5. The promise of God's grace is given to children as well as to adults. [Acts 2:39]
6. Children have capacity for faith. [Matt. 18:6]
7. The apostles baptized whole families. [Acts 16:33]
HOW BAPTISM IS TO BE ADMINISTERED.
In His command to baptize, Christ does not specify any mode of baptism. It may be performed in any one of three ways; namely, by sprinkling, pouring, or immersion. One mode of baptism is just as valid as the others. The most convenient mode, the one best adapted to all circumstances, and the one most widely used in the Christian Church, is by pouring or sprinkling. Immersion is not advisable in our climate, and in many cases, such as severe sickness, it could not possibly be employed.
IMMERSION NOT ESSENTIAL. The word "baptize" does not necessarily mean to immerse, as the Baptists claim. When the Saviour instituted this sacrament, He did not coin a new word, but employed one already in use. The original Greek word from which our English word "baptize" is derived, is used in the New Testament in the sense of washing [Mark 7:4] and sprinkling. [I Cor. 10:2] The baptism of the three thousand on the day of Pentecost [Acts 2:41] and of the Philippian jailor [Acts 16:33] could hardly have been by immersion, on account of the scarcity of water available for such a purpose. When Jesus was baptized, He "came up out of the water"; [Matt. 3:16] but it is quite probable that He stood in the stream while John poured water on His head.
THE ESSENCE OF BAPTISM consists in applying water "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost"; and its gracious effect depends, not on the amount of water that is used, but on the Word of God with which the water is connected.
QUESTIONS.—1. What does baptism consist in? 2. Why is baptism not simply water? 3. What is meant by "water comprehended in God's command"? 4. What is meant by "water connected with God's Word"? 5. What is to be said about the necessity of baptism? 6. Who are to be baptized? 7. What is to be said about infant baptism? 8. Who may be sponsors, and what is their duty? 9. Give some reasons for infant baptism. 10. What is to be said about the mode of baptism? 11. Why is immersion not essential? 12. In what does the essence of baptism consist?
SCRIPTURE VERSES.—John 3:5, 6. Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.