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NASB | Acts 2:38 Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Acts 2:38 And Peter said to them, "Repent [change your old way of thinking, turn from your sinful ways, accept and follow Jesus as the Messiah] and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ because of the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. |
Bible Question:
I know this is dredging up an old posting, but I have a question about using the "whole household" argument of infant baptism. In Acts 16, the jailer and his whole household were baptized. But, then in vs. 34, it states that the whole household rejoiced because they believed in the God (NLT). Doesn't that indicate that infants and small children were excluded because an infant couldn't rejoice in his believing? stephanie |
Bible Answer: Greeting Stephanie! Without getting into the whole debate about infant baptism, what does this passage tell us. First of all, Acts 16:31 tells us that faith is Christ is necessary for salvation. The phrase 'you and your whole family' doesn't seem to indicate that his family would be saved by his faith, but that faith was necessary on the part of both him and each member of his family. Secondly, Acts 16:33 tells us that both the jailer and his entire family were baptized. While it does not mention the age of the members of this family, one can assume that they must have been old enough to believe, since that is the requirement given for salvation in Acts 16:31. Finally, Acts 16:34 is a little confusing grammatically. All of the verbs are singular, and only strictly apply to the jailer. However, between the verbs 'rejoice' and 'believe' is the adverb 'with all the household'. The tricky part is with which verb is the adverb associated? In the flow of the verse, it goes best with 'rejoice'. However, since it is between both verbs, it may well go with both. In light of Acts 16:34, I would accept the latter possibility. To answer your question, I would say that infants were not included in the household simply because infants cannot 'believe'. However, small children could have been included. After all, I accepted Christ when I was only six years old. :-) Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |