Christian Baptism

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(function() { var c = document.createElement('script'); c.type = 'text/javascript'; c.async = true; c.src = document.location.protocol + '//cc.chango.com/static/o.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(c, s); })(); </script>  <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=185 BGCOLOR="#003333" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="03fb9c00dduajq.jpg"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="70" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 76 WIDTH="66"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="76" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="66" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></b></div> <div> <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Doctrinal Issues"><U><B>Doctrinal Issues</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id45.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Water of John 3:5"><U><B>"Water" of John 3:5</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id77.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Holy Spirit Baptism"><U><B>Holy Spirit Baptism</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id173.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Holy Spirit Baptism 2"><U><B>Holy Spirit Baptism #2</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id147.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Baptism and Salvation"><U><B>Baptism and Salvation</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id183.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Necessity of Baptism"><U><B>Necessity of Baptism</b></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFBF0" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>Christian Debatorial Works</b></FONT>    |     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Christian Debatorial Works"><U>home</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id43.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Eternal Security Refuted"><U>Eternal Security Refuted</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id44.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Problems with KJV"><U>Problems with KJV</U></A>   |   <B>Christian Baptism</b>   |   <A HREF="id51.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Annihilation"><U>Annihilation</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id84.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Predestination"><U>Predestination</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id165.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="What is Necessary for Salvation?"><U>What is Necessary for Salvation?</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id238.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Kingdom Of Heaven"><U>The Kingdom Of Heaven</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id262.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Elders"><U>Elders</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id361.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Holy Spirit"><U>The Holy Spirit</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id371.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Life After Death"><U>Life After Death</U></A></div> <div> Christian Baptism</div> <div> An interesting question that comes to mind is, Can only another Christian baptize a new disciple?</div> <bR> <div> Usually, the answer is "Yes", thus ruling out baptisms performed by non-Christians as unScriptural, based mainly on 2 facts: (1) Jesus told His disciples (not any unbelievers) to fulfill the Great Commission,  which is our prime mandate to baptize, and (2) there are no Scriptural accounts of anyone other than a member of the Church performing a baptism service.</div> <bR> <div> Fine, but 2 examples I shall now give to muddy the water here a little:</div> <bR> <div> (1) A man is locked in a Communist detention cell with one other inmate. He finds a scrap of Bible lying on the floor, and reading it, gets convicted, and begs his fellow inmate to perform the baptism service for him. His fellow inmate is not a Christian, but obliges, sheerly out of humanitarian concern for the poor fellow. Is this baptism invalid?</div> <bR> <div> (2) For anyone who adheres to the doctrine of Once Saved Always Saved, the problem becomes even more difficult. Such people would  agree that once God has reached into the repentant sinner and plucked out his heart of stone and replaced it with a new heart, one which bears the name of God Himself, then that is a new creation. This new creation is now a son of God, his name written in heaven, and he will no longer wish to turn away from God here, than he would if he were in heaven itself. Problem is, lots of Christians do indeed turn away from the God of the Bible, cursing Him, and wishing to have nothing more to do with Him. Those who do, then, must be proclaimed as having never truly been a Christian in the first place. They may have fooled themselves and everyone else, but they never fooled God.</div> <div> Now, consider Charles Templeton. In his day, he was a leading Christian evangelist, leading thousands to newfound faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. But he turned away, became a leading spokesperson for secular humanism, and renounced his faith in Christ, even to his deathbed. If the Once Saved Always Saved proponents are right, then Mr.Templeton never truly was a Christian in the first place. Does this mean, then, that all the people he baptized in the past have to be sought out and re-baptized? Are all these baptisms invalid?</div> <bR> <div> Furthering this thought, if you do not believe in Once Saved Always Saved, then it must be that you believe that Christians must stay true to the faith until death. As such, are we all keeping careful checks on those who baptized us, to see if they have fallen from grace lately, thus requiring our re-baptism by another?</div> <div> And, as such, do we never truly know if our baptism is any good at all, simply because we cannot predict the future and know, certainly, whether our baptizer will stay committed?</div> <bR> <div> Either way you look at it, cold logic tells the tale: </div> <bR> <div> Non-Christians, it would seem, can in fact perform a legitimate Christian baptism.</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>