I am truly perplexed with how many children are being baptized for the forgiveness of sins. My husband and I have studied with many adults and know many adults who have been “rebaptized” for safety which is not a biblical model/wording either. I like the point you brought up of a parent helping a child to understand innocence. There is a time to put away childish things. As a parent, if you are willing to wait until Sunday morning so grandma and grandpa can witness your child’s baptism, then you think they are innocent as well and that they are just doing an outward showing of an inward faith. (That is no different than how I was taught in the Baptist church). If you truly believe and your child believes they are a sinner in need of forgiveness, you would not be willing to wait. If your child is separated from God by their sins and need to be baptized and live a life of repentance, then baptism should happen immediately. Some of the questions we ask our 10yo and 13yo are: What is the gospel? What does sin do to an individual? Who sins? How is the sin problem fixed? What is repentance? How do you live a life where Jesus is your Lord? What does it mean to live out Gal 2:20? How does a Christian pick up their cross and bear it daily? Why is His Church important? Who adds you to the Church? What do you believe about Jesus? What does baptism do? We never ask them to repeat the “plan of salvation,” b/c that is a formula man has made up for easy teaching, most children could repeat that back. But we do want to make sure they understand the “gospel.” 1 Cor. 15./Rom 6. Do you understand the Matt 18 model and why Christians handle conflict this way? It is our role to teach so they know the answers to these questions. If parents can’t teach our own children the gospel using scripture, can’t answer these questions or any questions they have, and have been around the church our whole lives? What are we doing? We have to know the Word to be able to teach it and follow the Deut 6 model.
2 Peter 2:10 says to make your calling an election sure. It is biblical to be sure that you have secured your salvation through understanding. Basically it is biblical to be re-baptized
I believe that God is perfectly just. There's a real discussion to be had about asking why your child wants to be baptized, but other than that I am not worried; I trust that God is fair.
As they said in the video, we have no record of children baptized in the Bible. We know all the baptisms recorded in Acts are for "men" or "women." There are specific words for children that could have been used in the Bible if they were included in the groups that were converted (compare Acts 8:12 to Matt 14:21). While no specific age is given, what we know about human development is that the mind cannot mature without the body. Things like abstract thought come with puberty. Therein comes a time where a person stops speaking, thinking, and reasoning like a child, and puts away childish things (1 Cor 13:11). There are cases where the mind is stunted and does not develop with the body, but the mind does not mature without the body. Some go through puberty very early, others are much later, so of course no age is given in the Bible. I personally refuse to baptize anyone who is prepubescent. Let's not confuse intellectual prowess with accountability. There are children who have incredibly high IQ's that can even complete college course work. They could absolutely tell you the plan of salvation in detail if they studied it. However, if they are prepubescent they have no true concept of things like the lust of the flesh. How can someone count the cost of discipleship before they grasp what that cost actually is? All the people being "rebaptized" should tell us something. "Better safe than sorry" is not a biblical standard. Most accounts of "rebaptism" I am aware of (my own included) involve a child baptism, then a period of real rebellion, or a period where they really came to understand sin and felt compelled to be baptized because it was "different" now, and wanted to be "safe." That sure sounds like a person who LATER developed their own will, became lost, lived a while in lostness, then realized the need for a Savior. It is scary to think about how many might be living with a false sense of security, relying on an action taken in childhood before they ever were accountable to God. We need to understand that a person has to be lost BEFORE they can be saved. They need time to count that cost, and as parents we need to walk them through it, not push them in the water as soon as they have fear, interest, or can answer some questions. Is it that we are terrified that the Lord will not give them the time to get through the cost counting and truth seeking process (Matt 7:7-8)? Discipleship is absolutely a bigger commitment than marriage. It is actually the closest parallel (Eph 5). If you would baptize someone on one hand, but say they are way too young and lack the maturity to make the COMMITMENT to seek out a marriage partner on the other hand, you might want to think more about the consistency. Accountability is not simply having knowledge. I have studied with grown adults with no Bible knowledge, and real sin in their life and absolutely lost. The age of accountability is about being accountable for something, not merely knowing it. If you are willing to baptize a prepubescent child 1) it implies you believe the child would go to hell if they died at that moment, and 2) why haven't you shifted your evangelistic focus to include grade school if you believe such can be lost and just need the information? It feels like we understand all of this with the lost world. We seek to convert lost adults living in sin. But we have trouble grasping all this with our own children. This is a good indicator that prepubescent baptism is far more emotional than rational and Scriptural.
Baptism is the identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. There is the ceremony in which we get submerged in water but the ceremony doesn’t save us. What saves us is what the ceremony means which is our identification with Christ. Going deeper we could say that means coming into covenant with the Father through the Son.
