I understand the fact that all sins are deadly sins and that we will be judged accordingly.  I know that as Christians, we must repent.  My question is: what about the sins that were committed before baptism?  I understand that baptism washes away sins, but ANY and ALL sins??  What about murder and/or abortion?  Thanks for this website; I know this will help with questions in the future.

Sincerely,
What About The REALLY Bad Stuff?

Dear What About The REALLY Bad Stuff,

Baptism washes away all sins because baptism buries the old you.  Baptism is a burial with Christ (Rom 6:3-4).  The old sinful you is gone when you come out of the water.  Jesus’ death on the cross paid the price for all our sins (1 Jn 1:7).  There is no sin that is beyond the power of Christ’s blood to remove.

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.

Yes, I am a christian and have given my life to Christ.  I try to live a good christian life, but when I was very young, I had an abortion.  I was pushed into it by everyone that I knew, including my parents and my boyfriend.  My question is this... is one sin worse than others?  I have asked the Lord to forgive me, and I was and still am very sincere.  I believe that my sins have been forgiven, but lately I am reading things about abortion that are upsetting to me.   Please help.

Sincerely,
Regretful

Dear Regretful,

All sins are equal, but some sins have worse consequences than others.  In this life a “little white lie” may not cause you much trouble, but committing adultery will devastate your life.  However, in the eyes of God, all sin is deserving of death (Rom 6:23).  That “little white lie” will send you to hell just as much as the adultery would.  Abortion is such a heinous sin because of how deeply it affects the life and emotional state of the mother, the family, and ultimately, because it destroys a child’s life… but abortion can be forgiven through the blood of Christ.  The apostle Paul murdered christians (Acts 26:10), but Christ saved him (1 Tim 1:15).  The person that had an abortion is the old you… in Christ, you are a new person, and the old deeds have passed away (2 Cor 5:17).  Move forward in life with peace of mind knowing you will be reunited with your child in heaven.

[This question is a follow-up to “Crucifying The Old Man Pt. 2”]

I guess I didn't ask my question very well about the "died to sin" post.  So I will try to reiterate.

My preacher does believe that baptism is necessary for salvation.  He is a long-time preacher in the church of Christ.  He just doesn't believe that the "died to sin" in Romans 6 or the crucifixion we undergo is at baptism; he says our death is at repentance.  He draws a chart on the board and shows how repentance is our death; baptism is our burial.  He says you can't bury a living man, so you must kill him, and that is at repentance.  My understanding is that repentance is a change of direction, but not the crucifixion we participate in with Christ and when we die to sin by Him paying the price for our sins.  Where in the Bible is repentance represented as killing off the old man of sin?  Paul was penitent for three days prior to baptism.  Was he a "dead man" walking in need of a burial?  Or did he still need to "die with Christ"?  I'm concerned that if we say repentance is the death with Christ then we have minimized baptism to merely an act.

My preacher thinks I'm "quibbling" over this point, and he focuses on the fact that people didn't wait to be baptized; they "killed the old man", then buried him. But I have read much disagreement and feel there is something missing with what is being taught, so I could use some more help. Thanks for addressing my questions!

Sincerely,
To The Water!

Dear To The Water,

The problem we see with teaching that repentance is the point of death is that Rom 6:3 specifically says that we are baptized into Jesus’ death.  We have a hard time getting around the plain wording of the text.  The idea that repentance is when you die doesn’t have any sort of straightforward text to back it up.
Though it is good that this preacher still makes it clear that baptism is necessary for salvation (after all, using his logic, we would still need to be resurrected with Christ, which is what happens when we come out of the water – Rom 6:4), we believe he is complicating a subject that is actually quite simple.  There is no doubt that we need to repent as a precursor to baptism, but baptism is the point of death, burial, and resurrection with Christ, exactly as Rom 6:3-5 says.

[This question is a follow-up to “Crucifying The Old Man”]

I wanted to follow up on the post about Romans 6 and "died to sin":

I have read several commentaries, and all have a little different opinion.  Zerr seems to take "died to sin" is at repentance, but others agree with you and I and put it at baptism.  My preacher likes Zerr, and this topic has been a bane of contention in our studies on salvation.  I really believe it is important to understand the importance of baptism is a death with Christ that occurs when we are crucified with Him and baptized into His death.  Is this disagreement important enough for me to lose sleep over?  Thanks!

P.S. Love the coffee cup daily videos!

Sincerely,
To The Water!

Dear To The Water,

The most well-documented and clearest doctrine in the New Testament is baptism… yet, it is also the most commonly ignored topic in the religious world.  It is impossible to be saved without being baptized.  Peter said it best when he said, “Baptism saves you” (1 Pet 3:21).  Every person that became a christian in the New Testament was baptized – immediately.  You won’t find a single person in the book of Acts that wasn’t baptized.  When the first sermon was preached after Christ ascended into heaven, the apostles told the people that they needed to “repent and be baptized… for the remission of their sins” (Acts 2:38).  Paul tells us that baptism is a burial with Christ, and only after that burial do we receive a new life (Rom 6:3-4).  Baptism was so important to Paul that he was baptized even before eating or drinking (Acts 9:18-19), which shows how important it is because Paul hadn’t had food or water in three days (Acts 9:9)!  Belief is not enough; even the demons believe in God (Jas 2:19).  It is only when our belief is combined with obedience that we have living faith (Jas 2:17-18), and the very first command to obey that God gives us is to be baptized in the name of His Son (Matt 28:19, Mk 16:16).
The reason that your preacher is standing so firmly against the necessity of baptism is because once he says baptism is necessary to salvation, he is agreeing that there are works we must do to be saved.  The religious world as a whole argues against baptism because it opens the door to accountability.  If we are accountable for our behavior, then we can be lost if we fail to live faithfully.  It all traces back to a religious movement called Calvinism (read “Calvin and Sobs” for more details).  John Calvin taught that since we are saved by faith, what we do doesn’t matter – but the Bible says the exact opposite (Jas 2:20-26)!
This is an issue worth losing sleep over because your preacher isn’t teaching people what it takes to be saved!  If he isn’t baptizing for salvation, then he isn’t teaching people how to be saved!  If the foundation of a religion is wrong, everything else crumbles.