Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
- Acts 2:38-39, 41
What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.
If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
- Galatians 3:17-18, 29
For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.
- 1 Corinthians 7:14
But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
- Luke 18:16
If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.
- Romans 11:16
“I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”
Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
- Genesis 17:7-10
In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
- Colossians 2:11-12
The Scriptures for the Spurgeon Catechism questions are as follows:
Q. 76: Acts 2:38; Matt. 3:6; Mark 16:16; Acts 8:12; Acts 8:36-37; Acts 10:47-48
Q. 77: Exod. 23:13; Prov. 30:6
Q. 78: Matt. 3:16; John 3:23; Matt. 28:19-20; John 4:1-2; Acts 8:38-39
Q. 79: Acts 2:47; Acts 9:26; 1 Pet. 2:5; Luke 1:6
“Q. 76. To whom is baptism to be administered?
A. Baptism is to be administered to all those who actually profess repentance towards God (Acts 2:38; Matt. 3:6; Mark 16:16; Acts 8:12, 36-37; Acts 10:47-48), and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and to none other.”
“Q. 77. Are the infants of such as are professing to be baptized?
“A. The infants of such as are professing believers are not to be baptized, because there is neither command nor example in the Holy Scriptures for their baptism (Exod. 23:13; Prov. 30:6).
“Q. 78 How is baptism rightly administered?
“A. Baptism is rightly administered by immersion, or dipping the whole body of the person in water (Matt. 3:16; John 3:23), in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, according to Christ’s institution, and the practice of the apostles (Matt. 28:19-20), and not by sprinkling or pouring of water, or dipping some part of the body, after the tradition of men (John 4:1-2; Acts 8:38-39).
“Q. 79 What is the duty of such as are rightly baptized?
“A. It is the duty of such as are rightly baptized, to give up themselves to some particular and orderly Church of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:47; 9:26; 1 Pet. 2:5), that they may walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless (Luke 1:6).”
- Charles H. Spurgeon, Spurgeon’s Catechism (Scripture proofs in bold above)
“Q. 95. To whom is Baptism to be administered?
“A. Baptism is not to be administered to any that are out of the visible Church, till they profess their faith in Christ and obedience to him; but the infants of such as are members of the visible Church are to be baptized.”
- The Shorter Catechism (Westminster Assembly)
“Q. 166. Unto whom is Baptism to be administered?
“A. Baptism is not to be administered to any that are out of the visible church, and so strangers from the covenant of promise, till they profess their faith in Christ, and obedience to him; but infants descending from parents, either both or but one of them, professing faith in Christ, and obedience to him, are, in that respect, within the covenant, and are to be baptized.”
- The Larger Catechism (Westminster Assembly)
The Spurgeon catechism breaks down this topic similar to the way the Larger catechism has often done to this point, four questions compared to one question in the other catechisms. The Larger catechism is, as usual, more detailed than the Shorter catechism.
The tremendous divergence, even to the point of calling for the opposite of the other branch of Christianity and pointing to verses that say little or nothing about the prohibition of the other practice, shows the reason for the division in the churches at one time. At one point, and maybe still true in some churches, the churches that follow(ed) Spurgeon’s way of thinking required baptism in order to have salvation, thus faith plus baptism.
As for the ordinance of immersion, the New Testament references are mostly to getting in the body of water or specifically immersion, but in the preparation of priests in the Old Testament, sprinkling is done as a symbol of cleansing. The Qumran area (Dead Sea Scrolls) where the Essenes worshipped in caves were focused greatly on cleansing for worship, using seven different cleansing procedures throughout the day, but only one referenced immersion.
While the New Testament references to baptism talk about believers, they do not exclude children, as Spurgeon suggests.
Who is right? I think regardless of your denomination, if the baptism was performed without the Holy Spirit at work in the lives of either the baptized or the parents of the baptized, the ceremony was worse than worthless, being an empty ceremony.
But, the one baptism that is required has nothing to do with water (and even then, some denominations define this differently), but the Holy Spirit comes to reside within us when we accept Jesus. This baptism of the Holy Spirit is part of becoming a believer in Jesus Christ. It manifested itself in speaking in tongues with Cornelius and his household, but that was to prove to Peter that they had an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Outward gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as healing or speaking in tongues, are not necessary for salvation, yet another example of a denomination, or group of them, with a faith plus some type of works.
I was baptized as an infant when I was almost five months old. I joined the church when I was twelve, with the other children my age. But I accepted Jesus as my Savior when I was seventeen years old. I was told that it would be blasphemous if I went to the river and got immersed, but those same people, who told me was thinking of something blasphemous, went to a Baptist church for my son’s baptism. So, I try to stay out of this controversy. You can read the Scriptures and none say definitively that the other is wrong. But my experience is that the Holy Spirit did not come upon me to start the process of understanding what I had been reading in the Bible until I accepted Jesus. We cannot get a glimpse of what the Holy Spirit can do, until we take that leap of faith.
And now let us sing.
The following song is sung by Ellen and Eliana, Jesus, Friend, So Kind and Gentle. These two girls are precious. In my hymnbook, this hymn was listed as a hymn for baptism.
“1
Jesus, Friend, so kind and gentle,
Little ones we bring to Thee:
Grant to them Thy dearest blessing,
Let Thine arms around them be;
Now enfold them in Thy goodness,
From all danger keep them free.
2
Thou who did receive the children
To Thyself so tenderly,
Give to all who teach and guide them
Wisdom and humility.
Vision true to keep them noble,
Love to serve them faithfully.”
- Philip E. Gregory, Jesus, Friend, So Kind and Gentle
Closing Prayer
Dear Lord,
You are all we need. But sometimes we need reminders of who You are and what You did for us. Thank You for baptism. Lord, we are broken people in a fallen world. It is sad that there are divisions within the Christian community, but we find common ground on which we can share in the praise and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank You for what baptism represents, that our sins are washed away.
In thy Name we pray.
Amen
Soli Deo Gloria. Only to God be the Glory.
Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley 
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