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Proverbs 1:8-9
What is your goal as parents? There are of course many ways to answer that question, but one central biblical answer is that parents aim to train their children in wisdom. This is a central thrust of the Proverbs, which are addressed from a father to a son, and are designed to give wisdom and discernment to the son.
That is one of the commitments made in baptism. You are swearing publicly that you will raise Zacharias in the ways of the Lord, that you will strive to teach him wisdom by your word, by discipline, by your example. But at the same time, baptism is a confession that you are incapable of doing that. Baptism is, among many other things, a confession of parental impotence, a confession that your son needs a heavenly Father if he is going to grow to be wise. Through baptism, Zacharias is adopted into the family of the heavenly Father, the Father who will lead him to wisdom. Through baptism, Zacharias is being engrafted into the church, the body of Christ, which is the community where he can learn wisdom, and where you can learn wisdom with him. Baptism comes with the promise of the Spirit, the Spirit of counsel and the fear of the Lord, the Spirit of wisdom and insight, the Spirit who is the only source of wisdom.
Baptism is in the name of the Trinity, in the name of the God who is Triune Wisdom. Only the Father, Son and Spirit can fulfill your goals as parents; only God can make him wise unto salvation. Trust in God, and entrust your Son to Him.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, November 07, 2004 at 08:58 AM
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