updated March 28, 2006
Are you and all the members of your household baptized? (Acts 16:15, Acts 16:33, Acts 18:8, 1Cor 1:16)
Matthew 28:18-20. "All power is given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always even unto the end of the world."
Acts 2:39. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, for all whom the Lord our God will call.
Luke 2:41. Now it happened that as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 6:1. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for that is what is expected of you.
Colossians 3:20. You children, obey your parents in everything as the acceptable way in the Lord.
The word hinder in the following four verses has the same Greek root word:
Matthew 19:14. but Jesus said, "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven."
Mark 10:14. But when Jesus saw it he was indignant, and said to them, "Let the children come to me, do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God.
Luke 18:16. But Jesus called them to him, saying, "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God.
Acts 8:36. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?
Romans 5:17. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
Colossians 2:11. You were also circumcised in him, not with the circumcision administered by hand but with Christ's circumcision which strips off the carnal body completely.
1 Corinthians 10:1-4. Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
Ephesians 4:3-6. Make every effort to preserve the unity which has the Spirit as its origin and peace as its binding force. There is but one body and one Spirit, just as there is but one hope given all of you by your call. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all, and works through all, and is in all.
What are the sacraments? The sacraments are outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace, given by Christ as sure and certain means by which we receive that grace. 1979 Book of Common Prayer
What is grace? Grace is God's favor towards us, unearned and undeserved; by grace God forgives our sins, enlightens our minds, stirs our hearts, and strengthens our wills. 1979 Book of Common Prayer
Baptism is not only a sign of profession, and mark of difference, whereby Christian men are discerned from others that be not christened, but it is also a sign of Regeneration or New-Birth, whereby, as by an instrument, they that receive Baptism rightly are grafted into the Church; the promises of the forgiveness of sins, and of our adoption to be the sons of God by the Holy Ghost, are visibly signed and sealed; Faith is confirmed, and Grace increased by virtue of prayer unto God. The Baptism of young children is in any wise [is certainly] to be retained in the Church, as most agreeable with the institution of Christ. Article XXVII of the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion
On the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants by St. Augustine in Three Books
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
Of Infant Baptism by Martin Luther
Martin Luther's Sermon on the Faith of Children
Getting Justification Right