Credobaptism, Anabaptists, Catabaptists, Paedobaptism

I finished reading “What Love is This? Calvinism’s Misrepresentation of God of the Bible,” by Dave Hunt (590 pages). Dave Hunt is 84 years old. He is a pre-tribulation rapture onlyist. I forgive him for that. He is stuck in his ways. Though I wonder what will happen if he were to find himself in the Tribulation, not realizing it is the Tribulation and seeing millions of people raptured before the Tribulation. Will he assume it can’t be the Tribulation and they are not children of God because if they were, he would have been “taken” also (Matt. 24.40-41). How will he know to refuse the mark of the beast then if he is in the middle of the Tribulation, but doesn't realize it?

Now I am reading “Debating Calvinism – Five Points, Two Views,” by Dave Hunt (OSAS Arminian) and James White (Calvinist) which is 427 pages. I am convinced as I am convinced of anything that James White is not saved, thus he is going to Hell.

In these books, I read John Calvin believed he was redeemed by baptism and children born into Christian families are saved by their confirmation in their infant baptismal regeneration. They never made a choice for Christ, but it was just imposed on them. This is called Paedobaptism. It is not found in Scripture. Even Calvin admitted he had no born-again experience.

Credobaptism is “believer’s baptism” which is baptism after a choice for Christ. The real choice is unto new birth (the born-again experience) by truly trusting the Word of God and not some facsimile or counterfeit of it.

Baptism is burial and resurrection with Christ with or without water after one becomes a new creation of God by receiving eternal life at new birth. Just as you die with Christ (represented by the water) and to the world (also represented by the water), you are resurrected with Christ and come out of the world. Through baptism you're acknowledging your new resurrection life with a real sense of it. Baptism is unto service. You may not have known you were chosen before the foundations of the world or even a member of the body of Christ, but now you do through baptism. For members of the body of Christ acknowledge you as well through your baptism.

Anyone who is not saved will be resurrected to Hell. Believers are in the world, but not of the world. This is only possible if you first make an authentic choice for Christ repenting to the cross as a helpless sinner in receiving what He did for you by shedding His precious blood for forgiveness and co-death.

Calvin is called the Protestant Pope of Geneva and killed many people, namely Anabaptists and OSAS Arminians, such as Servetus. Anabaptists are people who, like ex-Catholics, were baptized as children, but renounced it (Catabaptism). Years later they were born-again then got baptized for real! In the Roman Church you can get unsaved. In the Calvinist system you never really know if you are saved, which is why they call it “perseverance of the saints.” They never really know, because they never made a choice for Christ, just like Roman Catholic children, for they were not of the age of accountability yet. In Calvinism a person is assumed regenerated, assuming it then caused them to repent and believe, rather than first being allowed to repent and believe to be regenerated. Because a Calvinist can never really know, their assumption raises doubts so all they can do is “persevere,” that is, keep working for it. But salvation is by grace and justified by faith, not of works lest anyone should boast. Whereas OSAS Arminians believe in “preservation of the saints,” that is, God keeps us, because nothing can pull us away from Him, for it was a choice that was authentic and nothing can convince otherwise with the Holy Spirit in our spirits.

Christendom divisions center on this issue. Almost every denomination, sect, and cult make this an issue. It is a battle. It is like Matthew 13 says there would be many unsaved tares in the sphere of the kingdom of heaven trying to look like the saved wheat, but they are not children of God, not born-again.

I believe this is one of the differences between the saved and the pretending saved. Usually a person is not saved if they go through their lives not trying to lead someone to Christ, because the spirit is just not there to move them to do so. Their spirit has not been quickened with God’s life. When someone gets saved they don’t rejoice with them. So that is why Jesus said if you are unwilling to confess me before others, I will deny you before the Father in heaven. He is basically showing a person their heart’s condition.

I am just telling you this so you are sure of your salvation. There is nothing wrong with being born-again later today. That is eternally better than someone who has been in a false salvation all their lives. A false salvation serves two purposes: 1) turns people off of Christ by misrepresenting Him and/or 2) keeps the person themselves unsaved in a counterfeit selfish salvation in a false Christ.