Acts 2:38-39New American Standard Bible (NASB)
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. 39 For the promise is for you and your CHILDREN and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
Romans 5:12New American Standard Bible (NASB)
12 Therefore, just as through one man SIN ENTERED INTO THE WORLD, and DEATH THROUGH SIN, and so DEATH SPREAD TO ALL MEN, because all sinned—
CCC1250 Born with a fallen human nature and tainted by original sin, children also have need of the new birth in Baptism to be freed from the power of darkness and brought into the realm of the freedom of the children of God, to which all men are called. The sheer gratuitousness of the grace of salvation is particularly manifest in infant baptism. The Church and the parents would deny a child the priceless grace of becoming a child of God were they not to confer Baptism shortly after birth.
Romans 6:3New American Standard Bible (NASB)
3 Or do you not know that ALL OF US HAVE BEEN BAPTIZED into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
Children of Christian homes are already Christians. If infant baptism were not the rule, then we should have references to the children of Christian parents joining the Church only after they had come to the age of reason, and there are no such records in the Bible.
SPECIFIC BIBLE REFERENCE
Acts 16:30-33New American Standard Bible (NASB)
30 and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”31 They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of [a]the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. 33 And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately HE WAS BAPTZED, HE AND ALL HIS HOUSEHOLD
Acts 16:15New American Standard Bible (NASB)
15 And WHEN SHE AND HER HOUSEHOLD HAD BEEN BAPTIZED, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.
1 Corinthians 1:16New American Standard Bible (NASB)
16 Now I DID BAPTIZED ALSO THE HOUSEHOLD of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other.
ALL ARE CALLED TO BE BAPTIZED
John 3:5New American Standard Bible (NASB)
5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Matthew 19:14New American Standard Bible (NASB)
14 But Jesus said, “[a]Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Luke 18:15-16New American Standard Bible (NASB)
15 AND THEY WERE BRINGING EVEN THEIR BABIES to Him so that He would touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them. 16 But Jesus called for them, saying, “Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
A REPLACEMENT FOR CIRCUMCISION
Colossians 2:11-12New American Standard Bible (NASB)
11 and in Him you were also circumcised with A CIRCUMCISION MADE WITHOUT HANDS, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; 12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
2 Corinthians 5:17New American Standard Bible (NASB)
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, [a]he is a new creature; the OLD THINGS PASSED AWAY; behold, NEW THINGS HAVE COME.
WE WERE SINFUL EVEN AFTER CONCEPTION
Psalm 51:5New American Standard Bible (NASB)
5 Behold, I WAS BROUGHT FORTH IN INIQUITY,
and IN SIN MY MOTHER CONCIEVED ME.
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What if an infant didn’t get the chance to have the sacrament of Baptism before he or she dies?
CCC1261 As regards children who have died without Baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them. Indeed, the great mercy of God who desires that all men should be saved, and Jesus’ tenderness toward children which caused him to say: “Let the children come to me, do not hinder them,” allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without Baptism. All the more urgent is the Church’s call not to prevent little children coming to Christ through the gift of holy Baptism.
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What if the infants die without the sacrament because of negligence? What happens to those who neglected them to have it?
Punishment will be given to whom it is due. Those who willingly deprive children of baptism commit the sin of omission
Luke 12:47-48New American Standard Bible (NASB)47 And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes, 48 but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of [a]a flogging, will receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.
SIN OF OMISSION-The sin of leaving good undone. In the light of the presence of God sins which are perfectly invisible to us, sins of thought, word, and deed — which, in the twilight of our conscience, in the confusion of our soul, are secret to us — are visible to God.
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