Dear BPCWA worshipper, Last week, we looked at the vows which parents take when bringing their child forward for infant baptism. Infant baptism is not dedication, for the child God places in the believer’s family is already His. When I first came to BPCWA, a visitor came to church requesting her baby be baptised. I counselled the lady that infant baptism is not the mere bestowment of a “guaranteed” blessing. This is because infant baptism is the parent’s promise to be faithful in bringing up the child for God, and claiming God’s promises to help them as they diligently do so.  Certainly, there is a blessing in the Covenant when parents obey and fulfil the vows.  Hence, she needs to ensure her own salvation, join our church in worship and Bible studies to grow spiritually to fulfil her infant baptism vows to God, and join as a member before she brings her child to be infant baptised. It makes no sense for the infant-baptised child to become a non-communicant member of the church if the parent bringing the baby for infant baptism isn’t a member. She never returned, most likely because this was not her idea of infant baptism. Today, we want to consider it from the child’s viewpoint.

Infant baptism should lead to the Affirmation of Faith. Infant baptism is a vow by the parents. However, Affirmation of Faith is a vow taken personally and independently by the mature child. This is not a mere outward rite of passage done when the child reaches a certain age. While parents should let the child know the next step is to have their faith affirmed publicly, it is never to pressure the child because there is a “general expectation” of it. For the mature child, neither must it be done to please the parents nor because others are doing it. There are personal vows involved, and vows before God must not be taken lightly.  Affirmation of Faith is not a “Sacrament of Confirmation”, where one “receives the ‘mark,’ the seal of the Holy Spirit”, as Roman Catholics propound. Scriptures teach that the seal of the Holy Spirit occurs at salvation (Eph 1:13), not at the point of Affirmation of Faith. It is also better not to call the event a “Reaffirmation” of faith. This is because the child’s personal faith was not involved at his own infant baptism, i.e. he did not affirm his faith then and is reaffirming it later.

The personal and public declaration. A child who has been infant baptised and is genuinely saved must understand what it means to be and live as a Christian and hence must be committed to his Lord Jesus Christ. Hence, the mature child should want to come forward for Affirmation of Faith. This is just like how an unbaptised Christian would also willingly obey God’s command for water baptism once he has been saved and understands the debt he owes to his Saviour. Salvation is a change of the will of the heart accompanied by a confession with the mouth and evidenced by a life of repentance to wholly follow Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour. With this, living for Christ will be the natural outcome of one who has been genuinely saved. In BPCWA, the interviews for Affirmation of Faith are handled with the same gravity and intensity as those for adult baptism candidates. The interview will examine as much as possible the fruit of salvation, the desire to live in accordance with God’s Word, and of course, belief in the same “principles of our holy religion as revealed in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, and as summarized in the confession of Faith and Catechisms of this church”, which their parents had vowed to bring them up to know. 

Personally receiving the blessings of a covenantal family. Every child who has been brought forward for infant baptism would have been discipled both in the church and at home. I address our children now. Our Covenantal LORD is a gracious and merciful God. As we learnt in last week’s Worship sermon, He graciously bestows grace and peace on His children. A Christian marriage and home is one where God’s grace and peace abide because His statutes and testimonies rule the house. You have witnessed throughout your life, in church and at home, the true and living God who answers prayers and transforms lives and hearts. Do not spurn and despise all these which God has put in your life. For one in a heathen family who is as one “that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes”, he “shall be beaten with few stripes”. With the privileges of growing up in a covenantal family and with weekly teaching in church, you have been given much. “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more” (Luk 12:48). If you think that the world has so much to offer you that you rather avoid of the cost of discipleship which comes with turning to Christ (Mat 16:24,25), then remember the warning that accompanies it. You will definitely regret rejecting God’s salvation one day, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mat 16:26). Moreover, just professing that you believe but refusing His Lordship in repentance is just outward profession of faith, not true salvation.

Passing on the covenantal faith. For every Christian parent whom God has entrusted with a child, it immediately becomes their responsibility to nurture and admonish the child to be a disciple of Christ in every aspect of their life. It must be a parent’s joy to witness their child’s Affirmation of Faith, where the child is now mature, publicly acknowledges the affirmation of his personal faith in Christ, is personally accountable for his own actions to live in the fear of God, and vows to walk in His ways. A parent who sincerely wants to disciple their child will know in their heart that this is of far greater importance than the occasion of their child’s graduation, or school leavers, or other such occasions valued by the world. It is not merely a rite of passage, but a joyous occasion that is testimony to God’s spiritual grace and work in the child’s heart. However, every parent whose child has not yet demonstrated the genuine fruit of salvation, evidenced by a life that seeks after God and righteousness, must continue to pray and seek every opportunity to bring them to salvation, worship, and live for the God whom they serve, while God gives them life and breath.

This is the true inheritance to be passed on. God never intends us to look only at our generation. The view must always be about passing on the faith. This is often mentioned in the Bible, such as in our responsive reading passage 2 weeks ago, “One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts” (Psa 145:4). Children are not inconsequential in God’s plan, for “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger” (Psa 8:2). The fear of the Lord is the true inheritance that parents should strive to leave their children with, and God gives us the assurance of our LORD’s faithfulness,

“But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children; 18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.” (Psa 103:17-18)

Yours in our Lord’s service,
Pastor