Not everyone qualifies to be baptized.  We have already seen that this week concerning repentance.  Peter placed repentance before baptism, and the scriptural order of things must be respected.  As previously stated, the person who is baptized without repentance just gets wets, but his sins remain on his account.  The same is true with faith.  Jesus gives us the proper order of faith and baptism.

Mark 16:16 (ESV)
¹⁶  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Simple, right?  It would be if so many did not complicate matters with the doctrines of men.  Many believe in and practice infant baptism.  There are several problems with this error.  First, it changes the order of God’s plan of salvation.  Everyone should make a practice of doing things according to the pattern of God’s Word (Hebrews 8:5).  Paul once said, “…according as it is written, I believe…” (2 Corinthians 4:13).  There would be many more people in a right relationship with God if everyone believed what was written, and followed it.

Another problem with infant baptism is that it perpetuates another false doctrine, that is, the doctrine of inherent sin.  Most denominational churches today teach that man is born with a sinful nature, or, the way the Calvinist puts it, born “totally depraved.”  Why must babies be baptized?  It is suggested that they are born sinners.

Are babies sinners?  Of course not!  The scriptures teach that God made man upright (Ecclesiastes 7:29).  Why else would Jesus say that we are to become like children? (Matthew 18:3)  To say that we are born with a sinful nature is basically saying that God is the author of sin since He is our Creator.  The teaching that we are born sinners is a doctrine of man.  Now, if we are not born sinners, why do babies have to be baptized?  The purpose of baptism is to have our sins forgiven; thus, babies, who have no sin, do not have to be baptized, and this is probably why we do not have any examples in the Bible of infant baptism.

Finally, another problem with infant baptism is that it leads to people thinking they are saved when they are not.  Some are baptized as babies and think that it satisfies the command to be baptized.  Because of this, many are never scripturally baptized.  This is why when we teach someone how to be saved, we must make sure that they understand what a scriptural baptism is.  For baptism to be valid, it must be done for the right reason.  It is not a symbolic act demonstrating that one is already saved.  In other words, it is not “an outward sign of an inward grace.”  It is a part of the process of being saved (Matthew 28:18-19; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; Romans 6:3-4; Galatians 3:27; Colossians 2:11-12; 1 Peter 3:21).

Baptism saves believers, not unbelievers.  People were baptized on the day of Pentecost because they believed the inspired message about Christ (Acts 2:14-41).  The people of Samaria were baptized because they believed the preaching of Philip (Acts 8:5-12).   The Ethiopian eunuch was baptized because he also believed the message about Christ preached to him by Philip (Acts 8:26-39).  Every example we have in the Bible of a person being baptized involves one who hears and believes the teachings about Christ.  The clear teaching is that baptism only saves those who believe.  As central as baptism is in God’s plan of salvation, it will not save the unbeliever.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.