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By Water and the Spirit

By Water and the Spirit. A United Methodist Understanding of Baptism. John Wesley retained Sacramental Theology. In baptism a child is cleansed of the guilt of original sin Initiated into the covenant with God Admitted into the church Made an heir to the divine kingdom Spiritually born anew.

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By Water and the Spirit

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  1. By Water and the Spirit A United Methodist Understanding of Baptism

  2. John Wesley retained Sacramental Theology • In baptism a child is cleansed of the guilt of original sin • Initiated into the covenant with God • Admitted into the church • Made an heir to the divine kingdom • Spiritually born anew

  3. Wesley taught That while baptism was neither essential nor sufficient for salvation, it was the “ordinary means” that God designated for applying the benefits of the work of Christ in human lives.

  4. Although Wesley affirmed the regenerative grace of infant baptism, he also insisted upon the necessity of adult conversion for those who have fallen from grace. Without a personal decision and commitment to Christ, the baptismal gift is rendered ineffective.

  5. Baptism for Wesley was part of the lifelong process of salvation. Spiritual rebirth was seen as a two-fold experience in the normal process of Christian development: to be received through infant baptism and through commitment to Christ later in life.

  6. Evangelical and United Brethren theologians • Stressed the importance of baptism as integral to the proclamation of the Gospel • As a rite initiating persons into the covenant community (paralleling circumcision) • As a sign of the new birth, that gracious divine act by which persons are redeemed from sin and reconciled to God.

  7. The former Evangelical church consistently favored the baptism of infants. • The United Brethren Church provided baptism for both infants and adults. • After their union in 1946 there was created a service for the dedication of infants that had little precedence in official rituals of either of the former churches.

  8. Difference between a dedication and a sacrament • In a dedication we make a gift of a life to God for God to accept • In a sacrament God offers the gift of God’s unfailing grace for us to accept.

  9. The Human Condition Before God all persons are lost, helpless to save themselves, and in need of divine mercy and forgiveness.

  10. The Divine Initiative of Grace While we have turned from God, God has not abandoned us. Preveniently, God graciously and continuously seeks to restore us to a loving relationship for which we were created.

  11. God is the only initiator and source of grace, all grace is prevenient in that it precedes and enables any movement that we can make towards God. Grace brings us to an awareness of our sinful predicament and our inability to save ourselves; grace motivates us to repentance and the capacity to respond to divine love.

  12. Faith is both • A gift of God • A human response to God • The ability and willingness to say “Yes” to the divine offer of salvation • Our awareness of our utter dependence upon God, the surrender of our selfish wills, the trusting reliance upon divine mercy.

  13. Divine grace is made available and effective through a variety of means or “channels” The church itself is a means of grace. The preached word is a means of grace. There are sacramental means of grace.

  14. Sacraments are effective means of God’s presence mediated through the created world. God becoming incarnate in Jesus Christ is the supreme instance of this kind of divine action. An outward sign of inward grace and a means whereby we receive the same.

  15. The ritual action of a sacrament does not merely point to God’s presence in the world, but also participates in and becomes a vehicle for conveying that reality. God’s presence in the sacrament is real, but it must be accepted human faith if it is to transform human lives.

  16. In both the Old and New Testaments God enters into covenant relationship with God’s people. A covenant involves promises and responsibilities instituted by special ceremony expressed by a distinguishing sign

  17. In Baptism the church declares • That it is bound in covenant to God • Through baptism new persons are initiated into that covenant. • The covenant connects God and the community of faith.

  18. What happens at baptism?

  19. What ways do we baptize?

  20. What age can you be baptized?

  21. How is membership and baptism connected?

  22. How is baptism and sanctification related?

  23. Why do we baptize infants and Baptists say you have to be an adult?

  24. Suppose the parents don’t want their child baptized until they are older?

  25. What is the service of thanksgiving for the birth of a child?

  26. Do we have a service of infant dedication in the UM Church?

  27. Can we re-baptize someone who can’t remember their baptism when they were a baby?

  28. Do you have to have God-parents?

  29. What do God-parents do?

  30. Can we have private baptisms?

  31. How is infant baptism and confirmation related?

  32. Who can baptize?

  33. Does a baby go to hell if they are not baptized and they happen to die?

  34. If you are not baptized are you saved?

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