@@christrescuedme2182 Okay, well there goes your idea that man's response has nothing to do with salvation. You say you have to believe to be saved but belief is a work (John 6:28-29). Our appeal in baptism is how we accept Jesus' gift of salvation.
@@christrescuedme2182 I'm not saying that I'm earning salvation when I say God requires a response to accept it. The Israelites did not earn their healing from the fiery serpents, but they still had to respond to receive his gift of healing. It wasn't the bronze serpent, it wasn't Moses, it was God who saved them when they submitted to him ad did what he said. Similarly, It's not the water or the person baptizing us who saves us, it is God forgiving our sins when we submit to him and ask for a clean conscience in baptism.
Could you please help me with this question? My daughter wanted to be baptized at 9 and I talked to her and let her do it. I do not have a christian husband but my father has helped me. I didn’t think she was old enough but I didn’t want to deny her. She is now 16 and asked if she need to be rebaptized because she doesn’t think she really understood what was happening. I myself was baptized at 13 and didn’t understand really what evil was. But I grew up continuing to learn and I believe I was just a babe in Christ. What scripture can we use for rebaptizing?
Hello! To help answer your question, check out this article from our friends at the Christian Courier! christiancourier.com/articles/do-i-need-to-be-re-baptized
Although I'm a Christian, there is a question in me that never left me: wouldn't it be far better to not have children at all than taking the risk they might go to hell? Of course you would do everything there is in your power to prevent that but still... it can happen, right? It's an honest question, I don't want to cause an argument, it just makes me really uneasy.
can you elaborate on "the soul that sins shall die" and "the son will not share the sins of the father and the father will not share the sins of the son?" Will god punish someone for the sins of another? I am trying to understand church of christ doctrine.
I am truly perplexed with how many children are being baptized for the forgiveness of sins. My husband and I have studied with many adults and know many adults who have been “rebaptized” for safety which is not a biblical model/wording either.
I like the point you brought up of a parent helping a child to understand innocence. There is a time to put away childish things. As a parent, if you are willing to wait until Sunday morning so grandma and grandpa can witness your child’s baptism, then you think they are innocent as well and that they are just doing an outward showing of an inward faith. (That is no different than how I was taught in the Baptist church). If you truly believe and your child believes they are a sinner in need of forgiveness, you would not be willing to wait. If your child is separated from God by their sins and need to be baptized and live a life of repentance, then baptism should happen immediately.
Some of the questions we ask our 10yo and 13yo are: What is the gospel? What does sin do to an individual? Who sins? How is the sin problem fixed? What is repentance? How do you live a life where Jesus is your Lord? What does it mean to live out Gal 2:20? How does a Christian pick up their cross and bear it daily? Why is His Church important? Who adds you to the Church? What do you believe about Jesus? What does baptism do? We never ask them to repeat the “plan of salvation,” b/c that is a formula man has made up for easy teaching, most children could repeat that back. But we do want to make sure they understand the “gospel.” 1 Cor. 15./Rom 6. Do you understand the Matt 18 model and why Christians handle conflict this way?
It is our role to teach so they know the answers to these questions. If parents can’t teach our own children the gospel using scripture, can’t answer these questions or any questions they have, and have been around the church our whole lives? What are we doing? We have to know the Word to be able to teach it and follow the Deut 6 model.
2 Peter 2:10 says to make your calling an election sure. It is biblical to be sure that you have secured your salvation through understanding. Basically it is biblical to be re-baptized
I believe that God is perfectly just. There's a real discussion to be had about asking why your child wants to be baptized, but other than that I am not worried; I trust that God is fair.
There is no good way to determine the age of accountability, this debate will never be settled.
Great discussion!! 📖🙏🎧
Thanks for sharing, guys!
As they said in the video, we have no record of children baptized in the Bible. We know all the baptisms recorded in Acts are for "men" or "women." There are specific words for children that could have been used in the Bible if they were included in the groups that were converted (compare Acts 8:12 to Matt 14:21). While no specific age is given, what we know about human development is that the mind cannot mature without the body. Things like abstract thought come with puberty. Therein comes a time where a person stops speaking, thinking, and reasoning like a child, and puts away childish things (1 Cor 13:11). There are cases where the mind is stunted and does not develop with the body, but the mind does not mature without the body. Some go through puberty very early, others are much later, so of course no age is given in the Bible. I personally refuse to baptize anyone who is prepubescent.
