Baptism II
I thought I’d address infant baptism and where it comes from then some teachings of why we baptize.
The idea of infant baptism comes from an assumption made from Scripture and not a direct command. A passage in Acts speaks of the entire household of Lydia being baptized (Acts 16:15). The assumption is that “household” in these two verses must include infants. The passage itself does not say anything about infants in Lydia’s home, yet many Christians believe it should be assumed.
A major rule of biblical interpretation is not to assume anything. Just go with what the text says. Reading your opinion into a passage is known as eisegesis and leads to error.
There is nothing in Scripture prohibiting infant baptism, so there’s no reason to criticize others who want to do this. Some churches who practice infant baptism see it as more of a dedication to Christ while others see it as something more meaningful. My opinion is that it is not a salvation issue and therefore should not be condemned. We can discuss it, but don’t condemn those who disagree on this.
Baptism is a command (Matt. 28:18-19) and is an ordinance in Protestant churches. Eastern Orthodox and Catholics see it as a sacrament. The difference is an ordinance is something God has commanded us to do to symbolize something such as rebirth in the case of baptism. A sacrament is something which carries great spiritual value. For instance, the Orthodox and Catholics believe salvation begins with baptism.
Protestants restrict themselves to the Bible alone and what it says. That is the position of this blog, and is the view expressed here. Baptism is simply a public declaration of an inward change. When we are baptized, no matter in what form, we are telling the world we have accepted Jesus as our Savior and He has changed us. We are new creatures resurrected from our dead life of sin into our glorious new life In Christ.
Baptism was so important in the early church, particularly once the persecutions began, that those who were under instruction and not yet baptized, catacumens, were not allowed to hear the message during the service. They were asked to leave after the worship portion. However, all churches had training for the catacumens, some required as much as three years of training before the candidate could be baptized and welcomed into the family of God. So, baptism was an important issue in the early church.
The Romans were killing Christians just because of their faith. What seems to be extremely long training for new believers was a commitment to make sure they knew what they were getting into, the reasons why they should believe, to prepare them to defend the faith, and for death if necessary.
Some denominations still do something like this. My wife was raised in a Lutheran church. She was baptized as a child but went through two years of confirmation as a young adult where she had weekly classes at the church and daily lessons she needed to complete. The first year was learning the Old Testament, the second year the New. Finally, she was tested by the pastoral staff before she was “confirmed” and able to take communion. Certainly, this is something carried over from the early church and something that would benefit churches today.
Why is this important?
While baptism is not a condition of our salvation, it is extremely important, and should be considered as such. Baptism is not something one should enter into lightly. Self-examination, certainty of what you believe, and much fasting and prayer would prepare you for this wonderful ordinance.
Rom. 6:1-4What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
In a real sense, baptism shows exactly what Romans 6:1-4 describes. We have been dead and buried to sin. This is exemplified by putting us under the water, burying us. Then when we come out of the water, we show symbolically we are a new person, raised from death and sin into new life in Christ.
Next week communion.
Believers Armed and Dangerous 