Confirmation for protestants

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Typically, Presbyterians are confirmed as 7th or 8th graders. At confirmation, confirmands are examined by the Session (the ordained Ruling Elders of the church), and then they make a public profession of faith - usually to the Session first (which will actually confirm them), and then to the whole congregation. This is done in a Q&A response format. Here’s the “classic” version:

Trusting in the gracious mercy of God, do you turn from the ways of sin and renounce evil and its power in the world?
I do.

Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Lord and Savior, trusting in his grace and love?
I do.

Will you be Christ’s faithful disciple, obeying his Word and showing his love?
I will, with God’s help.

Do you renounce all evil, and powers in the world which defy God’s righteousness and love?
I renounce them.

Do you renounce the ways of sin that separate you from the love of God?
I renounce them.

Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Lord and Savior?
I do.

Will you be Christ’s faithful disciple, obeying his Word and showing his love, to your life’s end?
I will, with God’s help.

Trusting in the gracious mercy of God, do you turn from the ways of sin and renounce evil and its power in the world?
I do.

Reaffirmation—Public Profession of Faith
Who is your Lord and Savior?
Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior.

Will you be Christ’s faithful disciple,obeying his Word and showing his love?
I will, with God’s help.
 
Nicky777 said:
Very good. Thank you. If a protestant or even a Catholic who doesn’t follow the Magiserium of The Church can they still be saved? For example ; a Catholic who doesn’t receive the Sacraments as prescribed by the Church, or the protestant who refuses not only the belief in Sacraments but the teachings of The Church as the church fathers and the apostles instituted over the years. But remained in their abstinence.
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Can they? Yeah. I don’t think that salvation is found in the Presbyterian Church, for example, but I don’t think Presbyterians are walled off from salvation.
 
The Church has not been one since 33 AD. From the get go there have been divisions, and there have always been divisions.

And no Christ did not make mistakes, but his apostles and disciples were just men and women, and they did. As did those that came after them.
 
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I guess you’ll find out when you get to Heaven.
 
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I’m pretty sure you’re getting off the topic. I’m fully aware on the history of how the Bible came to be.I’m not sure how that fits into the question of the topic. God said his word would last forever. I realize you are using the early church forming canonized scripture as an attempt to somehow give Catholicism a +1 vs Protestantism but I shall ask you a question. To whom are you giving glory that we have God’s word, to men, or to God?
 
He may be drifting a bit, but not too far. The Holy Spirit is manifest through both. Bishops, through sacraments like confirmation, and judgments of councils, are responsible for the Holy Spirit’s presence; the Bible, as the Word of God, brings the Holy Spirit as that Word is spoken.

The major problem in this thread is the attempt to limit the ways how the Holy Spirit comes to us. The Holy Spirit blows here and there, like the wind. In Baptism, and in Confirmation. Through Scripture and through preachers.
 
Do you believe that scripture was divinely inspired? I’m sure you do. Then why do you not believe in apostolic succession? The cannons and doctrines we follow have been debated over through out the centuries all the time guided by the Holy spirit. So why do you put your trust in you own understanding in the Word? What are the fruits that The spirit has wrought through you? Were you martyred? Any miracles performed? The path you follow though sincere is not the true way. You make yourself your own pope and risk losing a multitude of Graces. Grace that we need to be worthy of the promises of Christ. Christ established only one church and it was that way for 1500 years until the heresy of father Martin Luther. I believe that our Lord allowed this to happen to teach His church a lesson on the selling of indulgences.(that’s another conversation for another time) I respect the a protestant approach towards Holy scripture in that You all take you salvation seriously. That said, It is my sincere prayer and hope that you all read and then re-read your Bible from Catholic perspective, not to convert, but to understand that the way the truth and the life in which is Christ Himself is and always be with His bride the Holy Catholic Church. God love you.
 
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When I was received into the Catholic Church
I had to be confirmed even though I had been
confirmed in the Episcopal church. The Catholic Church recognized my baptism.by the Episcopal church, but not my confirmation.
 
Well said… Can you please explain the twofold differences of one as to the other? Baptism reception and Conformation. Thanks
 
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Because the RCC doesn’t accept the orders of the bishop who confirmed you as being valid.
 
Yes, I understand that now. I was confused about it at the time. I also assumed I would be rebaptized.
 
God, of course.

