Baptize () bap-tee-zo: To wash, pour, to make wet, immerse.
Mark 7:4…washed the pots
Acts 22:16…Arise and be baptized. They were in a city, not a river.
Matthew 3:11…Baptized with the Holy Spirit
Why Baptize? God commanded it.
Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Man's condition: We are by nature sinful and unable to please God
Genesis 8:21 "Every inclination is evil"
Psalm 51:5 "sinful from the time my mother conceived me"
Psalm 58:3 "From birth speak lies"
Psalm 22:9 "you made me trust you"
Jeremiah 31:31-34 "I will write it on there hearts…"
John 5:41 "I do not accept Glory from men"
Romans 5:8 " Whole we were still sinners"
1 John 1:10 "If we claim to be without sin we make God a liar"
Q- How can a sinful person with "every" inclination "accept Jesus without Gods help?
If acceptance was so important then why did Jesus die for us while we were sinners?
Shouldn't he have died for all of those who accept him?
At what age exactly does a person become cognitive enough to "truly" accept Jesus?
--That would mean God places our children into jeopardy of damnation for varying periods of time from 9ish to whenever. Not a very loving God!
THOUGHTS:
No where in scripture did they ever baptize twice with Jesus' Baptism
Acts 8:16-17 a perfect place for a second baptism, but they didn't
Age of resonating is random and uncertain
The church for 1500 year baptized babies…
Did God just look the other way for all that time?
Did he damn all those babies?
Did God damn all the young pre-adolescents and adolescents who knew of Jesus but made no acceptance because that theology didn't exist?
To hold the grace of God prisoner for man to do something is exactly what the Old Testament did. How is that a NEW covenant from the old one?
What does God say about Baptism?
Mark 1:8 "Jesus has a baptism of his own. Nothing to do with our faith or acceptance"
Matt 28:18 Command to Baptize.
John 3:5 Must be born of water and Spirit
John 4:11 Jesus has living water
Acts 2:38-39…Command to baptize for forgiveness
Acts 19:2-7 Baptism gave the spirit
Romans 6: Baptism is union with Christ and handled separately from anything else…
Romans 12:3…measure of faith God has given us.
I Corinthians 123 No one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit
II Corinthians 12:9 God is strong in our weakness
Ephesians 2:8 Saved by Grace through faith..not from yourself…no "I" accept"
Ephesians 4:4-6 Why is baptism separate and in company of a powerful list…Something symbolic does not fit.
Colossians 2:9-12 Baptism is the same as circumcision in which they received the kingdom from a physical act on a parent part.
Hebrews 6:1-2 Baptism is an elementary teaching…and it is separate from faith
1 Peter 3:17-22 Baptism now saves you. The "flood" is symbolic of Baptism not the other way around!
1 John 5:6… Jesus came by water and blood…Baptism and communion. What else could it possibly be since scripture was for simple people.
Baptism is God's grace poured out for us to assure our salvation. We can deny that gift, but it is a gift. Salvation is what God's desires for us. To hold out his hand with conditions of acceptance is Pharisee-ism and false theology. The non-denominational mentality is a burden on the soul and destructive to the faith.