Is Infant Baptism Necessary for Salvation?

Christians across denominational traditions typically agree that God is perfectly loving, perfectly just, and perfectly wise. He doesn’t make mistakes, He never judges unfairly, and He knows not just what will happen, but also what would happen in every possible situation. That’s what we mean when we say God is a maximally great being—among other things, "God is love" (1 John 4:8) and possesses perfect knowledge, is perfectly just, and perfect in mercy.

Now let’s take a closer look at a common theological claim in some Christian traditions: that infant baptism is necessary for salvation. On the surface, this might sound reasonable—after all, baptism is commanded by Christ and central to the life of the Church. When we as analytic and systematic theologians think it through carefully, however, tough questions are raised about divine love, justice, and grace.

Consider a short philosophical argument that helps bring the tension into focus.

A Thought Experiment

Imagine a baby named Lydia.

God, being all-knowing (omniscient), knows that if Lydia had grown up, she would have freely chosen to follow Christ at age 18. But her parents never baptized her. Tragically, she dies in infancy. Now we’re left with a serious theological question:

What is Lydia’s eternal destiny?

A Deductive Argument

Let’s walk through a simple step-by-step argument:

1. God is a maximally great being—perfectly just, loving, and omniscient, including knowledge of how every person would freely respond in any given situation.

• This is standard theism: God knows not only what happens, but what would have happened under different conditions.

2. God knows that Lydia would have chosen to believe in Christ if she had lived to adulthood.

• We’re assuming that given the chance, she would have responded freely to grace.

3. Lydia’s parents failed to baptize her, and she died as a baby.

• A tragic but realistic scenario—many infants have died unbaptized through no fault of their own.

4. If baptism is necessary for salvation, then Lydia is damned to hell—not because she rejected Christ, but because of her parents’ omission.

• Her fate would then hinge on their actions, not hers. 

5. It would be unjust and unloving for God to damn Lydia to hell based on something outside her control, especially when He knows she would have chosen Christ.

• A perfectly intelligent, just, and loving God does not eternally damn someone to hell for something they never had the opportunity to choose.

6. Therefore, if Lydia is damned to hell, this would contradict God’s maximal greatness.

• God’s justice and love are not arbitrary or dependent on human error.

7. Conversely, if God saves Lydia based on what He knows she would have freely chosen, then baptism was not necessary for her salvation.

• That is, she didn’t need the sacrament in order to be saved.

8. Therefore, infant baptism is either inconsistent with God's maximal greatness (if it's necessary) or irrelevant to salvation (if God saves without it).

In summary, if God is maximally great, and baptism is necessary for salvation, and Lydia wasn't baptized (due to others), yet God knows she would have believed and been saved if she would have lived to adulthood, then either (a) God isn't maximally great (which is absurd), or (b) baptism is not necessary for salvation.

So What’s the Takeaway?

This argument doesn’t deny that baptism is important. Indeed, all Christ followers ought to get baptized. It is a beautiful, powerful symbol of our union with Christ. But it does challenge the claim that baptism—especially infant baptism—is necessary for salvation.

Instead, it suggests that:

• God can and does save people apart from baptism when it is unavailable or withheld.

• The grace of God is not limited by human rituals, even those commanded by Christ.

• A maximally great being will always act justly, even in cases where human actions fall short.

At the end of the day, if God knows a person would have chosen to love Him in return, then He will not reject them simply because of a missed ritual—especially one they never had the opportunity to pursue.

Stay reasonable (Isaiah 1:18),

Dr. Tim Stratton