WHO SHOULD BE RE-BAPTIZED?
There is confusion within the
religious realm as to whether anyone should ever be baptized.
In reference to the baptism of the Great Commission, the Bible
states, that, there is “one baptism” (Eph. 4:5).
Many reason from that truth that it is not necessary to
re-baptize anyone. Of course, if a person has been scripturally
baptized, then a second baptism would not be essential. On the
Apostle Paul’s third missionary journey from Antioch of Syria,
he re-baptized twelve men at Ephesus who had received an invalid
baptism. They claimed to have received John’s baptism (Acts
19:1-7). A preacher by the name of Apollos, who had been
preaching in that city, knew only the baptism of John (Acts
18:24-28). The baptism of John the Baptist had been valid for
preparing penitent believers for the coming kingdom that came
into existence on the first Pentecost after the resurrection of
Christ (Matthew 3:1-6; Luke 3:3; Mark 9:1; Luke 24:46-49; Acts
1:8; Acts 2:1-5). Anyone receiving John’s baptism after the
baptism of the Great Commission came into effect would not be
valid.
Some religious groups
erroneously baptize infants and small children. They claim that
infants are born tainted with the sin of Adam. This false
doctrine is not taught in the Bible. Every person is
responsible for his or her own spiritual status before God. The
prophet Ezekiel stated, “The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither
shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the
righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the
wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him” (Ezekiel
18:20). He is plainly saying that every person will be held
responsible for his or her own sins, not for the sins of anyone
else. Jesus Christ taught that those accountable unto the
Heavenly Father must become innocent and pure as is a little
child (Matthew 18:1-4). It is not only after a precious soul
reaches the mental state to properly understand between good and
evil that he or she becomes eternally accountable for their
thoughts, words, and actions (Matthew 5:27-28; Matthew 12:35-37;
2 Corinthians 5:10). Infants and little children who are
spiritually innocent in the sight of God do not need to be
baptized. If someone has erroneously baptized them, then after
they have reached the age of accountability then those
individuals will need to be rebaptized. Most infants are not
baptized (immersed), but were sprinkled or had water poured upon
them.
The mode of baptism is
immersion. Many religious groups substitute sprinkling and/or
pouring in lieu of immersion. In reality, neither sprinkling
nor pouring is a form of baptism. The word baptize
has been transliterated into English translations. It means
to dip, plunge to immerse. Baptizo was anglicized
to conform to English manner of spelling. The Greek word for
sprinkle is rhantizo; and the Greek word for pour
is ekcheo. Neither sprinkling nor pouring depicts
the death, burial, and resurrection of the Son of God.
Immersion does picture the death, burial, and resurrection of
our Lord (Romans 6:3-6; Colossians 2:12). Therefore, anyone who
was sprinkled or received a pouring of water upon them has not
been scripturally baptized. In order to be pleasing unto the
Lord, they must be immersed.
Others have been baptized
(immersed) for the wrong purpose. Some have been baptized as a
church ordinance to obtain membership in a particular
denomination. Often, a vote is taken as to whether or not to
accept the person being baptized into the membership of their
church. There is not any authority found in the New Testament
to vote on church membership. Rather, when one is scripturally
baptized, the Lord adds them to the redeemed, His church (Acts
2:41, 47). In addition to that, there are religious bodies that
look upon baptism as a mere symbol of the death, burial, and
resurrection of Christ. Actually, when one is baptized as
taught under the new covenant, that person is the recipient of
the spiritual blessings achieved in the death of the Son of God
(John 19:31-34; Romans 6:3-4; Colossians 2:12). Those not
baptized for the remission of sins needs to be re-baptized for
the purpose of obtaining forgiveness of their sins (Acts 2:38).
There are those who foolishly
state that a person does not have to understand the purpose of
being baptized in order to obtain the remission of their sins.
In the first century, those baptized were told prior to their
baptism precisely why they were to be baptized. On the first
Pentecost after the resurrection of Christ, the Apostle Peter
convicted the Jews of being responsible for the crucifixion of
the Son of God. Those pricked in their heart inquired of Peter
and to the rest of the apostles, “…Men and brethren, what
shall we do?” The Apostle Peter, by inspiration,
immediately said, “…Repent, and be baptized every one of
you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and
ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Now, did
these people understand the words of Peter? Yes, because in
verse 41, the scripture states, “Then they that gladly
received his word were baptized: and the same day there were
added unto them about three thousand souls.” (Acts
2:36-41).
A person may have doubts as
to whether or not they understood the purpose of baptism when
they were baptized. For instance, some young people go forward
during a worship service to be baptized because their friends
were doing so. Or, a young man is baptized merely to favorably
impress his girl friend and her parents. These are not adequate
reasons for being baptized. If a person has reservation about
their own baptism, then that person should be immersed in water
for the remission of their sins to remove all doubts.
The new birth takes place
when an obedient believer is baptized into Christ (John 3:5;
Galatians 3:26-27). After having obeyed the gospel of Christ,
an erring child of God does not have to be baptized again.
Instead, that brother or sister must repent, confess his or her
sins, and pray unto the Heavenly Father for forgiveness (1 John
1:9; Acts 8:22-24; James 5:16). Baptism is for the purpose of
obtaining forgiveness of our past sins through the blood of
Christ (Acts 22:16; Revelation 1:5). We do not receive the
umbrella effect as a child of God of having our present and
future sins covered by the blood of Christ through baptism.
When a person is scripturally baptized, all of his or her past
sins are forgiven. However, we must continue to walk in the
light of the scriptures in order to be continually cleansed by
Christ’s blood (1 John 1:7).
--Dub Mowery