Being baptized twice.

[Gentile]

I was baptized as an infant but would like to be baptized as an adult, is this necessary?

I feel now being an adult and more open to my faith in Jesus and GOD it feel it would be even more special and spiritual.

[cheech]

You will probably get several different views on this.

My husband, daughter and I did this. We were all baptized as infants but just felt, once we really turned our lives over to God, that we wanted to get baptized again because it would be our choice and it was a public display of our faith in Christ. I especially felt drawn to do this.

If you feel led to do this, then by all means, do it. There's nothing wrong with it :).

[TravisJ]

I think every person should be baptized when they are grown, they have a more understanding of it... and when your a baby your with out sin... your pure, until you hit a certain age is when you know right from wrong and you do wrong that is when sin hits in... Not only do you need be baptized, you need to be baptized in Jesus Christ, and not only baptized in Jesus's Name but with the Holy Ghost, as it is written. If you read in the book of acts... Paul and Peter... baptized some people who were baptized in John's Baptism... and Paul or Peter said unto them have you been baptized? Look at Acts 19 1-6 2. He said unto them. Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believe? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. 3. And he said unto them Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto JOhn's baptism. 4. Then said Paul, John verily bapitzed with the baptism of reptenance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. 5.When they heard this , they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus ( not the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost) but in Jesus Christ. 6. And when Paul had laid hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they were spake with tongues, and prophesied.

There is only ONE WATER baptism, but there is a baptism of the Holy Ghost which evidence of it is speaking with tongues...

[Sold Out]

I was baptized as an infant but would like to be baptized as an adult, is this necessary?

I feel now being an adult and more open to my faith in Jesus and GOD it feel it would be even more special and spiritual.

Baptism is your first public witness after accepting Christ as your Savior. Your infant baptism was something your parents did, adult baptism is something YOU do to show that you are not ashamed of the One who saved you, and that you mean business as a Christian. It is definitely a step of obedience.

[dispen4ever]

Go for it!
..............

[Revolvr]

I was baptized as a child and grew up as a Christian but spent most of my life as a backslidden lightweight lukewarm Christian who never read the Bible, and never prayed. OK, I did pray every time I got on an airplane.;)

Then, just about a year ago, I finally did fully accept Christ as my savior. I had led a life dominated by the needs of the flesh and couldn't do it any more. I gave up that life for a life with Christ, and I've never been happier.

I was truly moved to get baptized again. I can't tell you that it was theologically absolutely necessary, but it was for me. I know it was what the Holy Spirit wanted for me. For me it was like signing on the dotted line, a contract between me and Jesus.

Listen to what the Holy Spirit is telling you. I wager you already know the answer.

[Gentile]

I was baptized as a child and grew up as a Christian but spent most of my life as a backslidden lightweight lukewarm Christian who never read the Bible, and never prayed. OK, I did pray every time I got on an airplane.;)

Then, just about a year ago, I finally did fully accept Christ as my savior. I had led a life dominated by the needs of the flesh and couldn't do it any more. I gave up that life for a life with Christ, and I've never been happier.

I was truly moved to get baptized again. I can't tell you that it was theologically absolutely necessary, but it was for me. I know it was what the Holy Spirit wanted for me. For me it was like signing on the dotted line, a contract between me and Jesus.

Listen to what the Holy Spirit is telling you. I wager you already know the answer.


That is very uplifting, thanks for sharing. It probably isnt really necessary but for me personally I think it would be a great step, just like a contract!

[ServantofTruth]

You will probably get several different views on this.

My husband, daughter and I did this. We were all baptized as infants but just felt, once we really turned our lives over to God, that we wanted to get baptized again because it would be our choice and it was a public display of our faith in Christ. I especially felt drawn to do this.

If you feel led to do this, then by all means, do it. There's nothing wrong with it :).

This topic has returned to my mind many times today. I want to try to express my feelings if i can, because this is also relevent in my life at the moment - if i decide to join a new church.

Firstly this is a very personal decision. Something you should decide with much prayer, asking our Lord to guide you.

I very much believe in the one family/ body of Christ and one church. It makes me sad to think of moving away from the church of my parents and upbringing. Yes i have personally through bible study, come to consider some of their traditions unbiblical, their worship also and teaching. However many times i can see that the bible could be taken that way - i just don't believe it myself.

