Who
is eligible, for baptism? Only those who have been
born of the Spirit of God" (John 3:3-78) and
are walking in all the knowledge they have of God
and His Word. When John the Baptist was baptizing
in the river Jordan, many of the religious people
of that day came and wanted to be baptized also, but
John told them in Matthew 3:7-8: "O generation
of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath
to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance."
Baptizing babies is definitely contrary to Bible teachings,
and here is why. God says we are to repent first and
then be baptized (Acts 2:38). Babies cannot repent,
and furthermore, they have nothing to repent of. Oh,
how important it is to know God's Word and be able
to rightly divide the Word of Truth.
How is baptism, to be administered? First of all,
the word baptize means, "to fully wet or wash."
This being the case, then sprinkling is wrong and
pouring is wrong. The only correct way to baptize
is by burying a person completely under the water.
The Bible example for this is found in Acts 8:36-38.
After Philip, a man of God, had talked to a certain
man from Ethiopia about salvation through Jesus Christ
as they were traveling on their way, the man said
to Philip: "See, here is water; what doth hinder
me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest
with all thine heart, thou, mayest. And he answered
and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of
God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still:
and they went down both into the water, both Philip
and the eunuch; and he baptized him."
What does baptism accomplish? First Peter 3:21 tells
us, "The like figure whereunto even baptism doth
also now save us (not the putting away of the filth
of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience
toward God) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ."
According to the Bible, believers should be baptized
after they are saved to symbolize that they have died
to sin and the things of this old world and are resurrected
to a new spiritual life in Christ Jesus. If you or
I should be baptized for any other reason than what
has been explained by the previous Scriptures, then
we would be going contrary to what the Bible teaches
on this subject.
Someone may say, "It's not really too important
to be baptized, because the thief on the cross was
never baptized and Jesus accepted him." This
is true, friend, concerning the thief, but you must
remember that he never had an opportunity to be baptized.
However, you and I have that opportunity after we
are saved.
We must always remember that baptism never has and
never will wash away a person's sins, for the Bible
tells us it is "the blood of Jesus Christ his
Son [that] cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John
1:7). In Matthew 28:19-20 after our Lord Jesus Christ
had risen from the dead, we find Him giving instructions
to His disciples in this manner: "Go ye therefore,
and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have
commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even
unto the end of the world. Amen."
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