E 1.5.13 : IS CHILD BAPTISM BIBLICAL ?
YOU CAN BE SAVED, ONLY BY EXERCISING, YOUR OWN PERSONAL FAITH
For more discussions on ‘INFANT/CHILD BAPTISM’, refer to :
E 1.5.11 : Questions & Answers – Q 4, 8, 11, 12, 13 & 14
One of the reasons given for ‘INFANT/ CHILD BAPTISM’, is the widespread belief that the infant or child can be saved by the godliness of the parents. Scripturally, it is an error. There is no direct answer in the Scriptures to this anxious question : Will an infant or child go to heaven, if it dies without being baptized ? But we very well know from the Scriptures, that the mere observance of baptism ritual alone cannot save anyone. If it were so, then all of us can just take water baptism and go to heaven.
According to the revelation in the Scriptures, God’s judgment will also depend upon the extent to which the light and knowledge of God has been given to a person, or received by that person. The judgment upon an infant or a child will also correspond to the extent to which it has received the light of the knowledge of God. Our God is righteous, just and merciful. Therefore, let us rest assured in the One who gave the child and then has permitted that child to be taken away, will judge and reward the child/ infant righteously.
Some argue that the baptism one has received as an infant/ a child is the ‘One Baptism’, the Bible refers to. Therefore, they say that they do not have to take another Baptism of ‘Christian Immersion Water Baptism’ as an Adult Believer. This is not Scriptural.
Let us now study a few verses related to this discussion from the Bible :
Ezekiel 18:30 – “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,” says the Lord GOD. “Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin.
Ezekiel 18:22-23 – None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live. Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord GOD, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?
Ezekiel 18:26 – When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies.
Ezekiel 18:2 – What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children’s teeth are set on edge’?
Ezekiel 18:4 – “Behold, all souls are Mine; The soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine; The soul who sins shall die.
Ezekiel 18:20 – The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
The sole responsibility of willingly choosing between life or death lies with the individual. Neither one’s parents, nor the one who loves us, nor God, can make this choice instead of that person for his own salvation.
Bible commands us to stand in the gap and intercede for the salvation of others. However, the ultimate responsibility of choosing earnestly between the reward of eternal life and the punishment of eternal death, lies only with the individual.
The mother or the father, or anyone who loves that soul cannot make this choice. God loves us with eternal love. And yet the individual should himself believe, seek and choose life. God cannot make this choice for that individual.
Therefore, each one has to exercise one’s own personal faith and obey to get saved. The faith and godliness of a parent, or the intercessory prayers of others alone cannot save that person.
Everyone should repent, confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord, believe in their heart that God has raised him from the dead and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins, in order to be saved ( Matt.3:2; Acts 2: 38, Romans 10:9,10 ).
We know that this is not possible with an infant. Therefore ‘INFANT/CHILD BAPTISM’ is not a Scriptural teaching.
A person who has received infant/child Baptism should not argue that the “one Baptism” referred to in the Scriptures in Ephesians 4:5 is ‘infant/child baptism’. The believers at Ephesus, who had received John’s baptism earlier were again given Christian Immersion Water Baptism by Paul (Acts 19). The Christian Immersion Water Baptism meant for Adult believers must be taken for the divine purposes and reasons mentioned in the Word of God. It is only then that it becomes spiritually valid and has the approval of God.
Some even agree to take baptism, just because the person they are planning to get married to, insists on that condition. Let our prayers be that baptism be taken for the divine purposes for which Christ initiated it.
Water baptism, by sprinkling of water is also not scriptural, as there is no mention of it in the Bible.
Repent, believe in your heart, confess that Jesus is Christ, Lord and Son of God and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins, then you will be saved. This is the Christian Immersion Water Baptism for the Believer (Adult), as initiated by our Lord Jesus Christ.