Christian Parental Vows at Baptism
Making Promises to Raise Our Children Up in the One True Faith
Good Morning,
Baptism is such an interesting part of the Christian life. It is the doctrine (along with church government) which separates large numbers of denominations worldwide. Not only do we disagree on what baptism does, we disagree on when and how. In the section we are going to look at today in the Directory of Public Worship we see three admonitions towards the pastor as he prepares to give the sign of the covenant to the receiver. The first one is to the congregation, the second to the parents, and lastly there is a word on institution kind of like we hear when we take the Lord’s Supper that sets aside the water particularly for its use. It is important that as the opportunity arises for all to learn from the sacrament that we witness how serious these truths are. Read below for more:
He is also to admonish all that are present,
“To look back to their baptism; to repent of their sins against their covenant with God; to stir up their faith; to improve and make right use of their baptism, and of the covenant sealed thereby betwixt God and their souls.”
He is to exhort the parent,
“To consider the great mercy of God to him and his child; to bring up the child in the knowledge of the grounds of the Christian religion, “and in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; and to let him know the danger of God’s wrath to himself and child, if he be negligent: requiring his solemn promise for the performance of his duty.”
This being done, prayer is also to be joined with the word of institution, for sanctifying the water to this spiritual use; and the minister is to pray to this or the like effect:
“That the Lord, who hath not left us as strangers without the covenant of promise, but called us to the privileges of his ordinances, would graciously vouchsafe to sanctify and bless his own ordinance of baptism at this time: That he would join the inward baptism of his Spirit with the outward baptism of water; make this baptism to the infant a seal of adoption, remission of sin, regeneration, and eternal life, and all other promises of the covenant of grace: That the child may be planted into the likeness of the death and resurrection of Christ; and that, the body of sin being destroyed in him, he may serve God in newness of life all his days.”
This call to look back at ones own baptism is an interesting idea considering most who are present and were likewise baptized as babies would not then have keen recollections of the event itself. Credobaptists often attack our doctrine of paedobaptism exactly on this point. However, the concept itself points us to something vitally serious about how we understand what happens at the moment of God’s promising sign. We may not remember, but we can know of the power of our baptisms precisely because the Lord’s providential blessings can be seen in how that true application of grace has affected us as we have grown in faith and love.
Resting in the work of the covenant is what moves us to then consider how we as believers have, in the words of the admonition need to, “repent of their sins against their covenant God . . .”. In this we see the heart of David’s confession of sin in Psalm 51 and his acceptance of the Lord’s judgment in 2 Samuel 12. It is a positive motivation to remember as well that this sign and seal which is made in the application of baptism is done not in the Adamic Covenant of Works, but in the Second Adam’s Covenant of Grace. By Grace Have You Been Saved. . . is the plea of every penitent sinner. We are able to cry out to our Heavenly Father precisely because the baptismal rite is done not out of response to a human action (faith), but in obedience to a divine promise.
Taking the second of the encouragements listed next we see how that truth is built upon in the words given to the parents as to what their responsibility will be in their role as the primary teachers of the divine things of God. This is one of the reasons why when a child is baptized we ask a formula of questions to mom and dad. They are accepting an exceedingly high gift in that the Lord has presented them a human being made in the image of God to care for, protect from all enemies, both physical as well as spiritual. In order to do that it is imperative that the parents pray about (ideally together) the vows and oaths they make. God will hold them to account for how they fulfill these promises in accordance with the Fifth Commandment, so it is not a thing which should be entered into lightly. Hence, why only believing parents should offer their child up for baptism and in keeping with the ARP Form of Government the elders of the church must approve the baptism to take place. It would be spiritual malpractice for a session to permit the event to take place if it felt the parent(s) (ordinarily, some cases grandparents or other guardian) is not ready to bind themselves in covenant to God. We can never take lightly these blessings.
In closing, the formula above has the minister, who is the steward of the mysteries, pray for a number of matters to ensure all gathered are lifted up on high to the glories present for the day and the future of both the child and his/her family and the congregation itself. We do not baptize infants because it is cute (though it is). We do so because as Christians we rest and trust in the mercies of God alone. It is by His strength and power that all things come to pass and the sacrament of baptism is no different. Notice how in the ideas for our the pastor should lead in prayer there are things listed like: “. . . join the inward baptism of his Spirit with the outward baptism of water; make this baptism to the infant a seal of adoption, remission of sin, regeneration, and eternal life, and all other promises of the covenant of grace. . .”. For this is our goal with anything we do in the life of the church. We must needs be laser-focused on the beautiful salvation which is our hope in life and death, which comes alone from Jesus Christ.
One last word:
https://learn.ligonier.org/articles/presbyterian-reformed-view-baptism
Blessings in Christ,
Rev. Benjamin Glaser
Pastor, Bethany ARP Church