Featured Baptism method and meaning across denominations

Believers have been saying the Lord’s Prayer for 2000 years. It asks the Father to forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

If we do not forgive others, the Father can not forgive us.

Many think that they can hold a grudge and believe they are in good standing with the Lord.

Not so.

If we hold to our trifling grudges, it mocks the Cross where we were forgiven a very great weight indeed.

Such is the Fathers reckoning on the matter. ‘ I forgave you all your sins with my only sons blood, and you can’t forgive your brother stealing your motorbike ‘.

Don’t mock the Cross by unforgiveness, The Father doesn’t like it all.

 

Baptism is one of Jesus Commandments at the Great Commission, we can’t just ignore that. He wouldn’t command it if it wasn’t important.

I think Jesus Commandments have the same force as the 10 Ten Commandments, so it’s one of the works we have to do.

 

Where Love is God is. Where the aroma of grilling steak and onions is, BBQ is.

That’s how we can tell.

If we do not Love, we are alien to the Father. Love is how we recognise Our Father, and how The Father recognises us. When the Father sees Love, He sees Jesus His Son.

We can have Faith to move mountains, but if we do not have Love, we nothing.

We must feed our hungry neighbour, visit him when he is sick or in prison, clothe him if he is naked, this is Love.

We can not say we Love God if we hate or are indifferent to our neighbour.

 

Well the war between the Lilliputians was over which end of the hard boiled egg should be opened, the pointed or the fat end.
A satire on the human condition and how small we are at times.

There are things that are far more important regarding Baptism, the words used are central in the whole exercise and purpose. Whether the water is poured, sprinkled, or immersion takes place, whether it’s salt water or fresh, hot or cold is superficial.
Water is being used.

Regarding infants. Infants were not denied circumcision and inclusion in the people of God because they were unable to profess belief in God. The Covenant was not denied them because they were below the age of reason. In fact God was angry that infants were denied Covenant with Him, when Israel didn’t circumcise its infants.

The idea of denying infants baptism is a new and man made tradition, Christianity always baptised infants.

“And they shall baptise the little children first. And if they can answer for themselves, let them answer. But if they cannot, let their parents answer or someone from their family.” Hippolytus of Rome, Apostolic Tradition, 21 (c. A.D. 215).

“Therefore children are also baptized.” Origen, Homily on Luke, XIV (A.D. 233).

“For this reason, moreover, the Church received from the apostles the tradition of baptizing infants too.” Origen, Homily on Romans, V:9 (A.D. 244).

Origen, a highly educated scholar of his day, points to infant baptism as being handed down from Apostolic times.
It was an unquestioned practice across all the ancient Churches, even up to the reformation.
Even the “reformers “ practiced infant baptism. Luther for instance.

The other thing is Baptism was always considered Salvific.

The overwhelming historic majority of Christianity and the majority of Christianity today baptises infants and sees baptism as salvific.

 

Anyway the thing that costs believers their salvation is unforgiveness. We are forgiven our sin in proportion to our forgiveness of others.

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. The Lord wanted to remind us of this daily in His Prayer.

Pharaoh kept hardening his heart, till one day God hardened Pharoahs heart. Pharaoh was locked into a hardened heart.

So don’t hold grudges dudes or long resentments, settle matters between you and remember your own sins so that you can live together in peace in the grace of Christ Jesus.

This spiritual affliction is a most terrible one, believing dudes get around their whole lives not knowing how bad it is.
Hatred and resentment is incompatible with Heaven, Heaven is pure Love, our whole preparation here on earth is so we can enter that Love and be that Love.

Have you forgiven?

Do you repeatedly raise past hurts, accusations and wrongs of others from long ago, examine yourselves brothers and settle these things. Forgiving is forgetting, that’s how the Lord does it.

“And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”

At judgment you will remember more sins than God does, you will recall sins that you asked for forgiveness for and God won’t know what you are talking about. He won’t remember them, he tells us that straight up.

 

So why is Origen saying that Church received the tradition of infant baptism from the Apostles in 244 AD. And the Church baptising infants in his day.
If Origen was a heretic on infant baptism, why was there no great controversy over it. There was no great split with two sides forming on the issue.
The Church always baptised infants.
Why was infant baptism practiced universally across all the ancient Churches.

Sure Faith is required. But whose faith. Was it Lazarus’s Faith that raised him from the dead?
Was it the Roman soldiers daughters faith that cured her. No, it was the faith of the Roman soldier.
Was it the faith of the paralytic that cured him. No, it was the faith of those that delivered him to Jesus.

In these cases it was the faith of another that answered for them.

And so with baptism.