“For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”
-Acts 2:39
Peter has just finished showing the Jews that Christ is the resurrected Lord and the Holy Spirit’s coming is a fulfillment of His promises to all those who the Lord our God calls to Himself.
A couple of things about this verse. It specifically mentions the children of the Jews and not the children of those who are far off, but there is a reason for that. In Matt 27 As Pilate is trying to make sense of the charge against Jesus, he ask the Jews who do you want me to release, Barabbas or Jesus and the Jews said Barabbas. Pilate even says, Why? What evil has he done? But they shouted all the more “let Jesus be crucified”.
In Matt 27:24 24 So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” 25 And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”
What Peter is saying to the same Jews in Acts two is that your sin, your betrayal of God, your murdering of the Son of God, will not stop the promises of God. Even murderers who chanted for Jesus to be crucified will be called by God and given the Holy Spirit. God is not going to count Christ blood against them or their children even though that’s exactly what they asked for. What a grace.
But here is the second thing. This means that Children receive the promise. This means that the Holy Spirit can come to dwell in children who are called by God. Here is my exhortation church, believe that children can take hold of these promises, and also believe that when that happens fruits of the Spirit always come with it.
A parent has a difficult task and it’s one every parent should treat very carefully. Children are finicky, it says foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child. On top of that, if you are doing your job to train your child then everything in their world revolves around Christianity and it also revolves around you. They pray with you when you put them to sleep. You sing with them around the table. You teach them memory verses and catechisms and all of that is great, glorious good. Keep on doing that.
The hard part is knowing if the Lord is their delight. The hard part is seeing them grow in their own faith and the practice of it. You can look for patterns of moments where a love of God is the only thing that makes sense. Look for trust in the gospel, look for faith in the goodness of His commands and trust that salvation cannot be thwarted by you. God will do all that He pleases and you can’t stop it. Rest on that.
In Acts 2 3000 were baptized, but at that place and at that time there was a great cost associated with it. People for the first time were believing a dead man rose and is ruling the world. Many were believing for the first time that the world of Judaism was ending, the world as they knew it was ending, and something new was here. That is a lot different from our time in the bible belt.
So, what do you look for and how do you know if your child is ready to be baptized. It’s in Acts 2. It says, “those who received his word were baptized”. In this case, there was a true turning a way from one life and turning to another. It was accepting that the death of Jesus, the crucifixion they wanted meant that they were crucified in Christ.
It was owning their sin before a Holy God. Understanding that God owes them nothing but yet gave them the promises.
Church, on one hand we want to encourage caution and discernment as you deal with things in your home. It is a great gift to prepare your children for baptism when they are ready. You will know them better than anyone. On the other hand, there is the potential to wait too long. This isn’t the end of the world, but it is something to consider. Withholding them from baptism is withholding them from the Lord’s supper. So, feel the tension and feel the responsibility. Fathers and mothers, do your best to know where your children are and trust that God is gracious as you give yourself to this good work.
For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.