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Does It Matter How You're Baptised?
Hi everyone,
I was baptised Roman Catholic but now that I no longer consider myself a part of that denomination, do I need to get baptised again?
Thanks
I was baptised Roman Catholic but now that I no longer consider myself a part of that denomination, do I need to get baptised again?
Thanks
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ron Payne on
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Hi Going my way,
I am not being critical, funny or stupid.
As a Roman Catholic,You were never Baptised. You had water sprinkled over your head as a baby.
The Greek word for sprinkle is "Raino" and the Greek word used in the New Testament for baptism is "Baptizo" which means to immerse, as one would immerse a garment totally under the water.
Nowhere in scripture are we told to Sprinke "raino" anyone, babies or adults, but we are instructed to immerse "Baptizo" Believers.
Who can understand the Greek language better than the Greeks and they baptise by immersion. They do not sprinkle.
As I said you were never baptised, but you certainly can and should get Baptised - immersed - now.
Paul speaks of Baptism as a burial.
Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
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. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Romans 6:3-5
What paul is saying is that when we come to accept Christ, baptism signifies that our old life without Christ is buried in a watery grave and "we who were dead in our trespasses and sins" Eph 2:1 have been raised up into a new life in and with Christ.
We see too, that only Believers may be baptised. When the Ethiopian said to Phillip: "Look there is water, what stops me from being baptised" Phillip's answer was: "If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." ACts 8:37
Reading on from verse 37 we read that they went "down" into the water and they "came up" out of the water. Phillip never scooped water up in a cup and poured the water over the Ethiopian's head while standing on the banks of the river.
WE also read: "And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized." John 3:23 This tells us that John immersed people and did not sprinkle them. One needs very little water to "raino" people but pleny of water to "Baptizo" them.
Does it matter whether we are baptised or not. YES! I believe it does.
When Jesus approached John the Baptist to be baptised, John was reluctant. John felt that he needed to be baptised by Jesus.... But Jesus replied: "And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Mat 3:15
We see then that Jesus considered Baptism as an act of righteousness.
The Good News Bible puts it this way: "But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so for now. For in this way we shall do all that God requires." So John agreed.
Notice to the following verse says "As soon as Jesus was baptized, he came up out of the water."
I trust this helps you.
The Lord Bless you as you search to please him and do what He asks of you.
Your friend in Christ ~ Ron
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Permalink Reply by GoingMyOwnWay on
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Thanks Ron - where would I get baptised properly? Do Protestant churches actually do the immersion of the body into the water?
Thanks
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Permalink Reply by AAG Netguy on
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Not all protestant churches do full immersion. I believe Methodist, Anglican, Episcopalian, Lutheran churches, while protestant, still sprinkle. Most other protestant denominations perform baptism by immersion. The most important thing is to find a church that really preaches and teaches from the Bible and considers it the inspired and authoritative Word of God. Then talk to the pastor and find out their position and method of baptism.
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Permalink Reply by maad alassaf on
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Some of Christians r asking “why in baptism we r plunged in water isn’t it sufficient 4 us to accept Jesus Christ our savior and refuse the devil and his works through saying this by mouth only and no need for the ritual of immersion with water on the person? St.Peter answered this in his 1st letter 3:20-21“ 20Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
21The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
Yes, st. Peter is explaining this symbol concerning the ritual of plunging us in water ,this symbol of purifying our souls through accepting the sacrifice of the Christ, our decision to be children of god and our refusal to be under the yoke of Lucifer.
And we have to remember all the time that Jesus has 2 perfect natures,the DIVINE one (son of god )and the PERFECT HUMAN (son of man )-without a sin – nature, in the full of time,He took the human nature, for a sure reason that is to redeem us from the doom through his death on the cross according to his plan of our salvation since eternity, but while He was in a human body He tought us many lessons ,look at him before being crucified ,He prayed, to teach us ,how us, human, should pray him when we are in difficulty and stress, and in his sermon on the mountain He tought us, human ,how the relations between each other should be , and when He let John the Baptist baptize him (with water), he wanted to show us how He likes the ritual of accepting him and refusing satan., and also we have to remember what Jesus said in John 3:5 “Jesus answered,verily ,verily,I say unto thee,exept a man born of water and of the spirit,he cannot enter into the kingdom of god”, so baptism (with water and spirit),as we have done it through the Christian history..
