Parabola

last week i went a church to watch my friend get baptised and he said " finally im old enough to be baptised and i was like wat theres an certain age and he said yea in my church ur not allowed to be baptised unless ur 16 or older. i dont how other ppl were brought up , but i was brought up knowing that i can be baptised wen i had gods calling and understood the bible and that ppl could see my fruit(spiritual) in my life.

Is there an age limit?

jst cause ur younger than 16 or even not in ur teens that God wont listen to u?

Wat do u think?

Boanerges

Just an opinion but as soon as you are old enough to be convicted for the need I don't see why you cannot be baptized- different people do it different ways though.

Pastor Gary

Parabola - First of all, welcome to the CFS Forum.

Now to your question; There are as many Baptismal rituals and procedures as there are Christian Denominations. I won't address those many differing procedures here because it would take up several pages. I would just mention that in a non-denominational Christian setting, Baptism is a covenant between you and God in accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior and knowing and understanding His Gospel of teaching. That age of understanding can vary greatly between persons - based upon their parental instruction, religious education and the time that they are willing to devote to studying God's Word.

We know from scripture that any Christian can Baptise a new Christian. This does not have to be witnessed or sanctified by a member of the clergy, although Baptism is mostly done by Pastors and Ministers these days.

Some denominations Baptise infants and this is widely held by Christian Schollars as being a "dedication" rather than a true Baptism. An infant can not possibly know and understand about Christ and salvation.

A fairly in-depth study can be found in the link below.

www.biblestudysite.com/baptism.htm

Padelford

I think that you should be at least 11 and know what it means to be baptised and to accept Christ into your heart. I am not against baptism as a baby but it seems pointless to me because the baby has no idea what it all means.

Parabola

Padelford
there is something i hear a lot "baptism as a baby" lots of people get mixed up with dedication and baptism, Detication is a covenant with The BABY and christ and Baptism is having a covernant with U and god.

handy

I agree with Boanerges. I think one can and should be baptized as soon as one is convicted of their sinful state and in faith turn to Christ. This is very clear in the Scriptures, that once a believer repents and professes their faith in the Lord, they were baptized. For some kids, especially those raised in Christian homes, this can come quite early. My daughter was baptized at 6. My son is almost 8 and the only reason why he isn't baptized yet is because his baptism was post-poned until this Spring. (Long story)

Some parent do "baptize" (dedicate) their infant, and when the child becomes older, the child will need to profess the 'truth' of that baptism. Sometimes baptizing an infant can create a lot of tension once the infant grows up and perhaps, as an adult, doesn't believe they should have been baptized. This is what happened in my family. All my siblings were kind of 'automatically' baptized as infants, simply because that was kind of expected in my father's family. My brother and sisters really struggled with the baptism issue when they got older, and became saved. I didn't because my parents had stopped going to church by the time I was born.

However, as Pastor Gary said, there are many different Baptismal rituals and proceedures. If one becomes a member of a church, I think one should follow that particular church's teaching on baptism so as not to cause disunity in the body. If one really cannot agree on the church's particular baptismal ritual, one should rethink joining that church.

Boanerges

Amen x 10

Beloved

Ditto

__________________
Shalom

( SHALOM says: Completeness, wholeness, health, peace, welfare, safety soundness, tranquility, prosperity, perfectness, fullness, rest, harmony, the absence of agitation or discord. )

Beloved
1 Corinthians 14:1 Let Love be your highest goal.

Whirlwind

You have to be 13 on the West Coast...18 on the East. If you're somewhere in between, you have to ask a pastor, because they're the only ones with the calculators.

All kidding aside, I was baptized when I was 21. By then, I had sinned and knew I had sinned and knew that I didn't know it all. I had the desire to do God's will and turn everything over to Him then.

Oh, happy day for you!

Praise the Lord!

Theophilus

It is more a matter of maturity, physical, emotional and spiritual than age. Some refer to it as "the age of accountability", the point in time when a child truely realizes the significance of truth and the consiquences for one's actions. Very closely associated with puberty, when boys and girls physicaly become men and women.

Co 13:11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

As we see in context of the scripture below Jesus was called at the age of twelve.
Luk 2:42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.
Luk 2:43 And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it.
Luk 2:44 But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance.
Luk 2:45 And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him.
Luk 2:46 And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.
Luk 2:47 And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.
Luk 2:48 And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.
Luk 2:49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?

"Personaly"
Regardless of age I baptize no one I feel is not mature enough to fully understand the comitment and is sincere in making that commitment. Or that have not personaly expressed the desire (for the right reasons) to me personaly before hand.
Of those whom I have baptized the youngest was 14 and the one I have refused to baptize was 27 at the time.

Don't take me wrong,
I don't chastise them, ridicule or preach to them. I just simply tell them that I don't feel that it is the proper time or situation and why. Or that I'm not the proper person and why.
I've had some go to another or come back to me later and get baptized. I believe that is fantastic.
Simply because though I questioned their their sincerity, timing or situation this shows their commitment in that they correct the problem and or are commited to being baptized.
I don't believe that the physical act of being baptized is a salvational issue but motive and sincerity in doing it is. It is something I don't think should be taken lightly

I also believe that the one performing the baptism has a resoncibility to the person being baptized, the congregation, church and Christ Jesus to make a discernment of the individual to be baptized before doing it.

Respectfuly
Cliff