Heidelberg Catechism Lord's Day 27 (Questions 72-74)

Question 72. Does this outward washing with water itself wash away sins?

No, only the blood of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit cleanse us from all sins.

Tanong 72. Ang panlabas na paghuhugas ba na ito ng tubig ay nakalilinis ng mga kasalanan?

Hindi, tanging ang dugo ni Jesu-Cristo at ang Banal na Espiritu lamang ang nakalilinis sa atin sa lahat ng ating mga kasalanan.

Question 73. Why then does the Holy Spirit call baptism the washing of regeneration and the washing away of sins?

God speaks in this way for a good reason. He wants to teach us that the blood and Spirit of Christ remove our sins just as water takes away dirt from the body. But, even more important, he wants to assure us by this divine pledge and sign that we are as truly cleansed from our sins spiritually as we are bodily washed with water.

Tanong 73. Bakit tinatawag ng Banal na Espiritu ang bautismo na paghuhugas ng muling kapanganakan at paghuhugas ng mga kasalanan?

Ang Diyos ay nagsasalita sa ganitong pamaraan nang may magandang kadahilanan. Nais Niyang ituro sa atin na ang dugo at Espiritu ni Cristo ang nag-aalis ng mga kasalanan sa atin tulad ng pagtanggal ng tubig sa dumi mula sa katawan. Ngunit, higit pa rito, nais Niyang tiyakin sa atin sa pamamagitan ng banal na pangako at tanda na ito na tayo nga’y tunay na nilinis mula sa ating mga kasalanan sa espirituwal na pamaraan ng ang ating katawa’y nililinis ng tubig.

1 Corinthians 6:11 ESV

And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Acts 2:38 ESV

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 6:3–4 ESV

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Galatians 3:27 ESV

For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Question 74. Should infants, too, be baptized?

Yes. Infants as well as adults belong to God’s covenant and congregation. Through Christ’s blood the redemption from sin and the Holy Spirit, who works faith, are promised to them no less than to adults. Therefore, by baptism, as sign of the covenant, they must be incorporated into the Christian church and distinguished from the children of unbelievers. This was done in the old covenant by circumcision, in place of which baptism was instituted in the new covenant.

Tanong 74. Ang mga sanggol ba’y dapat ding bautismuhan?

Oo. Ang mga sanggol tulad ng mga matatanda ay kasama sa tipan ng Diyos at ng Kaniyang kongregasyon. Sa pamamagitan ng dugo ni Cristo ang pagtubos mula sa kasalanan at ang Banal na Espiritu, na Siyang gumagawa ng pananampalataya, ay ipinangako sa kanila tulad ng sa mga matatanda. Samakatuwid, sa pamamagitan ng bautismo, bilang tanda ng tipan, sila ay dapat maihugpong sa iglesiyang Cristiano at kilalaning bukod sa mga anak ng mga hindi mananampalataya. Ito ay ginawa sa lumang tipan sa pamamagitan ng pagtutuli, na ang naging kapalit nito ay ang pagbautismo na itinalaga sa bagong tipan.

Kevin DeYoung on Infant Baptism

“We do not believe that there is anything magical about the water we apply to the child. The water does not wash away original sin or save the child. We do not presume that this child is regenerate, nor do we believe that every child who gets baptized will automatically go to heaven. We baptize infants not out of superstition or tradition or because we like cute babies. We baptize infants because they are covenant children and should receive the sign of the covenant.”

Genesis 17:7 ESV

And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.

Genesis 17:9–11 ESV

And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.

“Just as there were some in Paul’s day who were circumcised but not really circumcised (Rom. 2:25–29), some children of Abraham who were not truly children of Abraham (Rom. 9:6–8), so in our day there are some who are baptized who are not truly baptized. Children should be marked as belonging to the covenant, but unless they exercise saving faith, they will not grab hold of the covenant blessings.”

“Because sons were part of the Abrahamic covenant in the Old Testament and were circumcised, we see no reason why children should be excluded in the New Testament sign of baptism. Admittedly, there is no text that says ‘Hear ye, hear ye, baptism replaces circumcision.’ But we know from Colossians 2:11–12 that baptism and circumcision carried the same spiritual import.”

Colossians 2:11–12 ESV

In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.

Other Supporting Arguments

“One, the burden of proof rests on those who would deny children a sign they had received for thousands of years. If children were suddenly outside the covenant, and were disallowed from receiving any ‘sacramental’ sign, surely such a massive change, and the controversy that would have ensued, would have been recorded in the New Testament. Moreover, it would be strange for children to be excluded from the covenant, when everything else moves in the direction of more inclusion from the old covenant to the new.”

“Two, the existence of household baptisms is evidence that God still deals with households as a unit and welcomes whole families into the church to come under the lordship of Christ together [Acts 16:13–15, 32–34; 1 Cor. 1:16; cf. Josh. 24:15].”

Acts 2:38–39 ESV

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

Acts 16:31 ESV

And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Acts 10:47 ESV

“Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”

“Three, children are told to obey their parents in the Lord (Eph. 6:1). Children in the church are not treated as little pagans to be evangelized, but members of the covenant who owe their allegiance to Christ.”

1 Corinthians 7:14 ESV

For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.

Matthew 19:13–15 ESV

Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” And he laid his hands on them and went away.

“Four, Christ welcomed little children to Himself and blessed them (Mark 10:13–16). The Israelites would not have understood this as a casual sort of ‘God bless and good luck.’ They would have thought of the blessing promised to Abraham (Gen. 12) and the blessings given through Moses (Lev. 26; Deut. 28). These were blessings belonging to the covenant that Jesus pronounced on the children.”

“Five, within two centuries we have clear evidence that the church was practicing infant baptism. If this had been a change to long-standing tradition, we would have some record of the church arguing over this new practice. It wasn’t until the sixteenth century that Christians began to question this practice.”

God made promises to believers and their children in both the Old and New Testaments, attached signs to those promises in both the Old and New Testaments, explicitly required the sign of initiation into his family (circumcision) to be applied to believers and their children in the Old Testament, and implicitly appointed the new-covenant sign of initiation (baptism) to be given to believers and their children in the New Testament. — Ligon Duncan

On “improving our baptism”: “To improve our baptism means to meditate on its blessings, to make use of it, to take full advantage of it, and to gain the maximum benefit from it as a means of growing in grace, especially when we are present at its administration in public worship.” — Ligon Duncan

The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition) Having Seen What the Scriptures Principally Teach Us to Believe concerning God, It Follows to Consider What They Require as the Duty of Man

167. How is our baptism to be improved by us?

The needful but much neglected duty of improving our baptism, is to be performed by us all our life long, especially in the time of temptation, and when we are present at the administration of it to others, by serious and thankful consideration of the nature of it, and of the ends for which Christ instituted it, the privileges and benefits conferred and sealed thereby, and our solemn vow made therein; by being humbled for our sinful defilement, our falling short of, and walking contrary to, the grace of the baptism and our engagements; by growing up to assurance of pardon of sin, and of all other blessings sealed to us in that sacrament; by drawing strength from the death and resurrection of Christ, into whom we are baptized, for the mortifying of sin, and quickening of grace; and by endeavoring to live by faith, to have our conversation in holiness and righteousness, as those that have therein given up their names to Christ; and to walk in brotherly love, as being baptized by the same Spirit into one body.