For me,am a christian I was baptized when I was a child by immersion,and every sunday when I confirm my faith of our god Jesus all the glory for him,am comfirming my acceptance to my baptism which took place in my childhood,and I consider baptizing in childhood is better because immagine that the child died before getting older ,before baptizing,and in my opinion accepting the holy spirit is a gift given from above and it helops a lot to keep the child in the good road,I love this ritual ,because it also shows that all of us r equal in front of god, whether we were,strong ,weak, rich,poor ,healthy,ill..,all of us ,we r coming to the Christ through this same delightfull ceremony,god bless u,maad
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Permalink Reply by Rita Cullimore on
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GoingMyOwnWay
Remember the thief on the cross, who, while accepting Christ, asking to be remembered when Christ came into His kingdom, wasn't able to be baptised. The confession of Christ as your Savior and Lord is the important thing. What does your heart tell you? I was baptised as a child, but later walked away from the Lord. When I repented and returned, I felt a strong urge to be rebaptised. I think you need to pray about this and let God tell you what to do.
Have a great day,
Rita
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Hi There,
Unless both Rita and Maad were baptised in the Greek orthodox church, where babies are baptised (immersed under water) then neither of them could have been baptised. They were sprinkled upon. ("Raino")
As I said in my first post: "Who can understand the Greek language better than the Greeks and they baptise by immersion. They do not sprinkle."
When the Bible was translated into English, the word (Baptizo) was taken from the Greek and was anglicised into the word "Baptise" Parents were concerned about the early deaths of the babies and so consent was given to sprinkle "Raino" their children with water and mistakenly they called it baptism.
Furthermore I pointed out that there was a necessity that had to be accomplished before we could be baptised. We first have to believe and I am afraid that is impossible for babies and impossible for parents to believe on behalf of their babies. Remember Phillip's answer to the Ethiopian who said there is water, what stops me from being Baptised?. Phillips reply was: If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." Acts 8:37
Baptism in the New Testament is spoken of as a burial in water Roman 6:3-5 and it is impossible to bury anyone in a sprinkling of water, or water poured over ones head.
Yes! It is not Baptism (Immersion) that can save anyone, but we have been commanded to:
"Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptize (Immerse) them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." Mathew 28:19
This instruction came from Jesus Christ Himself and we should be obedient to His command. To deliberately forego baptism (immersion) is to ignore Christ's command.
Many churches baptize by immersion, I think today it is easier to pick out churches that dont.
Those that do not baptize yet mistakenly call it baptism, are Anglicans, Roman Catholics, Methodists and Presbyterians. I am sure someone may be able to add more to the list.
Maad Alassaf makes the following statement : "I consider baptizing in childhood is better because immagine that the child died before getting older"
Maad please tell us what would happen to a baby who died before being baptised.
Maad please consider your explanation in the Light of what Jesus said: "But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. Matt 19:14
We do not see Him asking if those innocents had been baptised.
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Ron,
Your comment to my response to GoingMyOwnWay was completely uncalled for as you didn't actually "hear" what I was saying. I would suggest that you reread what I said to get my comment straight before you critic it and draw assumptions from it.
Jonathon wrote of criticizing one another among Christians. That missive is also great for a reread.
In Christ,
Rita
Afterthought: Maad said he was baptized by immersion as a child.
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Rita,
I apologise if I have hurt your feelings. It was done without intention but posted purely for the sake of correction. Please do not look upon this correction as criticism. It was never intended that way,
You said that as a child you were baptised, I simply pointed out that unless you and Maad were in the Greek orthodox church where they do baptise (immerse) babies. Then you must have been sprinkled upon and not baptised.
