Baptism

[amarielmaxi]

Do you believe that baptism should have an age requirement? Can a 5 year old or even 13 year old be sure that he/she is ready to devote his life to God forever? 

[wingnut-]

I think it can vary from one individual to another, personally I chose not to get baptized in my youth despite a lot of pressure being applied from the church.  I didn't think that was the proper reason to do it, so I really think it is a matter of choice by the individual themselves.  I certainly wouldn't discourage it, but would make sure it was being done for the right reasons.

God bless

[Aimes]

I was baptized as a teen, I understood what it meant but solely did it because I felt like I was obligated to do so and it had little meaning to me at the time. Years later, after several years of salvation, I elected to be baptized again; at that time I wanted it to truly show the world that I was united with Him and it meant so much to me. I would personally probably lean toward not allowing small children to be baptized, though it is harmless if you do. Some small ones do understand more than the adults after all. 

[Alex2165]

In relation to John the Baptist and to Baptism as whole, rituals of purification and cleansing by water have been performed long before John the Baptist. The Law of Moses required purification and cleansing by water almost everything what can be considered unclean by the Law.

If a person, or household item, or anything else become unclean, such thing after inspection by the priest has to be purified and cleansed by water. When the priests are ordained for the Priesthood, first thing they do is to washes themselves with water. This is always been a first step in ritual purification.

But John the Baptist introduced a different type of cleansing and purification. He cleansed and purified only human bodies in physical water, but not for the purpose of removal the dirt from the flesh, but symbolically removing dirt from the soul of a person as a promise to GOD of good conscience. As it had been written about John the Baptist, by doing this he prepared a way for Jesus Christ, Who will Baptize people without any water at all, but by Holy Spirit and fire, which is the ultimate type of Baptism for a true believer in GOD. (A.G)

 

Ablution, the ceremonial washing of one's body, vessels, and clothing for the purpose of religious purification. This word is not found in the NKJV, but it occurs in Hebrew 6.2, 9.10 in the RSV. In both places the Greek word is BAPTISMOS (literally, "dipping"), which can be translated "washing", Hebrew 9.10.

Source: Compact Bible Dictionary, Ronald.F. Youngblood, F.F. Bruce, R.K. Harrison.

 

Matthew 3.5-6.11

5.Then Jerusalem was going out to him and all Judea, and all the district around the Jordan,

6.and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.

 

11.As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He Who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals, He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

 

 

Mark 1.4-5

4.John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,

5.and all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem, and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.

 

Luke 3.3

3.And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,

 

Acts 2.38.41

38.And Peter said to them, "Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

41.So then those who had received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

 

1Peter.3.21

21.And corresponding to that Baptism, now saves you not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to GOD for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

 

By “cleansing the souls from their sins” means repentance, confession, and forgiveness of sins as it described in the verses above. And if the sins forgiven, then the soul is clean from their sins.

 

Galatians 3.27-29

27.All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

 

28.There is neither Jew nor Greek (Genile), there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female (Matthew 22.30) (Mark 12.25) (Luke 20.33-36) (Galatians 3.28), you are all one in Christ Jesus.

 

29.And if you belong to Christ then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.

 

So the Ethiopian was baptized by the physical water just because he believed that Christ is the Son of GOD, very simple is it, and a good start to be a Christian, but it is only a start.

But Jesus Christ Baptizing people by His Holy Spirit and also by Fire, and here, according to the Bible, we have three different types of Baptisms. First Baptism by Water, Second by Holy Spirit, and a Third by Fire.

 

Baptism by Water SYMBOLICALLY cleanse our souls from its spiritual impurities, and acts as a promise, as a pledge, and as an oath, that we will keep ourselves spiritually pure, clean, and holy, according to the word of Christ, and will keep believing in Him to the rest of our lives.

 

When we do pledge or oath, we do some symbolic expressions like putting our hand on our heart, or raise our hand up, or give salute to that we pledged, Baptism is the same thing, it is only ritualistic expression to what or to whom we pledged to.

 

Baptism by Fire, it is also Baptism of ACTION, but of a different sort, and not symbolic like the Baptism by Water, or acts as the Baptism by the Holy Spirit. Baptism by Fire I understood as the Test of Endurance against all odds, against afflictions, distress, and torment of all sorts caused to us by the enemies of Christ.

