The Scriptures teach that good works are the result of faith.
Therefore, baptized infants have faith.
Of course, the Scriptures teach that baptism is God's work that He does to us. The Scriptures never use the vocabulary of the Baptist when speaking of baptism. The Baptist is always saying it is a testimony of our faith or an outward sign of an inner reality. The Scriptures say that Baptism is "for the remission of sins" and "now saves us." The Baptists would never use this kind of language because their tradition forbids it. They teach that it is heretical to use that Scriptural language. The Scriptural teaching is that baptism works faith in a person. The Baptist teaching is that baptism is a what a person is commanded to do when they have faith. They say baptism does nothing. The Scriptures speak of baptism in terms of Gospel, but the Baptists speak of it as a work of the Law. But if baptism is truly our work, then infants must have faith in order to be able to do that work.
As a former Baptist, the first part of your posting is very accurate. I never heard a Baptist pastor give a sermon on Mark 16:16.
ReplyDelete"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved."
That is a very troubling verse for them. They would use other verses that talk about "believe and you will be saved" to explain it away.
Unfortunately, the last part of your post would not have any sway with Baptists. They do not believe that Lutherans or anyone else who believes that they were saved in their baptism are even Christians. To them, you are just as pagan and bound for hell as any atheist!
Infant baptism is not a baptism to them. You are just getting your child wet!
Very sad! Baptists say they believe the Bible literally, but they really don't.