theseed said:
Lotar, intially, Baptism was a way of demonstrating repentance. John the Baptist was preaching that people would repent, and they would get baptized to show the change they were making in the river, it was a symbol.
But there is a difference between John's baptism and Christ's baptism.
Circumsion was only for males, unlike baptism which is for everbody, another way they do not paralell. So why not only baptize male infants?
Well, it's a little hard to circumsize a girl
Are they identical? Of course not, but they are parallel.
Furthermore, circumsion was only a symbol too, becasue their is rebuke in the bible for not being circumsized in thier heart. Cirmusion of the flesh did nothing (Deut. 30.6; Le. 26.41; Ez 44.7; Jer. 9.25).
That is, circumsicion without faith is nothing, but those who were not circumcized were to be cut off from their people.
Genesis 17:10-14
"This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised.
"And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you.
"And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants.
"A servant who is born in your house or who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised; thus shall My covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
"But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant."
And I argue that baptism with water does nothing, and it is only an outward sign, which should represent what is happening spiritually, but may not. And I site 1 Peter 3.18 through 22. It would be intellectually dishonest to think that the flood saved Noah and his family, since they were in an ark(and the water did not touch them), and there is a disction to be made when it says, "saved through water" verses "saved by water."
1 Peter 3:20-21
who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through
the water.
[size=-1]Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you--not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience--through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,[/size]
[size=-1]I think you're misunderstanding the reasoning here. If the meaning you're drawing out of it were true, then you would be saying God is saving us from baptism.[/size]
[size=-1]Look at the broader context here. The flood came to destroy the wicked, while God saved the rightous. It came to wash away the sin, and restore the good. Get the symbolism now?
These are verses usually used to support infant baptism. Baptism washes us clean, not our bodies, but our souls.
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This becomes apparent when one reads Eph. 2.8-10 also. It says we are saved by faith through graces, so there is a difference between the meaning of "by" and "through"
We are saved by grace through faith, not the other way around
Baptism is a gift from God, a step of faith. It is useless without faith.