Infant Baptism (Reformed Paedobaptism)

Andhika Gunawan

Definition

Wesminster Larger Cathecism

Q. 165. What is Baptism ? A. Baptism is a sacrament of the New Testament, wherein Christ hath ordained the washing with water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, to be a sign and seal of ingrafting into himself, of remission of sins by his blood, and regeneration by his Spirit; of adoption, and resurrection unto everlasting life; and whereby the parties baptized are solemnly admitted into the visible church, and enter into an open and professed engagement to be wholly and only the Lord's.

Q. 166. Unto whom is baptism to be administered ? A. Baptism is not to be administered to any that are out of the visible church, and so strangers from the covenant of promise, till they profess their faith in Christ, and obedience to him, but infants descending from parents, either both, or but one of them, professing faith in Christ, and obedience to him, are in that respect within the covenant, and to be baptized.

Biblical and Theological Ground[1]

1. The continuing covenant

a. The promise of the covenant

i. There are several points to be made with regards to the promise of the covenant.

· The promise of the covenant as promised in Abraham is based on faith and not on the sign. (Rom 4:11-16)[2]

· Abraham is the father of all who believe, whether circumcised or not (v.11,12)

· The promise was not through the Law but through the righteousness of faith (v.13)

· The promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, in accordance with grace, by faith (v.16)

ii. There is essentially only One promise through the One seed, that is Christ (Gal 3:7-9,16-19)[3]

· Sons of Abraham are those who are of faith (v.7-9)

· The Law does not invalidate the covenant of grace and does not nulify its promise (v.17)

· Inheritance is based on God’s promise (v.18)

· The Law, which in a large part represent the administration of the promise in the old covenant, is added until the seed, Christ, came. (v.19)

iii. The promise is for us and our children (Acts 2:39)[4]

· In the Adamaic covenant, the curse is applied to all of his decendants and the promise made through his seed (Gen 3:15)[5]

· In the Noahic covenant, Noah’s household was included in the covenant based on Noah’s righteousness alone (Gen 7:1)[6]

· In the Abrahamic covenant, the descendant factor were stated more clearly and explicitly (Gen 17:5-11)[7]

· In the Mosaic covenant (Deu 29:9-15), the little children were included explicitly (v.11), even the ones that were not yet born (v.14-15)[8]

· In the Davidic covenant, again the ‘sons’ of David are included in the covenant between God and David (2Chr 21:7)[9]

· Now, in the new covenant, Christ is said to ‘confirm the promises given to the fathers’ (Rom 15:8)[10], is it possible that this new covenant in Christ should not be applied to ‘his decendants’, to the children of all who believe in Him? Absolutely not. It is clear from the pattern of God’s covenant and promise which Christ confirmed that children of believer (people of the covenant) are included in the covenant.

b. The the church of the new dispensation (of the covenant) is a fulfilment of prophecy in the old dispensation.

i. Prophecy made to the sons of the 10 tribes of Israel (Hosea 1:10)[11] is applied to the church (Rom 9:24-26)[12] which contains the Jews and the Gentiles.

ii. Prophecy made to Israel and Judah (Jer 31:31-34)[13] is again applied to the Church (Heb 8:6-13)[14]

2. The oikos (or household) formula[15] in the old and new covenants[16]

a. The Old testament usage of house or household to represent the whole family including children

i. Joshua in Josh 24:15 certainly did not exclude his children when he said that they will choose God and serve Him. [17]

ii. When Joseph said to his brothers to provide food for them during the famine he certainly include his brothers’ children (Gen 45:11)[18]

iii. In Deu 14:26[19], Deu 15:20[20] where it was said that ‘you shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household’, it is unthinkable that children were excluded. See also Deu 26:11[21], is it possible that ‘all the good which the LORD your God has given you and your household’ never reached their children.

iv. In Lev 16:6[22] the sin offering Aaron made for himself was to atone himself and for his house (clearly his children must be included here).

v. When Elisha spoke to the woman and ask her to go, he ordered that she and her house should go (2Ki 8:1-3)[23], therefore, even if there was a husband in the house, the son (whom Elisha restored to life) was clearly included in the household.

