 | Dr. John Click, has been the Pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church for 27 years now he is the pastor emeritus. He’s a graduate of Baylor University with a BA and Southwestern Seminary with a BD. He received his DMin at Midwestern Seminary. He has served in numerous positions in the Southern Baptist Convention, including: President of the Kansas/Nebraska Convention, Executive Committee of SBC, North American Mission Board, International Mission Board, and Houston Baptist University Board. He has traveled to preach in Europe, Central and South America and the Far East. Dr. Click is the founder and first President of Harvest Communications, which is a TV production company specializing in producing teaching materials for Para- Church organizations. You may contact him for comments or questions by e-mail at: Jcclick99@aol.com. |
Religion
2008-04-01 11:22:00
Questions about baptism
Question: Must a person be baptized in order to be saved? If a person, who is already baptized in a Christian church, changes to another church, is it necessary for him/her to be re-baptized? If one is not sure whether he/she was baptized, should he/she be baptized again?
Answer: The answers to these three questions are clearly answered in the New Testament.
(1) Must one be baptized to be saved? There was one example of one who was never baptized, but was assured by Jesus that he would be in heaven: the thief on the cross beside Jesus. This is not to encourage people to fail to be baptized, but does erase it as a requirement for salvation.
(2) Can one be baptized more than once? Certainly one can be...but there is no need or value in doing so. Since this is an obedience to Jesus command to show one’s subjection to Jesus, it needs to be done publicly once. People generally understand that one is a Christian if he/she has decided to be baptized and has done so. This is particularly true in lands which have another dominant religion.
(3) Since baptism is an act of obedience of one who has accepted Christ as Savior and Lord, a valid baptism was done after that person made the decision to become a follower of Jesus. If it was done before that time, it probably should be repeated.
In Acts 8:36-38, the Ethiopian asks Philip, “Shouldn’t I be baptized?” And he is told that he may “if you have believed with all your heart.” All examples in the Bible are baptized after they have chosen to believe in Christ as Savior and Lord. Acts 2:38 “Repent and be baptized...” Rom. 6:4 “We were buried with Him through baptism....in order that ...we may have a new life.” Baptism becomes
a picture of burial and resurrection in water, just as Christ experienced it in the earth.
