My son and hundreds of other youth are on an awesome retreat this weekend with a local congregation. On the permission card I filled out, they ask parents the question: "If your son/daughter makes an important decision this weekend, do we have your permission to baptize him/her?"
My answer? No. Not necessary.
You see, my son was baptized as an infant, marked with the covenant of God's grace and calling. In my son's baptism, God made him a promise: I will be your God forever. God also made my wife and I a promise on that day, that like he did for Abraham and Sarah, he would be the God of my children (Acts 2:39).
This is not to say that my children would not need to accept/profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It just means they do not have to go through the whole water sign again. It is not necessary. They have already been marked by the covenant, and we are already seeing God be faithful to promises he made to us and to our children. To baptize them again would be to say, "God, I don't trust that you really meant what you said the first time around."
Baptism is a sacred, one-time event. Paul says as much when he writes, "there is one God, one faith, one baptism ..." (Ephesians 4:4-5). Now, is it the end of the world if they would be re-baptized? I would have a minor spiritual conniption, I must confess, but it would not be the end of the world.
It is just not necessary.
I pray that this weekend rocks for these youth. I pray that hundreds accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. I pray that they leave this weekend ignited for Christ. I pray that those who have not been baptized are thoroughly immersed and raised to new life in their baptisms.
For my son, at least, and perhaps for others, the water is no longer necessary. The Holy Spirit has already taken over.
-----
What do you think? Is it necessary that we be baptized again with water, if we were already baptized as infants or adolescents? What is your story?
No comments:
Post a Comment