Who May Be Baptized?

The Ethiopian eunuch said, “See here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” Acts 8:36.Implied from the question by the eunuch is that one must be prepared to be baptized. Today we want to think about, who is a candidate to be baptized? Is anybody who just walks up off the street a candidate? Is an atheist or agnostic a candidate to be baptized? What about a young child? When are they ready to be baptized?Who's ready to be baptized? Is just anybody off the street who comes up and says ‘I'm ready to be baptized,’ really ready be baptized? Can you then take somebody off the street, who knows nothing about Christ and dunk them in water and that be baptism? What about somebody who's living an immoral lifestyle? Maybe somebody was a murderer and is never changed his mind on that, maybe somebody who has robbed a bank it is living it up off the funds and is still living in sin, is that person a candidate to be baptized? What about a young child? At what point does a person become ready to obey the gospel? Is just knowing the facts, the five steps in the plan of salvation, and who Jesus is, does that qualify one to be baptized?(The full transcript is available in the "Download Document" button above.)