A gracEmail subscriber asks, "How can you teach baptism by immersion for believers, yet enjoy Christian fellowship with those who were baptized as infants or by sprinkling or pouring?"

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I always instruct new believers to express their repentance and faith by being baptized, in obedience to Jesus Christ himself (Matt. 28:18-20). I baptize people by immersion, based on my personal study of the Greek language (which included a master's degree in 1968), of early Christian history and of the New Testament teaching concerning baptism's meaning and significance. At the same time, I must respect the personal integrity and conscience of others who believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and who follow him, even though they reach conclusions different from mine concerning these matters.

Infant baptism appears in the church fathers during the second century and it has long been the practice of the larger part of Christendom. The same may be said for baptizing by pouring water over the head. The mere fact that millions have been baptized as infants, or by sprinkling or pouring, does not make those modes correct or make babies proper recipients of baptism. However, this historical reality does demonstrate that even if my views are correct, I am not qualified to "dechristianize" the larger part of the historical Church for most of its history.

We are saved by God's unmerited kindness and mercy, which we can only trust him to bestow. If I truly trust God, I shall earnestly seek to obey him. But my obedience, at its best, will always be shaped by my understanding of God's will. Do I understand perfectly? I do not. Do I obey perfectly? I do not. Can I still trust God, for Jesus Christ's sake, to treat me with undeserved kindness? I had certainly better hope so, for that is the only way any of us ever will be saved. What I allow for myself, I must allow for others who also trust God and who seek to obey his will as they perceive it. And if I err in this matter -- as some are certain that I do -- I shall prefer to answer one day to God having erred on the side of grace.

For more on water baptism and fellowship, click here.