Ignorant Salvation

Dear Victorious,

Is it possible for someone to be saved and not know it? My sister was baptized as a baby but doesn't think she's a Christian. I thought that was the purpose of baptism.

Carolyn I. - Houma, LA

Dear Carolyn,

No, it is not possible for someone to be saved and not know it. Humans thought up the notion of baptizing babies to make sure they get into heaven. It was never God's idea. (And heaven pretty much runs on God's rules ... not ours.) For someone to receive salvation from the eternal consequences of sin (i.e., hell), he or she must consciously choose Christ. That choice is then marked with a public baptism, where we declare the old is dead and the new is born in us. Baptizing babies does nothing for the baby.