Do you need to be baptized as a believer? I walked the aisle, said the prayer and got baptized 4 weeks later as a 5th grader. Nothing changed. I was saved when I was 15 - God revealed to me I had my baptism out-of-order - I had been baptized before I was saved.
The Bible instructs us to be baptized after we believe (Acts 18:8). I received believer's baptism at 20 years old. Many Christians have their baptism out-of-order - here are 3 reasons you MUST be baptized:
1). Baptism is the initiation into the Christian faith. Matthew 3:15 says Jesus was baptized to "fulfill all righteousness." If Jesus submitted to baptism, shouldn't you?
2). There is no record of child baptism. There are references to households receiving baptism (Acts 16:15) - but the specific reference to a child receiving baptism is not found in Scripture. Baptism is an adult decision - if a child is baptized - the parents and pastor should examine the child to explain the meaning of salvation and baptism.
3). Baptism is all about obedience. Acts 22:16 asks us, "why delay?" Rejecting baptism is a sin of great disobedience. You're disobeying Christ by giving Him reasons you can't be baptized. I would never want to stand in front of God as an unbaptized believer. Only the thief on the cross wasn't able to get baptized (Luke 23:42-43). There's no such thing as an unbaptized Christian.
Baptism symbolizes our relationship with God - our old life going under the water, the water as the cleansing power of God, and our new life coming up (Romans 6:4).
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