What benefits are explicitly said to be received in Christian baptism?
Forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38), washing sins away (22:16), union with the death and burial of Jesus (Rom. 6:3-5), clothed with Christ (Gal. 3:27), salvation (Mark 16:16; 1 Pet. 3:21). Because the Scriptures say that all of us are conceived and born in sin (Ps. 51:5), dead in our trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1), and are by nature children of wrath (Eph. 2:3), children need Jesus, too.
So we baptize babies, trusting that the Lord will give all the gifts of Jesus to them in these Word-soaked waters. And who are we to say that children, even babies, do not or cannot have faith? Children are the very ROLE MODELS of faith in the teachings of Christ.
It was a baby, John the Baptist, who first recognized and leaped inside his mother's womb when in the presence of Jesus. Therefore, in conformity with the earliest records we have of the church's practice, we baptize babies, toddlers, teens, adults. Everyone needs Jesus, Jesus gives himself to us in baptism, so we make no age discrimination when it comes to passing on the riches of Jesus.