In this clip, Cy Kellett welcomes Tim Staples to discuss the necessity of a profession of faith before baptism. Tim continues with details on how baptism relates to the family covenant and the biblical context surrounding this important sacrament.
Transcript:
Caller: I am a former Catholic, saw some things that made me a Protestant. But you just said in the last caller, the classes we take to become Catholic, you said that we have to have a profession of faith before we’re baptized.
Caller: Right? Correct.
Caller: But a baby. When Jesus says, go into the world and preach the gospel to every creature, he who believes and is baptized shall be saved. We’re saved by grace, through faith, and that not of ourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works. So the whole gospel has to be proclaimed before you can believe and be baptized to be saved. And you just said that if you’re an adult, you need to have the intellectual acumen to be to hear the gospel and then have it processed into the place of the profession of faith.
Tim Staples: Okay, well, Mark, when I said that, of course, that was in the. And this is why it’s important, isn’t it, to take people’s conversations as well as sacred Scripture in the proper context. Because the context in which I was speaking was adult converts in the RCIA program. Right. And of course, Mark, if you’re an adult, you must make a profession of faith. However, Mark, you know your Bible and you know that in Colossians 2, 11, 12, St. Paul refers to baptism as the circumcision of Christ. And you know St. Peter when he proclaims the gospel in Acts chapter two to thousands of Jews. We know there were thousands because 3,000 of them got baptized. And I’m sure it wasn’t 100% conversion rate. There were thousands of people. And he says, repent and be baptized, each one of you. This is verse 38 and 39. Repent and be baptized, each one of you, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins. And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And this promise is for you and, and for your children. Now, when you’re speaking to a crowd of thousands of Jews who already understand the idea of a family covenant relationship, you know you were circumcised at 8 days old. That’s right. You didn’t have to accept Moses as your personal prophet. Right. If you’re in a family, the Father has the authority to bring you into the covenant through circumcision. And so it is in the New Testament Testament with the circumcision of Christ. And this is why St. Paul will say in Galatians 3:27, we are baptized into Christ, where there is no longer male nor female bond, nor free Jew, nor Greek. All are one in Christ. Why did he say that? Because as you Know, brother Mark, in order to come into a covenant relationship in the Old Testament, you had to be a free male Jew. What is Paul saying in New Testament? Circumcision. Everybody is welcome. There is no longer male, female, bond or free Jew, nor Greek. Right. This is the new circumcision, the circumcision of Christ. And you know, Mark, we could go on and on with household salvation. Cornelius in his household, the Philippian jailer in his household, the household of Stephanas in 1 Corinthians 1:16, when a man came to the faith, or even Lydia the purpler in Acts 16:15, she, being a mom, has authority to bring her children into that covenant relationship with Jesus Christ. That’s why Paul will say in 1 Corinthians 7:14 that the parents can sanctify the children. Why? Because Paul understands that baptism is a family affair. This is a family covenant that we have entered into. So this is not denying that you have to accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. Savior. Rather, it’s acknowledging that when you accept Jesus Christ, there are family considerations here. And when you consider Mark, the reality of original sin, which Romans chapter 5:12 says is very real, through the sin of Adam, sin and death came upon all. That includes little babies. They have the stain of original sin that needs to be taken care of through this great gift of baptism as well. So there are many reasons for infant baptism and many reasons for the fact that it was practiced universally by all Christians, including John Calvin, Martin Luther, John Wesley, universally, and even the heretics agreed. So there is a huge amount of evidence biblically and historically for this practice.
Caller: What do you think, Mark? Well, you know, the first thought I have is the fact that the, the first time whole household or the whole house believed was in the Gospel. I think it’s in John chapter 4 where, where Jesus and the centurion, he says, the same hour of this day from yesterday, at that seventh hour, your son was healed. And that’s the same time I was talking to Jesus. He said, and it says that everyone in his household believed. But let’s just say there was an infant there or a 15 month old, that infant could have believed. So there’s a there’ passage in Scripture which says everyone in the house believe, but you have to be of the age of reason to believe. And when Jesus says, but Mark, it
Tim Staples: doesn’t, it doesn’t say that on all the household of Stephanus. It doesn’t say everyone in the house believe. The Philippian jailer, Lydia the Purpler. It doesn’t say, it does say the whole household was baptized, but it doesn’t say in all those cases. And so what we’re saying, brother, is you don’t want to use as a definitive argument something that is so shaky, like what you’re presenting. And when you have such evidence, like the fact that baptism is the circumcision of Christ. I mean, you know, it’s an interesting thing historically, Mark. In the third century, there was actually a big fight in the church over infant baptism. And you know what the argument was? It was over which day should we baptize the infant. Should it be on the eighth day because baptism is the circumcision of Christ, or should it be on the first day? And of course, Pope St Stephen said circumcision was on the eighth day, but that was only a type. Baptism should be given as soon as possible on the first day, if possible. But what’s fascinating is in the Christian world, there was no question about infant baptism. It was no matter which day are we going to do it? Hey, Mark, I really appreciate you calling in, brother. We’re going to try to get to some other calls, but please keep listening. Check us out@catholic.com we’ve got tons of good information, including on the question of infant baptism.