Dedicating instead of baptizing
Some churches do not baptize infants, but they dedicate them. Where do they get the idea to dedicate children instead of baptizing children?
The practice of those churches stems from their false doctrines. Some churches might dedicate children and not baptize them because they reject what the Bible teaches about original sin. The Bible teaches that we are sinful from the moment our life begins (Psalm 51:5; John 3:6; Romans 5:12; Ephesians 2:3).
Some churches might dedicate children and not baptize them because they misunderstand the origin of Christian faith; they believe that people decide to believe in Jesus and that infants are not able to make that decision. The Bible teaches that saving faith is God’s gift to people (Ephesians 2:8). No one decides to believe in Jesus. Saving faith is the work of the Holy Spirit in a person’s heart (1 Corinthians 12:3).
We baptize infants because they are included in the Lord’s command to baptize “all nations” (Matthew 28:19-20), they have a need for forgiveness (Psalm 51:5) and they can believe through the power of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 18:6; Luke 18:15-17).
A common rite for the dedication of children focuses on the parents’ acknowledgement that their children are gifts from God and the parents’ promise to raise their children in the Christian faith.
We recognize that children are gifts of God. We want parents to raise their children in the Christian faith, but we also want parents to use the means by which the Holy Spirit can plant that faith: Baptism.