And that must be where we differ because baptism isn't tied to what we do, but who we are.
If we are a member of His family, we will become disciples. And not because we were baptized by some moment in time alteration of our destiny, but because salvation is His will for our lives.
One way or another, that is made known to us and we receive that Good News with repentance, obedience and belief.
The verses you give don't support baptism, per se; they tell us what we are required to do -- pick up His cross and follow Him. And by the Holy Spirit within us, we will.
Infant baptism recognizes and gives thanks for the new and better covenant, the promise that was given to believers and their seed. We're no longer waiting for our Saviour; He has come and salvation has been won on the cross.
And if a person is a member of Christ's flock, determined by God from before the foundation of the world, then baptism is a sign and seal of that eternal birthright in which we have faith.
So unlike in the RCC, it doesn't really matter when baptism happens from our perspective. Your fear for those who were baptized as children just seems to me to be more fear from Rome -- do this work or else you stand a good chance of dying in condemning sin.
Which, of course, is not true. Anyone who is God's will see heaven at the moment of his death, baptized or not. Because those who are God's have been baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire. The ceremony of baptism is a stand-in for the real thing; it isn't salvation itself.
I have no fear of any child's salvation, whether baptized or unbaptized. You are having difficulty not projecting what it is you believe, onto me.
First off, I don't believe in infant baptism, so I consider none of them were actually baptized in the first place. Since baptism doesn't save anyone, has nothing to do with forgiveness of sin, etcetera, you are the one arguing from Rome's position, not me.
Is partaking in communion "work"? How about assembling ourselves in public worship?
When one wants to be Christ's disciple, you go on His terms, not your own.
No baptism is not a "stand-in for the real thing". Again, you are equating it with the act of salvation and condemning me for supposedly saying the same thing, which I adamantly deny.
After regeneration,because he has a regenerated heart and mind, a Christian will desire to associate with like-minded people, so he will go to church. He will desire prayer, he will desire baptism and he will desire communion. He will desire to imitate Christ and have the Christian walk.
Here's an anectdote: I have HBO and one night caught Big Brother. Now it seems that some of these young people are under the impression that they are of the Christian faith. They read the bible in the daytime, talk about believing in God, and at night engage in the most foul language and licentious behavior, even apparently, sexual orgies. Their parents, clergy and churches have done these people a grave disservice. I'm not condemning any of them though, but it is disconcerting.
So what it comes down to, all disciples are believers, but are all believers disciples? The Christian walk is not a works based religion, but a way of life.
Amen, exactly so. And as we know and agree, the HS acts of his own accord, his actions have nothing to do with anything we do or try to do. The HS regenerates the heart and mind.
And that must be where we differ because baptism isn't tied to what we do, but who we are
And once again we see that we don't differ, we are in complete agreement.