I WAS BAPTIZED WHEN I WAS LITTLE, MUST I BE BAPTIZED AGAIN?
Sakkie Parsons
Translated from the Afrikaans Version: Ek is klein gedoop, moet ek weer gedoop word?
Translator: Lynda Botha
Someone asked me: "I was baptized when I was little, do I need to be baptized again?"
Firstly, I start off with the following instructions from this scripture we read in Acts of the very first converts:
ACTS 2:37: “Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”
ACTS 2:38: “Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of you sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
In this way we follow Jesus' example by immersion and therefore unite with Him in His death and resurrection:
ROM 6: 4: "For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.”
Secondly, we must realize that baptism is not the key to heaven.
It is a certain fact that I will not go to heaven just because I exerted my right to be baptized.
Just as you would not be sent to hell because you're not baptized or are baptized incorrectly.
The determining factor regarding your destiny would be whether you actually accepted Jesus Christ as your Saviour. In other words, is Jesus truly God in your life? I share with you an example from the Bible:
JOHN 3:16-18
16 "For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believed in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”
17 “God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him.”
18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in Him. But anyone who does not believe in Him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.”
I was baptized when I was little. I was also catechized, proposed and adopted into church but when I repented, I felt I should be baptized by immersion. The way I understand this matter is that the Lord wants it to be a decision that I have made myself.
Also – all the people that Jesus called to Him in His journey’s here on earth, he called them to Him publicly, and therefore they had to publicly undertake the step to follow Him or not. Furthermore, Jesus said to His followers the following:
ACTS 1:8 "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be My witnesses, telling people about Me everywhere – in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Did you see?
Jesus didn’t say that I might be His witness. He said all His children will be His witnesses.
For me, my baptism was the first step of obedience and the beginning of my life’s testimony to Him.
For me, baptism is an announcement/testimony/statement in public to all people, spirits and powers:
"In this representation of the funeral of my old self and the resurrection of this new being, I declare:
I believe that Jesus died for my sins on the cross.
I believe that He was buried.
I believe that He rose from the dead.
I accepted Jesus, God who became human, as my Saviour.
The old Sakkie is now dead.
I am now a new blood-washed child of God, a disciple of Jesus."
ROM 6: 4-8
4 "For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.”
5 “Since we have been united with Him in His death, we will also be raised to life as He was.”
6 “We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.”
7 “For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.”
8 “And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with Him.”
Over the years, more and more churches everywhere, took scriptures from the Bible, to alter it to human likes and dislikes, or saying that it is no longer relevant today, and in my opinion weakened their testimony and their inner-selves.
Whether your need to re-baptize yourselves because you were baptized when you were little, it remains in the end a matter of your conscience.
My view of the matter is this:
If you really adopted Jesus Christ as your Saviour, take the glorious step of obedience and make this wonderful announcement/testimony/statement I made to the world.
As I said, this is ultimately a matter of conscience between you and our Lord.
Whatever you decide, it is necessary to remember that a person can be baptized incorrectly:
ACTS 19: 1-6
1 "While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul travelled through the interior regions until he reached Ephesus, on the coast, where he found several believers.”
2 “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” he asked them. “Nom” they replied, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
3 “Then what baptism did you experience?” he asked. And they replied, “The baptism of John.”
4 “Paul said, “John’s baptism called for repentance from sin. But John himself told the people to believe in the one who would come later, meaning Jesus.”
5 “As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.”
6 “Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied.”
I myself would thus summarize this issue as follow: I would not go to hell just because I'm not baptized by immersion, but it was wonderful to make that announcement/testimony/statement to the world:
"In this representation of the funeral of my old self and the resurrection of this new being, I declare:
I believe that Jesus died for my sins on the cross.
I believe that He was buried.
I believe that He rose from the dead.
I accepted Jesus, God who became human, as my Saviour.
The old Sakkie is now dead.
I am now a new blood-washed child of God, a disciple of Jesus."
COL 2:12 "For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with Him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.”
COL 2:13 “You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for He forgave all our sins.”
For me my baptism/burial of the old Sakkie on Wednesday 25 April 1973, was one of the most wonderful highlights of my spiritual life.
I conclude, almost like I started:
First, we must realize that baptism is not the key to heaven. You will also not go to hell because you're not baptized, or because you were baptized incorrectly.
The determining factor regarding your destiny would be whether you actually accepted Jesus Christ as your Saviour. In other words, is Jesus truly God in your life.
Whatever you decide.
I would neglect my duty, if I don’t point out to you that the Word also tells us that the closer we live to our Lord's Word, the better our reception will be when the time comes when we appear before Him.
I will explain this in a different thought from the Word of God I wrote and will send it to you on request.
The name of this specific thought from the Word of God is:
"The third heaven and our reward."
Greetings,
Sakkie