Should I be baptized again?

Should I be baptized again?

I was baptized when I was 12 at church camp.

I turned away from the Lord for over 30 years.

Should I be baptized again since I am reborn?

Thanks, Cheri
 
If you were truly saved when you where 12 then you have been baptized into Christ.

There is no need to be baptized again.

However if it would help you to be baptized again as a symbol of your rededication..by all means go for it. I have seen people do this before similar to redoing wedding vows with a spouse. They were always married just reaffirming there commitment.
 
However if it would help you to be baptized again as a symbol of your rededication..by all means go for it. I have seen people do this before similar to redoing wedding vows with a spouse. They were always married just reaffirming there commitment.

verygood advice!!!
 
I believe that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost did it right the first time,... no need to try to improve on perfection. :)

I guess the question you should be asking yourself is...

Do I view Baptism as a promise I make to God?

Or as a promise God has made to me?
 
In the absence of a scriptural admonition not to repeat I recommend following your conscience Godward.
 
I was baptised about 1 year after I came to Jesus. I still had doubts at times and I never realised what baptism truly meant. I watched a baptism several weeks ago and I was thinking the exact same thing.

Daniel's advice strikes a chord with me too.:)
 
Christ died for all your sins only Once
You have been made a child of God through the blood of Jesus. This is only Once and you remain a child of God forever
Baptism pictures the death and burial of our old self and our resurrection to a new life in Jesus Christ (Romans 6:1-11). It is a physical demonstration of repentance (Acts 2:37-38), and faith in Jesus Christ (Mark 16:16; Acts 8:36-37). When baptized, our sins are forgiven, and spiritually washed away (Acts 22:26). The physical act of baptism is not what cleanses us of sin (1 Peter 3:21), it is a symbolic ceremony in which we express repentance, faith in Jesus, and the willingness to live a new life in Christ.
So, to answer your question, if you have already been baptized, it is not required of you again. You have been saved once and the act of baptism has been made once.
Godbe4me
 
I was baptized when I was 12 at church camp.

I turned away from the Lord for over 30 years.

Should I be baptized again since I am reborn?

Thanks, Cheri

After rereading this post my sister I realized that you were born again after you were baptized. I would certainly recommend you taking another dip.:)
 
I believe water baptisim is just an outer sign to the world, a public statement if you like of a change that has already happened within.

Mark 1
4 John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. 5 Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.
6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, “There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. 8 I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”


All Praise The Ancient Of Days
 
I believe water baptisim is just an outer sign to the world, a public statement if you like of a change that has already happened within.

Mark 1
4 John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. 5 Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.
6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, “There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. 8 I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”


All Praise The Ancient Of Days

Exactly.
 
After rereading this post my sister I realized that you were born again after you were baptized. I would certainly recommend you taking another dip.:)

Thank you all for the insightful responses.

I do think of it as a cleansing and since I am reborn, I just think I would love to rededicate myself to the Lord...even if it is only symbolic. I know that dedication truly resides in my heart and I aim to keep it there. However, I do think I would like to be baptized again.

Thanks again. :groupray:
 
Don't be re-baptized. No need whatsoever. In fact, being rebaptized is like saying the first one was not effective.

Keep in mind - Baptism is the Lord's, not yours. When you were baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that was God's seal and sign on you, not a symbol of your faithfulness to God. You were unfaithful, but God remained faithful. Give glory to Him that he brought you back to your baptismal vows, and back into the covenant into which you were sealed by virtue of your baptism.

Baptism is objective and final - someone who is baptized, is, in a certain sense, automatically a "Christian" in that it is the name he bears. He has only one choice: be a faithful Christian and follower of Christ, or reject the covenant and be a covenant-breaker, that is, an unfaithful Christian. Both are "Christians" in a certain sense. Someone who rejects God but has the name of Christian on him (by virtue of Baptism), who does not come back will be judged far more severely than the pagan. But to the one who does come back, those prodigals, all the MORE blessings is upon them for they have not only come IN to the kingdom, but rather, they have come BACK!

Praise be to God that you have come back! "Slaughter the fattened calf!" says the Lord!
 
After reading everyone comments, what comes to mind is.have you spoken to God about this and what has He placed on yor heart? Some times God places somthing on our hearts for a reason, to teach us somthing, help us understand somthing..or make a point..or even just to see if we will obey Him.

Also sometimes we may have somthing on our hearts because of our love for our Lord and our desire to show Him that love and dedication. So I would just say, search your heart and do what you beleive you need. It certainly will NOT hurt you in anyway and will not go against God.

blessings,
Mary
 
I was a good person who went to church all the time, and was baptised when I was in school. But I didn't realize then that I wasn't really born again. It was like they say, you go down a dry sinner and come up a wet sinner. Baptising with the water didn't saved me.

Then years later I really got saved, I was completely changed. Then I was baptised again because it showed I was buried with Christ and rise up to a new life in Christ. It was a witness to the world and to the devil. I now belong the Jesus. The first time didn't matter because I wasn't really a Christian, I was just trying my best to be one and didn't know I had to receive Jesus.
 
GodSpeaks, my father had the exact same experience. He was baptized as a child, and then was re-baptized when he was born again later in life. But what he came to realize is that his first baptism was just as efficacious in his life as his second, or rather, his second baptism was, in a sense, redundant. Baptism is not a human ordinance - it is the ordinance that God gave us - it's His. I understand your reasoning (my father reasoned the same way at first), but I think that it takes away from what God has given in baptism.

Baptism is a sign and seal. It is objective in that way. Of course it doesn't save you. But like circumcision in the Old Testament, it represents setting apart by God. It doesn't matter if you were unfaithful in between - if you are elect, then Christ uses your baptism to bring you back to Himself.

Calvin spoke very harshly against something similar. He was veraciously apposed to the Catholic practice of confirmation, and his reason was that it took away from the sacrament of baptism. They treated confirmation as an initiation and entrance into full communion with the Church, but Calvin argued that that was SOLELY the place of Baptism. If you treat Baptism as a MERE initiation, and just some ceremony, then you are not taking Baptism for all God meant for it to be.

In fact, one of the best ways to preach the gospel to someone who is a nominal Christian (was baptized in their past) is to "grab them by their baptism" so to speak. Tell what it means, and that they have been given the name "Christian," and that God has set them apart because of that. That because they are named "Christian" they owe their belief, allegiance, and trust to Christ. They hold His name - they are His!
 
I was a good person who went to church all the time, and was baptised when I was in school. But I didn't realize then that I wasn't really born again. It was like they say, you go down a dry sinner and come up a wet sinner. Baptising with the water didn't saved me.

Then years later I really got saved, I was completely changed. Then I was baptised again because it showed I was buried with Christ and rise up to a new life in Christ. It was a witness to the world and to the devil. I now belong the Jesus. The first time didn't matter because I wasn't really a Christian, I was just trying my best to be one and didn't know I had to receive Jesus.

Well said.
 
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