Heidelberg Catechism Week 27

72. Q. Does this outward washing with water itself wash away sins? A. No, only Jesus Christ's blood and the Holy Spirit cleanse us from all sins.

73. Q. Why then does the Holy Spirit call baptism the washing of rebirth and the washing away of sins? A. God has good reason for these words. He wants to teach us that the blood and Spirit of Christ wash away our sins just as water washes away dirt from our bodies. But more important, He wants to assure us, by this divine pledge and sign, that the washing away of our sins spiritually is as real as physical washing with water.

74. Q. Should infants, too, be baptized? A. Yes. Infants as well as adults are in God's covenant and are His people. They, no less than adults, are promised the forgiveness of sin through Christ's blood and the Holy Spirit who produces faith. Therefore, by baptism, the mark of the covenant, infants should be received into the Christian church and should be distinguished from the children of unbelievers. This was done in the Old Testament by circumcision, which was replaced in the New Testament by baptism.

My reflections on the reading from the book...

DeYoung states, "We baptize infants because they are covenant children and should receive the sign of the covenant." I understand and respect the view taken by DeYoung and other Reformed theologians who include "covenant children" in the sacrament of baptism. In their practice of paedobaptism, they do not attempt to claim anything magical about the act, in contrast to the Catholic view that the water saves the child. The Reformed view of paedobaptism does not maintain that the water does washes away original sin. 

But at this point of my theological understanding, I remain a credobaptist - the view that baptism is reserved for those who profess faith in Christ. The London Baptist Confession (1689) understands baptism as being reserved for "those who do actually profess repentance towards God, faith in, and obedience to, our Lord Jesus Christ." This position sees baptism as "a sign of [the believer's] fellowship with Him, in His death and resurrection; of his being engrafted into Him; of remission of sins; and of giving up into God, through Jesus Christ, to live and walk in newness of life."

My church, Reformed in doctrine and Presbyterian in government, allows its individual members the liberty of holding to either of these orthodox views. "We admit into our fellowship those who believe that covenant infants should receive baptism, the sign and seal of God's covenant with His people—defining an infant as a person who has not matured to the point of being able to respond to the obligations of the gospel call in repentance and faith. We equally admit into our fellowship those who believe that the sacrament of baptism, no less than the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, should be administered only to those who have come to a credible profession of personal faith in Christ... In dealing with this subject that has long caused bitter divisions among God's people, we pledge ourselves to hold our views with a loving toleration and respect for differing brethren, all of us being united in repudiating the error of baptismal regeneration."

For believer's baptism, we use the following prescription for confessing faith and commitment to Christ:

• I confess that there is one living and true God, who exists eternally in the Trinity of His sacred persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
• I confess God the Father as my heavenly Father, who gave His Son for my redemption, who chose me in Christ and effectually called me by His Spirit to eternal salvation.
• I confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, who came into the world to save sinners. I trust solely in the merits of His blood and righteousness to make me acceptable to God, and I acknowledge Him as my personal Savior.
• I confess the Holy Spirit as my comforter and sanctifier, the one who begot spiritual life in me and enabled me to repent and believe in Christ and who applied, and continues to apply, the merits of Christ to me.
• In making this confession and in submitting myself for Christian baptism, I wholeheartedly enter into covenant with the triune God, declaring that by His grace I have repented of my sin and have trusted Christ as my Savior and that I give myself up to Him to live for His glory in obedience to His Word and will.

And for infant baptism, the following questions are asked of the parents:

• Do you testify before God and this people that you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior?
• Do you acknowledge your child’s sinful nature and his need of the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ and the regenerating grace of the Holy Spirit if he/she is to be saved?
• Do you claim God’s covenant promise for this child, and do you look in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ for his/her salvation as you do for your own?
• Do you consecrate your child to God and promise in reliance on divine grace that you will set before him/her a godly example, that you will pray with and for him/her, that you will instruct him/her in the doctrines of the Christian faith, and that you will endeavor by the means of God’s appointment to raise him/her in the nurture and admonition of the Lord?