“Baptism Without Salvation?”

Saturday, January 26, 2013

I grew up in the church and was baptized as a teenager.  Although I believed in all I had learned growing up, I really only got baptized because it was expected of me.  I knew I should work on my Christianity and start praying and reading my Bible and fixing problems in my life, but I didn't want to.  I eventually matured and started getting my life in order, but at the time I was baptized, I knew I wasn't going to do anything about it then.  Does my baptism still count if the repent part of “believe, repent and be baptized” didn't come until years later?

Sincerely,
On The Right Track Now

Dear On The Right Track Now,

Baptism is based on an appeal to God for a clear conscience (1 Pet 3:21); if we aren’t seeking to turn to God, the baptism is simply you getting wet.  If there is no repentance (‘repentance’ means ‘changing of the mind’) that accompanies baptism, the whole point of the immersion is negated.  Baptism is supposed to be done because we are cut to the heart and desire a new life in Christ (Acts 2:36-38, Rom 6:3-4).

Having said that, it isn’t abnormal for those raised in the church to later question whether they knew enough or were mature enough to be baptized.  Whether you need to be re-baptized is an issue of conscience and self-examination.  You must work out your own salvation with fear and trembling (Php 2:12).  If you truly believe that you were only getting into the water to appease others, you still need to be baptized for remission of your sins.  It us up to you to reflect and ponder whether you have truly obeyed that command.

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