LORD’S DAY 27
72. Is then the outward washing with water itself the washing away of sins?
No11 Peter 3:21; Ephesians 5:26, for only the blood of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit cleanse us from all sin.21 John 1:7; 1 Corinthians 6:11
73. Why then does the Holy Spirit call baptism the “washing of regeneration” and the “washing away of sins”?
God speaks thus not without great cause, namely, not only to teach us thereby that just as the filthiness of the body is taken away by water, so our sins are taken away by the blood and Spirit of Christ;3Revelation 7:14 but much more, that by this divine pledge and token He may assure us, that we are as really washed from our sins spiritually as our bodies are washed with water.4Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38
74. Are infants also to be baptized?
Yes, for since they, as well as their parents, belong to the covenant and people of God;5Genesis 17:7 and through the blood of Christ6Matthew 19:14 both redemption from sin and the Holy Spirit, who works faith, are promised to them no less than to their parents,7Luke 1:14-15; Psalm 22:10; Acts 2:39 they are also by Baptism, as a sign of the covenant, to be engrafted into the Christian Church, and distinguished from the children of unbelievers,8Acts 10:47 as was done in the Old Testament by circumcision,9Genesis 17:14 in place of which in the New Testament Baptism is appointed.10Colossians 2:11-13