It is through anointing and prayer at one's baptism, that God imparts grace-ohio jones wrote:I really don't think Nicodemus got the idea that Jesus was talking about infants being born again, nor would anyone else see this in that passage unless they were already convinced of it beforehand. In fact John 3, with its repeated use of the phrase "whoever believes" is a fairly clear statement against infant baptism.Valerie wrote:No, to the New Birth- The New Birth is where by anointing and the grace of the Holy Spirit, the Baptized, at whatever age is receives the Holy Spirit and becomes a part of the Kingdom of God- if when young, they are holy, and raised in the fear and hurture of the Lord. Born Again-ohio jones wrote: I thought the Orthodox linked baptism to birth, rather than to the new birth.
Where in the New Testament is anything said about an infant receiving the Holy Spirit?
Jesus recognized the faith of a little one He took into His arms (must have been quite small!) I don't think He saw little ones as pagans- but instead used them as examples to us of faith. Martin Luther came against his own Church for certain reasons-
but one thing he maintained was infant baptism- even being a somewhat Sola Scriptura man- many denominations from that era still maintain this understanding of infant baptism- there must be some differences of understanding about it-
Other than that, I think that there were oral teachings (2 Thessalonians 2:15) and as Apostle Paul compares baptism to circumcision (done the 8th day of life) there may be a lot of what they explained- we will probably never see this the same way- but I do know, and have read there are many Anabaptist people that were baptized without really being converted- they have shared these testimonies in various places- and somone on this forum just posted that a couple of days ago, that many Mennonite girls in his church confessed they were baptized out of peer pressure- it was the same for some men in Amish I read about- the 'pressure'-
I don't know what the Anabaptist teach about the Holy Spirit, and when that work of grace & Spirit is prayed for, for one to receive-