passages that are used to assert that infants are the proper subjects of baptism. Now on the surface, you may say, -"Wait a minute those passages do not even mention baptism. They do not even say baptism in such verses that we have to pray.

10:06 the word baptism at all. Baptism is not in the context of any of those passages. That's true. But nevertheless, those passages are used.

10:17 Those passages are used as what you might call indirect evidence to support and defend the idea that infants ought to be the proper subjects of baptism. And then the third point, is the conclusion mandated by the biblical witness to the subjects of baptism. The conclusion.

10:52 So we're going to first of all deal with those passages which explicitly define and describe the subjects of baptism. Then we're going to deal with other passages which are put forward to support the idea that infants ought to be the subjects of baptism. And then we're going to see the conclusion which is mandated by the biblical witness to this question. Who ought to be the subjects of baptism?

11:23 Or the biblical witness with respect to the whole subject directly. Now we have said there is more to the issue than this. We must consider the significance of baptism. We must consider the doctrine of the sacraments.

11:38 We must consider the doctrine of the church. We must consider the doctrine of the covenant. But we will not find anything in the doctrine of the significance, the doctrine of the sacraments, the doctrine of the church or of the covenant which is in contradiction to the explicit biblical witness. You won't.

11:58 You won't find anything in those supportive or broader categories which contradicts the most direct and explicit and clear testimony with respect to the specific issues at hand. So then we must come then without any further ado to the first point. Those passages which explicitly define and describe the subjects of baptism.

Defining Baptism: Old Testament Usage and Mode

12:30 Now where is the first mention of baptism in the Bible?

12:39 And I should warn you that's a loaded question. Where's the first the first mention of baptism in the Bible? No one knows. Anyone here that has read that book from beginning to end?

13:00 Do you have any inkling? Where is it mentioned first?

13:08 Jerry?

13:12 All right, John. John's baptism.

13:17 Well that's probably what most of us would say. Now if you have if you have reference to a to a Septuagint and now a Septuagint is a Greek translation of the Bible. Of the Old Testament. You'll find that the word baptizo that's sort of a mixture of Greek and English.

13:50 That's baptizo. Now that's Greek. Now the English take this off.

14:04 There you go. All right, see that? So the word baptized in English is not really an English word. It's really a Greek word and we've taken the Greek word baptizo and given a letter for letter transliteration of the Greek and come up with the English word baptize.

14:24 Now this Greek word here baptizo is also used in the Septuagint translation to translate a Hebrew word in the Old Testament and this word is found twice in the Old Testament in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament. And none of you of course would be familiar off the top of your head either with what the Hebrew word is or with where it's found in the Old Testament so I'll tell you. The Hebrew word is tabal and it's found in 2 Kings 5.14.

15:05 That's the first mention.

15:11 Now it's only found in two places and only one of them has anything to do with water so we can forget about the other one in Isaiah. For those of you who are deep Bible students you can look up the one in Isaiah and study it to your own puzzlement but the only one that has anything to do with water is found in 2 Kings and it's found in 2 Kings 5.14.

15:45 Now this then is the first quote unquote baptism and it's interesting that it happened in the Jordan River and it's also interesting that it happened to a leper who was being washed from his leprosy.

16:02 2 Kings 5.14. It's used with reference to Naaman the Syrian. Then he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan.

16:14 That's the word. Baptizo is used right there. He went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan according to the saying of the man of God and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child and he was clean. Now obviously that's not a reference to a symbolic rite instituted by Jesus Christ.

16:41 However, there is a certain symbolism I believe involved in it and what did he do? A solid, namely Naaman the Syrian, was inserted into a liquid, water, and he inserted that solid into the liquid. He dipped himself into the river Jordan seven times and when he did, he came up clean. It was a washing.

17:09 He dipped himself in the water. Now, this word, the Hebrew word that's used here is only translated by two Greek words in the entirety of the Greek version of the Old Testament. It's translated by the Greek word bapto, which means to dip when it's transitive and it's transitive that is when it takes a direct object to complete its meaning and it's translated by the word baptizo to insert, to immerse, to dip as it's translated here in the 1901 ASV and intensified dipping only once because it's only used that way once in 2 Kings 5.14. Now then, so what's the idea? Well, the idea is to wash.

18:03 Now, if I may illustrate this,

18:08 how many ways are there to wash yourself?

18:12 How many can you think of? Well, two basic ways. All right? You can either take a bath or you can take a shower.

