In the Bible we don’t see babies being sprinkled or christened, so while I think that can be a meaningful, symbolic gesture for parents I don’t believe it’s a substitute for adult baptism. We also don’t see a lot of the “pray for Jesus to enter your heart” stuff. Instead, the New Testament consistently points to examples of adults a)understanding the Gospel; b) repenting of their sinfulness and c) being baptized. Because that is so often given as the model for the early church, it’s why Christian churches (which try to follow the New Testament model) baptize people by dunking them, and baptize only people who are old enough to make the decision for themselves.

Now, having said that, there are also examples where a whole family is baptized, (the jailer’s family in Acts) and we aren’t told how old those kids were or if it was truly voluntary. And of course there’s the thief on the cross who Jesus promises “paradise” after death. Neither of those examples, to name just two, fit the model.

So my take is that we serve a big, big, big God, who knows our inner hearts and minds and can save anyone he wants to regardless of whether they’ve been dipped under the water by another believer. However, I also think the biblical record was given to us for a reason and the consistent examples mentioned there were intentional. So can someone still be saved if he hasn’t been baptized? My opinion is yes. But my follow up question would be if he has read the Bible and seen these examples, why NOT do it?

I hope that’s helpful. I welcome your thoughts.

Erin