John MacArthur, Jr.’s Assertion Number 5. “One last point and I’ll let you go. Infant baptism is not consistent with the gospel.”

Mr. MacArthur takes statements from some theologians in the Reformed camp as if they are indicative of all who believe in the practice of infant baptism. One of the greatest influences at the Westminster Assembly was Irish Archbishop James Usher (of 4004 B.C. fame), who, while not attending, was nevertheless most influential and whose Body of Divinitie “apparently served the Assembly as a compendium of Reformed theology compiled by one of their most trusted theological guides.” [Jack B. Rogers, Scripture in the Westminster Confession (Grand Rapids, 1967), pp. 261-262.)

In his Body of Divinitie, Usher wrote:

“But what is to be thought of the effect of Baptism in those elect infants whom God hath appointed to live in yeers of discretion?

“In them we have no warrant to promise constantly an extraordinary work to whom God intends to afford ordinary means. For though God do sometimes sanctify from the womb, as in Jeremy and John Baptist, sometime in Baptism, as he pleaseth; yet it is hard to affirm (as some do) that every elect Infant doth ordinarily before or in baptism receive initial regeneration and the seed of faith and grace . . . .. But we may rather deem, and judge that baptism is not actually effectual to justifie and sanctifie, until the party do believe and embrace the promises.” [James Usher, A Body of Divinitie, or the Summe and Substance of Christian Religion . . . ( London , 1658), p. 417.]

Faithful gospel preachers, whether Baptist or Reformed, preach with a passion to see people won to Christ. They proclaim the same gospel message: we are right with God by grace alone, received through faith alone, and the sole object of our faith is what God has done for us in Jesus Christ, not the Church, the sacraments, who our Mama and Daddy are, whether we’re Sunday School teachers, pastors or deacons, or even our own faith—we cast ourselves on God’s mercy in Jesus Christ, without hope except for his sovereign mercy.

Furthermore, as I pointed out under my response to MacArthur’s fourth objection, faithful gospel preachers deal with the gathered people of God in charity as if they are all elect, but they preach so as to probe the consciences of all who are present, keenly aware that a man may even be a pastor and be unconverted. Nineteenth century , Presbyterian pastor, Gardner Spring is still a useful guide to people who would examine themselves regarding the genuineness of their faith in Christ. His Distinguishing Traits of Christian Character remains a classic and is available on line. Here is part of his conclusion:

‘If you possess nothing more than mere visible morality, nothing more than the naked form of religion, nothing more than a speculative knowledge of the system of revealed truth, nothing more than simple conviction for sin, nothing more than a vain confidence of your own good estate, connected with some apparent zeal for the cause of God, and a few transient and spurious affections, how can you be one of the children of the Everlasting Father? If you are a stranger to love to God, to repentance for sin, to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, to evangelical humility, to genuine self-denial, how can you cherish the hope that you are a Christian? If you know nothing of the spirit of prayer, nothing of the love of the brotherhood, nothing of mortifying the spirit of the world, nothing of growth in grace, of cordial, habitual, persevering obedience to the Divine commands, how can it be that you have been “brought near by the blood of Christ”? If these things are so, “You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God” (Acts 8:21 ).’

Even though we should view our children essentially the same way we view others in the church—we are not to sit in judgment of them as unbelievers unless there is positive evidence against them—we must beware of inculcating into them the false notion that real Christians are simply people who have been baptized, intellectually accept the truths of Scripture and live outwardly moral lives while belonging to the visible Church. On the contrary, saving faith is marked by a love for the Lord Jesus and trusts in him alone for salvation. Those who have been regenerated feel bad when they sin and regularly turn from their sins to God. They have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and find his name precious.

There is a very different approach in how we are to assess our own Spiritual condition from how we form our assessment of others. The most striking illustration of this comes from a comparison of what Jesus says in Matthew 12:30 with what he says in Mark 9:40. In Matthew 12:22-37 Jesus encounters strong opposition: the Pharisees accuse him of being in league with the devil. After answering their charges Jesus goes on to warn them of the great danger they are in: “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.” (Matthew 12:30,31.) After further warning Jesus tells them about the necessity of Spiritual fruit. Notice the focus on self judgment: “He who is not with me is against me.” (Matthew 12:30.) If I see no positive evidence that I am for Christ, I must conclude that I am against him.

How different is this standard of self-judgment from that by which we measure others. In Mark 9:38 we read, ‘”Teacher,” said John, “we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”’

What is Jesus’ response? Jesus said, “No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.” (Mark 9:39-41.) When we look at others, a different standard is to be used: “Whoever is not against us is for us.” (Mark 9:40 .) If a person professes to be a follower of Christ, either with his lips or by wearing the mark of Christ’s ownership, baptism, we must accept him as such, unless we see positive evidence to the contrary.

This is what we may call a judgment of charity. As I have pointed out above, Paul used the judgment of charity when he wrote to the church at Corinth . He addressed all of them as saints and brethren. (1 Corinthians 1:2, 10.) He regarded every one of them as fellow believers whom God had called, including, we may add, Stephanas’ children. (1 Corinthians 1:9, 16.) Did he mean that every person there was a true Christian? No, in fact he warns them to take a close look at themselves: “Examine your selves to see whether you are in the faith; test your selves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” (2 Corinthians 13:6.)

If we are to regard our baptized children as Christians, how can we keep them from a false hope? The only answer here is the same answer we must give regarding adults in the church: we must not base the assurance of our salvation on our baptism, our joining the church, our coming to the Lord’s Table, nor even on our religious experiences. Our assurance of salvation comes as the Holy Spirit bears witness in our hearts and enables us to recognize the fruit of his indwelling in our lives. (Cf. Romans 8:9-17, especially verse 16 and Galatians 5:22-24.) I am assured that God will save all who believe; I am assured that I have truly believed as I see the evidence that the Holy Spirit is making me more like Jesus. (Cf. 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Romans 8:29.)

There is no way that we can keep our children, nor ourselves for that matter, from a false hope of salvation apart from the careful examination which strong, soul-searching preaching should lead us to. We must encourage our children to look to the Lord Jesus, to turn to him daily from their sins with godly sorrow, and to believe that their sins are forgiven for Jesus’ sake. Yet we must press them to self-examination and remind them that it is only those who have the positive fruit of faith and repentance who should regard themselves as Christians. Their baptism lays on them, as circumcision did in the Old Testament, and indeed as our baptism lays on us, the obligation to make our “calling and election sure.” (2 Peter 1:10.)