This morning, I want to explain why we baptize little children. The title of these remarks is “The Three M’s of Baptism.” Why the letter M? Quite simply because baptism ends with an M. There are three reasons why little Rhys will be baptized this morning: the meaning of baptism, the mode of baptism, and the members of baptism.
The Meaning of Baptism
Someone has once said that baptism is a Greek word dressed in English clothes. In other words, it is a word that has been transliterated directly from Greek into English, much like the word octopus. It isn’t derived from Latin; it comes straight from Greek.
In the Greek New Testament there are two related words—baptisma and baptismos—from which we get the English word baptism.
Many Baptists argue that baptism means immersion, being fully dipped in water. This is one reason Baptists disagree with infant baptism: you cannot fully dunk a six‑week‑old or a three‑month‑old child in water. If baptism necessarily means immersion, then only adults can properly be baptized. In that framework, the meaning determines the mode, and the mode determines the members.
But is that really what the word baptism means?
When we look more closely at the New Testament, it becomes clear that the meaning is broader. In Hebrews 9:10, the writer speaks of “various baptisms” (translated in the ESV as “various washings”). The Greek phrase is literally diverse baptisms. The writer then goes on to explain what some of those baptisms involved.
In verse 13, baptism includes the sprinkling of a person with the ashes of a burnt heifer. No one was immersed in ashes. In verse 19, baptism includes the sprinkling of both the book of the covenant and the people with blood at Mount Sinai. The entire book was clearly not immersed in blood, or it would have been destroyed. In verse 21, baptism includes the sprinkling of the tabernacle and all the vessels used in worship with blood. Again, these items were not plunged fully into blood.
From this, we see that the word baptism does not necessarily mean immersion. Nor does the verb to baptize require full submersion. Instead, baptism carries the idea of cleansing—of washing—often accomplished by sprinkling or pouring.
This is consistent with how we normally wash ourselves. When you shower, water is not immersing you in a pool; it is poured or sprinkled from above in order to cleanse. That is precisely what these “diverse baptisms” in Hebrews were doing: they came down from above to wash and cleanse.
So the meaning of baptism is washing. Baptism symbolizes being cleansed by the blood of Christ and renewed by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit.
The Mode of Baptism
If the meaning of baptism is washing, then the most fitting mode of baptism is one that visibly represents washing. Sprinkling or pouring water does exactly that. It conveys the idea of cleansing in a way that aligns with the biblical examples and with ordinary human experience.
Because of this, sprinkling or pouring water is a helpful and faithful mode of baptism. It visually communicates what baptism signifies: the washing away of sin through the blood of Jesus and the work of the Spirit.
The Members of Baptism
This brings us to the third M: the members of baptism. Who, then, should be baptized?
In Acts 2:38–39, on the day of Pentecost, Peter tells the crowd how they should respond to the gospel message:
“Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 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.”
Throughout the Bible, every covenant God makes is established with believers and their children. The New Covenant follows this same pattern. As Peter makes clear, the promises of God are extended not only to individuals, but also to their children.
Grace restores nature; it does not erase it. The gospel does not dismantle the natural order of the family but renews and redeems it.
And so we baptize this child this morning because he is a child of the covenant. Our prayer is that the sign and seal applied to him outwardly would one day become a living reality within him—that he would personally experience the cleansing power of Christ’s blood and the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit.
That is why we baptize children: because of the meaning of baptism as washing, because of the mode of baptism as washing from above, and because of the members of baptism. Baptism is for believers and for their children.