Questions On Baptism

Answer Concerning the necessity of baptism for salvation, the Scriptures teach that it is as necessary as anything else that God commands us to do in order to be saved, forgiven. That is, we must believe in Jesus as the Son of God, repent of our sins, confess Him to be the Son of God and be baptized in order to be forgiven. I believe this because the Scriptures plainly teach it. Jesus authorized the apostles to baptize people for forgiveness of sins and that's exactly what they did.

MAT 28:18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

MAT 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

MAT 28:20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. "

MAR 16:15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

MAR 16:16 "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.

ACT 2:36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ-- this Jesus whom you crucified."

ACT 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?"

ACT 2:38 And Peter said to them, "Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The problem that many have is believing that somehow baptism is separated from the faith we are supposed to express toward Jesus. However, the Bible teaches that the believer who repents and confesses Jesus is expressing trust in the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus when he is baptized.

ROM 6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase?

ROM 6:2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?

ROM 6:3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?

ROM 6:4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

ROM 6:5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection,

ROM 6:6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin;

ROM 6:7 for he who has died is freed from sin.

COL 2:11 and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;

COL 2:12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

COL 2:13 And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,

Faith involves responding to God as He has directed so that we might benefit from the saving work that Jesus has accomplished for us by shedding His blood and entering into heaven on our behalf as High Priest before God.

Finally, the Scriptures teach that baptism is that turning point where our sins are washed away and we come into a relationship with Christ.

ACT 22:16 'And now why do you delay? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.'

GAL 3:26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

GAL 3:27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

GAL 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

GAL 3:29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.

I hope and pray this helps you in your understanding of baptism. Contact Gary

Question 2. How many times can a person be baptized? Are there any scriptures that can be used as examples of someone being re-baptized?

Answer Yes, there is an example of people being baptized after they had previously been baptized. Before I get to that, let me state that the Bible teaches that we must be baptized (fully immersed) in water in order to be saved, forgiven. Mt. 28:18-20, Mk. 16:15-16, Acts 2:36-42, Acts 22:16, Gal. 3:26-29. Being sprinkled or having water poured on us is not being immersed, fully submerged in water.

Beside the fact that we should be baptized to be saved, we must also note that just the acts itself is not sufficient for our salvation. We must believe Jesus to be the Son of God, repent of our sins and confess His name before witnesses. Then, we are to baptize dby His authority and not the authority of men, any group or individual. This is the one true baptism that Paul write about in Eph. 4:1-6.

Although Paul states there is one baptism, there may be a need for one to be baptized again if the first baptism was for the wrong reason, was from the wrong authority (denominations or Catholic church or some other unauthorized group created by men), or was done in the wrong way (sprinkling pouring or some other unlawful method). If any of these is true, then we should be baptized again.

The example that we have in Scripture is found in Acts 19:1-7. Here, there were people in Ephesus who had not been properly taught about Jesus (death, burial and resurrection) and therefore had not been baptized in a way and for a reason that was acceptable to the Lord. Therefore, Paul taught them and baptized them again. This time they were baptized into a relationship with the Lord Jesus and not looking forward to the first appearing of the Lord Jesus. Contact Gary

Question 3. If the name of Jesus is good enough to end a prayer with then why don't people Baptize in his name? That is what the Apostles did. I can not find one person who was baptize in the name of the Father,Son and Holy Ghost can you.

Answer First, we do not have any record of the apostles, or anyone else, actually saying anything when they baptize an individual. What we should be most concerned about is, a person is baptized in conformity to the authority of Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit. That is, we should be baptized according to the purpose and direction given by the apostles' teaching.

It was Jesus Himself who said that when we are baptized in the way He directs, this conforms to the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In other words, this conforms to the will of Deity. Mt. 28:18-20.

Then, it was ever who told the thousands of Jews to be baptized in the name of Jesus. Acts 2:37-38. Therefore, this is according to Jesus' authority and would automatically be in line with the Father and Holy Spirit since they all agree, to cooperate and work together as one.

Finally, it was Paul who wrote that we should do all things in the name of Jesus. The way we act in our homes, at work or when we worship together is to be in the name of Jesus. Does that mean I am to say the name of Jesus whenever I am about to do something? Or, does it mean that in whatever I do, I should do it by the authority of Jesus, in line with His will. See Col. 3:17-4:6. Contact Gary

Question 4. My six-year-old daughter wants to be baptized. I was baptized at age twelve and six just seems young to me. I believe that understanding comes with age, and that she should gain a little more maturity before being baptized. I'd like to hear your opinion, and any biblical references >that you can find.

Answer I agree that 6 is a little young. It's important to understand why we are baptized: for the remission of our sins (Acts 2:38). Paul said in Romans 6 that when we are baptized, we die to sin (6:6-7). 1 John 3:4 states that sin is lawlessness. So the reason we are baptized is to wash away our sins, and we it isn't possible for a person to sin until they are old enough to understand God's law and the fact that there are things He has told us not to do.

So the question is, does your 6 year old understand exactly what sin is? Personally, I don't believe that God holds 6 year olds accountable because I don't believe they are old enough to understand God's law and what it means to transgress it. Contact Michael

Question 5. Different denominations teach different methods of baptism. They are either sprinkled or actually pushed down into the water and then brought up. Are there any Scriptures that support this one way or another? It would seem that the pushing down and being brought back up actually demonstrates the dying and rising of Jesus Christ.