What i want to say is that in most cases, the bible is not 100% clear on certain issues and if God has made it possible to look at things differently, as long as believers are not denying the bible or lying about what it says - who am i to say they are wrong?

I stand where i am in the body of Christ with those i agree with (which is why i am here :)) but they are also in my family and have the Holy Spirit. Our Lord speaks through them and those in authority in those denominations too.

So soon i may have to make the same decision as you, whether i believe my infant baptism is enough, what the meaning of my confirmation at 10 was, or if i need to publicly confess my sins and be fully baptised as an adult.

Sometimes i have felt the need to correct and disagree with junior members of this site. Usually New in Christ or imature believers. They have not shown love for the whole body and have suggested superiority/ closeness to our Lord or even suggested someone with infant baptism is not saved.

This is so sad. This is a Spirit led and bible based decision to be made by a believer in private in prayer. Not something to be bullied into.

An important factor in my decision, will be my new church's view of the Christians in my old denomination and all bible based and Spirit led denominations. Were someone to suggest for example those people were not equal before God or didn't have the Holy Spirit - that would be enough for me to walk away and try another church.

All that is important to me is Salvation through Jesus Christ and that people love and obey his Word. Some may see it slightly differently, where it is not clear, but they are my brothers & sisters and i love them all.

I hope this helps the original poster in their decision. I hope anyone who disagrees will reply with love, or write on my profile/ message me. God bless the whole body. SofTy.

[TravisJ]

Fellow Christians want more, there is more than be baptized in water

[ServantofTruth]

You are right, there is Love. SofTy.

[Perpetua]

I was baptized as an infant but would like to be baptized as an adult, is this necessary?

I feel now being an adult and more open to my faith in Jesus and GOD it feel it would be even more special and spiritual.

I too was baptized as an infant (Presbyterian church), and in my early years as a Christian was told that the previous baptism had become effective when I was later saved. But since then I've come to understand the true biblical view on this, and was baptized in the proper way of believer’s baptism.

Think of it this way… your “first” baptism was really a dedication, your parents pledging to raise you up in a Christian home. The Bible never speaks of such a thing as baptism; in fact, the Bible never even mentions this type of baptism. Infant baptism entered the church several hundred years later along with many errors of Catholicism, at a time when baptism itself became linked with salvation – rather than baptism the sign of the inward grace and salvation that has already taken place. Bad theology brought about the idea of infant baptism, that it would save the baby so that if it died young it would still be saved. Then the Protestant Reformers, coming out of a Catholic background, reformed soteriology – the understanding of salvation, justification, sanctification. But they didn’t reform many other aspects of the Catholic church, but instead kept infant baptism and tried to come up with some other biblical reason to keep it.

So yes, you should get baptized – as an adult, professing belief in Christ. It is a sign of salvation, not salvation itself, but still it is one of the two ordinances, commanded by God, as a public statement and witness to others, of what Christ has done in your heart.

[Gentile]

This topic has returned to my mind many times today. I want to try to express my feelings if i can, because this is also relevent in my life at the moment - if i decide to join a new church.

Firstly this is a very personal decision. Something you should decide with much prayer, asking our Lord to guide you.

I very much believe in the one family/ body of Christ and one church. It makes me sad to think of moving away from the church of my parents and upbringing. Yes i have personally through bible study, come to consider some of their traditions unbiblical, their worship also and teaching. However many times i can see that the bible could be taken that way - i just don't believe it myself.

What i want to say is that in most cases, the bible is not 100% clear on certain issues and if God has made it possible to look at things differently, as long as believers are not denying the bible or lying about what it says - who am i to say they are wrong?

I stand where i am in the body of Christ with those i agree with (which is why i am here :)) but they are also in my family and have the Holy Spirit. Our Lord speaks through them and those in authority in those denominations too.

So soon i may have to make the same decision as you, whether i believe my infant baptism is enough, what the meaning of my confirmation at 10 was, or if i need to publicly confess my sins and be fully baptised as an adult.

Sometimes i have felt the need to correct and disagree with junior members of this site. Usually New in Christ or imature believers. They have not shown love for the whole body and have suggested superiority/ closeness to our Lord or even suggested someone with infant baptism is not saved.

