Is Re-Baptism Scriptural?

[Heavenly Pilgrim]

As for me I knew it was not part of my 'salvation' for I had clearly and gloriously been saved a few weeks before. My life had been completly turned around prior to baptism. That again is my personal experience and I by no means could not say that one might well be converted at baptism. I do not believe baptism is for conversion directly, but the heart can be changed in a moment any time, baptism or no baptism.

 

[David Michael Harris]

Baptism for me was like some declaration before heaven. My family and friends were there. It's as if I was proving I believed. A test for me maybe?

 

[billwald]

If baptism is only effectual for people who are born again then what is the objective test for being born again and exactly how does baptism effect one's final state?

 

[DHK]

If baptism is only effectual for people who are born again then what is the objective test for being born again and exactly how does baptism effect one's final state?

Baptism is not "effectual" for anyone. It gets you wet. Its done in obedience to Christ, but that is all. There is no grace given in baptism. It doesn't do anything for you but getting you wet.

 

[bound]

Baptism is not "effectual" for anyone. It gets you wet. Its done in obedience to Christ, but that is all. There is no grace given in baptism. It doesn't do anything for you but getting you wet.

Is the act of the washing of the feet before the Day of Resurrection also without effect as well?

Can anyone say that the first time they ever did that formal act of imitation of our Lord was not effectual for your grow in the Spiritual Life? How much more was their Baptism?

Oh, I understand the rational enlightenment approach to all this but I would argue that we should be less critical of these acts not being serious means of furthering our spiritual life.

 

[DHK]

Is the act of the washing of the feet before the Day of Resurrection also without effect as well?

Does water (two atoms of hydrogen to one atom of oxygen) going to make you more holy? Give you a closer walk with God? What will water do for you in your walk with God, whether it is applied to your feet or all of your body as in baptism? It does nothing but get you wet.
Jeremiah was both caustic and ridiculed the Jews to think that water (or even soap) could wash away their sins!

Jeremiah 2:22 For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD.
--Water is not going to cut it.
Not even soap will do the trick.
One will get you wet and the other will get you soapy; but your sin will remain. Neither one will help you in attaining grace of any kind or any type of holiness.

The washing of feet was a symbolic act of humility. It symbolizes humility even if done in this time. There is no attainment of special grace. It is all symbolic. If you want to get your feet wet that is your privilege.

Can anyone say that the first time they ever did that formal act of imitation of our Lord was not effectual for your grow in the Spiritual Life? How much more was their Baptism?

Both were done in obedience to the Lord. As far as baptism was concerned, they were baptized by John. Then the Apostles baptized by Jesus authority (for Jesus himself did not baptize).

John 4:1-2 When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,
2 (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,)

--What makes one grow in the Lord is their obedience to the Lord. Baptism is a step of obedience. It simply gets you wet. But it is a step of obedience just as prayer, witnessing, study of the Word, fellowship, etc., are all commands of Scripture and are necessary for growth in the Lord.

Oh, I understand the rational enlightenment approach to all this but I would argue that we should be less critical of these acts not being serious means of furthering our spiritual life.

Stress the importance of obedience, yes.
Stress the insignificance of efficacy-- there is none.

 

[dcorbett]

Pastor Chappell often said this to those who felt baptism was necessary for salvation:

You can drown in the baptistry and still go to hell!

I was baptized twice, once when I was 6 by a Southern Baptist preacher who never asked me if I knew what it meant! (My parents joined the church, and I went forward with them because I was afraid to sit in
the pew by myself!)

When I was 13, I accepted Christ as Saviour in the Southern Baptist church where we worshipped as a family. I went forward, so convicted of my sin, asking God to save me, bowing at the altar, I accepted Christ as my Saviour. I was baptized the following Sunday.

We had 3 baptisms this morning after the service. The young lady had attended a local "community church" but realized that she had never been scripturally baptized, so, after checking her doctrine, she was baptized.
The two young men were saved recently.

