So says the men who taught you.....
LOL! Actually, Jesus says that, to Nicodemus in John 3... :) But your position on that ~ and the Catholic position ~ is not really a Catholic vs. Protestant thing. It goes back much further than that, which gets at what we were discussing about denominations and such.
The promise is for everyone, regardless of age. Or ethnicity, or anything else. Right. The sacrament of baptism is not to be withheld from anyone, regardless of age, and we and all the members of our households ~ which presumably includes infants ~ should be baptized. In the case of baptism of infants, it's really about the parents, who themselves are believers, and their faith that God will one day work in the heart of the child, baptizing him/her with the Holy Spirit and fire, which is the only baptism that actually confers salvation. As John the Baptist himself said, "I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, Whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (Matthew 3:11).
We are to evangelize without discrimination or partiality. Faith comes by hearing (Paul, Romans 10). God gives us a great part to play and the amazing privilege of being used in His building of His Temple, in which He dwells by the Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22).
Jesus was surely baptized, but in the very previous two verses (7-8), Mark relates the same event that Matthew, in chapter 3, verse 11 of his gospel, which I quoted above: "After me comes He who is mightier than I, the strap of Whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." We should all be baptized, too, of course; it is an outward sign ~ a sacrament, given to us by God that signifies what the Lord has done, is doing, and will do for His people and symbolizes the new life the Spirit brings, pointing to the cleansing from sin that results from faith in Christ Jesus.
As surely you know, Mary, Jesus ~ Who Himself was and is God ~ was never in need of salvation.
Same here... What Luke says in that verse is just after he, too, quotes John the Baptist as saying, "I baptize you with water, but He Who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of Whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (Luke 3:16). And in Luke 3:22, Luke tells us that
"...the Holy Spirit descended on (Jesus)
in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice (the Father's, of course)
came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased." Notice that Luke
does not say the Holy Spirit descended on anyone else there... And again, Jesus ~ Who Himself was and is God ~ was never in need of salvation.
And again... Well, same as with Mark and Luke (see above). :) The apostle John (a different person than John the Baptist), too, records John the Baptist as saying, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie” (John 1:26-27). The apostle even quotes John the Baptist as verifying that He was speaking of Jesus in John 1:32. Jesus ~ God ~ is the One Who truly and effectually baptizes... with the Holy Spirit.
...backs up my testimony to the truth that the Holy Spirit is associated with water baptism.
It is
possible, but not always the case. The Holy Spirit can... do His thing... :)... any time, or not... as Jesus says to Nicodemus,
"The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8). Actually being born again and baptized by the Spirit sometimes (probably most of the time in older children and adults) comes before our actually being baptized in a church, because something (actually Someone) moves them to be baptized in their church, and they decide to do so. And sometimes (probably most of the time in the case of infants), baptism by the Spirit comes
after being baptized as an infant in a church, sometimes long,
long after.
In every account, the Holy Spirit is recorded descending upon Jesus as he emerged from the waters of baptism.
Him alone, yes. But again, Jesus ~ Who Himself was and is God ~ was never in need of salvation.
In Paul’s letter to Titus he reminds him that “he saved us . . . by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit, which he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Titus 3:5).
Yes!!! Yes, by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit, which
He ~
God ~ poured out upon us richly through Jesus.
He,
God, poured ~ poured; past tense ~ in all us believers.
God does this.
He has done this. As Paul says,
"...by grace (we)
have been saved through faith. And this is not (our)
own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:8-10). Yes!!! You see?
Keeping it real with Scripture to back up what Christianity has taught for 2,000 years instead of giving my opinion
Um, weeeeeeeeeelllllllllllllllllll.... :) So yeah I think not so much... :) But I think I know where your heart is, and I am glad of that.
Grace and peace to you.
