Questions

calvin said:
I'm not aware of the chronicling of any such practice of discrimination within the fledgling Church.
Heb 6:1 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,
Heb 6:2 and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
Heb 6:3 And this we will do if God permits.
Tink, you are about to be baptized, prepare yourself to move on with the Lord. Once you are Baptized and you find any Church fellowship who do not accept that baptism, have nothing to do with them. When you are baptized, you are baptized into the Lord's death and also His resurrection. Now anyone who says that is not good enough...have nothing to do with them. What is it they are really rejecting? A tub of water? No they would be rejecting your salvation.....on whose authority do they presume such?
There is only one Church. I'll say it again, there is only one Church. That Church is the body of Christ. That is the Church which in your heart, you should be being baptized into. If a person is baptized into a local congregation, or into some specific denomination, then that is all their baptism is worth.........not a cracker. But you my beloved sister are seeking baptism into the Church which is of God. My only regret is that I can't physically be there.
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Me too Calv! Thank you so much, this cleared a lot of things up for me. :)
 
Lifeasweknowit:

There is also a sense in which, from Pentecost onwards, the born again believer is already 'by one Spirit baptised into one body' (1 Corinthians 12.3) and s/he comes into the good of this at the new birth. The symbol of immersion in water is an outward testimony of an already existing spiritual reality by faith.

Blessings.
 
Lifeasweknowit said:
Of course! Obediance...it's not needed for salvation. I was literally months away from baptism as a Jehovah's Witness until I realized something was terribly wrong and left the "Truth". Since a young age I have always cried out to Jehovah and now I understand (much more so) the significance of Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I came on this site Jan 2nd as a saved/born again. My saved date is July 1st 2012. Sure, I had said the prayer before, but this date was a turning point. During my fast so many things came clear to me and I decided I need to fully devote my life to Christ. Since September of last year I suddenly, for the first time (since my JW days), felt a calling/desire-however you want to see it-:) to get baptised. That calling has especially grown the past few months. I simply feel that it's what God is advising me to do and the next chapter, so to speak, in my walk with Christ.

I know it's not something to take lightly, which is why I wanted some clarification first (thank you all!!), but I feel I'm ready. I'm nervous and excited.
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Yes-obedience is a big part of baptism; put more importantly it is the symbolic nature of the public act as your first step in your walk with Christ. The very essence of baptism is showing your acknowledgement of the 'death, burial and resurrection' of Christ in water baptism.

Some have put it like this: The 'old man' goes in the water-and the 'new man' comes out. I am not going to try and over analyze the process because I am sure others on here will make a fuss about it-which is not my intent to get into an online debate about this. But consider Christ's motivation in water baptism-yes it is about obedience, but is 'obedience' the end goal of all things in Christ? No-Love is Christ's end game; and obedience is a step towards learning what His love in Spirit truly is.

If you look at Baptism as only obedience; it becomes a ritualistic thing. If you look baptism as obedience seeking to follow Christ in love showing your faith in what was done on the Cross and the Resurrection. Baptism is the acceptance of being renewed in Christ-showing outwardly that you accept His saving grace and desire to follow Him. baptism should be a monumental event in my opinion-unfortunately lots of people don't see it that way.

Going down in the water-death of your 'self'
In the water-buried and washed in Christ's blood.
Up out of the water-resurrected in Christ.

This 'act' is symbolic to those around you that you are a 'Christian'. It should be done once-in faith and love with your Church family. If we have members joining our Church who give testimony of salvation and believers baptism-we do not 're-baptize' them.

Interestingly enough; we have had several people get 'saved' since their original baptism after coming to a fuller knowledge and understanding of the Gospel and ask to be baptized again in faith.
 
Dirtyrottensinner said:
Yes-obedience is a big part of baptism; put more importantly it is the symbolic nature of the public act as your first step in your walk with Christ. The very essence of baptism is showing your acknowledgement of the 'death, burial and resurrection' of Christ in water baptism.

Some have put it like this: The 'old man' goes in the water-and the 'new man' comes out. I am not going to try and over analyze the process because I am sure others on here will make a fuss about it-which is not my intent to get into an online debate about this. But consider Christ's motivation in water baptism-yes it is about obedience, but is 'obedience' the end goal of all things in Christ? No-Love is Christ's end game; and obedience is a step towards learning what His love in Spirit truly is.

If you look at Baptism as only obedience; it becomes a ritualistic thing. If you look baptism as obedience seeking to follow Christ in love showing your faith in what was done on the Cross and the Resurrection. Baptism is the acceptance of being renewed in Christ-showing outwardly that you accept His saving grace and desire to follow Him. baptism should be a monumental event in my opinion-unfortunately lots of people don't see it that way.

Going down in the water-death of your 'self'
In the water-buried and washed in Christ's blood.
Up out of the water-resurrected in Christ.

