Most Awaited Package

I am a little behind in posting this, but about two months ago I received the package that I looked forward to the most. It contained an item that I had spent months and months searching and agonizing over for Baby C. It was on my mind day and night. I would spend my days on the internet or in local shops looking for it and lay awake at night trying to determine what would be the best item. Nothing ever seemed to just right. And I didn’t want to settle. So, you are probably wondering what this item could possibly be. This is it:

Yep, an outfit. I was ecstatic the day it arrived. Oh, and it was packaged just perfectly.

So neatly wrapped in the box with a little thank you note

Even came in a miniature plastic covering, so cute!

I’m sure you think I am a snob right now. But there is more than meets the eye here. This is not just an outfit. It is the outfit that we are going to baptize Baby C in. Let me give you some background information about my decision on picking this particular outfit before I explain the deeper meaning of why this is so important to me.

First of all, I did NOT want one of the fru-fru outfits that are typically worn for baptisms or christenings. And I especially did not want my son in one that looked like a dress. Plus, those outfits are very costly. There was no way I was going to spend more than $25 for an outfit (even that amount is somewhat high for a baby outfit). One requirement was that it had to be white. Do you know how hard it is to find an outfit that is white and less than $25? I could have used a white onesie, but I thought that is too casual for this type of event. I also had to think about the weather. We are in the Northland no doubt, so the weather in June is unpredictable. I can wrap him in a blanket if need be. I would find an outfit that was cute and met my standards, only to read terrible reviews about it. I finally stumbled upon the outfit I purchased, even though I did not purchase it right away. With shipping and handling, it would have been too much. But I kept coming back to it until one day I came back to it and it was on sale. It was now under my budget with shipping and handling, and part of the proceeds went to help tsunami victims in Japan. There was no second guessing this one!

So now for the reason to why this is such an incredibly important event for us:

We will not baptize our children because of the sentiment of the ceremony, the tradition of family or church, or the superstition that it will protect them from hell, but because we believe that the Bible teaches us to do so. As parents, we are testifying that we will trust and follow God in raising our baby by baptizing him as an infant. This sets us on the trajectory of raising him in the fear and admonition of the Lord, so that one day he might profess faith in Christ and grow in spiritual maturity. We will treat him as a child of God from the beginning. Our hope is that Baby C will never know a day when he does not know the Lord.

Baptism is a sign of the covenant of salvation. In other words, it is a visible sign of the invisible grace that God gives to believers. God will fulfill his covenant promises to those who place their faith in him. Since Christ, baptism has replaced circumcision as the covenant sign of salvation. Both signify a spiritual cleansing from sin. As the infants of covenant parents were included in the covenant sign of circumcision, infants of covenant parents are included in the covenant sign of baptism today. It is important to note that the act of baptism is not what saves us. Faith is the only condition of being included in the covenant of salvation. Additionally, you will find examples in the New Testament of households being baptized. We should assume that children are included just as they were when the Old Testament speaks of households being circumcised. Look at Acts 2:38-39: And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself” (ESV).

There is much more I can say, but this is the general gist of why we will baptize Baby C as an infant. For more information, I would suggest you read Why Do We Baptize Infants? by Bryan Chapell. It is a short, easy read on the topic.