Baptism
We believe the Bible teaches that only believers and all believers should be baptized subsequent to salvation.
Biblical Baptism
- Scripture teaches that only saved people should be baptized (Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:41).
- Scripture teaches that every saved person should be baptized (Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:41; 8:2636).
- There are biblical indications that children can be baptized (Acts 11:14; 16:15, 16:31-33; 18:8).
- There does seem to be some age at which a person becomes accountable for his/her sins (2 Samuel 12:23; Romans 7:9) and needs to receive Christ, and thus baptism.
- The church must be careful to baptize only those people who are truly saved (Matthew 28: 1819; Acts 2:41; 8:12, 8:36-39; 10:4748).
- The church must avoid establishing rules regarding baptism, which the Bible itself does not make (Acts 15:10; Galatians 5:1).
- Since the Bible does not establish a specific minimum or maximum age when a person can be saved, the church must not establish a specific minimum or maximum age for a person to be baptized.
- Since the Bible does not give any other qualification for baptism, other than it happen subsequently to salvation, no other qualification should be added by the church.