Let’s talk about baptism. Please! Let’s talk both about what it is and also what it most certainly is not. I’m a Baptist Reformed guy and I’ll speak of baptism from that perspective. My statement of faith speaks of baptism and so do all of the Baptist historical confessions I hold dear. Our baptismal obedience is a work, and works have no part in God’s saving grace. Plain and simple. No part at all in being “born again” or “regenerate.” Unmerited grace is my joy and plea here. So, what about the grace of baptism then? Is there any grace conveyed to us when God’s children obey this commandment? Is there any grace given when Christians obey any of God’s commandments? If baptism doesn’t save, what does it do? We’ll consider all of this and more here.
When we look to Scripture, we see only believer’s baptism. We have literally thousands of examples to look at. There can be no debate about this fact whatsoever. There simply isn’t a single infant baptized in our Bible. So, why is there still debate? Why was there ever debate? Why are Christians still erroneously baptizing babies even post the Reformation? I do not necessarily condemn a Protestant brother or sister in Christ who baptizes babies. Pedobaptism in a wider theology of Christian truth can exist in an inconsistency of grace. It is a matter that genuine Christians can fight about.
Much of my talk here will center on baptism from a Baptist perspective. Second to this, I’ll address baptism mainly from the dreadfully misguided Lutheran position. I’ll make plenty of mention of the Presbyterian position, which is far more respectable than the Lutheran one in my view, and I’ll make mention of some others who also all baptize their infant kids…unlike every single one of the Apostles. We’ll also talk about some of the earliest Christian practices regarding baptism.
During the talk, I mention a debate between Pastors R.C. Sproul and John MacArthur. It was a delightful exchange where Pastor MacArthur fully established the biblical case for credobaptism in my opinion. I highly recommend the debate to anyone. You can find it online in a lot of places. Here’s one: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/series/baptism-debate.
God bless!!!
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