Baptist distinctives are Bible truths! Truth is truth; there is no such thing as high doctrine and low doctrine in the scripture. If your doctrine is Bible doctrine it is vital doctrine. ‘Believer’s Baptism’ is a vital doctrine and is a historical Baptist distinctive. Let us examine a few Scripture texts. First Galatians 3:27, “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” Let me raise an important question here. When infants are baptized into the ‘name of Christ’, does it mean that they are made his “believing and obedient disciples?” The meaning of the phrase “into the name of” makes it impossible for an infant to be baptized into the name of anyone. The infant may be baptized in the name, but not into the name. The great theologian Charles Hodge (a protestant paedobaptist) in his commentary on Romans comments on Romans 6:4, “Baptism is throughout this passage, as in Galatians 3:27, taken for the reception of Christ, of which it is the appointed acknowledgment.” Mr. Hodge in his honest interpretation of those scripture text is confessing what he and protestant paedobaptist deny in practice. Namely those infants have no intelligence of whom and what baptism is the public confession of. When disputing about matters it is customary of protestant paedobaptist to demand either a precept (order/rule) or a precedent (example preceding the act) to prove a matter scripturally: for example, one of the most reliable commentaries of our old school theologians argues against the indiscriminate baptism of adults saying “I cannot be of their minds who think that persons may be baptized before they are taught: we lack precedents of any such baptism in Scripture.” Now what the commentator says of indiscriminate baptism, I say of infant baptism. We lack precedents (no examples in the scripture), as it is without precedent, so it is without precept: and hereby, whether we will or not, all our graces and duties must be tried as to any acceptance with God. Whatever pretends to exceed the direction of the Word of God must be rejected and cannot be safely admitted. Do not we clearly read in the Bible, “If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. And if any man shall take away from the words of the Book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book” (Revelations 22:18-19). I personally believe that this warning above applies to the whole Book of God, which is one unbreakable inspired volume. ~~Terry Worthan, 1938-2022
Older
Top
