They were also vocal in saying that they felt the person concerned was actually not saved in their opinion. My understanding is that the person who had not received adult baptism by immersion is in point of fact a true Spirit filled Christian. Someone dedicated to the purposes of God and the worship of Jesus Christ from waking in the morning until he laid down his head in the evening. Sold out to Jesus then with not a doubt to be given.
Now, I’m not going to be the font of knowledge about all things baptismal here. I would mention that to my knowledge those converted after hearing Jesus were not rushed to be ritually cleansed but rather were baptised with the Holy Spirit. That is obviously a unique incidence though and perhaps is not typical.
Baptism is described in Acts 2:38 “Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” So baptism upon belief is for the forgiveness of sins and to receive the Holy Spirit. It is also in my humble opinion for the purpose of proclaiming the fact that you have made a decision for repentance in the name of Jesus Christ. The only name by which you must be saved under heaven (Acts 4:12).
This is not a new issue as the Reformers debated the issue some five hundred years ago and there has doubtless be traffic over the issue in the succeeding years and up until today. The majority of Lutheran and Presbyterian believers practiced infant baptism and used pouring or sprinkling as the method. The same system was applied to new converts.
The Anabaptists were keen on rebaptising those who had been baptised in the Catholic church as babies. This was quite a controversial practice among those of the more mainline denominations (Lutheran, Presbyterian). The Anabaptists also believed that baptism was for the believers who were of sufficient age to make a decision to publicly declare their belief in Jesus Christ. They also eventually moved to a strong adherence to immersion as their preferred style of baptism.
As you can see all of the views and opinions expressed above have been around for a while and are still causing issues today. So what do I think? Well I’m keen on immersion baptism and at an appropriate age to make a decision for Jesus. So as you can imagine I’m a baptist. I believe quite strongly that baptism is a point at which you can share your faith with those you love, brothers and sisters in the faith and your family.
Do I believe in rebaptism? To anyone who has been baptised as a child. I would ask them to question carefully if they personally feel led by the Holy Spirit to take adult baptism. However, I would not force it on them and I would be careful to look at their witness as a Christian to evaluate whether they had received the Holy Spirit. If the answer is an obvious and resounding yes then the person concerned is already being sanctified by the Holy Spirit and there will be no additional benefit to being dipped again. Unless of course they want to, in which case I don’t see a reason why that couldn’t happen either.
I guess in conclusion, all that I would say to believers reading this is be very careful. Love and mercy are so important in the process of bringing grace to our fellow believers and unbelievers alike. So much hurt and emotional damage can be done to the dear folk around us if we are not careful with our words and our actions. A dear sister of mine has always spoken of being as Christ Jesus himself in the way we witness to those who pass through our lives. Good advice I’ve always thought.
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