R.C. Sproul on Baptism
1939 – 2017 · PRESBYTERIAN (PCA)
READ IN A PRIMARY SOURCEAFFIRMS°
Infants included, as a covenant sign
"What is conveyed to an infant at baptism is a sign of the promise of God to give him all of the benefits of the person and work of Christ at such a time that he comes to faith... the sign doesn't convey the faith. The sign doesn't convey the benefits. The sign conveys, however, symbolically, the promise of God to all who believe."
THE POSITION
Infant baptism as a sign and seal of the covenant promise, explicitly not an act that itself conveys faith or its benefits — a direct guard against baptismal regeneration even while affirming paedobaptism.
7 OTHERS HOLD THIS
Believers only, on profession of faithVODDIE BAUCHAM · THE CHURCH OF ELEVEN22 STATEMENT OF FAITH · JOSH HOWERTON · SECOND LONDON BAPTIST CONFESSION · JOHN MACARTHUR · GAVIN ORTLUND · JUSTIN PETERS · JOHN PIPER · CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON
Infants included, and effective for regenerationAQUINAS · AUGUSTINE · CHRYSOSTOM · CONSTANTINOPLE I · IRENAEUS · LUTHER · PHILIP MELANCHTHON · NICAEA I · WESLEY
See all 29 figures on baptism →ABOUT THIS FIGURE
Founder of Ligonier Ministries and teaching elder in the PCA. Chaired the drafting committee for the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy; best known for The Holiness of God and for popularizing Reformed theology — the five solas and TULIP — for a lay audience.
11 OF 17 POSITIONS QUOTED
Everything R.C. Sproul holds →Cite this page
"R.C. Sproul on Baptism", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/sproul/baptism (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/sproul/baptism).