Requiring evidence of prior spiritual experience before water baptism protects against which two doctrinal errors?

• A. Infant baptism; Baptismal regeneration
• B. Infant proclamation; Baptism by immersion only
• C. Salvation by works; Gifts of the Spirit
• D. Regeneration by water; Lack of faith

Answer: (A)

Requiring evidence of a prior spiritual experience before water baptism frames baptism as a public confession of personal faith that follows genuine conversion, not as a salvific act itself. This guards against two specific errors. First, it prevents infant baptism, since infants cannot provide a credible testimony of faith; baptism is reserved for those who can articulate a personal conversion experience. Second, it guards against baptismal regeneration—the idea that baptism itself saves or regenerates a person—because salvation, in this view, comes from faith first, and baptism is an outward response to that faith rather than the means of salvation. The other options don’t line up with these two linked concerns about ensuring baptism is a response to faith rather than a means of salvation or applied to infants.