The need for baptism
was first demonstrated by the Baptism of
Jesus in
John 1:24-34 :
"Some Pharisees were also sent.
They asked him, "Why then do you baptize
if you are not the Messiah or Elijah or
the Prophet?"
John answered them, "I baptize with water;
but there is one among you whom you do not
recognize,
the one who is coming after me, whose
sandal strap I am not worthy to untie."
This happened
in Bethany across the Jordan, where John
was baptizing.
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward
him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God,
who takes away the sin of the world.
He is the one of whom I said, 'A man is
coming after me who ranks ahead of me
because he existed before me.'
I did not know him, but the reason why I
came baptizing with water was that he
might be made known to Israel."
John testified further, saying, "I saw the
Spirit come down like a dove from the sky
and remain upon him.
I did not know him, but the one who sent
me to baptize with water told me, 'On
whomever you see the Spirit come down and
remain, he is the one who will baptize
with the Holy Spirit.'
Now I have seen and testified that he is
the Son of God."
In the synoptic
Gospels:
Mark 1:8 adds: "I have baptized you with
water; he will baptize you with the Holy
Spirit."
Matthew 3:11 adds: "I am baptizing you
with water, for repentance, but the one who
is coming after me is mightier than I. I am
not worthy to carry his sandals. He will
baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire."
Luke 3:16 adds: "John answered them all,
saying, "I am baptizing you with water, but
one mightier than I is coming. I am not
worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals.
He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and
fire."
But the Catholic Church
always held that His words apply to anyone
capable of belonging to his kingdom. He
asserted such even for children: "Let the
children come to me, and do not hinder them;
for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven,"
(Matt. 19:14).
And also,
Luke 18:15-17 reads:
15 People were
bringing even infants to him that he might
touch them, and when the disciples saw
this, they rebuked them.
16 Jesus, however, called the children to
himself and said, "Let the children come
to me and do not prevent them; for the
kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
17 Amen, I say to you, whoever does not
accept the kingdom of God like a child
will not enter it."
In the article on
Infant Baptism in
Catholic Answers, this passage is
explained:
The Greek word brepha
means "infants"—children who are quite
unable to approach Christ on their own and
who could not possibly make a conscious
decision to "accept Jesus as their
personal Lord and Savior." And that is
precisely the problem. Fundamentalists
refuse to permit the baptism of infants
and young children, because they are not
yet capable of making such a conscious
act. But notice what Jesus said: "to such
as these [referring to the infants and
children who had been brought to him by
their mothers] belongs the kingdom of
heaven." The Lord did not require them to
make a conscious decision. He says that
they are precisely the kind of people who
can come to him and receive the kingdom.
So on what basis, Fundamentalists should
be asked, can infants and young children
be excluded from the sacrament of baptism?
If Jesus said "let them come unto me," who
are we to say "no," and withhold baptism
from them?
ARE YOU SAVED?
The cleansing and purifying of any remaining
sin, makes us fit for God’s holy presence.
This happens in what we call Purgatory
(which, in and of itself, is a controversial
a topic for the future). The apostle John
states that "you may know that you have
eternal life"
(Jn 5:24).
Amen, amen, I say to
you, whoever hears my word and believes in
the one who sent me has eternal life and
will not come to condemnation, but has
passed from death to life.
But this "assurance"
has to be understood with John’s other
teachings in the same book: "for this is the
love of God, that we keep his commandments"
in
John 14:21-24:
"Whoever has my commandments and observes
them is the one who loves me. And whoever
loves me will be loved by my Father, and I
will love him and reveal myself to him."
Judas, not the Iscariot, said to him,
"Master, (then) what happened that you
will reveal yourself to us and not to the
world?"
Jesus answered and said to him, "Whoever
loves me will keep my word, and my Father
will love him, and we will come to him and
make our dwelling with him.
Whoever does not love me does not keep my
words; yet the word you hear is not mine
but that of the Father who sent me."
These passages
illustrate the need for Baptism: to be made
right with God, in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Nowhere does it say that being born-again is
"accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and
Savior," and THAT alone guarantees
salvation.
If infant baptism were
not the rule in the early Church, then we
should have references to the children of
Christian parents joining the Church only
after they had come to the age of reason.
There are no such records in the Bible.
Further, if children
cannot be baptized, Fundamentalists will
just have to declare that children who have
not "accepted Jesus as their personal Lord
and Savior," since by their own reasoning
are not able to make that decision on their
own, are condemned to eternal damnation.
Now, who wants be the first to say that to a
dying infant? |