Water Baptism Is By Full Immersion
Search the scriptures as thoroughly as you can. Use all of the modern tools and bible study software products to turn the scriptures inside out and upside down and I guarantee you that NO WHERE will you find infant baptism in the New Testament. Infant baptism otherwise known as sprinkling or christening is not found in the scriptures and the early REAL Christian church never did such a thing.
Read about all of the baptisms in the Bible and you will see clearly that they always went into the water and came up out of the water. It was always by full immersion. They always traveled to the water to get baptized such as stated in John Chapter 3 verse 23: John was baptizing in Aenon near to Salem, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized. Why was John the baptist (the baptizer) baptizing in that particular place? Because there was MUCH water there. Think about it - if sprinkling is okay for baptism why didn't John travel around the country side with jugs of water to pour over people's heads? Because sprinkling is NOT baptism. Note: They came to him. They came to where the water was; the water didn't come to them. The very word for baptism is derived from the Greek word baptizo, which means to dip, plunge, fully immerse. There is no other water baptism in the Bible other then full immersion baptism. To further illustrate this fact is to ask the question, How can an infant believe? How can a baby repent? And exactly what do they have to be repentant of? A baby can not believe and can not confess any sort of belief whatsoever. The fact remains that baptism is only for those old enough to believe. The individual needs to decide to follow the Lord and not their parents. Water baptism was always for those old enough to believe and always by full immersion. There is great fear generated deliberately by various religions that have parents fearful that their children will go to hell if they die before being baptized. This fear factor virtually forces many parents to have their children christened. Even non churchgoers and totally worldly people will get their children christened - just in case. And many believers have struggled with the question about what happens to their children if they die before they are older enough to decide for themselves whether they want to get baptized or not. However the simple fact of the manner is clearly explained in 1 Corinthians Chapter 7 verse 14: For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy. Your children are holy (set apart), they are protected by the believing the parent until they are of an age to decide for themselves. It is the parents job to teach the child the things of God and to raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord so that they have the best opportunity of all to make the correct decisions in life when they are old enough to do so. |