Paedobaptism and the mediator problem

The Bible insists that there is one mediator between God and man, his name is Jesus.  Therein lies a crucial problem with paedobaptism.   There are some churches where babies are baptised and it is understood that this is symbolic, the baptism is in effect an expression of hope that the child will grow up to trust in Jesus for themselves. I think this is where, over the years a lot of evangelical Anglicans landed. They practiced in effect “wet dedications” and “dry baptisms” with confirmation being closer to what we might expect to happen with believers’ baptism.

However, a stricter view of paedobaptism, especially that associated with Presbyterianism and increasingly being promoted in wider conservative evangelicalism is very different.  Under that view, you baptise a baby because they are part of the elect, not just that you hope they are. You baptise them because they are already within the covenant of grace, not just that you hope that they one day will be.  Covenantal paedobaptism is the view that the children of believers are automatically within the covenant, part of God’s people because God’s promise in Acts 2 was “to you and your children.”

Apart from the fact, that this is a fundamental misunderstanding of what Acts 2 actually is saying, there is another major issue. We often focus on the point that the basis of salvation is our own faith, not another’s. I cannot inherit salvation from my parents.  However, even more crucially, the basis of my salvation, the place my faith is put is in Christ alone as the sole saviour and mediator.

Yet, if I am in the covenant because my parents were, then this means that there are two other mediators that come into the picture, my mum and my dad.  If they are the reason for my inclusion, then my faith is in them.  You see, if they weren’t really in the covenant because they had not professed faith themselves or because their parents weren’t in the covenant and so on, then nor am I and the basis of my baptism becomes invalid.

This is why baptism has to follow on from salvation as the sign and seal.  It’s why its important to think carefully through what the implications of our theology and practice are.