Baby Dedication

Baby Dedication

baby dedicationWe believe that our children are a blesssing from God and we are to treat them as such (Psalm 139:13-16). Our time for influence as parents in the lives of our child is limited. We recognize early that they are first and foremost God’s children. By dedicating our children, we are giving them back to the one that gave them life. Dedication of our children is a statement of our trust in God and that his plans and pourposes for them are more important than ours.

Why Don’t we baptize babies?

Infants are incapable of repentance, faith, and public testimony to salvation. In fact, they have no sins to repent. Baptism is a public tetimony of ones faith and trust in Christ. According to the Bible, everyone (adult or child) who recognizes his or her need of a Savior and then repents and believes in Christ should be baptized (Acts 2:38,41; 8:36-38). But in the Scripture there is no record of infants or very young children being baptized. This is because they are not yet able to understand the need of a Savior.

Why should I Dedicate my child?

God places a high priority on children. When asked who is the greatest in the kingdom of God, Jesus responded, “Unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). God’s love for children is also shown in the Old Testament. In Leviticus the Lord specifically prohibited the people of Israel from offering their children as a sacrifice to the pagan god, Molech (Leviticus 20:1-5). It seems fair to conclude that if God forbade children from being sacrificed, He would not order those same children to be placed in the eternal fire of hell.

From these Scriptures we believe that children are loved by God, and until they come to an age of understanding (some call it “the age of accountability”), they have a place in the kingdom of God. This means that should a child die before developing to a point where the knowledge of Christ can be understood and applied through forgiveness, the child would inherit eternal life in heaven as an heir of God’s kingdom.

In Luke 2 we see the parents of the baby Jesus taking Him to the temple “to present Him to the Lord” (Luke 2:22). Later the Gospels tell us that little children and infants were brought to Jesus for Him to touch them and bless them (Matthew 19:13-15; Mark 10:13-16; Luke 18:15-17). In following this practice, 970 Church encourages parents to publicly dedicate their children to the Lord. This is usually done in a church service. In dedicating their child the parents acknowledge the child as a gift from God and vow before Him and the congregation to set a godly example for the child and a commitment to lead the child to Christ at an early age.

0 Comments

Add a Comment