M54 Q & A

Can infants or children receive baptism since they do not understand the truth, do not have faith, and cannot repent?

Infants and children are born from sin (Ps 51:5). Therefore they also need to be born again. The promise of baptism for the remission of sins is also given to children (Acts 2:38, 39). Children were never excluded from God’s covenant with His people (Gen 17:9-14).

We must not forbid children from receiving salvation since the Lord Jesus Himself does not reject little children but instead loves them (Lk 18:15-17). Children were healed of their diseases through their parents’ faith (Mt 15:28). By the same token, children and infants may be baptized based on the faith of their parents (Jn 4:49-51). However, we must also keep in mind that it is the grace of God and the cross of Christ, not the conscious choice of humans, which gives baptism its effect. So even if children cannot make a conscious choice to receive God’s grace, they should not be excluded from God’s grace.

In the early church, entire households were baptized (Acts 16:15, 32-34, 18:8; 1 Cor 1:16). Children and infants are, of course, part of the household.

Circumcision prefigures baptism (Col 2:11, 12). In the Old Testament male infants of the chosen people were circumcised on the eighth day (Lev 12:2, 3), prefiguring infant baptism.

The crossing of the Red Sea also prefigures the New Testament baptism (1 Cor 10:1, 2). The Israelites, including the children and infants, crossed the Red Sea (Ex 10:9, 10, 24, 12:31). The children and infants were not left in the land of bondage. In the same way, children and infants must also be baptized to be cleansed of their sins and be released from the bondage of Satan.

Is it possible to receive an evil spirit when praying for the Holy Spirit?

A person who sincerely yearns for the Holy Spirit must accept the true church—the body of Christ, which is established by the Holy Spirit. Anyone who wishes to receive the Holy Spirit must obey the true gospel taught by the church and pray in the way that the church instructs. The believers in Samaria (Acts 8:14-17), Paul (Acts 9:3-17), Cornelius and his relatives and friends (Acts 10:1-8, 44-46), and the disciples in Ephesus (Acts 19:1-7) received the Holy Spirit only when they came into contact with and obeyed the disciples of the Lord. Similarly, those who yearn to be baptized by the Holy Spirit must also seek the true church and accept the true gospel.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth (Jn 14:15-17). A person must believe and obey the truth to receive the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:15, 16, 21, 23; Acts 5:32). Those who reject the truth or refuse to accept the true church that preaches the truth might receive evil spirits even if they pray for the Holy Spirit.

If a person prays with wrong motives or an unrepentant heart, he allows room for evil spirits to work. But anyone who accepts the truth, follows the way of prayer instructed by the church, and prays sincerely for the Holy Spirit will not receive an evil spirit. The heavenly Father will not allow evil spirits to possess those who sincerely ask him (Lk 11:11-13).