#311 WHAT IF I HAVE BEEN BAPTIZED UNSCRIPTURALLY?

You are to be commended for your interest in doing the will of God.  Probably your study of the Bible has led you to realize that one of God's requirements is that you be baptized.  As a God-fearing person you want, I know, to be certain that your baptism is pleasing to God.  Likely you have already noted the diverging views people hold regarding baptism.  How are you to know what is right?  Since the Bible is the means by which God and His Son, Jesus, have spoken to us we must find clear directives in the Bible itself.  If you are to know whether your baptism is Christ-approved, you must measure it by what the Bible says about three questions: First, what is baptism?  Second, who should be baptized?  Third, why should one be baptized?

Fortunately the Bible speaks to each of these questions in simple and uncomplicated language that we can understand without difficulty.  For example, who should be baptized?  Well, Jesus answered that question when He said to His disciples, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.  He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned."(Mark 16:15-16) You will note that Jesus made believing a condition of baptism.  Prior to scriptural baptism one must be old enough to be taught the gospel and convinced enough to believe it.  Obviously this rules out baby baptism since infants cannot meet the believing condition of baptism imposed by Jesus.  Take the question: What is baptism?  Again the Bible is clear.  Paul, one of Christ's authorized spokesmen, wrote a letter to the church in ancient Rome, the sixth book of the New Testament commonly called Romans.  In it he said, "therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."(Romans 6:4) Please observe that Bible baptism involves a burial and a resurrection.  Hence, we conclude that baptism is an immersion.  This view is in complete accord with the practice of the first preachers in the church.  When Philip baptized an Ethiopian they both went down into the water -- Philip baptized the man and then they both came up out of the water -- clearly a case of immersion.  You will want to study this case of New Testament baptism which is described in Acts 8:26-40.

Now, look at question three: Why should one be baptized?  It is good to acknowledge the simple answer given by Peter, a messenger of Jesus, when heart stricken sinners cried, "What shall we do?" He answered, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."(Acts 2:38) To obtain the remission or forgiveness of sins, one must repent and be baptized.  If a sinner does not repent he won't be saved; if a sinner is not baptized he won't be saved.

You are now in position to examine your own baptism.  By comparing your baptism with what the Lord teaches in the Bible you can determine if you were scripturally baptized.  Actually you should ask yourself three questions: First, was I immersed?  Second, was I a believer in Christ who had repented of my sins prior to my baptism?  Third, was I baptized in order to have my sins forgiven?  If the answer to either of these questions is "no" then your baptism falls short of what the Bible requires.  If that is the case it is a matter of the greatest urgency that you take corrective steps.  We are eager to assist you in complying with the Lord's will concerning baptism.