BAPTISM --- TWICE ??

[FranC]

I was presented with a question that I'd never thought of before.

My Brother, a former Catholic (as am I) has been attending a non-denominational Church.

He decided, a few months ago, to switch and go to a Nazarene Church; which I happen to like.

The pastor there told my Brother, Frank, that he should be baptized again if he wanted to join the "community".


1. He was already baptized as a baby in the Catholic Church.

2. Is that not valid for a Protestant Church?

3 Why would he have to get baptized again?


My personal feeling is that baptism counts whenever a person is baptized.
Jesus' command in Mathew 28:19 is being followed even though a person is an infant.


Any thoughts?

 

[notuptome]

Acts 8:36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?
37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.

Can a baby give testimony of faith in Christ?

For the cause of Christ
Roger

 

[longtrekker]

.
I am in agreement - it would trouble me as it seems to diminish my original baptism.

 

[Locutus]

I was probably whizzed around in the baptismal font as a baby, I did get baptized as a professing follower in Fiji a couple of years after become a Christian.

 

[eternally-gratefull]

Infant baptism is not biblical, But some have traditions,

Now saying this, I had my kids baptized (actually sprinkled which is not the same) as kids, but not for their sake but for my own, I was being a witness to my church I would raise them knowing God and his ways. and also making a pubic testimony of this in front of man and God

Both my kids were baptized of their own choosing after they were born again. as a public testimony they that had professed faith in God and received his free gift of eternal life. As they should have been

 

[AllenW]

Baby baptism is okay I guess, since baptism itself does not save.
If they grow up in a church that says it's okay, then why not.
the question is, do they love Jesus?
Not if they've been baptized.

 

[hornetguy]

I believe that scripture teaches baptism as a conscious choice that a believer makes, when accepting Christ.

Babies have no way of knowing about Jesus and his sacrifice for us.... I don't believe infant baptism is the baptism that is expected of believers.

I would recommend he be immersed in baptism now, since he has previously made the decision to accept the gift of Jesus' salvation.

This is not an onerous thing to do... it should be viewed as a blessing, and done willingly, even eagerly. To refuse to do so would seem to me to be done simply out of stubbornness... "I'm not going to do that because I don't think I need to".....

Jesus was baptized as a grown man, before beginning his ministry...
Paul was baptized immediately upon regaining his sight, after his conversion...
The Ethiopian eunuch was baptized, when he was convinced he should be saved...
The household of Cornelius were baptized immediately upon conversion...
All the thousands at Pentecost were baptized after receiving the command to "repent and be baptized"...
many more scriptures talk about believers being baptized.... there are no scriptures that even hint that babies were baptized... a baby cannot be a "believer", and cannot make the decision to be baptized.

I pray your brother will read the scriptures with an open mind and heart.....

 

[AllenW]

There are churches that say you have to be baptized in their church or else it doesn't count.
Lots of people believe lots of different things.
It's a minor issue, based more on following some sort of law than anything else.
What matters is if you love Jesus or not.

 

[dcontroversal]

Without arguing.....the reason the Anabaptists were called that is because they did not believe that the Catholic church had authority in the eyes of God....ana-->again baptize-->immerse

The biblical, Greek definition of "baptize" is immerse or dip.....the Greek word for sprinkle (rantizo) is only used when Jesus speaks of the platters and cups being washed and is not the act of immersion.....

The O.T has two examples that it meant to go UNDER the water (Red Sea) and (Jordan crossing)...............

a. If one has not been truly born again (blood before water) their immersion was invalid
b. If a group with no authority in God's eyes immerses their immersion is invalid

EVEN Acts speaks to John's immersion being invalid after JESUS calls out the disciples of John (saved, immersed believers) and empowers them as a church (called that twice in present tense) from that day forward the authority lies with true new testament churches and or the individuals of said New Testament Churches.....(depending on if one believes the authority is in immersion itself and or the collective authority of a church)

Sprinkling is not baptism which represents being buried...

