Children presentation

Ok, many say that children must be "presented" to the Lord.. and (from what I've heard) it is based on

Quote :

Luke 2:22
When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord

But.. if we read the whole context, and pay attention to why Joseph and Mary presented Jesus, we see that verses from Exodus are quoted: Exodus 13:2,12, in verse 23:

Quote :

23(as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord")

So, (from my humble point of view), if we are going to STICK to Scripture... WE MUST stick to THE WHOLE CONTEXT of this...

First, let see.. they (Mary and Joseph) were doing things ACCORDING TO THE LAW (purification, circumcision of the baby, according to LEVITICUS 12, and offering the sacrifice and presenting FIRST BORN MALE children ONLY according to Ex. 13:12) otherwise, (once again, from my humble point of view) we are doing it wrong.

Why did the Lord commanded them to do this? (Exodus 13:11-16)

Quote :

11 "After the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as he promised on oath to you and your forefathers, 12 you are to give over to the LORD the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the LORD. 13 Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. [b]Redeem every firstborn among your sons.

14 "In days to come, when your son asks you, 'What does this mean?' say to him, 'With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed every firstborn in Egypt, both man and animal. This is why I sacrifice to the LORD the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.' 16 And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the LORD brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand."

So, should we really present our children??

what do you think??.. or, am I wrong, and children MUST be presented?

Grace and Peace

I believe all of our children should be dedicated to God, but I don't know if there must be a formal ceremony. I don't think we see that in the NT.

I'm credobaptist, so I definitely don't believe that there is a need for baptism of infants.

This is a good question, though, bro-ham.