vi. When Jeremiah said to Zedekiah that he and his house would survive the fire, it was clear that Zedekiah’s children were included (Jer 38:17)[24]

b. When there are children excepted or excluded, it is stated explicitly (therefore they are implicitly included in the household)

i. When Joseph buried Jacob, it was said all the house of Joseph went with him, but since the little ones did not go with them, their absence was stated explicitly (Gen 50:7-8)[25]

ii. When Elkanah is said to went up with all his household (surely including Peninah, her sons and daughters[26]), but when two of the members of his household did not come (Hannah and the newly born Samuel), the Bible stated it explicitly as not to contradict the ‘all his household’ mentioned before (1Sam 1:21-23)[27]

c. The New Testament witness

i. There are at least[28] five household baptism recorded in the New Testament, the household of Cornelius (Acts 10:47-48[29]; 11:13-18[30]), the household of Lydia (Acts 16:14-15[31]), the houshold of the Philipian jailor (Acts 16:30-34[32]), the household of Crispus (Acts 18:8[33]), and the household of Stephanus (1Cor 1:16[34])

ii. The point of the quotations from Acts and Corinthians is not to prove that infants and little children were there in each of the case, but by seeing to the usual usage and undertanding of the ‘household’ formula it should be clear that if Luke and Paul wished to say that those who were baptized were only adult members, they would not and should not use the ‘household’ formula.

iii. The Apostle Paul also declare that children are to be included in the covenant. He states that, even if one of the parents of a child is an unbeliever, the child is, nevertheless, ‘holy’ (1Cor 7:14)[35]. If the child does not have the right to be baptized and thereby admitted into the Church, what is the point of declaring the child to be holy?

iv. The Apostle Peter in Acts 2:39 (quoted somewhere above) makes it clear that God’s covenant still involves our children by stating that : ‘the promise is for you and your children’.

3. The sign(s) of the covenant

a. The sign represents an outward symbol for a circumcised heart

i. Circumcision of the heart is a sign of the work of God’s grace (Deu 30:6)[36]

ii. For even the circumcised person can have an uncircumcised heart (a heart that will not confess sin and iniquity), therefore circumcision is only a sign (Lev 26:40-41)[37]

iii. More explicitly stated, even for a Jew, circumcision of the heart is the mark of a true Jew (Rom 2:28-29)[38]

iv. In the New Testament, Paul said that true circumcision is not what is outward in the flesh but what is inward, of the heart, by the Spirit (Phil 3:3)[39]

v. Believers are circumcised in the spiritual sense, and the circumcision of this heart is essentially the same as being burried with Christ in baptism (Col 2:11-12)[40]

b. The outward sign of the covenant is not a fixed sign

i. Abraham received circumcision of the heart while he was uncircumcised.[41]

ii. The reason for that was that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised.[42]

iii. This shows that the outward sign of the covenant is of a secondary importance and that the verses showed that even in the time of Abraham, God already planned that there will be believers whom will not use the old sign (the sign commanded to Abraham, i.e. circumcision).

c. Baptism or sprinkling water as a sign from God and the Messiah in the new covenant

i. There is an Old Testament predictions that the Messiah will perform sprinkling as a cleansing rite administered to nations (Isa 52:15)[43]

ii. It is also told that God will sprinkle water on us and we will be clean, and that He will give us a new heart and put a new spirit and that He will put His Spirit within us and enable us to carefully observe His ordinances (Ezek 36:24)[44]

iii. Just as circumcision is a sign of a cleansed heart, of righteousness, baptism is also stated in the Scripture as sign of forgiveness (Acts 2:38)[45] and washing away (22:16)[46] of sins.

c. Reasons why the need to change the sign of the covenant

i. The cross of Christ represents a turning point in the salvation history. While circumcision looked forward to the saving work of the coming Redeemer, baptism looked back at the completed work of the Redeemer. Christ is the new covenant fullfilment of the promise to Abraham (Gal 3:14).[47]

ii. There is a greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the new covenant.

iii. The gentiles, women and slaves are now officially included in the covenant (Gal 3:28)[48] and receive equal covenant privileges.

iv. Many of the burdensome rites of the old covenant are now removed to represent the completed work of Christ. There is no longer a need for a ritualistic sacrificial blood for the new covenant.

v. All these changes requires fresh sign that would draw attention to new circumstances and to avoid misunderstanding with the sign of Judaism.

