Note: All scripture quotations herein are from the New King James Version (NKJV).
I definitely need to and want to do a full commentary on the book, Thirsting For God in a Land of Shallow Wells, by Matthew Gallatin. However, For now I want to just share a few little bits that have really blown me away.
In the twelfth chapter, "It's Not Just for Grownups Anymore!", Gallatin details his internal dialogue on the subject of infant baptism. He brings up a number of verses including Acts 2:38-39,
38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
Luke 18:15-16,
15 Then they also brought infants to Him that He might touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called them to Him and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.”
and Matthew 18:2-5.
2 Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, 3 and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.”
For now I'll skip over the back-and-forth on the different arguments, but here are some bits I really love. First, from p. 124:
The ancient Faith recognizes there will come a day in a child's life when he reaches an intellectual or moral crossroad. We might even call it an age of accountability. He will recognize as never before that he often strays from the path of Christ. Before him, he will see in a new, mature way the demands of the pathway, and the consequences of departing from it. As never before, he will know that he stands personally and eternally responsible to God for his actions. Every child—Protestant, Roman Catholic, or Orthodox—faces that moment.
But that day dawns much differently for the Orthodox child than for the young Protestant. As the Orthodox youngster faces it, he has the assurance that God the Father loves him, and that the Lord Jesus Christ has lived in him since birth. He has been baptized. He has received the Holy Spirit. From infancy, he has partaken of the Body and Blood of Christ through the Eucharist. His parents, his teachers, his priest, his entire community—every in his life has nurtured him in the knowledge that he is wholly God's.
So when that day of new awareness comes, the Orthodox child know that he has always been a child of the redeeming God—a fully vested member of the Body of Christ. He must make his awesome choice. But the choice he faces is whether or not he shall continue to live in the blessed relationship with God that has always been his.1.
And then, from p. 126
...I at last came to understand that infant baptism makes perfect scriptural sense. How does Jesus define conversion? To Him, it means, "to become as a child." Why, then, does Peter tell his hearers on the Day of Pentecost that they must repent? They must do so in order to humble themselves, and become as little children. (see Matthew 18:3, 4).”
So, what does a child need to do to be converted—that is, to become as a child? Nothing, obviously—he's already there! The child, especially the infant, has already reached the goal that the adult must attain through repentance. No one is more humble or submissive toward God than this little one. Thus, according to Christ, no one is more ideally suited for baptism and the Spirit's indwelling than an infant.2.
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