Solid
Rock Consulting, Bowling Green, Ky.
1. Infant baptism is baptism and not infant dedication.
2. Baptism for infants is a sign of God working in the life of the child. God was at work even before the child was born.
3. Baptism for infants allows parents and a congregation to renew their baptismal vows and to pledge that they will nurture the child being baptized.
4. Baptism for infants gives the child a larger family, an entire congregation, and helps parents in the raising of their children.
5. Understanding is not a prerequisite to receiving gifts from God. Baptism is God's gift to His people. It is not what we do for God, but what He does for us. Gifts from God are for all His people.
6. Baptism for infants signifies their entrance into the kingdom of God.
7. Baptism does not replace the time when the child will decide for himself/herself to accept Christ as their own personal Savior.
8. Rebaptism is not necessary. Remember, this is God's gift of grace. If a person is satisfied with his or her infant baptism, we should accept this. Just because we do not remember the act of baptism does not make it any less powerful because it was God's gift to us. We can't improve on God's gift.
9. Infant baptism is in a sense a mystery. We are allowing God to work in the life of a child without the child understanding or responding. The Holy Spirit does not need our permission or acceptance to work where it desires. We need to be willing to let the Spirit work in the lives of our children. The Spirit is working even in the life of a newborn baby.
10. Sprinkling, pouring, and immersion are all biblical forms of baptism. The amount of water or method is not what is important. It is the act of grace, the gift of God to all His people.
11. The chief actor, promiser, and doer of baptism is not the parents or the children, but God; more specifically, God working through the church and the church's sacraments.
12. In baptism, God acts to enlarge His family by adopting, claiming, and naming us as His children. God acts to save us because, on our own, at whatever age, we cannot do it for ourselves.
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Solid
Rock Consulting, Bowling Green, Ky.
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