I want to be baptized. Does it matter if I do it in a church that I know doesn’t teach the truth?
Question:
Hey, I saw in one of your articles that being baptized in a place where people teach wrongly isn't valid, such as being baptized when you're a baby. I was baptized when I was a baby, but I know it's not valid because I didn't repent of anything. But now I want to be baptized, but I don't know if I can be baptized by the people in my church because the pastor's wife is called "pastor" as well. Though she rarely preaches, I know it's wrong. And at the youth group, women preach really often.
My church only baptizes once a year, I think it's in a month or two. So I'm planning to be baptized then. But will it be valid, even though I see so many wrong things in there?
Also, before you're baptized, you're not a Christian? Or even though you're not saved, can you be a Christian and God still listen to your prayers?
Answer:
God heard the prayers of Cornelius before he became a Christian. He was devoted to God and doing the best that he knew how at the time. "There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, "Cornelius!" And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, "What is it, lord?" So he said to him, "Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God"" (Acts 10:1-4). Still, he was still in his sins and needed saving. ""Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?" And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord" (Acts 10:47-48).
To become a Christian, to put on Christ, you need to be baptized for the right reason. "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Galatians 3:26-27). It doesn't require that the person baptizing you understands the purpose, but it does make it easier to get it done properly.
If I might suggest, if you understand the need, then let me know what city you are in and I'll try to find a preacher of the Gospel who is nearby and who can contact you. I would rather that you don't put off what you know is important. "For He says: "In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you." Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (II Corinthians 6:2). You might find out that there is a congregation of people who, like you, desire to live simply by God's word.
