Baptism

"For to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto him. 'And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your seed after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto you and to your seed after you.' Therefore, believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your house." (Acts 2:39; Gen. 17:7; Acts 16:31)

Sunday was a special day for our family as Matt and I brought our second son, Owen Andrew, for Christian baptism. We believe that covenant baptism is instituted by the Lord Jesus as a seal of the covenant of His grace, and that it is a promise of our union with him, our adoption by Him, and our regeneration in Him, a promise that is made to us as believers and to our children. We vowed on Sunday that we acknowledge our own need as well as Owen's need of the blood of Jesus, that we claim God's covenant promises for him and that we look in faith only to Jesus Christ for our own salvation as well as Owen's, and that we will humbly rely on God's sovereign grace to set a Godly example for him by praying with and for him, teaching him the hope of the Gospel, teaching him the Word of the Lord, and to strive by every means of grace God provides, to bring him up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We realize that these are weighty promises, and we know that we will surely not be able to do these on our own. We do, however, serve a faithful God, and we do trust that He will use our weak efforts for His glory. Owen's baptism is not a saving ordinance; it is a sign of his parents' faith and that he is sanctified (set apart) because of his place in a covenant family (see 1 Corinthians 7:14). It is also a call and command for Owen to repent of his sin and follow Jesus. True Christianity is not inherited. It is Owen's responsibility, through the gracious gift of faith from God, to repent of his sin, follow Jesus, and trust in Him for salvation.