18:25 Isn't that right? No, I know you can take a sponge bath. Some of you want to give me a hard time. But fundamentally, a sponge bath is a form of a shower.

18:34 All right? It's a little intensified shower. It's the same thing. All right, now what's the difference between a bath and a shower?

18:43 You wash yourself both ways, right? What's the difference between the two of them? Pastor Martin, you know the difference. The girl's 30 minutes for a bath and all you do is take a shower.

19:00 Very good. Very good.

19:05 And I won't ask you what the implications are of that, but all right, in any event, besides the fact that it takes longer to take a bath than it does to take a shower, what else is the difference between these two modes of washing?

19:22 Mr. Johnson.

19:40 Well, I'm glad that I'm not arguing with you. I'm not arguing for the mode of baptism.

19:49 Now, the point is, that may well be true, but the point is that with a bath, now see if this is not the case, with the bath, the solid is inserted, but with a shower,

20:17 the liquid, now isn't that right? Isn't that the fundamental difference between those two modes? With a shower, you take the liquid and you put the liquid on the solid. With the bath, you take the liquid and you take the solid and you insert the solid into the liquid.

20:45 Now, it's interesting that the Greeks understood that fundamental distinction. And they had terminology, like we have bath and showers, so also the Greeks had terminology with which to express that fundamental distinction between two different ways of washing something. You could wash it either by putting the solid onto the liquid, oh no, sorry, the liquid on the bath, or you could wash it by sticking or inserting the solid into the liquid. Now, it's very interesting that the terminology that they had for this one, the word bacto, bactizo, and the terminology that they have for this is the word rhino, from which we get our word rain. Isn't rain like a shower? A nice spring, gentle shower in which the liquid comes down upon the surface of the solid. Rhino, rontizo, translated to sprinkle.

21:51 The liquid sprinkles upon the surface of the solid. Now, that's the difference between baptism and sprinkling.

21:59 It's just that simple.

22:02 It's just that simple. The Hebrews understood the distinction too. The Hebrews had words for this, which are different than the words for this. The Hebrews had words for bath, for inserting the solid into the liquid.

22:16 They had words for a shower, for a shower, for a shower, for a shower, for a shower, for a shower, to pour, to sprinkle, to rain the liquid onto the solid. And the Hebrew words were never confused by the Hebrews and the words were never confused by the Greeks. And the Hebrew words for inserting the solid and the liquid are always translated by bapto and baptizo and these words are never used.

22:39 Bapto and baptizo are never used to translate the Hebrew words for showers or sprinkling. Never. Never. Never.

22:48 In the Greek Old Testament.

22:52 Never. And I use that as a challenge. Never. Show a passage where they are ever used to translate terminology for placing the liquid onto the solid.

23:04 Never. It's just not there. Now, having said that,

23:12 that's what we can learn basically from the Old Testament. Naaman went down and he took a bath. He washed himself by taking a bath. He did not sprinkle the water upon himself.

23:29 He dipped himself. He inserted himself in the Jordan seven times. He took a bath. Now, that's about all that we can learn from this usage in the Old Testament.

23:44 It is a washing and it's a particular type of washing. It is a bath. Not a shower. It is a shower.

23:53 It is a bath. All right. Now, having said that,

The Subjects of John's Baptism

24:00 where then is the first mention of a symbolic rite of washing using baptizo by the bath mode which is found which inserts the solid that is the person into the liquid which is water which has been instituted by a servant of God. Well, Jerry already answered it. It's John's baptism. It's John's baptism.

24:25 It's John's baptism. It's John's baptism. It's John's baptism. It's John's baptism.

24:25 It's John's baptism. It's John's baptism. It's John's baptism. It's John's baptism.

24:25 It's John's symbolic bath. John's symbolic bath. That's the first mention in the Bible of this as a rite symbolically instituted. It was instituted by John.

24:44 All right. Now, several passages are pertinent with respect to the subjects then of John's bath. All right. First passage, Matthew chapter three.

24:57 Matthew chapter three,

25:18 verse five. Then went out unto him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region round about the Jordan and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan confessing their sins. They were baptized by him in the river Jordan and they confessing their sins. Verse eleven.

25:49 I indeed baptize you using water or with water unto repentance but he that comes after me is mightier than I he shall baptize you using or with the Holy Spirit and in fire.