3. Baptism as an outward sign and the reality of salvation

a. Real baptism does not depend on our works, knowledge and obedience

i. Water baptism is only a sign for the real baptism. Our deeds is not the basis of our salvation (Titus 3:5)[49], but it is due to the grace and mercy of God.

ii. Real baptism (i.e. the circumcision of the heart or the regeneration by the Spirit) was unknown to us when it happened (John 3:8)[50], therefore real baptism does not depend on our knowledge. Now, is it so strange for “infants” that possess no knowledge of faith and unable to respond to the call of the gospel be denied from the sign (water baptism) when all of us received our real baptism while we possess no knowledge of faith and also unable to respond to the call of the gospel?

iii. When we received our “real baptism” (being regenerated), we are “infants”[51] in our understanding and obedience. Why can’t infants receive the sign of baptism while they are “infants” in understanding and obedience

b. Baptism as a sign of the free and gracious gift of salvation

i. Baptism as a sign of salvation, which is the free and gracious gift of God, should reflect this characteristic of salvation in its administration. The infant baptism fits the doctrines of grace and the truth that salvation is by grace alone without works.

ii. In Luke 18:15-17[52], people were bringing[53] their babies[54] to Jesus. What for? Why did the parents brought them so that Jesus could touch them, received them, pray for them[55] and blessed[56] them? They asked for the salvation (admittance to the Kingdom) of their infants. And did Jesus do what they asked? Yes he did, and since these infants received salvation from Him, why can’t other infants receive the sign of salvation? Those infants received the free gift of salvation from Jesus, why are we denying the sign of salvation to infants in the new covenant?

iii. The credo baptists (those who baptize only confessing adults) usually believe that regeneration precede faith and salvation (i.e. a believer received a ‘real baptism’ first and then he enabled to have faith and receive salvation). Why then infants are not allowed to received the sign of salvation first before they can confess (as an adult) to believe in Christ? Only infant baptism can show the analogy that we do not have to have faith first before God can begin His work of salvation in us.

Common Objections

a. No direct command to baptize infants

i. First of all, the credo baptists should show us that there is a direct command to baptize only those who profess faith (see also objection b).

ii. If we are to reduce our beliefs to only what is directly and explicitly taught in the Bible then the essential doctrines such as the Trinity and Christ’s two natures should be rejected as they are not directly and explicitly taught.

b. Mark 16:16[57] says that faith must precede baptism

i. Using an arguments from the ordering of words is very risky. The order of the words only implies the order of importance, i.e. faith is more important than baptism. Baptism in this verse can be treated as proof of faith, i.e. the person who professed to have faith should not reject being baptized.

ii. If one find that reasoning from the order of words is valid, then the Mark verse will only confirm that we should have faith first, and, secondly, be baptized (water baptism), and finally be saved? Those who believe in this kind of reasoning will fall to the extreme of those who hold the doctrine of baptismal regeneration (i.e. we are being regenerated (and saved) as we receive water baptism).

c. Baptism and the Great Commission

i. The credo baptists usually argued from the Great Commission[58] that we are to baptize “disciples” only, that is adults professing to believe in Christ : “…make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them…”

ii. However the grammar of the verse does not support such an individualistic intrepretation, rather the literal translation of the command should be : “Disciple all nations and baptize them”, where the pronoun ‘them’ grammatically refers to ‘nations’ and not ‘disciples’ since ‘make disciples’ is a verb.

Closing remarks

Does any Christian parent truly believes that his/her children are God-haters on their way to hell?

· What should we do when a God-hater come to our home, should we rejoice and have him to stay with us or should we drive them out of our house?

· What about when a baby is born to a Christian family, is this baby a child of the covenant, in which case we should rejoice of his/her presence in our home or is he/she a God-hater that has no place in the communion with God in our family?

· If we receive the arrival of a newborn child as a blessing from God, then should that child be treated as an intruder from the devil or should he/she baptized into the covenant?

· Furthermore, when the child grows up and we teach them the Lord’s prayer, are we teaching a God-hater to call God ‘father’ or are we teaching a covenant child to call God ‘father’?

There is no neutral ground here. We have seen that the promise of the covenant extends to our children, and in accordance to that, those children should be given the right to be sealed into the covenant by its sign, that is baptism.

Sources

1. The Children of the Promise – Roberth R. Booth

2. Christian Baptism – John Murray

3. The Biblical Ground for the Baptism of Infants - Herman Hoeksema

4. Infant Baptism and Sovereign Grace - Ronald Hanko

5. Why we Baptize Infants - John Murray

6. Why Baptize Babies? – Mark Horne

7. Is God the God of the Mature Professing Christian only? The response of a Reformed Paedobaptist to Greg Welty’s A Critical Evaluation of Paedobaptism – Mark Horne

8. Of such is the Kingdom : a Biblical Defense of Presbyterian Baptism - William J. Baldwin

9. The Oikos Formula - Lee Irons

10. Baptism into Christ – Steven R.Key

11. Infant Baptism: Does the Bible teach it? – Greg Strawbridge, Ph.D.

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[1] All biblical quotations are from NASB-Update version.

[2] Rom 4:11-16: “and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them, (12) and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised. (13) For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. (14) For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified; (15) for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation. (16) For this reason {it is} by faith, in order that {it may be} in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,”

[3] Gal 3:7-9,16-: Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. (8) The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, {saying}, " All the nations will be blessed in you." (9) So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer. (16) Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, "And to seeds," as {referring} to many, but {rather} to one, "And to your seed," that is, Christ. (17) What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. (18) For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise. (19) Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made.

[4] Acts 2:39: :’"For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself."”

[5] Gen 3:15: “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel."”

[6] Gen 7:1 : “Then the LORD said to Noah, "Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you {alone} I have seen {to be} righteous before Me in this time.”

[7] Gen 17:5-11: “"No longer shall your name be called Abram, But your name shall be Abraham; For I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. (6) "I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you. (7) "I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.” (8) "I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God." (9) God said further to Abraham, "Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. (10) "This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. (11) "And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you.”

[8] Deu 29:9-15: “"So keep the words of this covenant to do them, that you may prosper in all that you do. (10) "You stand today, all of you, before the LORD your God: your chiefs, your tribes, your elders and your officers, {even} all the men of Israel, (11) your little ones, your wives, and the alien who is within your camps, from the one who chops your wood to the one who draws your water, (12) that you may enter into the covenant with the LORD your God, and into His oath which the LORD your God is making with you today, (13) in order that He may establish you today as His people and that He may be your God, just as He spoke to you and as He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (14) "Now not with you alone am I making this covenant and this oath, (15) but both with those who stand here with us today in the presence of the LORD our God and with those who are not with us here today”

[9] 2Chr 21:7: “Yet the LORD was not willing to destroy the house of David because of the covenant which He had made with David, and since He had promised to give a lamp to him and his sons forever.”

[10] Rom 15:8: “For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises {given} to the fathers,”

[11] Hosea 1:10: “Yet the number of the sons of Israel Will be like the sand of the sea, Which cannot be measured or numbered; And in the place Where it is said to them, "You are not My people," It will be said to them, "{You are} the sons of the living God."”

[12] Rom 9:24:26: “{even} us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles. (25) As He says also in Hosea, "I will call those who were not My people, ' My people,' And her who was not beloved, ' beloved.'" (26) " And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, ' you are not My people,' There they shall be called sons of the living God."”

[13] Jer 31:31-34: “"Behold, days are coming," declares the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, (32) not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the Lord. (33) "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the Lord, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. (34) "They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the Lord, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."”

[14] Heb 8:6-13: “But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. (7) For if that first {covenant} had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. (8) For finding fault with them, He says, " Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, When I will effect a new covenant With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; (9) Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers On the day when I took them by the hand To lead them out of the land of Egypt; For they did not continue in My covenant, And I did not care for them, says the Lord. (10) " For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, And I will write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, And they shall be My people. (11) " And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, And everyone his brother, saying, ' Know the Lord,' For all will know Me, From the least to the greatest of them. (12) " For I will be merciful to their iniquities, And I will remember their sins no more." (13) When He said, "A new {covenant}," He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.

[15] It was E.Stauffer who first coined the term ‘the oikos formula’ to describe the biblical phrase ‘he and his (whole) household.’ But it was Joachim Jeremias who painstakingly performed the laborious task of collating the instances of its occurenc in both testaments.

[16] Or “the old and new dispensations of the covenant of grace”

[17] Josh 24:15: “"If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."”

