What do you mean by

[Sherman]

So I guess my next question is being born again does that only mean by confession of mouth or does it include baptisim as well?

I realize confession by mouth should come first, but when does baptism fit or not?

To be born again is to be born of the Spirit, to come into a new vibrant living relationship with God. Because of original sin, makind is cut off from God. Like a bush that is pulled out of the ground, mankind is seperated from God - the sourse of life. To be born again is to be to be reconnected with God; it's like a bush being replanted into the earth - its sourse of life.

Salvation comes through faith and repentance (two sides of the same coin). Of course, Jn.3.16 is a key verse, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life."

Faith and Repentance are both internal issues of the heart; are any outward actions like baptism or even the sinner's prayer "required" to be saved? No, such outward actions are evidence of an inner change. The salvation of Cornelius and his household is a primary example of people who were born and filled with the Spirit before baptism, confession, or even saying a sinner's prayer. The story is recorded and discussed in Acts 10, 11, & 15.

Remember the story? While Peter was preaching, Cornelius and his household all received the gift of the Spirit (the baptism in the Holy Spirit) and then they were baptized in water because God had obviously accepted them. Later when Peter shares the event back at Jerusalem he says, "Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life."

Later in Acts 15 during a dispute over whether or not Gentile believers must obey the Law of Moses, Peter said "Men and bretheren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, and made not distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith."

Note that their hearts were purified by faith upon the hearing of the gospel and they were given the Holy Spirit. To repent is to change. In this case there was a change in their hearts, they believed the gospel and their hearts were purified by faith. So they were born again, born of the Spirit before they confessed their faith or were baptized in water.

Thus the short answer to your question concerning baptism is that being born of the Spirit comes before confession and baptism. If someone isn't born of the Spirit before they are baptized, then they just get wet.

But of course, this in no way diminishes the importance or effectiveness of confession or baptism; both are means of grace for the believer and very connected to helping us receive the forgiveness of sins and be cleansed in our consciences. And baptism is especially important as an initiation into the Church, the Body of Christ, and one's personal identification with the death, burial, and ressurection of our Lord!!!!

Blessings,

Sherman