This is so sad. This is a Spirit led and bible based decision to be made by a believer in private in prayer. Not something to be bullied into.

An important factor in my decision, will be my new church's view of the Christians in my old denomination and all bible based and Spirit led denominations. Were someone to suggest for example those people were not equal before God or didn't have the Holy Spirit - that would be enough for me to walk away and try another church.

All that is important to me is Salvation through Jesus Christ and that people love and obey his Word. Some may see it slightly differently, where it is not clear, but they are my brothers & sisters and i love them all.

I hope this helps the original poster in their decision. I hope anyone who disagrees will reply with love, or write on my profile/ message me. God bless the whole body. SofTy.

I could careless about being one with a church, that never concerns me. I go to more than a couple of churches. Personally I feel an infant baptism has tremendous meaning to GOD, even though many will disagree.

If I do this I do not want family around or anything like that. I don't even care if my wife is not there. I want to do it alone, if possible. In reality a baptism means nothing in the flesh, this is just a personal thing for me, a kind of reminder and commitment to GOD and Jesus.

Lovely post by the way.

[ConqueredbyLove]

I was baptized as an infant but would like to be baptized as an adult, is this necessary?

I feel now being an adult and more open to my faith in Jesus and GOD it feel it would be even more special and spiritual.

I was baptized as an infant and re-baptized when I became the Lord's. I think it is a good thing, if, for no other reason, as a heart issue between you and the Lord. I think it would please the Lord, personally, especially if you talk with Him about it beforehand. It could be a very special time between the two of you :hug:

[Literalist-Luke]

Baptism is not a component of salvation, but it is a component of obedience. So if you would like to get baptized again, then there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. But just recognize that you are already saved. Your destiny with Jesus is already secured. If you choose to get baptized again, all you're doing is proclaiming that Truth to those watching. Again, there's certainly nothing wrong with that.

[Gentile]

Baptism is not a component of salvation, but it is a component of obedience. So if you would like to get baptized again, then there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. But just recognize that you are already saved. Your destiny with Jesus is already secured. If you choose to get baptized again, all you're doing is proclaiming that Truth to those watching. Again, there's certainly nothing wrong with that.

You wrote exactly what I wanted to express. I have thinking about it and now I am not going to get baptized again, I just don't see the point.

[Bethany67]

I was christened in the Church of England as a baby, but once I became a Christian at 20 and read the scriptures about baptism, I came to the conclusion that I should (and really wanted to be) baptised as an adult as a public testimony of my faith and as an act of joyful obedience to God. What influenced me, in addition to the Bible, was reading about Christians in non-Christian cultures, especially Muslim cultures; their families tended to leave them in peace when they converted and practiced their faith privately, but woe betide them if they made a public declaration of their faith. The families seemed to know instinctively that believers' baptism wasn't an empty ritual; it meant business. My parents struggled a bit with my adult baptism; although they weren't Christians, they saw it as a kind of personal rejection of them to start with. But they came to understand and they did attend my baptism.

[Organist]

I was baptized as an infant but would like to be baptized as an adult * * *.

Discussions about baptism seem to be fertile ground for debate on these forums and accounts of people being "rebaptized" seem to abound on this forum. So, here some, thought provoking questions for anyone considering "renouncing their prior baptism" simply because they were an infant at the time and unable to remember it.

Did you ever go back to the church where you were baptized as an infant and witness another baptism? Did you ask your godparents, about your baptism what the day was like (the reason the church recognizes people as "godparents," "sponsors," or "witnesses" is so that a baptized infants will upon becoming adults be able to ask and find out if they really got wet with the water)? Look at photographs taken the day it occurred? Read your baptismal certificate with your name and date on it? Ask the current minister at the church where your parents took you to show you the "baptismal record book" (every congregation keeps a record book with the names and dates of baptisms preformed, i.e., I remember when my parents took me back to church where I had been baptized, pastor got book out and let me see my name written in it)? Did you participate in the Confirmation Class and profess your faith in Christ before God and the congregation? Pastors, you know, do not "confirm" children until the have seen a confirmad's baptismal certificate. Do you participate in those portions of church services, in which we are called upon to "remember" our baptism. The "Baptismal Formula" is, in fact, the opening words spoken at most of the services at my church, for we stand and are reminded of our baptism when we hear the words, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."

