Hello and thank you for your comments and questions. If a person is baptized, at an age when they do not know, nor understand God’s gospel plan of salvation, then the baptism is of no value, because the one being baptized has no idea what he is doing. It’s like baptizing an infant, who does not have the ability to know what is going on. Baptism alone is of no value to anyone. There are pre-requisites to being baptized, as is evidenced from Acts 8:36 & 37. Those verses are a perfect example that serves as our proof of that fact. Listen please.. “And as they were going along the road (Philip the evangelist, and the Ethiopian eunuch were in a chariot together, and Philip had been teaching the eunuch about salvation in Jesus Christ) they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized? And Philip said, “IF YOU BELIEVE with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” There you have clearly stated, that belief is a pre-requisite to being baptized. And along with his belief, the Ethiopian also then confessed his faith, by saying.. “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” So in that one example, we have the teaching that one MUST believe in Jesus Christ, as the Savior, BEFORE they are a proper candidate for baptism. And that is why being baptized as an infant, or when you’re so young that you do not have the capability to know and understand the gospel, is totally vain and meaningless. As for the “gift of the Holy Spirit”, that gift spoken of in Acts 2, verse 38, is referring to the promise of eternal life, if we remain faithful. Listen to Acts 2:38 & 39; “And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized (here we see another pre-requisite to being baptized, and that is that we must first repent of our sins. Infants and young children do not understand the idea of repentance of sins) “Repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, (baptism is FOR the very purpose of having our sins forgiven) and you will receive the GIFT of the Holy Spirit. For the PROMISE is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” The “gift” is called the “promise”. And the “promise” is clearly defined in 1 John 2:25.. “And this is the promise, that He Himself made to us: Eternal life.” I hope I have answered your questions, and you can see from the word of God, that baptism is ONLY for a person who is able to believe, and repent, and confess, their faith in Jesus as the Savior.

If a person did baptize at a young age, is his salvation in question ? Is he not saved ? Can he not receive the gift of the Holy Spirit ? Is he not born again in Christ ?

Could you also elaborate what you said – “ the very reason of baptism is forgiveness of our sin “

Thank you

Thank you so much for your comments Emma. One of the major problems that people encounter when studying the scriptures, is recognizing when God is speaking literally, and when He is speaking figuratively. Ans that’s why we all need to study, as the scripture says.. “Study to show yourself approved unto God, and workman who needs not to be ashamed, correctly discerning the word of truth.” (2 Tim 2:15) And I’m glad that I could be of some help to you through this short bible lesson. Keep studying, and keep obeying God. May God bless you on your journey.

I appreciate your input Sheryl. Can you tell me please, what religious group do you worship with?

Hi Elena. Thanks for your comment. Please allow me to explain that to you. The words of God, in the bible, are the words of the Spirit. It is the words of the bible that give us spiritual life, through our obedience to those words. Jesus said in John 6:63; “..The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” Therefore, when we are motivated to action, through the words that we read in the bible, it is the Spirit that is motivating us, and it is the Spirit that is giving us the life that we have through Jesus. But those words of the Spirit instruct us to do certain things, which are all a part of God’s plan of salvation. And one of the things that the Spirit tells us to do, is to be baptized in water, so that our sins can be washed away. In other words, so that we can be cleansed by the blood of Christ. Actually, the command to be baptized is the final step in our efforts to be forgiven of our sins. The bible tells us that we must first have faith (which comes only from the words of the Spirit, Romans 10:17) Then we must be willing to openly confess our faith (Mathew 10:32-33) Then before our sins can be forgiven, we must be willing to acknowledge our sins, and repent of them. And finally we must be buried in baptism, into the death of Christ, so that we can be have those sins washed away, and be “born again” as the scriptures call it, and be added to the kingdom of God. (Please see Romans 6:3-4 for exact wording) Acts 2:38 commands us; “Repent and let each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (that means by the authority of Jesus) FOR the forgiveness of your sins, (the very purpose of baptism, is FOR the forgiveness of sins) and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (the gift referred to is the promise of eternal life. that is stated clearly in 1 John 2:25) Then Acts 2:41 tells us, “As many as received his words, were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.” God added those souls to the body of Christ, which is the church. Literally it is the “called out assembly”, referring to those of us who have been called out from the world, and into His kingdom. Colossians 1:13 says; “Who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of His beloved Son.” So then it is through faith and confession, and repentance, and baptism, that we receive the forgiveness of our sins, and are added to God’s kingdom. As far as who is doing the baptizing, (is it the Spirit doing the baptizing?) as I said before, when we are motivated to obey the commands of God through the Holy Spirit, it is the Holy Spirit that is accomplishing that work. That is why the scriptures say in 1 Cor 12:13; “For by one Spirit, were we all baptized into one body..” In the version that you quoted, the word “in” such as “in one Spirit”, can also be translated “by” or “with” or “among”. The meaning is that “through the instrumentality” of the one Spirit of God, (through the use of the Spirit given word of God) we are all motivated to obey the command to be baptized into the one body of Christ. So then you can see that although it is not the Spirit performing the physical act of baptizing us, the Spirit is the motivating force behind the action. Does that help you understand this any better? I would love to study this with you in ore detail if you would like. May we do that please?