Let's not confuse intellectual prowess with accountability. There are children who have incredibly high IQ's that can even complete college course work. They could absolutely tell you the plan of salvation in detail if they studied it. However, if they are prepubescent they have no true concept of things like the lust of the flesh. How can someone count the cost of discipleship before they grasp what that cost actually is? All the people being "rebaptized" should tell us something. "Better safe than sorry" is not a biblical standard. Most accounts of "rebaptism" I am aware of (my own included) involve a child baptism, then a period of real rebellion, or a period where they really came to understand sin and felt compelled to be baptized because it was "different" now, and wanted to be "safe." That sure sounds like a person who LATER developed their own will, became lost, lived a while in lostness, then realized the need for a Savior. It is scary to think about how many might be living with a false sense of security, relying on an action taken in childhood before they ever were accountable to God. We need to understand that a person has to be lost BEFORE they can be saved. They need time to count that cost, and as parents we need to walk them through it, not push them in the water as soon as they have fear, interest, or can answer some questions. Is it that we are terrified that the Lord will not give them the time to get through the cost counting and truth seeking process (Matt 7:7-8)?
Discipleship is absolutely a bigger commitment than marriage. It is actually the closest parallel (Eph 5). If you would baptize someone on one hand, but say they are way too young and lack the maturity to make the COMMITMENT to seek out a marriage partner on the other hand, you might want to think more about the consistency.
Accountability is not simply having knowledge. I have studied with grown adults with no Bible knowledge, and real sin in their life and absolutely lost. The age of accountability is about being accountable for something, not merely knowing it.
If you are willing to baptize a prepubescent child 1) it implies you believe the child would go to hell if they died at that moment, and 2) why haven't you shifted your evangelistic focus to include grade school if you believe such can be lost and just need the information? It feels like we understand all of this with the lost world. We seek to convert lost adults living in sin. But we have trouble grasping all this with our own children. This is a good indicator that prepubescent baptism is far more emotional than rational and Scriptural.
I had not thought about Tetris in ages! Thanks, Aaron! : )
We need a local church
Hey Jill! Please email us and we'll be glad to help you find a local congregation!
Baptism is the identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. There is the ceremony in which we get submerged in water but the ceremony doesn’t save us. What saves us is what the ceremony means which is our identification with Christ. Going deeper we could say that means coming into covenant with the Father through the Son.
It is the appeal to God that is made in baptism that saves us Peter 3:21
@@christrescuedme2182Correct. It's a response that "now saves you". I really don't know how it gets any clearer.
@@christrescuedme2182 What must I do to be saved. Tell me.
@@christrescuedme2182 Okay, well there goes your idea that man's response has nothing to do with salvation. You say you have to believe to be saved but belief is a work (John 6:28-29). Our appeal in baptism is how we accept Jesus' gift of salvation.
@@christrescuedme2182 I'm not saying that I'm earning salvation when I say God requires a response to accept it. The Israelites did not earn their healing from the fiery serpents, but they still had to respond to receive his gift of healing. It wasn't the bronze serpent, it wasn't Moses, it was God who saved them when they submitted to him ad did what he said. Similarly, It's not the water or the person baptizing us who saves us, it is God forgiving our sins when we submit to him and ask for a clean conscience in baptism.
I did enjoy this discussion even tho I said I disagree with all that was said.❤️✝️❤️
Could you please help me with this question? My daughter wanted to be baptized at 9 and I talked to her and let her do it. I do not have a christian husband but my father has helped me. I didn’t think she was old enough but I didn’t want to deny her. She is now 16 and asked if she need to be rebaptized because she doesn’t think she really understood what was happening. I myself was baptized at 13 and didn’t understand really what evil was. But I grew up continuing to learn and I believe I was just a babe in Christ. What scripture can we use for rebaptizing?
Hello! To help answer your question, check out this article from our friends at the Christian Courier! christiancourier.com/articles/do-i-need-to-be-re-baptized
Although I'm a Christian, there is a question in me that never left me: wouldn't it be far better to not have children at all than taking the risk they might go to hell? Of course you would do everything there is in your power to prevent that but still... it can happen, right? It's an honest question, I don't want to cause an argument, it just makes me really uneasy.
can you elaborate on "the soul that sins shall die" and "the son will not share the sins of the father and the father will not share the sins of the son?" Will god punish someone for the sins of another? I am trying to understand church of christ doctrine.
You cannot be punished for sins of another. If that was case, we would all be condemned.
@@expresshon1 why then was jesus punished for all sins ever committed? are you saying god changed his mind?
Can someone answer the following question
Since God knows everything, will he know whether I’m going to hell or heaven?
Psalms 139: 16
The link below has better scholarship on this is much better than Aaron's
Please do Revelation
It is coming soon! 🙂