Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 5
The teaching argues from Matthew 28 that discipleship must precede baptism (“you don’t baptize and then go out and make disciples”), rejecting infant baptism and tying it to “age of accountability”—what assumptions about salvation, innocence, and church practice are being challenged here, and what objections do you think modern Christians would raise?
Another way to ask: The teacher says people should become disciples before baptism, so he rejects infant baptism and connects it to an “age of accountability.” What beliefs about salvation, innocence, and church habits does this challenge, and what pushback do you think Christians today would give?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
Based on the transcript, the speaker challenges the assumption that baptism can be applied to someone who cannot believe or be taught (like an infant), insisting Jesus’ order is disciple first, then baptism, and that children are covered by an “age of innocence/accountability.” Many modern Christians would object by appealing to long-standing church tradition, fear about children dying, or seeing baptism primarily as a sign rather than tied to conscious discipleship.
- He cites Matthew 28: “Go therefore and make disciples… baptizing them,” then states: “The order here is… make disciples… and then… baptizing them.”
- He concludes: “There’s one reason we don’t practice infant baptism,” because “You can’t make a disciple out of an infant.”
- He links baptism to informed commitment: “It’s not like you’re approaching this without having known anything… I know that all of you are disciples.”
- He explicitly teaches “age of accountability… an age of innocence,” saying if a child dies “you go to be with Christ.”
- He contrasts Augustine (around 400): infants unbaptized are “lost,” and says “too many people believe that,” but “that is not what the scriptures say.”