God inspires the authors of Sacred Scripture. You mentioned the biblical story of St. Philip and the Eunuch in your comments about baptism. That opened the door to discussing scripture. I also gave a detailed description of my Southern Baptist profession of faith as confirmation.

I was raised as a Southern Baptist. My formation in the Baptist Church made me who I am today.

If we were to have coffee together, you’d find that I’m more like you than you think.

I hope we’ve established common ground. I pray for God’s blessings on you. With your permission, I will send you a PM regarding our commonalities.
 
Ah- well- in the Pentecostal denomination I was raised in- they believed that the initial evidence for the baptism of the Holy Spirit was speaking in tongues. So- even if you were baptized- there was no confirmation (or chrismation). If you didn’t speak in tongues, then you didn’t receive the Holy Spirit. Southern Baptists simply have baptism. They don’t speak in tongues or have a confirmation (or chrismation). The Christian Churches (Stone Campbell) are like the Southern Baptists in that respect. I can speak to that as I have personal experience with those particular groups.
 
I have to say that the speaking in tongues has got to be the thing about Pentecostalism that has always thrown me. Where does it come from? Because that’s not the kind of tongues spoken of in the Bible…
 
In 1 Corinthians 14, St. Paul writes at great length about speaking in tongues in the church.

Verses 39-40 summarize his teaching.

So, (my) brothers, strive eagerly to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues, but everything must be done properly and in order.
 
I converted to Catholicism in 2015. I was baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity in a Presbyterian church. When I told my priest in a Catholic Church months before getting the Confirmation, he said to me, “Your baptism is still valid, but you still have to do a Sacrament of Confirmation.”
He described to me that you cannot be baptized again if you have had baptism in another Christian denomination (if you have been baptized in the name of the Trinity). Since I came from a Protestant denomination which believes in the Trinity (three persons in one God), my priest affirmed that my baptism was still valid.

But since I could not get the signature of my Protestant minister in my Baptism certificate, my priest agreed to do a conditional baptism, which starts with the words, “If you have not already been baptized…” I unfortunately had the signature but it was never signed. So he understood that it cannot be stated in written record and he decided to do a conditional baptism for me.

Since I was already baptized, I got the Sacrament of Confirmation immediately.

The answer to the question is, if a Protestant denomination baptizes those in the name of the Triune God, three Persons in one Divine God, then it is still considered valid.

There’s a list of valid and invalid Protestant baptisms:
https://www.catholicjhb.org.za/valid-invalid-baptism-roman-catholic-guide-2017/
 
I didn’t bring up Salvation and faith & works. I know what scripture states about both faith and works. Works are the result of your faith. Works do not save your soul but rather your faith. This again is proved beyond any doubt within scripture.

How many good works did the thief on the cross perform? None. He was dying a doomed man and would have went to hell forever but his faith alone allowed God’s grace to be bestowed upon him. We all know the thief on the cross isn’t the only person in history to have faith and a change of heart when facing death. We know 100% the thief will be in Heaven because Christ himself said so correct?

From this one passage we know that neither works, nor baptism, is a necessity in order to reach Heaven. If works or baptism was a necessity to receive God’s grace, Christ would not have guaranteed the thief he would enter Heaven.

So, where do works come in? The best work you can accomplish as a Christian is to win another soul to Christ. There are 1000’s of other good things as humans we can do, and should so the world sees a difference in us vs the world, but they do not get us to Heaven. Admitting we are sinners, Faith in Christ as our savior and redeemer, and a change within our heart is what bestows God’s grace upon our soul.
 
Everybody who is baptized receives the Holy Spirit at that time. The confirmation later is to join the church, stating that you agree with what the church teaches and that you intend to follow Christ. It’s a choice and a decision, where the baptism, done while you were an infant, is just the human receiving the Holy Spirit. This is in the Lutheran church.

Having been baptized, and having my original baptismal certificate, when I became Catholic, the Catholic church recognized my baptism. Most of the protestant churches are recognized by the Catholic church, which I see as proof that baptism is baptism. One and done. To want to be “re-baptized” just to have it done again is to suggest that you are worried that the Holy Spirit didn’t get it quite right the first time.
 
Minor suggestion friend - perhaps add a bit of humility to your posts. I’m a protestant - 4 (and a half) point Calvinist no less - and somehow I find myself to be somewhere between mildly and moderately offended by your posts. Remember you’re a guest here. Remember also:

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”

Finally - you would do well to assume that all here love Jesus as much or even more than you do. Perhaps begin your posts from that perspective.
 
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