Daily Devotional for Sunday February 21, 2021

Is baptizing a baby Biblical?

(Psalms 127:3; 1 Samuel 1:11, 26-28; Deuteronomy 6:4-7)

***DAILY PERSONAL PRAYER FOR YOU: Oh Lord, I am so thankful for this day. I give You all glory and honor for the blessings You have bestowed on my life. So often I take Your blessings for granted. Let me remember each day to take time to thank You for Your grace and mercy in my life. May I show my gratitude in living my life for You and allowing Your love to shine through me to everyone I meet. In the name of Jesus I pray…AMEN!

***LIVEPRAYER CHURCH!!! Haven't been to church yet this week? Join me for this week's service at the LivePrayer Church. This week’s message is: “Praying to avoid temptation!” Please visit the website at: http://liveprayerchurch.com and be part this week’s worship service. Each Sunday there will be a new service at 12:01am EDT

***THE DAILY LIVEPRAYER TV NUGGET: If not us, who? From the women’s liberation movement of the 60s, the major women’s rights groups in this nation have undergone many iterations in the last 6 decades. Each one has seemingly become more radical and more narrowly focused, with the litmus test being the support for killing innocent babies. That is the threshold requirement of all of the current mainstream women’s rights groups. This was in full display on the day after President Trump was inaugurated in 2017, when primarily Soros funded organizing groups led the “women’s march,” a political rebuke of the Trump Presidency...the day after he was sworn into office! There were several groups of women who were sympathetic to protesting the new trump Presidency, however, due to the fact they were also pro-life they were told they were not welcome. In the coming months, you will see a couple of obscure, barely reported on legal cases involving FGM (female genital mutilation) and adult men marrying minor girls. Both the barbaric practice of cutting out the clitoris of young girls so that they can never enjoy sexual relations, making it purely about having children, and adult men taking child brides, are part of the religious traditions of the false religion of Islam. These cases will be argued on that basis, and in Muslim-heavy areas like Michigan and Minnesota, precedent-setting cases will uphold both of these practices under the basis they are protected religious practices. For those who say it is paranoid to think “sharia law” will ever be practiced in the United States, this is how it will begin to be eased into our laws!

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This is a question that I get every day so today I want to address this issue of infant baptism, and deal with baptism in general since there is some erroneous teaching on this wonderful experience every follower of Christ should enjoy in their life. Like many people, I was "baptized" as a baby in the church I grew up in. Even though I was saved in 1970, rededicated my life to the Lord in 1990, it wasn't until Good Friday 1994 that I was actually baptized.

A dear man, Dave Scott, who became my spiritual father in 1992 and went home to be with the Lord last year, donned a wet suit on that chilly Chicago morning in 1994. I was in just a pair of shorts as we waded out into the freezing waters of Lake Michigan off of Oak Street Beach. After we prayed, I went under the icy water and moments later came up, symbolizing the washing away of my sins and identifying my life with the life of Jesus. It was a special moment for me and one that I will never forget as long as I live.

So let's get back to the initial question, is it proper to baptize your baby? The answer is NO! There is NOTHING Biblical about baptizing a baby. Baptism is the act of someone who has accepted Christ by faith, identifying their life with the life of Christ in this symbolic act. It is the act of a person who has made the choice to accept Christ into their heart and life by faith, and is symbolic of going into the water a sinner, and coming out of the water washed clean by the blood of Jesus. Subsequently, since a baby is not yet at a place in their life to make the choice to accept or reject Christ, baptizing a baby is a meaningless act.

Please understand this important fact. BAPTISM DOES NOT SAVE YOU! You can't save your baby by having your baby baptized. Each person matures at a different pace, but at some point, every person with a sound mind reaches the place in their life where they are accountable for their decision to accept or reject Christ. A baby is clearly not able to mentally comprehend they are a sinner and make the conscious choice to accept or reject Christ in their life. The fact is God will hold each person accountable for the light they have had in their life, so if a baby dies they are without question forever with the Lord for all eternity.

What IS PROPER, is to dedicate your baby to the Lord. That is Biblical. We have the great example in 1 Samuel of Hannah dedicating her baby Samuel to the Lord. Every parent should have a time of dedication as they present their baby to God and dedicate that child's life to the Lord's service. As I have spoken often recently about parenting and a parent's greatest ministry being to their children, this is part of that responsibility as you offer up your child to God and ask for God's blessings on your child's life.

Let me quickly address the erroneous teachings of a few churches on the issue of baptism. The Church of Christ denomination and some other churches hold to the false teaching that you have to be baptized in order to be saved. This is NOT true and it is NOT Scriptural. Ephesians 2:8 and 9 clearly tell us that we are saved by 1) faith in Jesus Christ, and 2) God's grace. PERIOD! Nothing else.

No amount of good works can save you, no additional acts are required. Salvation is a supernatural spiritual experience that transforms the eternal soul of a person from being separated from God their Creator due to their sin, to being forever connected with God their Creator because their sins have been forgiven by their faith in Christ. Baptism is a physical act. THERE ARE NO PHYSICAL ACTS REQUIRED TO BE SAVED!

*Please do me a favor. I am NOT going to engage anyone in an email debate over this issue. If you are part of the Church of Christ denomination or another church that teaches the unbiblical doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration, you are free to believe whatever you want. I am well aware of the arguments those who hold to this erroneous teaching make to try and support their position. But a careful and complete study of the WHOLE counsel of God clearly teaches that baptism is NOT part of the salvation process, but simply an act of obedience AFTER a person is saved.

So why should a person even bother getting baptized if it isn't necessary for their salvation? Someone who has committed their heart and life to Christ by faith will have a deep desire to follow the life of Jesus, to identify with His life. Baptism is a public act of identification with Christ. It is the symbolic act of the washing away of our sins. It is a way for a follower of Christ to proclaim their allegiance to Him thru a physical act. I have had the honor to baptize hundreds of people over these past 16 years, and I would encourage anyone who has committed their heart and life to Jesus Christ by faith to have this special experience. It is one you will cherish the rest of the days of your life.

I love you and care about you so much. I know many parents are confused about whether to have their babies baptized and I pray this word today will help you understand that it makes no sense to baptize your baby, but is God's desire for you to dedicate your child to the Lord. I also want to encourage anyone who has accepted the Lord into your heart and life by faith and has never been baptized to do so. Not so that you are saved, you are already saved. But to enjoy that wonderful experience of identifying your life with the life of Jesus. It is a special experience in the life of every Believer.

I will be praying for you today. Praying that as you go through your day-to-day life you will never forget that you are a child of God, a blood-bought son or daughter of the Lord Jesus Christ. A wonderful way to never forget that great truth is by being baptized. Every time you remember that special moment when you went under the water and came up, you will be reminded that your sins have been forgiven, that once you were lost and now you are found, that because of your faith in Jesus Christ you have the assurance of everlasting life as well as the peace, joy, and abundance of this life. Baptism is a great reminder of your faith!

In His love and service,

Your friend and brother in Christ,

Bill Keller