A Question About Baptism

[Littlelambseativy]

When the crowd asked Peter what they must do to be saved, he answered that they must believe and be baptized.  Other references through out the New Testement tell us that if we have faith in Christ we will be saved.  Christ's command to the apostles included baptizing all nations.  Having faith in Christ means that you have put God first in your life and strive to obey his desires for you.  All followers of Christ should desire to publicly profess their faith in him  If someone was to tell me that he was a believing Christian and loved Christ, yet refused to be baptized I would seriously doubt that he was a Christian.

I  and my family have been 'christened' we have accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour but have not been 'baptized' in water.  I find it judgemental for anyone but Jesus to say that neither of us are born again christians just because we have not been baptized in the water. Jesus on the cross, with the thief showed that water immersion was not necessary for one to be a follower of His and to enter heaven.  When we accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour the Holy Spirit indwells us and no man can say we are not born again simply by not following a rite. I have never ever felt the need to show my faith in that manner but choose to live it. Water baptism was done under the old covenant by John that is why he said that One is coming who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and not by water,

[donfish06]

I would say to NOT get baptized just because people are telling you to. I have seen many people get baptized because its the "thing you're supposed to do" and it didn't mean anything to them. I would encourage you to pray and wait for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. When he really gets a hold of you, you will want to get baptized.

[GoldenEagle]

 

When the crowd asked Peter what they must do to be saved, he answered that they must believe and be baptized.  Other references through out the New Testement tell us that if we have faith in Christ we will be saved.  Christ's command to the apostles included baptizing all nations.  Having faith in Christ means that you have put God first in your life and strive to obey his desires for you.  All followers of Christ should desire to publicly profess their faith in him  If someone was to tell me that he was a believing Christian and loved Christ, yet refused to be baptized I would seriously doubt that he was a Christian.

I  and my family have been 'christened' we have accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour but have not been 'baptized' in water.  I find it judgemental for anyone but Jesus to say that neither of us are born again christians just because we have not been baptized in the water. Jesus on the cross, with the thief showed that water immersion was not necessary for one to be a follower of His and to enter heaven.  When we accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour the Holy Spirit indwells us and no man can say we are not born again simply by not following a rite. I have never ever felt the need to show my faith in that manner but choose to live it. Water baptism was done under the old covenant by John that is why he said that One is coming who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and not by water,

 

 

If water baptism was done under the Old Covenant why is it that Christ commands His disciples to baptize in the Great Commission? The command was to go tell people about the Gospel, baptize them, and teach them.

Help?

 

Matthew 28:16-20

The Great Commission

¹⁶ Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. ¹⁷ And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. ¹⁸ And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

[GoldenEagle]

I would say to NOT get baptized just because people are telling you to. I have seen many people get baptized because its the "thing you're supposed to do" and it didn't mean anything to them. I would encourage you to pray and wait for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. When he really gets a hold of you, you will want to get baptized.

 

Baptism is an outward sign of an inward change. It is basically saying you died to your old self and are now publically stated you will follow Christ.

It is not necessary for salvation but I agree it is definitely something a Christian would want to do.

[Lek]

 

When the crowd asked Peter what they must do to be saved, he answered that they must believe and be baptized.  Other references through out the New Testement tell us that if we have faith in Christ we will be saved.  Christ's command to the apostles included baptizing all nations.  Having faith in Christ means that you have put God first in your life and strive to obey his desires for you.  All followers of Christ should desire to publicly profess their faith in him  If someone was to tell me that he was a believing Christian and loved Christ, yet refused to be baptized I would seriously doubt that he was a Christian.

I  and my family have been 'christened' we have accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour but have not been 'baptized' in water.  I find it judgemental for anyone but Jesus to say that neither of us are born again christians just because we have not been baptized in the water. Jesus on the cross, with the thief showed that water immersion was not necessary for one to be a follower of His and to enter heaven.  When we accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour the Holy Spirit indwells us and no man can say we are not born again simply by not following a rite. I have never ever felt the need to show my faith in that manner but choose to live it. Water baptism was done under the old covenant by John that is why he said that One is coming who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and not by water,

 

Sorry if I appeared to judge whether you were saved or not as I never judge individuals.  That's up to God.  I was just expressing my feelings in general about the subject.  Here's what I'm saying.  We're followers of Christ.  His will should be our will.  If Jesus wants us to be baptized shouldn't we want to be baptized?  Would you say "no" to Jesus?  A previos poster brought up the "great comission" to go out into the world and baptize and as I referred to my previous post, Peter specifically told the crowd to "believe and be baptized".  So why would I not want to be baptized?   

[Sharlene n Seumas]

Greetings one and all...

 

I'm new on this and hopefully I will not offend, but I can express what I was given when I was about five years or so....

"Love is that;

Which the essence of another is

essential to your own existence."

 

Perhaps that is what Jesus was expressing. We are all essential to each other, even to our very existences.

 

To Baptise reflects our commitment to the Father that Jesus spoke of and to whom we have our existence.

Jesus set the example to the Father (God) and should we do less?

 

Seumas