 

[FR7 Baptist]

No. A validly baptized person can not be "re-baptized" because the second "baptism" is not a real baptism, but rather an act that makes a mockery of baptism. Baptism is the submersion of a believer in water, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and can never be repeated.

 

[dcorbett]

No. A validly baptized person can not be "re-baptized" because the second "baptism" is not a real baptism, but rather an act that makes a mockery of baptism. Baptism is the submersion of a believer in water, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and can never be repeated.

My first baptism was not a real one. My second baptism was real, because it was a picture of what had happened in my mind and in my heart. And that's all it is, a picture. Nothing mystical occurs, nothing magical happens.

 

[FR7 Baptist]

My first baptism was not a real one. My second baptism was real,

Then you only had one baptism.

 

[DHK]

No. A validly baptized person can not be "re-baptized" because the second "baptism" is not a real baptism, but rather an act that makes a mockery of baptism. Baptism is the submersion of a believer in water, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and can never be repeated.

Believers in Acts 19 were re-baptized.
It sounds like you put too much emphasis on baptism.
There are Baptist Churches that make baptism a requirement for church membership no matter if you believe you have been Scripturally baptized or not. They would also practice "closed communion".
They don't make a mockery of baptism, as you claim. They place, perhaps a greater importance on baptism than you do. They are Baptist. But because their church polity is different than what you believe, are they to be condemned?

 

[bound]

Does water (two atoms of hydrogen to one atom of oxygen) going to make you more holy? Give you a closer walk with God? What will water do for you in your walk with God, whether it is applied to your feet or all of your body as in baptism? It does nothing but get you wet.

Does vibrations (waves moving through the atmosphere) going to make you regenerate? Give you a relation with God? What will vibrations do for you in your walk with God... It does nothing but make you hear sounds.

Radical reduction of the act of imitating Christ in our lives doesn't make it any less effectual to our growth in the Spirit. For minds that our open, will experience God more fully than the acts will reveal.

 

[DHK]

Radical reduction of the act of imitating Christ in our lives doesn't make it any less effectual to our growth in the Spirit. For minds that our open, will experience God more fully than the acts will reveal.

How do you "experience God more fully" in a baptismal tank"? That sounds like mysticism to me.
Baptism is a simple act of obedience, and that is all.

 

[bound]

How do you "experience God more fully" in a baptismal tank"? That sounds like mysticism to me.
Baptism is a simple act of obedience, and that is all.

How do you 'experience God" with mere vibrations?

 

[Marcia]

How do you 'experience God" with mere vibrations?

Bound, are you talking about spoken words? Written words? What?

 

[DHK]

How do you 'experience God" with mere vibrations?

I don't; do you?

 

[bound]

Bound, are you talking about spoken words? Written words? What?

Exactly. Vibrations make sounds which we associate ideas with when they create recognized words... Vibrations.

In the same way, we have actions that also have meaning. When we do these actions, we express that meaning in ourselves. In the same manner when we ascent to the Sacred Texts, we 'yoke' ourselves with it's meaning. It mingles with us, and it changes us from the inside out.

Everything we do has meaning in our Faith. Baptism is no different.

 

[Heavenly Pilgrim]

Bound: Everything we do has meaning in our Faith. Baptism is no different.

HP: I would agree when the heart is right. To say that God cannot or does not use baptism and other ordinances as a means to confer grace upon His children is simply in error. Again, the heart has to be right but when it is ordinances and even some ceremonies can have rich meaning and impact upon our lives, baptism included.

 

[DHK]

HP: I would agree when the heart is right. To say that God cannot or does not use baptism and other ordinances as a means to confer grace upon His children is simply in error. Again, the heart has to be right but when it is ordinances and even some ceremonies can have rich meaning and impact upon our lives, baptism included.

You should not make statements without backing them up with Scripture. If baptism is a means of conferring grace, then where is that teaching in Scripture.
Baptism is a means of getting wet.

 

[Heavenly Pilgrim]

If baptism is simply a means of getting wet, one that would require another to do it twice for any reason would be all wet. :thumbs: