Can I get forgiveness of my sins before I am baptized?
Question:
I have accepted Jesus as my Savior but there is this little detail: I am not baptized. My family is not Catholic, so I wasn't baptized, but I truly believe in God and have been praying a lot lately for His forgivenesses. Is it okay if I'm not baptized? Will I still be forgiven? Also, if I decide to get baptized now (something I have been considering for a while), will I be forgiven for sins committed before baptism?
Answer:
Forgiveness of sins is based on Jesus' death upon the cross. To gain that forgiveness, you have to join with Jesus in his death, which is what baptism represents. "Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin" (Romans 6:3-7). Thus, one of the things baptism gives a new Christian is forgiveness of his prior sins. "Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name" (Acts 22:16).
Your faith and your repentance from your sins are steps in the right direction, but you haven't reached the destination yet.
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