The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum Who is Qualified to Baptize?

The sacraments belong to the CHURCH over which Elders have been given the rule and to whom the "keys of the kingdom" belong, and of which the two sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper are inextricably joined. One of the things baptism signifies is the one being baptized (adult) has broken from the world and joined with the people of God. And before one can be received into membership within the CHURCH, they must be examined in regard to both doctrine and life by those who are given the rule over the CHURCH, i.e., Elders. Thus, only Elders have been given the authority to receive people into the Church and to thereafter administer the sacraments to them.