26:10 Verse sixteen. And Jesus when he was baptized went up straight away from the water and lo the heavens were opened unto him and he saw the spirit of God descending as a dove and coming upon him. Now then, what do these verses reveal with respect to the subjects of baptism as it was administered by John? First of all, verse six.

26:45 What does verse six tell you about the people who were baptized? What did they do?

26:54 Go ahead. What does the text say? They confessed their sins and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan confessing their sins. Now, verse eleven.

27:09 What was the significance of this confession of their sins? What was the point of it? I baptize you unto what? Repentance.

27:20 So the the subjects of John's baptism were those who were penitents who were confessing their sins. Now, I could go through the parallel passages in Mark 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, Luke 3, 7, 12, 16, parallel passages in the gospel of John, the passages in Acts and which which mentioned John the baptizer and the purpose and point of his baptism. I could go through all of those passages. I don't intend to take the time.

28:01 You can look them up if you wish. You will find fundamentally exactly and precisely the same thing in all of the parallel passages that you find here in Matthew. The people who were the subjects of John's baptism were people who were bringing forth the fruit's meat for repentance they were people who were confessing their sins. There is no record instance indication whatsoever that John ever baptized anyone who would not or who could not confess his sins and repent.

28:46 No biblical evidence to support this whatsoever. Now,

28:55 T.E. Watson in his little book Should Infants Be Baptized quotes from several Pado-Baptist authors who also agree with this conclusion concerning John's baptism so that the conclusion that appears to be right here on the surface of the text that the subjects of John's baptism were those who manifested the fruits of repentance and who confessed their sins this conclusion is also seen and recognized and reached by many Pado-Baptist authors. Take, for example, John Owen who writes in his works volume 6 page 465 concerning the first institution of baptism he says and I quote God calls a man in a marvelous and miraculous manner gives him a ministry from heaven commands him to go and baptize all those who confessing their sins and professing repentance of them should come to him. William Cunningham essentially says the same thing in his theological dissertations page 79 John's baptism was termed the baptism of repentance which is

30:24 and baptism to repentance because he required of all whom he admitted to baptism a profession of repentance. Thomas Boston speaks the same way in his works on page 384 quoting from Acts 19 he says or commenting he says John verily baptized in the baptism of repentance not in respect of repentance to come after but going before for John baptized none but those that confessed their sins so that this that appears to be patent on the surface of the text is recognized by many paedo Baptist authors and themselves now then having said that with regard to John's baptism we come then to Christian baptism Christian baptism baptism as instituted and perpetuated by Jesus Christ and his apostles

Christian Baptism as Instituted and Practiced by Jesus Christ

31:51 the first thing that we come across in John chapter 4 with respect to the institution and practice of baptism by Jesus Christ is the connection between John's baptism and Christian baptism with respect to the organization of this material I've divided it up into Christian baptism as instituted and perpetuated by Jesus Christ himself then Christian baptism as practiced and implemented by the apostles Christian baptism

32:57 as instituted and perpetuated by Jesus Christ himself and then Christian baptism as practiced and implemented by the apostles now with respect to this I have two passages to consider under the institution and perpetuation of baptism by Jesus Christ and then also ten passages with respect to the practice and implementation of this by the apostles I suppose there's no way we're going to go through those twelve passages this morning perhaps we'll get through the first two issues right the first passage John chapter four and verse one first mention of Jesus Christ instituting and practicing baptism when therefore the Lord knew John chapter four verse one when therefore the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John although Jesus himself did not baptize but his disciples he left Judea and departed again into Galilee now let's

34:26 consider the text when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John right there's the connection there's the explicit and intimate connection between Jesus baptism and John's baptism what was John doing John was making and baptizing disciples that's the key word who were the subjects of John's baptism here they are described as John's disciples he made disciples the word for to make is used and then he baptized these disciples he made them and he baptized them and that's what we read about before they were baptized unto repentance they came confessing their sins they were John's disciples he made them his disciples and then he baptized them unto

35:53 the baptism of repentance now what was Jesus doing Jesus was doing something very similar to what John did but this was not John's baptism because Jesus was not making disciples for John Jesus was making disciples for himself Jesus was not baptizing John's disciples he was baptizing his own disciples but he wasn't doing it personally like John did he had delegated the responsibility to his apostles notice who are the subjects of this baptism they are those described as people who have been made disciples you find an intimate connection between the subjects of John's baptism and the subjects of Christian baptism and the connection is this and it is explicit in both cases they have been made disciples John baptized those who had been made his disciples Jesus baptized those who had been made his disciples now some will argue that this is a not Christian baptism

