“Water Under The Bridge”

Friday, September 04, 2015

If someone is baptized by immersion at the age of accountability, and they do it for the right reasons, but it's in a denominational church, do they need to be re-baptized when they join a faithful congregation?

 

Sincerely,
H2Oh, No!

Dear H2Oh, No,

If someone is baptized for the right reasons, they are baptized for the right reasons.  God tells us that we must be baptized for salvation and forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38, 1 Pet 3:21).  The baptism must be a full immersion (the very word ‘baptism’ means ‘immersion’) because baptism is a burial with Christ (Rom 6:4).  If someone is baptized for those reasons, there is no need for a “re-baptism”.

However, we would point out that very few of the denominations properly administer baptism.  In our experience, it is very common for someone to come from the denominational world, and after being taught about baptism, they revise the history of why they were baptized in their previous church.

Baptism is not something to leave to chance.  If there is any doubt whatsoever over why you were baptized, we recommend asking the church that baptized you what they believe the purpose of baptism is.  After asking them, you will know for certain the circumstances and logic surrounding that baptism.  Furthermore, if there is any doubt over why you were baptized, that tends to be a good sign that you didn’t fully know why you were doing it.

After all is said and done, everyone must work out their own salvation with fear and trembling (Php 2:12)… and part of that is making sure that you were baptized properly.

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