Baptism
From Conservapedia
Baptism is an important rite across all Christian traditions symbolizing the acceptance of the participant into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Within the Catholic Church, Orthodox Church and some Protestant variations, it is a sacrament necessary for salvation in accordance with Jesus' teaching in John 3:5"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God".Because of this, infants are baptized a few weeks after being born. In the Catholic ritual, water is poured over the head of the child while the priest repeats the baptismal formula of Matthew 28:19,
"I baptize you (name) in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."Adult converts to Catholicism are immersed in water for baptism during the Easter vigil.
Significance and mode of baptism remain controversial subjects among evangelical Protestant Christians. Some churches believe that baptism needs to take place as an infant, while others believe only when a person makes an informed decision for Christ should they be baptized. In some churches, the water in John 3:5 is assumed to be the waters of birth and being born again refers to spiritual renewal. Thus baptism becomes an ordinance performed after conversion.
In the Reformed tradition, Presbyterian and others that hold to the Westminster Confession of Faith, baptism is administered to believing adults and the children of a believer, for a public confession and as a sign and seal of God's Covenant of Grace. [1] It is properly administered by dipping, sprinkling or pouring, but is not essential for salvation. [1] Prominent past theologians have taught this doctrine such as John Calvin [2], as well as contemporary teachers such as R.C. Sproul [3]
Among those typically identified with the Restoration Movement (seen by it's adherents as a "restoration" to first century Christianity), it is widely held that baptism is necessary in establishing a relationship with God. They practice baptism by full immersion in water, usually accompanied by an audible confession of faith. Such hold it evident that in first century Christianity, as recorded in the book of Acts, baptism was ubiquitous. Of the eleven major conversion accounts in Acts, baptism is explicitly included in ten and never excluded (either explicitly or implicitly). Furthermore, that biblical accounts of baptism with some degree of detail have often included phrases specifying the person(s) as going into or coming up out of water. This, along with biblical comparison of baptism to burial, is part of their evidence that the early Church practiced full immersion; as per the definition found in "Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words"; which reads in part; "consisting of the processes of immersion, submersion and emergence."
In this context, baptism is viewed as an act of faith, where one "dead in sin" becomes "dead to sin" and is raised to "walk in newness of life" by Divine grace; rather than as a work of self-righteousness. Infant baptism is not practiced among "Restoration" churches. Not only do they believe infants to be sinless until reaching an age of accountability for one's own sin; but also that without the necessary Faith and Repentance (of which infants and young children are incapable), immersion in water becomes a meaningless and purely physical act.
The crux of understanding this view lies in seeing the one being baptized as a corpse; powerless to "give life" to oneself. The "corpse" is limited to recognizing one's own "dead" condition; and expressing Faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and source of eternal life. Rather than coming "from" the believer's Faith, Repentance, or Confession; or "from" application of water by the person performing the Baptism; the saving power comes only from the Grace of God, by the sacrifice of His Son. Just as Faith is a conduit for Grace, Baptism is "when" the Blood of Christ is initially applied; which continually cleanses baptized believers of sin (assuming they continue to walk in Faith and Repentance).
