I am wondering if I am saved. I was baptized in a Church of Christ and since learning more about it I have questions. First I don’t think I understood the confession part. I thought it was confessing to God that you are a sinner and in need of salvation. Then I recently heard that the confession is confessing that Jesus is the Son of God. My question is am I not saved because I misunderstood the confession part and also since I am terrified of water I did not confess that Jesus was the Son of God loudly I nodded my head and mumbled yes when asked if I believed Jesus was the Son of God because I was standing in the pool and terrified of the water, but I understood that I needed to be baptized. I have since watched others who seemed to understand more and say it loudly. Does this make me not saved?<\/p>\n\t
I doubt that anyone fully understands what it means to be a Christian at the start of their journey. We all learn there is more to what God required of us that we realized was there. That increase in knowledge is supposed to happen and comes, in part, through experience. “For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil<\/em>” (Hebrews 5:13-14). We are babes when we become Christians, not perfect individuals.<\/p>\n But more, you seem to think that confession is a one time act that is never done again. The confession we give at our baptism is the beginning of a lifelong public stance of living for Christ. “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven<\/em>” (Matthew 10:32-33). The question you should be asking yourself is are you confessing Christ, not did you say it loud enough one time in the past.<\/p>\n In Jesus’ day, the Pharisees thought to make following God’s laws more precise. They couldn’t leave it at don’t journey on the Sabbath day, they defined exactly how far a person could go from their doorpost. That led some to skirt the “law” by sitting down to eat, declaring that this was their new, temporary “home,” and then continue their journey. The problem stems from trying to add precision to where God did not. It is tempting for Christians to do the same. It isn’t just that you made a confession, you added how much needs to be understood, how many decibels it needs to be declared, and that it was needed to be done just before being baptized. Don’t fall into that trap.<\/p>\n You were asked if you believe that Jesus was the Son of God. You said, “yes.” If you are like most, you had been saying “yes” for a while. The question at the baptism is just to make sure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: I am wondering if I am saved. I was baptized in a Church of Christ and since learning more about it I have questions. First I don’t think I understood the confession part. I thought it was confessing to God that you are a sinner and in need of salvation. Then I recently heard…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[52,51,1569],"class_list":["post-24222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-baptism","tag-confession","tag-doubts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8397,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-my-husband-saved-at-his-first-or-second-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":24222,"position":0},"title":"Was my husband saved at his first or second baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 8, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My husband had been baptized at around 13 years old.\u00a0 He said he thought he got baptized because he knew his mom wanted him too. I am sure he knew some of what was right and wrong but was not privy to a lot of Bible teaching. (He was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44070,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-i-didnt-say-jesus-is-lord-do-i-need-to-be-baptized-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":24222,"position":1},"title":"If I didn’t say “Jesus is Lord,” do I need to be baptized again?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello there, Thank you for the articles and answers on your website.\u00a0 I believe they stand on good biblical ground and are a blessing to Christians and the world. I have a question about Romans 10:9.\u00a0 Many years ago, I was immersed in water for the remission of my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39697,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-must-i-confess-before-i-am-baptized\/","url_meta":{"origin":24222,"position":2},"title":"What must I confess before I am baptized?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 24, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Let me start off by thanking you for all that you do in the name of Jesus Christ. A few weeks ago I had prayed to God asking for guidance in finding the true church of which I can become a part so that I may further my understanding\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23002,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-i-dont-remember-making-a-confession-do-i-need-to-be-baptized-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":24222,"position":3},"title":"If I don’t remember making a confession, do I need to be baptized again?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello! First and foremost I want to offer my appreciation for your website and the encouragement it brings to many. I have been struggling with doubts about my personal salvation over the last few years and was hoping you could bring me some clarity\/advice on what my next step\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15189,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-if-a-person-dies-after-accepting-god-but-before-he-can-be-baptized\/","url_meta":{"origin":24222,"position":4},"title":"What if a person dies after accepting God but before he can be baptized?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 27, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question about baptism. People always ask what if a person is about to die and accepts God into his heart, does he go to heaven or hell? My response is two things: I tell them the guy had chances before, so God would be just in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18676,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-saying-yes-enough-to-confess-christ-before-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":24222,"position":5},"title":"Is saying “yes” enough to confess Christ before baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 14, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I enjoy reading your articles on your web site. I find your answers to questions biblically sound and with justification. I'm having trouble with confession, perhaps you can expound on it for me. Is simply answering \"yes\" when one is asked to confess Christ (before baptism) enough? Should the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24222\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}