What authority is there for re-baptism?<\/a>” first and then I’ll address the differences in your own question.<\/p>\nYour wife was a member of a denomination which teaches that baptism has nothing to do with salvation. In the Baptist view baptism only makes you a member of the Baptist church, but salvation comes at the point of faith. However, I know many people who hold views different from those of the denomination they belong to. Therefore, when talking with people I’m careful to ask what they believe and not make assumptions fully on the beliefs of their particular denomination.<\/p>\n
I also know that people have such a strong aversion to being wrong that they will often modify their memories of the past to make them match what they currently know is the truth. Thus, when I study with a person about salvation, I will ask near the beginning to describe how they became saved and why they did it. I even have them jot those things down. Then we study the Scriptures and when we are done, I invite them to compare what they now know to what they thought before. However, this isn’t available with your wife.<\/p>\n
It is possible that despite what the Baptist taught, she understood what baptism truly was for and was baptized for the right reasons. Since it doesn’t matter who does the baptism, then I can’t say she must be re-baptized — only she can make that decision. God has put no qualifications on the person doing the baptism.<\/p>\n
I’ve had Baptists come and ask if they can be members of the congregation here. I ask them what they believe is the purpose of baptism. The answer has always been that baptism was an outward sign of an inward grace; that is, it demonstrated that they were already saved. I then point them to what the Bible states and recommend that they become baptized for the right reason, knowing that it saves a person from their sins. But no, they cannot be a member of the congregation while believing and teaching a doctrine not supported by the Scriptures.<\/p>\n
However, if I ever run into someone who correctly understood what baptism was for and who stated that is how and why they were baptized, then I would have to accept their word, just as I accept every other Christian at their word. It hasn’t happened yet to my knowledge, but it would be how I would recommend handling the situation. If we were lied to, then God will handle the problem. But if they are telling the truth, then I cannot rightly refuse a brother or sister in Christ.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I was raised in the church of Christ. I am married to someone who was raised in the Baptist church. She has no problem with going to church with me. But she doesn’t think that she should be baptized again. She says that she was baptized for the same reason, the same way, and…<\/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,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[52,1388,248],"class_list":["post-2450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-baptism","tag-baptist-church","tag-baptized-again"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2447,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-person-be-baptized-correctly-while-being-in-a-denomination-that-doesnt-believe-in-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":2450,"position":0},"title":"Can a person be baptized correctly while being in a denomination that doesn’t believe in baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 10, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question about baptism, I thought that one could not be taught wrong and baptized right. I recently got re-baptized, because I was young (12) years old when I obeyed the gospel. I just could not remember if I understood what the gospel was about at that\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":31442,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-a-person-from-a-baptist-background-need-to-be-baptized-again-if-he-believes-he-has-done-everything-god-asks-of-him-correctly\/","url_meta":{"origin":2450,"position":1},"title":"Does a person from a Baptist background need to be baptized again if he believes he has done everything God asks of him correctly?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 23, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question about baptism. My husband and I are setting up to teach a man who has been visiting the church where we attend for going on two years now. His background is Baptist and when I asked him was he baptized for the remission of sins\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":16027,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-person-be-baptized-correctly-while-being-in-a-denomination-that-teaches-wrongly\/","url_meta":{"origin":2450,"position":2},"title":"Can a person be baptized correctly while being in a denomination that teaches wrongly?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 10, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question about baptism, I thought that one could not be taught wrong and baptized right. I recently got re-baptized, because I was young (12) years old when I obeyed the gospel. I just could not remember if I understood what the gospel was about at that\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":25431,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-is-a-baptism-valid\/","url_meta":{"origin":2450,"position":3},"title":"When Is a Baptism Valid?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 28, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew Bassford Seven or eight years ago, I got a call from a brother in St. Louis who asked me to study with his mother.\u00a0 I set up the study and began, as I usually do, by asking her questions about her religious background.\u00a0 She explained that she had\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Baptism5.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":22932,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-acts-238-heresy\/","url_meta":{"origin":2450,"position":4},"title":"Is Acts 2:38 Heresy?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 26, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Tommy Thornhill \"Jesse L. Sewell was born in Overton County, TN in 1818. He grew up in a Baptist community and became a Baptist preacher of some note in his native county. In the course of time, he learned the truth about Acts 2:38 (i.e. that baptism was in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/burntPage.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":18075,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-baptists-christians-and-where-does-the-bible-speak-against-creeds\/","url_meta":{"origin":2450,"position":5},"title":"Are Baptists Christians and where does the Bible speak against creeds?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 4, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have discussed with a lady the fact that one has not put on Christ until she has been baptized into Him. She is a Baptist but has been discussing the Bible with an open mind. She said her preacher told the congregation this weekend that they are \"bought\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\/2450","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=2450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2450\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}