“No Do-Overs”

Monday, September 07, 2015

Assuming you were baptized by immersion for the right reasons, is there ever a need to be re-baptized? What if there was a period you feel you were not living as a Christian?

Sincerely, Wanting To Be Sure

Dear Wanting To Be Sure,

If you were baptized right the first time (see this post for proper baptism guidelines) – then you don’t need to be baptized again, even if you fell away for a period of time. Consider the case of the man who got caught up in the disgusting sin of sleeping with his father’s wife (1 Cor 5:1). The church at Corinth was told to withdraw from that man (1 Cor 5:13). Later on, that same man repented and came back to the Lord. Paul told the church that they should forgive him and his prior punishment had been sufficient (2 Cor 2:6-8). If someone can get caught up in that sort of depraved fornication and not need to be re-baptized, I think we can confidently say that no one needs it.

If someone falls away from the Lord, they must repent and return to God (1 Jhn 1:9). When they draw near again to God, He will draw near to them (Jas 4:8).

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