What constitutes Christian baptism immersion or sprinkling To whom is this rite to be administered to both adults and infants or to adults alone?

Answer 1

To answer this question we need to know what Baptism is and what Baptism does.

According to Scripture Jesus instructed His disciples to "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age."(Matthew Ch 28)

What is Baptism: "Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, 'Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him.' Jesus answered him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.' Nicodemus said to him, 'How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?' Jesus answered, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born anew.' The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit.' Nicodemus said to him, 'How can this be?' Jesus answered him, 'Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand this? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen; but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.'" (John Ch3)

Baptism therefore enables us to enter the Kingdom of Heaven through our spritual birth.

Like our natural birth which is accompanied by a certain amount of local custom, necessary and otherwise, a good deal of the ceremony around our spiritual birth depends on local custom. However the important thing is that we are baptised, the reason being that, according to Scripture, eternal life comes solely through the Kingdom of Heaven where God the Son, Jesus Christ, is King and the only route to God the Father. For us then the road of eternal life can begin at baptism and end up, through the power of God, hopefully in the Kingdom of God the Father where the righteous will shine like the sun.

Note 1: Entry to the Kingdom of Heaven in this way cannot be denied as we see when John the Baptist "saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit that befits repentance." (Matthew Ch 3) and when Jesus said "Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and men of violence take it by force "(Matthew Ch 11)

Note 2: There are other ways to enter the Kingdom of Heaven e.g. 'Let the children come to me, do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.'." (Mark 10). "Not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven" (Matthew Ch 7) "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ….." (Matthew Ch 5)

Note 3: Jesus was baptised by John "for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness. ..... And when Jesus was baptised, he went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him; and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.'" (Matthew Ch 3) thus confirming His entry into the Kingdom of Heaven and His sonship of the King of Kings.

AnswerThe answer lies in scripture. Think with me for a minute, think about all the instances you can think of in scripture (like John the baptist), now what did he do? He baptised through repentance, can an infant repent? Also since baptism is nothing more than a symbol it cannot save anyone, should a non-believer get baptised - this is known as believer's baptism.

heres more from a more knowlegable source than I....

http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Doctrines/infant_baptism_exposed.htm

and another

http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Books,%20Tracts%20&%20Preaching/Printed%20Books/Dr%20John%20Rice/Baptism/b_05.htm

hoped this helped

Biblical christian baptism is done in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins by immersion or fully dipping the entire body in water. Sprinkling is not baptism. Baptism is only for believers as God moves on them to believe & repent by faith. Infants are dedicated to the Lord but only baptized when they've shown that they're capable of understanding & believing.