37:22 well if it is not Christian baptism what pray tell is it who is doing the baptism it is Christ it is Christ why then is it not Christian baptism I don't understand why it isn't Christian baptism if it's being performed and instituted by Jesus Christ and if its subjects are those who have been made disciples of Jesus Christ why isn't it Christian baptism what kind of baptism is it it isn't Jewish proselyte baptism it isn't John's baptism so what is it it is Christian baptism it's Christian baptism in its incipient forms at that point in redemptive history it's not Christian baptism after the coming of the Holy Spirit but it's Christian baptism in conjunction with the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus Christ and that is the first instance in which Jesus Christ is engaged in baptism if Jesus Christ's baptism is not Christ's

38:51 baptism what is it of course it's Christ's baptism and it's here that Jesus Christ institutes his baptism of his disciples and he is doing fundamentally the same thing that John was doing now notice this which was instituted by Jesus Christ in his public ministry is perpetuated by Jesus Christ when he leaves the world Matthew chapter 28 we find here the perpetuation of this institution and it's for that reason that this is referred to as the instituting passage because it's here in Matthew chapter 28 verse 16 and following when Jesus is leaving this world to go up to heaven it's here that Jesus perpetuates that which he began in his public ministry on earth verse 16 but the eleven disciples went into Galilee unto the mountain where Jesus had appointed them and when they saw him they worshipped him but some doubted and Jesus came to them and spoke to them

40:21 saying all authority has been given unto me in heaven and on earth and now therefore in the light of this great authority which has been given to Christ which he is going to exercise and is going to now exercising at the right hand of God in the light of this he gives the great commission and the great commission has as its foundation this statement go therefore and make disciples of all the nations there's the fundamental assertion of the text the heart of the commission is to make disciples and the other elements of the text are presented in a way that indicates that they are subordinate to this fundamental and essential assertion and submission assertion and commission it is because they are subordinate that Jesus uses the participles and he uses the finite verb here he's emphasizing that the real heart of the commission is not baptizing the heart of the commission is seeing people converted by the grace of God from being under the wrath of God to being into the favor of God the heart of what they were to do

41:50 is to go and preach the gospel so that people would be saved that's the heart of what's asserted to them in their apostolic commission the heart of it is the commission to evangelize and the other things which occur are subsequent to this and subordinate to it go therefore make disciples of all the nations there's your fundamental task it is world wide evangelism make disciples of all the nations and then subordinate to that task baptizing them into the name of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you and lo I am with you always even unto the end of the world now it's amazing the lengths that some are willing to go to in order to avoid the force of this passage Jesus here is not telling them to go out into the world and to make people disciples by putting water on them he's not saying that you make someone a disciple by putting him into the water people do not become disciples by having water sprinkled

43:20 upon them how could that possibly be the meaning of the text Jesus is telling them to go out and preach the gospel people become disciples how did they become disciples they became disciples when they heard the gospel and received it and became attached to the master that's how a person becomes a disciple how can you read the gospels and come away with some other idea than that a person becomes a disciple by hearing and receiving the gospel and by becoming attached to the master where do you find any notion that the way you make people disciples is by sprinkling them or dunking them in water that's not what Jesus is teaching that's not a modal participle he's not saying that you make them disciples by dunking them in the water but yet some and generally responsible exegetes have gone to that length to avoid the force of the passage no now not all paedo-baptists take that type of an approach but some do that's not what Jesus is saying he's telling them to go and make disciples by preaching the gospel he's not telling them to do anything fundamentally different radically opposed to what they had been sent to do throughout his

44:49 entire earthly ministry he is perpetuating that mission and he is enlarging the scope of that mission to a worldwide focus before in his earthly ministry he spoke to none but the Jews now that he's gone to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the gospel is no longer restricted to Israel it is now proclaimed proclaimed to the entire world and that's what's happening that which they were doing in Israel is perpetuated and it is made worldwide he's not telling them to do something radically different than what he did in John 4 in John 4 he made disciples and when the disciples were made he baptized them and he taught them and that's exactly what they are commissioned to do they're commissioned now not simply to go to the Jews but the heart of their commissions to go to the whole world to preach the gospel and to make disciples from every nation and then subordinate to that they are to baptize them and they are to teach them they are to do exactly what they saw Jesus doing in John chapter 4 make disciples baptize them teach them