[18] Gen 45:11: “"There I will also provide for you, for there are still five years of famine {to come,} and you and your household and all that you have would be impoverished."'”

[19] Deu 14:26: “"You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household.”

[20] Deu 15:20: “"You and your household shall eat it every year before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD chooses.”

[21] Deu 26:11: “and you and the Levite and the alien who is among you shall rejoice in all the good which the LORD your God has given you and your household.”

[22] Lev 16:6: “"Then Aaron shall offer the bull for the sin offering which is for himself, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household.”

[23] 2Ki 8:1-3: “Now Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, "Arise and go with your household, and sojourn wherever you can sojourn; for the LORD has called for a famine, and it will even come on the land for seven years." (2) So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God, and she went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. (3) At the end of seven years, the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went out to appeal to the king for her house and for her field.”

[24] Jer 38:17: “Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "Thus says the Lord GOD of hosts, the God of Israel, 'If you will indeed go out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will survive.”

[25] Gen 50:7-8: “So Joseph went up to bury his father, and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household and all the elders of the land of Egypt, (8) and all the household of Joseph and his brothers and his father's household; they left only their little ones and their flocks and their herds in the land of Goshen.”

[26] 1Sam 1:4: “When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters;”.

[27] 1Sam 1:21-23: “Then the man Elkanah went up with all his household to offer to the LORD the yearly sacrifice and {pay} his vow. (22) But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, "{I will not go up} until the child is weaned; then I will bring him, that he may appear before the LORD and stay there forever." (23) Elkanah her husband said to her, "Do what seems best to you. Remain until you have weaned him; only may the LORD confirm His word." So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him.”

[28] By implication, the household of Gaius is usually included in the list (1Cor 1:14).

[29] Acts 10:47-48: “"Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we {did,} can he?" (48) And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.”

[30] Acts 11:14-18: “and he will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household.' (15) "And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as {He did} upon us at the beginning. (16) "And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' (17) "Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as {He gave} to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?" (18) When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, "Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance {that leads} to life."

[31] Acts 16:14:15: “A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. (15) And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay." And she prevailed upon us.”

[32] Acts 16:31-34: “They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." (32) And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. (33) And he took them that {very} hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his {household.} (34) And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household.”

[33] Acts 18:8: “Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household, and many of the Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized.”

[34] 1Cor 1:16: “Now I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other.”

[35] 1Cor 7:14: “For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy.”

[36] Deu 30:6: ‘"Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.”

[37] Lev 26:40-41: “'If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their forefathers, in their unfaithfulness which they committed against Me, and also in their acting with hostility against Me (41) I also was acting with hostility against them, to bring them into the land of their enemies or if their uncircumcised heart becomes humbled so that they then make amends for their iniquity,”

[38] Rom 2:28-29: “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. (29) But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.”

[39] Phil 3:3: for we are the [true] circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh,

[40] Col 2:11-12: “and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; (12) having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.”

[41] Rom 4:9 Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say, " Faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness." (10) How then was it credited? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised;

[42] Rom 4:11: and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them,

[43] Isa 52:15: “Thus He will sprinkle many nations, Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him; For what had not been told them they will see, And what they had not heard they will understand.”

[44] Ezek 36:24: “"For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. (25) "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. (26) "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. (27) "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. (28) "You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.”

[45] Acts 2:38: ‘Peter {said} to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

[46] Acts 22:16: “'Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.'”

[47] Gal 3:14: in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

[48] Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

[49] Titus 3:5: “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,”

[50] John 3:8: “"The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit."”

[51] Heb 5:12-14: “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. (13) For everyone who partakes {only} of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. (14) But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”

[52] Luke 18:15-17: “And they were bringing even their babies to Him so that He would touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they {began} rebuking them. (16) But Jesus called for them, saying, "Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. (17) "Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it {at all.}"”

[53] this also imply that the persons brought is small enough that they could not go to Jesus by themselves

[54] or infants (Greek), that did not have any possibility of any kind of believing response from them

[55] Mat 19:13-15: “Then {some} children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. (14) But Jesus said, "Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." (15) After laying His hands on them, He departed from there.”

[56] Mark 10:13-16: “And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. (14) But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, "Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. (15) "Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it {at} {all.}" (16) And He took them in His arms and {began} blessing them, laying His hands on them.”

[57] Mark 16:16: “"He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.”

[58] Mat 28:19: “"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,”