The statement below explains the meaning of the Baptism by Fire, which Jesus Christ Himself experienced when He was ridiculed, ignored, falsely accused, beaten, and finally crucified on the cross. And He also predicted same Baptism by Fire to all His true followers.

 

And some Apostles of Christ also went through such Baptism, and Stephan who was stoned to death, he by being Baptized by the Holy Spirit and possessing it to the last moment of his life, endured Baptism by Fire to the end.

 

Luke 12.50

Words of Jesus Christ.

50."But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distresses I am until it is accomplished!"

 

So Jesus Christ actually went through all three different types and stages of Baptism, first Baptism by Water, second Baptism by Holy Spirit of GOD Father when He descended on His Son during Baptism by John the Baptist, and a third Baptism by Fire (by suffering on the cross)..

 

John 1.32-33

32.And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from Heaven like a dove, and it remained on Him (on Jesus).

33.I myself did not know Him (Jesus), but the One Who sent me (he meant GOD Father) to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on Whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, is the One Who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’

 

Concerning Baptism of children it is completely wrong and not Biblical to Baptize children. Every ritual of the O.T and NT requires full understanding of the meaning and the purpose of the ritual.

 

If a person does not understand what he is doing, it would not benefit that person in any way. So, Baptism of the children is completely worthless ritual and defiles the special and holy purpose of such ritual.

 

According to the O.T the mature age and adulthood starts from the age of 20. So I believe that only from this age a person can be Baptizing according to all three Baptisms mentioned above, and only when then a person fully understand the purpose and symbolism of this ritual.

[Reformed Baptist]

11 hours ago, amarielmaxi said:

Do you believe that baptism should have an age requirement? Can a 5 year old or even 13 year old be sure that he/she is ready to devote his life to God forever? 

The question begs the response: what do you think baptism is? 

Baptism is not an act of devoting one's life to God forever, rather it is the confirming act that demonstrates one is trusting in Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Saviour, as such age is not as important as testimony - that being said it is often advisable to look for ways a younger person has fully understood (and counted the cost) of following Jesus before baptizing them.

[missmuffet]

11 hours ago, amarielmaxi said:

Do you believe that baptism should have an age requirement? Can a 5 year old or even 13 year old be sure that he/she is ready to devote his life to God forever? 

No, it should not. Every child will be different. A child should be exposed to God at a very early age. When they are certain that they know who God really is and they want to give their life to Him then they will be ready.

[Reformed Baptist]

19 hours ago, missmuffet said:

No, it should not. Every child will be different. A child should be exposed to God at a very early age. When they are certain that they know who God really is and they want to give their life to Him then they will be ready.

A Muslim is certain he knows who God really is and wants to give his life to him - should we baptism Muslims? 

One's own personal subjective opinion about how much you understand and what you want you to is not relevant to baptism (because those things can be very wrong), nor is someone who wants to give their life to God ready to be baptized - baptism is for those who have come to God through faith in Jesus Christ already. If we (the local church) can see a child is trusting Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins, and that they have counted the cost of taking up their cross and following Jesus then age doesn't matter really although there are some practical considerations for example, if the person is the child of unbelievers and those parents don't want the child to be baptized the local church should wait  

[TheMatrixHasU71]

On 2/8/2018 at 2:53 AM, amarielmaxi said:

Do you believe that baptism should have an age requirement? Can a 5 year old or even 13 year old be sure that he/she is ready to devote his life to God forever? 

Children can be baptised if they are mature enough to understand sin and Jesus' sacrifice. Most children at 5 years old do not have that maturity but you never know, there might be a few that do

[ravindran]

On 2/8/2018 at 1:53 AM, amarielmaxi said:

Do you believe that baptism should have an age requirement? Can a 5 year old or even 13 year old be sure that he/she is ready to devote his life to God forever? 

No, there should be no age restriction. We just have to ensure the person taking baptism understands what it means. That understanding can come at any age. I would rather encourage teenagers to make such decisions. May be they would realize after growing up that they need to rededicate and take baptism with full understanding in their heart. I don't see any problems with that. It would take immense courage and faith for young people to commit to baptism. They should never be forced into though. Most of the youngsters take baptism due to pressure from family. I think that is totally wrong. If someone is genuinely asking for it, then it means something!