Finally, in 325 ad, the Council of Nicea was held in Constantinople to make authoritative decisions on doctrinal questions, over which Christians were divided and formulated and adopted the Nicene Creed as the authoritative expression of the doctrines of our faith. In the Nicene Creed, Christians profess, "We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins." Do those of you who claim to have been baptized a "second time" and the clergy, who rebaptized you not accept this as an important tenant of faith and believe that the sacrament of baptism is a once in a life time event?

[Oregongrown]

I was baptized as an infant but would like to be baptized as an adult, is this necessary?

I feel now being an adult and more open to my faith in Jesus and GOD it feel it would be even more special and spiritual.

Don't you just love that when someone starts out with "the bible says":) But it does say, that we must be born-again. It's a "choice" that a baby cannot make:) So when we can make that choice, we can be born-again into the family of God. And when we are, we are to be baptised with water proceeding that. I think that is about humility. I think it is a "sort of scarey" way to tell in public that we do indeed believe that Jesus died for us and that are ready to commit our lives to the One who gave us Life:) I don't know much about baptising an infant but it can only, imo, mean some assurance to the parent that his/her child will go to heaven. But since it is personal choice, every child will eventually have to make that decision on their own. The ones that are too young to and die?? They go to heaven:) God knows what He is doing:) Love you, your sister in Christ, denise:hug:

[Bethany67]

Baptism is a once in a lifetime event. What was done to me as a baby wasn't baptism. I didn't believe, my parents didn't believe; it was just a social ritual that everyone did. I refused to be confirmed in my teens because I DIDN'T believe; I'd never even heard the Gospel despite attending the Anglican church all my life. When I came to faith in Jesus at age 20, I was baptised properly as an outward testimony and public declaration of my faith in Him. So I haven't been baptised twice; I have been baptised once.

[laundrygirl]

Baptism replaces circumcision. If you have already been baptized, you have already entered the covenantial relationship with God; to be baptized again is unnecessary.

[sunsetssplendor]

Baptism is a once in a lifetime event. What was done to me as a baby wasn't baptism. I didn't believe, my parents didn't believe; it was just a social ritual that everyone did. I refused to be confirmed in my teens because I DIDN'T believe; I'd never even heard the Gospel despite attending the Anglican church all my life. When I came to faith in Jesus at age 20, I was baptised properly as an outward testimony and public declaration of my faith in Him. So I haven't been baptised twice; I have been baptised once.

I feel like you. I was "christened" but now the church dislikes that word and says baptized but i didn't KNOW what was going on. I have since made a commitment as an ADULT, knowing the stakes, the price, the LOVE and have decided to soon be baptized - this being MY FIRST also b/c I do not count that sprinkling as one IMO.

[DaniHansen]

Repent and be baptized.

Infants cannot repent, do not understand sin, and so therefore I would agree that what is done there is actually a "dedication". But to each their own.

If you read Acts, however, it clearly gives the example over and over and over of believers being baptized after they have come to Jesus and repented of their sin and made Him Lord of their lives. Baptism is an outward expression of what we go through inwardly at the point of salvation: The death of the old life and person, and the coming out of that and leaving it all behind to begin your new journey with Christ as a new creation in Him.

It is important that we profess our allegiance to Jesus outwardly and baptism is a sign of that. For a lot of believers, that step meant serious consequences, cutting of ties with family members and tradition, being persecuted, etc. (still does in parts of the world where there isn't as much freedom as we enjoy), and so they let the world know that they were serious about their commitment to following Jesus, even to the point of losing everything. My personal opinion is that what was good enough for them, is good enough for me. But that's just me.

It's not a baptism into a specific local church or denomination, so don't worry about that. Those are man-made rules that have nothing to do with anything.

I would strongly encourage you to be baptized and outwardly show your alignment with what has taken place within you, for all to see.

[jponb]

There is nothing wrong with that. I feel that you should be baptized once you can personally identify Christ as your own Lord and Savior. Not because you parents said this is the thing to do; but because you yourself have believed in the testimony. Go for it!!!:pp