God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)
John's baptism...was a radical act of individual commitment to belong to the true people of God, based on personal confession and repentance... This is one of the main reasons that I do not believe in baptizing infants, who cannot make this personal commitment or confession or repentance. John's baptism was an assault on the very assumptions that give rise to much infant baptism.
The more people engage in activities which their consciences warn them against, the more they become blinded to the truth, cannot see the dangers, and therefore perceive themselves to be “free” though they are deceived. Conversely, the evidence of a clear and maturing conscience is simply humility, submissiveness, and obedience (1 Peter 2:16-19; 3:16-17). Where these are absent it is a given that one’s conscience may “feel” free but is simply suppressed.