If Maad says he was immersed in water as a child then Yes, it would be interesting to hear which church baptised (immersed) him.
There are some Protestant churches that (Sprinkle) but will also immerse. But it normally has to be requested by the individual. For me that shows an indifference to the Word of God. "We'll do you anyway you like" sort of attitude. I am also not sure but I don't think they would consider the immersion of babies.
You are right. It is vital that we pray about everything where we need Guidance.
My biggest concern as a new Christian was what would my Christian Methodist friends say to me when I told them I was going to be baptised. They asked a lot of questions but said nothing more after that. The day soon came and when I saw them in Church I was pleased because I thought they understood how I felt. Was I surprised when I saw them stand up to be baptised themselves. They had secretly gone to the Pastor and asked what it was all about. Once they understood, they asked Him to keep their willingness to be baptised a secret from me. They wanted to surprise me. What a wonderful surprise it was. Four of us, Christian friends being baptised together.
I find that Baptism has absolutely NOTHING to do with salvation. For me it was simply following what Jesus had said to John the Baptist.
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.
But John tried to stop him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and are you coming to me?"
But Jesus answered him, "Let it be this way for now, for this is the proper way for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then John let him.
When Jesus had been baptized, he immediately came up out of the water. Suddenly the heavens opened up for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him. Then a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love. I am pleased with him!" John 3:13-17. ISV
The Lord Bless you,
Ron
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Good morning Ron.
Of course I accept your apology and I don't know that one is needed, I simply wanted you to read what I wrote. I accepted the Lord at age 9 and, as all good Methodists, or most of them at that time, I was sprinkled. However, when I went back to the Lord, I was immersed. Most Pentecostal churches immerse, even a child. My grandchildren were immersed when they came to the Lord and were baptized. My granddaughter, when she was as young as 2, would go to the alter and bow her head. When she finished, after whatever length of time she would be there, she would take a mike and sing "Amazing Grace". The pastor would hold the sermon until she was finished singing. She, at 2, probably brought several people to Christ, as she showed them Who Christ is. I know there was rarely a dry eye in the church whenever she did that. She was older than that when she was baptized, by immersion. Probably 6 or 7.
Ron, my apology to you, for addressing a missive that should have been addressed to Greg regarding, examining one's heart. I've located numerous verses about the word "heart". One is 2 Cor 1:21-22 "And it is God Who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and has also put His seal on us, and has given us His Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee." The other is Eph 3:17 which I won't quote here, but say that Christ is in our hearts through faith.
My normal responses are short, but I do ask you to read them and think, as we are directed to in the instructions of this discussion room. And I promise to do the same when I read your responses. Amen?
Strange how often we Christians treat each other wrongly, because of not thinking.
Have a wonderful day and the happiest of Christmases ever!
In Christ,
Rita
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Rita,
I appreciate your perspective and what you shared, but with all due respect... the question isn't "What does your heart tell you?" it is, "What does the Word of God tell you?"
Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins (Acts 2:38).
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:18-19).
You are correct in saying that the thief on the cross wasn't able to be baptized, but we have no excuse. Not getting baptized when we are able to is disobedience to the clear command of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Bible.
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Ron,
I really don't want this this to get to a personality clash, but I do have one last comment. God lives in my heart, and His laws are written there. I read my Bible and study it, as I know you do. However, when I have the need to know something, I ask of the Lord. He answers me many, many times through my heart as I'm sure He does you. I know it's important to search the Word of God, but I also know it's important to search one's heart. I don't think of it as disobedience to God's Word, I call it praying.
In Christ,
Rita
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Permalink Reply by Steve K on
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Going my way-
I was also a Catholic baptized baby, and I was just baptized again a few weeks ago in a non denominational Evangelical church after coming to Christ a year ago. There is a lot of discussion and opinions about baptism by water, and frankly, I don't know what is "correct". I can tell you, that I did it as a matter of devotion, and to publicly confirm that I am a follower of Christ.
As others will tell you- pray on it. You only "need" to do what God asks of you, not the denomination.
-Steve
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