 

[eternally-gratefull]

There are churches that say you have to be baptized in their church or else it doesn't count.
Lots of people believe lots of different things.
It's a minor issue, based more on following some sort of law than anything else.
What matters is if you love Jesus or not.

And I would add if you were truly saved or not.

 

[BillG]

I was presented with a question that I'd never thought of before.

My Brother, a former Catholic (as am I) has been attending a non-denominational Church.

He decided, a few months ago, to switch and go to a Nazarene Church; which I happen to like.

The pastor there told my Brother, Frank, that he should be baptized again if he wanted to join the "community".


1. He was already baptized as a baby in the Catholic Church.

2. Is that not valid for a Protestant Church?

3 Why would he have to get baptized again?


My personal feeling is that baptism counts whenever a person is baptized.
Jesus' command in Mathew 28:19 is being followed even though a person is an infant.


Any thoughts?

Firstly I will that I don't believe baptism saves.
Secondly I would say that to require someone to be baptised to join the community is wrong.
Thirdly I do not believe in baptismal regeneration.

If a child dies before the age of accountability (whatever that age may be) then they are in heaven whether they are baptised or not.

I would say that the Protestant church would discount infant baptism as legitimate. When I was 16 I was sprinkled in the Anglican Church. I made that public confession and was sprinkled.

When I went to a Baptist Church I was told that wasn't baptism as I wasn't fully emersed. I never fully understood that because I had made a public profession of faith in Jesus (I ended up getting fully emersed in the end)

We find in Acts 16:30-34 that the whole household were baptised. Whether that included infants or not I don't know.

Then we find

Acts 2:38-39


38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

Did that include infants? I don't know that either.

Given that I do not believe baptism saves I would say to your friend "It is between you and God, ask him, you are saved by faith and not baptism"

If I was pushed to answer the question I would then yes as it's symbolic of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus and is whom your faith is in.

One thing I do know though and it's this promise God made

Deuteronomy 7:9


9 “Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;

To me Gods covenant involves faimly unity (i.e. in this case baptising infants) but it also requires a personal responsibility to come to faith.

I will probably get rebuked for the above but I'm just giving my thoughts.

 

[breno785au]

I was presented with a question that I'd never thought of before.

My Brother, a former Catholic (as am I) has been attending a non-denominational Church.

He decided, a few months ago, to switch and go to a Nazarene Church; which I happen to like.

The pastor there told my Brother, Frank, that he should be baptized again if he wanted to join the "community".


1. He was already baptized as a baby in the Catholic Church.

2. Is that not valid for a Protestant Church?

3 Why would he have to get baptized again?


My personal feeling is that baptism counts whenever a person is baptized.
Jesus' command in Mathew 28:19 is being followed even though a person is an infant.


Any thoughts?

1. He was already baptized as a baby in the Catholic Church.

That is not valid, God will not be mocked. I liken it as to trying to slip someone under a circus tent.

2. Is that not valid for a Protestant Church?

No it is not.
3 Why would he have to get baptized again?

Because he was never baptised in the first place.

 

[eternally-gratefull]

Firstly I will that I don't believe baptism saves.
Secondly I would say that to require someone to be baptised to join the community is wrong.
Thirdly I do not believe in baptismal regeneration.

If a child dies before the age of accountability (whatever that age may be) then they are in heaven whether they are baptised or not.

I would say that the Protestant church would discount infant baptism as legitimate. When I was 16 I was sprinkled in the Anglican Church. I made that public confession and was sprinkled.

When I went to a Baptist Church I was told that wasn't baptism as I wasn't fully emersed. I never fully understood that because I had made a public profession of faith in Jesus (I ended up getting fully emersed in the end)

We find in Acts 16:30-34 that the whole household were baptised. Whether that included infants or not I don't know.

Then we find

Acts 2:38-39


38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

Did that include infants? I don't know that either.

Given that I do not believe baptism saves I would say to your friend "It is between you and God, ask him, you are saved by faith and not baptism"

If I was pushed to answer the question I would then yes as it's symbolic of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus and is whom your faith is in.

