My Baptist Obstacles: The Great Commission Says “Baptize Disciples”

One of the last things I did in my effort not to jump my theological ship rashly was to call on my theologically minded pastor to come convince me I was headed in the wrong direction. I asked if there was a book I could read to persuade me back to the baptist position. I bring this up because the book he gave me used today’s exact argument amongst several others. It argued: Jesus says to “make disciples, and baptize them” so therefore – we cannot baptize babies because they cannot be disciples.

Today I would treat the answer completely differently than I did as a college student. Today I would say – So what? Converted disciples have baby disciples. I believe the point is made easily this way:

• God was automatically the God of children born to believers: I will be God to you and to your descendants after you, (Gen 17); the promise is for you and your children (Acts 2).
• This covenant was possible in tangible reality, not just in wishful thinking, because God normatively extends the gift of faith to the infants of the church: You made me trust you at my mother’s breasts…and from my mother’s womb you have been my God, (Ps 22).
• The nascent faith of babies grows into the intellectual faith of toddlers: This is why we are commanded to teach diligently to our children that “Yhwh is OUR God…” and that “You shall love Yhwh YOUR God with all your heart…” (Dt 6).

It said to teach them what is already true about them. Not teach them until they convert. But teach them that God has been their God, and let them sing it out – first as joyful noise in church (Ps 8), and later as a confession about God’s sovereign gift to a baby (Ps 71 and 22).

I had throughout my young Christian years remarked that there was no conversion into God’s religion for children born into the covenant in the Old Testament:

They were born, circumcised, and then treated as members from that point on – without what I normally experienced in a baptist church context: the need to “become a believer.” In other words: Hebrew kids didn’t have to “walk the aisle and pray with the pastor” to “receive Yhwh into their hearts” so that they could really belong to God’s worship. Please don’t hear that in a mocking voice – I just mean that I DID expect that in the New Testament church – I was taught that children needed to “come to Jesus.” Why did the Old Testament saints not put pressure on their children to “Come to the LORD”? Don’t hear what I am not saying – non-believers, outsiders, DO need to convert. But converts in the Old Testament did not later require their children to make a change into becoming worshippers. They got that status from circumcision at the beginning.

But as I said above, they were lawfully required to treat their children as disciples who had faith, as students growing up into the Lord who brought them from the womb into his instruction.

I have labored over the last few weeks to repeat ideas. And I do it again because I feel, maybe annoyingly incorrectly, like it must be said over and over because I know the tendency to doubt these truths. I doubted these truths with fervor – – until I was beat down by seeing it everywhere. What I once thought was imaginary was pouring out of every time period, and every kind of literature – law, history, poetry, gospel, epistle.

But the conclusion necessary in such verses is that baptized babies are Christians – in other words, they are “disciples.”

SO THE GREAT COMMISSION SAYS TO BAPTIZE DISCIPLSES?

So what? I concur. I believe the babies of Christians are Christians too. The Bible says that the babies of disciples are disciples too. And this is old hat for the Bible. God gave conversion instructions to Abraham – Here’s the rules, Abe: The sign of circumcision is for my people – oh, and for their kids too. And the Bible calls it a sign significant of faith (Rom 4). So anyone circumcised was purported to and called to and required to exhibit faith. Same with baptism.

Go make disciples – and give them the sign of the covenant – and tell them to obey me. Same thing.

I TOLD YOU I DID HAVE AN ARGUMENT BACK IN COLLEGE

BUT, and this is a “big but”… I DID have an argument in my college days. I don’t need it today, but my argument was still true. So this argument is unnecessary but get ready for it anyway:

The great commission does NOT say to baptize disciples.

Read Matthew 28.19-20 in Greek and you find that “disciples” is not a noun in that sentence. It is not an object that can be baptized. The passage says to “as you go, disciple the nations, baptizing them, and teaching them…” the word ‘disciple’ is a VERB in the sentence. You could translate it “to disciple” or “to disciple-IZE” the nations. You could legitimately translate it “convert the nations”, because it means to “turn them into devotees” of Jesus. Yes, at root is the word “student.” How about “As you go, therefore, enroll the nations (matriculate them), baptizing them and teaching them.”?

Whatever way you read it – the object of baptize and of teach is “nations/gentiles”. Not “disciples.” I believe this Greek point is firm. But it doesn’t matter. Because God converts in families. He gives covenant signs out in families. And grace-given faith is behind it, down to the tiniest souls.

ARTICLES IN THIS SERIES (LINKS):

• 1 Tell Your Children, “You’re A Christian!” (10/26/21)
• 2 My God From My Mother’s Womb (11/02/21 – reposted after deletion 11/23/21)
• 3 My Baptist Obstacles: What It Took to Change My Mind About Infant Baptism (11/9/21)
• 4 My Baptist Obstacles: Immersion (11/16/21)
• 5 My Baptist Obstacles: The Great Commission Says, “Baptize Disciples” (11/23/21)
• 6 My Baptist Obstacles: Did Circumcision Come from a Works-Based Religion? (12/1/21)