Hold Firmly To The Traditions That Jesus Set By Example

As babies, my twin brother and I were baptized by an Anglican priest. At this baptismal ceremony, the priest sprinkled water over our heads and prayed a special prayer.

Anglicans believe that when a baby is baptized, he/she immediately becomes part of God's family. Infant baptism is a decision made by parents who believe that such a decision saves the child from the damnation of hell.

After I became a Christian at the age of five, I began to grow in the knowledge of God's Holy Scriptures. In my teen years, I realized that my infant baptism was not Scriptural. I obviously had not been old enough make the personal decision to publicly commit to following Jesus.

When I was sixteen, I had, during my summer vacation, an opportunity to be baptized in the Shuswap Lake. I eagerly took it! My twin brother and my cousin twins who were close to us in age were also baptized. This baptism is such a special memory to me because it occurred outdoors with such beautiful surroundings. It was a day I will never forget. I am so blessed to have had my water baptism like those in Bible times.

My first baptism was a man's tradition, for how could a baby repent of her sins and turn to God? The Bible says that baptism follows the repenting of our sins and the turning of our hearts to God.

"Peter replied,

'Each of you must

repent of your sins

and turn to God,

and be baptized

in the Name of Jesus Christ

for the forgiveness of your sins.

Then you will receive

the gift of the Holy Spirit.'"

Acts 2:38 (NLT)

My second baptism was an ordinance established by God and set as an example for us to follow by His Son, Jesus Christ, when He was baptized by John in the Jordan River.

"Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River

to be baptized by John.

But John tried to talk Him out of it.

'I am the one who needs to be baptized by you,'

he said, 'so why are you coming to me?'

But Jesus said, 'It should be done,

for we must carry out all that God requires.'

So John agreed to baptize Him."

Matthew 3:13-15 (NLT)

As God's children, we are commanded by God to imitate Christ and to hold firmly to His traditions

"Be imitators of me,

just as I also am of Christ.

Now I praise you

because you remember me in everything

and hold firmly to the traditions,

just as I delivered them to you."

1 Corinthians 11:1-2 (NAS)

As God's children we need to be very careful with man's traditions because they can have negative effects when they conflict with God's teachings. They can blind people from knowing the truth and cause them to believe a falsehood.