by Equip the Nations | Apr 29, 2016 | Equip The Nations' Blog, Equipping, Teaching
INFANT BAPTISM AND THE AGE OF ACCOUNTABILITY “The debate about infant baptism is fundamentally a debate about children, and not really a debate about baptism at all” (287, italics original). Such an approach is likely to perpetuate a glaring—and surely, intolerable—inadequacy of a great deal of Protestant theologizing on infant baptism, from Calvin’s Institutes 4:16 onwards, namely, its marginalizing a much of the NT’s explicit witness to baptism. The result is evident in Reformation orders of service for infant baptism from Edwardian England and Knox’s Scotland. (Wright, D. F. (2005). Review of The Case for Covenantial Infant Baptism Edited by Greg Strawbridge. Themelios, 30(3), 116.) Where to Begin? God states in His Word: “The Wages of Sin is Death” Romans 6:23a Is Romans 6:23 for everyone at every age? Does a person has to reach an age of accountability for God sin to be counted towards him or her? Is Romans 6:23 for everyone regardless of age? Because of Adam’s sin, all of mankind is born in a sinful world separated from God. Psalm 58:3 “The wicked are estranged from the womb; These who speak lies go astray from birth.” Ephesians 2:3 “…were by nature children of wrath…” Romans 5:18 “So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men…” Let’s ask some questions and look at what the Bible has to say. Then you decide. 1. Can parents do anything to help ensure their child’s salvation? “And when eight days had passed, before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. And when...
by Equip the Nations | Apr 28, 2016 | Equip The Nations' Blog, Equipping, Teaching
Baptism in Christ Jesus Jesus’ Teachings on Baptism. Jesus rarely spoke directly of baptism. However, in the Great Commission He calls the apostles to make disciples of all nations and baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matt 28:18–20). Early Christians came to see this Trinitarian formula as essential to a properly administered baptism. Elsewhere Jesus refers to His death on the cross in terms of baptism (Mark 10:38–39; Luke 12:50). Baptism in Acts. Early Christians baptized converts to the faith to signal their entrance and initiation into the Christian community (e.g., Acts 2:38–41; 8:4–13, 34–38; 9:17–19; 10:44–48; 16:11–15, 25–34). Baptism seems to have been associated with repentance, forgiveness of sins, and the bestowal of the Holy Spirit, but not in any sort of systematic way. For instance, in Acts, the Holy Spirit is sometimes given concurrently with baptism (Acts 2:38–41), sometimes before baptism (Acts 10:44–48), and sometimes after baptism (Acts 8:4–17). The connection between baptism and the Holy Spirit seems to trace back to John’s promise that though he baptized with water, Christ would baptize with the Holy Spirit (Matt 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:29–34; see also Acts 1:5; Schoonenberg, “Le Baptême d’Esprit-Saint,” 74–75; Lampe, Seal of the Spirit, 44–46; Kavanagh, Shape of Baptism, 17; Kavanagh believes that the early church’s experience of Pentecost shaped its interpretation of Jesus’s baptism). Baptism seems to have been closely associated with the preaching of the gospel: Peter directs those who believe his preaching to be baptized (Acts 2:38), and Philip’s gospel proclamation leads the Ethiopian eunuch to request baptism (Acts 8:34–36). Baptism in...