One thing I do know though and it's this promise God made

Deuteronomy 7:9


9 “Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;

To me Gods covenant involves faimly unity (i.e. in this case baptising infants) but it also requires a personal responsibility to come to faith.

I will probably get rebuked for the above but I'm just giving my thoughts.

tried to rep. but need to spread some around first, No rebuke my friend. Thank you for this excellent post.

 

[BillG]

tried to rep. but need to spread some around first, No rebuke my friend. Thank you for this excellent post.

Thank you (someone has repped it, though no I don't post for reps) I am expecting some incoming though, possibly others will not agree.

 

[tourist]

I was presented with a question that I'd never thought of before.

My Brother, a former Catholic (as am I) has been attending a non-denominational Church.

He decided, a few months ago, to switch and go to a Nazarene Church; which I happen to like.

The pastor there told my Brother, Frank, that he should be baptized again if he wanted to join the "community".


1. He was already baptized as a baby in the Catholic Church.

2. Is that not valid for a Protestant Church?

3 Why would he have to get baptized again?


My personal feeling is that baptism counts whenever a person is baptized.
Jesus' command in Mathew 28:19 is being followed even though a person is an infant.


Any thoughts?

He could be baptized in the Nazarene church and next year join the Baptist church where he would be told that the first two baptisms were not valid and now he needs to be baptized again in their faith. I guess the third times the charm.

 

[BillG]

He could be baptized in the Nazarene church and next year join the Baptist church where he would be told that the first two baptisms were not valid and now he needs to be baptized again in their faith. I guess the third times the charm.

Third time lucky as we say over here.

 

[tourist]

Third time lucky as we say over here.

This has been my experience as well.

 

[Miri]

We are not baptised into a church, we are baptised into Christ as a symbol
of newness of life. You need to tell your brother that.

If he has never been baptised as an adult or older child who knew and understood
what it meant. Then I would suggest getting baptised.


However - I would be wary of any church who says "you must be baptised to
join our community". That's a man made law.

Membership of a church has nothing to do with baptism at all. That's a personal
holy spirit led choice. It's nothing to do with being a member of a church.

I was baptised in my early 20s but I never became an official member of the
church that baptised me.


If need be, you could baptise your brother in a river even! It's an act and outward
testimony of faith in Christ. It doesn't even have to be carried out be an officially
ordained pastor.

 

[OneFaith]

I was presented with a question that I'd never thought of before.

My Brother, a former Catholic (as am I) has been attending a non-denominational Church.

He decided, a few months ago, to switch and go to a Nazarene Church; which I happen to like.

The pastor there told my Brother, Frank, that he should be baptized again if he wanted to join the "community".


1. He was already baptized as a baby in the Catholic Church.

2. Is that not valid for a Protestant Church?

3 Why would he have to get baptized again?


My personal feeling is that baptism counts whenever a person is baptized.
Jesus' command in Mathew 28:19 is being followed even though a person is an infant.


Any thoughts?

First of all... It's impossible to baptize a baby- all they do is get wet. Because a decision of a lifetime commitment has to come from them. The Bible says that both men and women were baptized, we have no biblical examples, or commands, to baptize children.

Second of all... Yes! If you realize you were baptized into a false religion, you have to get baptized into Christ's church. The church is the Bride of Christ. Let's say a widower finds a women he wants to marry. But he tells her "I guess there's no need to get married, I've already gotten married." And his fiancé says, "Yeah, but not to me!"

Jacob worked 7 years to marry Rachel, but they tricked him and he married her sister Leah unknowingly. He then had to work another 7 years to marry Rachel. After 14 years he married the right sister. If you realize you got baptized into the wrong body of believers, you have to correct that as soon as you realize.

Third of all... I'm not saying this to hurt anyone's feelings. But according to my study of the scriptures, neither one of those religions match the church Christ established and purchased with His blood. "Study to show yourself approved onto God."

 

[eternally-gratefull]

Thank you (someone has repped it, though no I don't post for reps) I am expecting some incoming though, possibly others will not agree.

Well when the baptismal regenerationalists arrive, we will all be rebuked..lol