Baptism: Should It Be Done For Infants Or By Immersion?

“for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” – Acts 1:5

We are commanded to be baptized! One definition of Baptism says, “(in the Christian Church) the religious rite of sprinkling water onto a person’s forehead or of immersion in water, symbolizing purification or regeneration and admission to the Christian Church. In many denominations, baptism is performed on young children and is accompanied by name-giving.”

Another says, “Baptism is a symbolic act. It mirrors Jesus’s death and burial when the believer is submerged in water, and then rising out of the water symbolizes Jesus’s resurrection and the believer’s new life in Christ.”

But neither of them are really right. During Baptism we are filled with the Holy Spirit and this is what matters!

But sadly, for many years, Christian churches of various denominations have fought over whether a person should be baptized as a baby or a young adult or adult. But there is no -wrong – way. When we are baptized, we are filled with the Holy Spirit. Period.

I was baptized in a Catholic church and so I was baptized as a baby. I was also very sick, so no one really knew if I was going to live.

Some people do not get baptized until they are older and are baptized by immersion.

Neither of these methods are wrong.

But I will say this, to be filled with the Holy Spirit is a moment worth remembering and we can’t do that if we are a baby.

Personally, I would like to be immersed and hold the moment of the Holy
Spirit filling me in my heart forever. John the Baptist baptized Jesus by immersion and I think following Jesus’s example would be an incredible moment to remember and I can’t do that because I was a baby when I was baptized.

Do I think that if someone was baptized as a baby, that we all need to do it again. That somehow it “doesn’t count”. Absolutely Not! But I do think it would be wonderful to be baptized in Christ’s tradition. 🙂