Conclusion: Jesus Instituted Disciple Baptism, Not Infant Baptism

46:19 no fundamental difference simply perpetuation and enlargement see that and it's stated in terms appropriate to that point in redemptive history in the name of the triune God the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit it's stated in such a way that is appropriate for its perpetuation unto the end of the age now that's all you find with regard to the Lord Jesus Christ and the institution of baptism that is the biblical data there is no more Jesus Christ never instituted the baptism of infants you will not find that in the word of God you will not find an explicit statement from Jesus Christ in which he commands the disciples to go and baptize infants you will not find an example in which Jesus Christ either himself or by delegation baptized an infant so if infant baptism

47:47 is a New Testament ordinance commanded and instituted by Jesus Christ there is no record of that institution in the word of God there is no example there is no commandment there is no example of anything other than Jesus making and baptizing disciples and of Jesus perpetuating and enlarging that institution of disciple baptism the making and the baptizing of disciples it is not infant baptism which can be found in Jesus example and institution it is disciple baptism which Jesus practiced and which Jesus perpetuated now that may not be the beginning middle and end of the case for everyone but that is clearly clearly the implication of the biblical data now let me quote I was going to save this to later but I think I'll close with it today just because some of you may say no paedo-baptist would ever admit that but that's not true because some of them do admit that for example

49:15 one of the greatest exegetes I'll probably quote this three or four times but one of the greatest exegetes in my estimation of the new testament who has ever lived B.B. Warfield makes the following statement in his article addressing the issue the polemics of infant baptism found in his studies in theology page 399 it is true that there is no express command to baptize infants in the new testament no express record of the baptism of infants and no passages so stringently implying it that we must infer from them that infants were baptized no example no command and nothing from which we must draw a necessary inference so what he says not only applies to the life of Christ but it also is broader so perhaps I'll quote it again after when we're done with the teaching on the apostles if such warrant as this were necessary to justify the usage and it is but he didn't say that if such warrant as this were necessary to justify the usage we should

50:44 have to leave it incompletely justified or perhaps completely unjustified would be better but the lack of this express warrant is something far short of forbidding the right and if the continuity of the church through the ages can be made good now listen to this statement the warrant for infant baptism is not to be sought in the new testament but in the old testament in the old testament and then he talks about Dr. Strong in his systematic theology who says this strong he says commits his first logical error in demanding express warrant now listen for the continuance of a long settled institution instead of asking for a warrant for setting it aside do you follow that well Warfield is saying that infant baptism is a long settled institution and what we must have is not something in the new testament in which Christ institutes it if we're not going to practice it

52:13 we must find something in the new testament in which Christ forbids it from continuing now wait a minute where is infant baptism a long settled long standing institution where is that found in the bible in the old testament infant baptism is not a long settled institution and it simply won't do to say that it is because it isn't the first mention of baptism in the bible is in second kings and it wasn't infant baptism it was the washing of a Syrian leper there's no place in the old testament where infant baptism is instituted it's not a long standing institution that we now must have explicit warrant to dismantle it's not that and if the paedo baptists are reduced to the difficulty of finding the institution of infant baptism in the old testament they're in trouble because it's not there the word's not even mentioned there you won't find it mentioned until John now you see where he's going with this type of argument what he's doing is he is completely equating circumcision

53:42 and baptism he could never talk that way unless he believed that circumcision and baptism were exactly and precisely the same thing but that is something he has to prove and that is something which we shall see later on the one hand it shows you why this is not really the whole story and will never convince a paedo baptist on the other hand it shows you why we must deal with the subject of the covenant and the church if we are to deal thoroughly with the theological issue so you see it's clear as far as baptism is concerned the only baptism instituted by Jesus Christ and practiced by Jesus Christ is disciple baptism that's clear and B.B. Warfield admits it so if you're going to have another baptism if you're going to have an infant baptism then let's start by saying we agree that infant baptism it can never be shown from scripture that infant baptism was either explicitly instituted or practiced by Jesus Christ and then we can take it from there as to whether or not we have any warrant for instituting a so-called sacrament which was not instituted and practiced

55:12 by Jesus Christ himself well our time is gone and some other time as well so let's pray for the Lord's blessing upon our study our God as we come into your presence we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ our great teacher and example do we pray oh God that as we have considered what he has done that you would be pleased to write these things upon our hearts that you would be pleased Lord that our minds would be enabled to grasp the significance of your holy word and that as we grasp that significance we may implement it for your honor and for your glory we pray these things in Jesus name amen