Hi follow CAF members,
Yes, it’s me again with yet one more crazy outburst from the Baptist on my FB page. I am about to “defriend” her now, but would like your (name removed by moderator)ut on this outrageous defense of her Baptist faith. Please read below and if anyone has ever heard of this crazy argument before and has a link I can send her,I would appreciate any help you can afford me.
Thanks again guys! Her comment is below in red. God bless!
"Where in the bible does it say to baptize non-consenting children? You don’t know scripture, you IGNORE scripture! What did Jesus tell the Pharisee Nicodemus? Let me refer you to Jesus’ words when he said in John 3:5 "VE…RILY, VERILY I SAY UNTO YOU, EXCEPT A MAN BE BORN OF WATER AND OF THE SPIRIT, HE CANNOT ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN,That which is born of the FLESH…IS FLESH; and that which is BORN of the SPIRIT…IS spirit! MARVEL NOT that that I said unto thee, YE MUST BE “BORN AGAIN”!. Here, is where your “BAPTIST CHURCH” is formed.We “Born Again Baptists” can trace our roots and lineage right to Jesus and JOHN the BAPTIST! We are Baptists because we choose, of our own free will and volition ,as ADULTS, to- #1. Confess our sinful nature,-#2. Accept Jesus Christ as LORD and Savior and- #3.Submit to the COMMAND of JESUS CHRIST to be BAPTIZED BY IMMERSION (Mark 16:16)> “He that believeth and is “Baptized” SHALL BE SAVED”!!!
Some Protestant churches which only baptize adults still have a practice of “dedicating” infants to God. Some call this a “christening” which they distinguish from baptism (and just so no one reading this gets confused, there are
other Christians who use the terms christening and baptism interchangeably, so in this post I am referring to those who do not). The idea is that you christen / dedicate babies but baptism is not done until the child grows up and undergoes the 3-step process which your Baptist friend outlined. As you can see, there is still an intuitive sense that
something needs to be done for infants. If your friends church practices infant christening / dedication, then present her the following scenario to consider:
**Let us say that there is a baby named Aloysius and as an infant he is christened (or “dedicated to the Lord”). This is
not a baptism.
Aloysius grows up and as an adult he is “born again.” He accepts Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior and undergoes baptism by immersion. So now, as an adult, he is finally baptized.
In terms of the life of grace, what happened to Aloysius at his baptism that did not happen earlier at his christening?
While pondering this, your friend can also answer this question: Let us change this scenario and say that Aloysius died while still a child and, although he was christened, he was not old enough to be baptized (and therefore died unbaptized). Does he go to heaven or hell?
If he goes to heaven, then what purpose does baptism serve? Obviously christening is enough to provide salvation (although this would contradict the Scripture passages your friend quoted).
If he goes to hell then what purpose did the christening serve? And moreover, how on earth is it fair for him to go to hell when he died before he was old enough to receive baptism in his church? After all, it wasn’t his fault that he never got baptized.**
As you can see, no matter how your friend answers these questions, it will be problematic in terms of her baptism theology. According to what she teaches, salvation is for those who are fortunate enough to reach adulthood, understand what baptism is all about and are capable for believing in Jesus.
Those who die prior to adulthood are apparently out or luck, as are people who suffer from severe mental and/or psychological handicaps who are incapable of understanding baptism and sincerely going through the 3-step salvation process your friend outlined.