This 'act' is symbolic to those around you that you are a 'Christian'. It should be done once-in faith and love with your Church family. If we have members joining our Church who give testimony of salvation and believers baptism-we do not 're-baptize' them.

Interestingly enough; we have had several people get 'saved' since their original baptism after coming to a fuller knowledge and understanding of the Gospel and ask to be baptized again in faith.
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Thank you...yes, I understand all of this, agree with it, and don't just look at it as an act of obedience...sorry I didn't mention that to begin with.
 
Lifeasweknowit said:
Thank you...yes, I understand all of this, agree with it, and don't just look at it as an act of obedience...sorry I didn't mention that to begin with.
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Hi, Life as we know it :)

There are things worth repeating, especially if they feed us how to love. It is wise to keep eating what feeds us to grow in love :)

About what water baptism is for > John the Baptist said, "that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water." (in John 1:31) So, being baptized can be for revealing Jesus to people . . . along with other reasons for baptism.

So, water baptism is a multi-tasking thing :)

I understand that when you truly repent, in your heart you already have gotten together with Jesus, because of how in your heart you have given yourself to Him. So, I understand that your repentance was your baptism into Jesus, spiritually.

But being baptized in water can be confessing Jesus before people. And Jesus does say, "'Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.'" (Luke 10:32)

It does say we "were baptized into His death." (in Romans 6:3) And we know how the death of Jesus has so much to do with how Jesus gave His life for any and all people. So, being baptized into His death, to me, mainly means I have joined with Jesus in how He loves any and all people; therefore I have left my own life behind, in order to take on His love life. When I repented, then was when I started in this, in my heart, by committing to how Jesus wants us to live. So, I understand that repenting can be seen as being baptized from our way to His way of loving; but, of course, we are not perfect, right away, in this, but we grow.

And then in love we get baptized because we so appreciate all Jesus has done for us and we desire to show this to others.

So, baptism is mainly about how we become loving, like we have already shared here, as well as doing things that are obedient. "Let all that you do be done with love." (1 Corinthians 16:14)
 
calvin said:
I'll not just try, but will indeed pray that you will know the Lord's fellowship and blessings Tink.
Is that proper time or summer time?
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Thank you Calv!! What do you mean with proper time or summer time? Probably both, since the water would be even colder with cooler temps during other times of the year :)
 
Well I wasn't sure what to call it. Up here in Australia, we have what is laughingly called daylight saving time. During the summer months we put our clocks forward one hour...???? or do we put it back an hour? well anyway, to know what time it will be here when it is 6:30 where you are, I need to know if your 6:30PM is 5:30PM GMT (UTC) or what? I'm not usually asleep then so it doesn't matter, I'm just interested and curious.
I could google it I guess, but I thought I'd ask you instead
 
calvin said:
Well I wasn't sure what to call it. Up here in Australia, we have what is laughingly called daylight saving time. During the summer months we put our clocks forward one hour...???? or do we put it back an hour? well anyway, to know what time it will be here when it is 6:30 where you are, I need to know if your 6:30PM is 5:30PM GMT (UTC) or what? I'm not usually asleep then so it doesn't matter, I'm just interested and curious.
I could google it I guess, but I thought I'd ask you instead
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I'm in sunshine state, CA, USA, so it's Pacific Standard Time :)
 
Quick...do you get baptized with you bowing forward or backward? I heard forward is the proper way, but it seems most people go backward.

Rusty, I am attending the smaller of the two mega churches.
 
Lifeasweknowit said:
Quick...do you get baptized with you bowing forward or backward? I heard forward is the proper way, but it seems most people go backward.

Rusty, I am attending the smaller of the two mega churches.
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Lol-most go back as far as I know...not sure if matters Tink...you're so silly..

Lova YA!:D

Your Brother
 
I've seen it done both ways, forward and backwards. The only one I ever saw where there were any problems was when it was done forward by a pastor who had never done immersion Baptism before and there was a lot of flailing and coughing. It probably would have been worse going backwards. Some churches do only immersion Baptism, and some others allow for sprinkling or pouring as well.
 
Blessings everyone, the baptism went well. Full submersion in the Pacific Ocean. The oddest thing happened, in which I couldn't even feel the temperature of the water. I had so much adrenaline in me. When I went down and as I was coming up, I had this feeling that I can't quite put my finger on that came over me....best way to describe it, is being cleansed. As if I had an awakening and that my eyes were finally open.

I have a long story on what happened leading up to the baptism (it wasn't fun), but will choose to focus on the positive. I will say, however, that God truly orchestrated that day perfectly, but that the enemy tried to tear me down a few days leading up and even an hour leading to my baptism. Nevertheless, it was an absolutely magical moment that I will never forget. I am so happy that I decided to move forward in my walk with the Lord and implement this act of obedience. So many people where there as bystanders, along with their family and friends, including my mother and family friend of 15+ years.


Thank you all for your prayers, encouragement, positive thoughts, and love~~
 
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