{"id":31044,"date":"2011-12-26T18:31:00","date_gmt":"2011-12-27T00:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=31044"},"modified":"2021-01-22T18:34:57","modified_gmt":"2021-01-23T00:34:57","slug":"should-i-wait-to-be-baptized","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-wait-to-be-baptized\/","title":{"rendered":"Should I wait to be baptized?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>I am a new convert. I converted about 6 months ago, but I have been always curious about God and learning about Jesus. The only problem is that I&#8217;m not baptized through the waters yet. I still know that the Holy Spirit is with me and I can carry (at least to me ) a good communion with God, hopefully even better after baptism. I just wanted to know if I could be baptized with the Holy Spirit (speak in tongues, etc) even though I&#8217;m not baptized through the waters yet.<\/p>\n<p>Also, just to note, I&#8217;m not baptized yet because I&#8217;m the only convert in my family to an evangelical church. I desire that they will, in Jesus&#8217; name, convert also and that we will all be baptized together.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks a lot!<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<p>You might be convinced that Christianity is the only way to live, and I&#8217;m glad of it, but until you are baptized:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You haven&#8217;t had your past sins washed away (Acts 22:16), forgiven (Acts 2:38), or saved from your sins (Mark 16:16; I Peter 3:21).<\/li>\n<li>You haven&#8217;t entered into the covenant of our Lord (Colossians 2:11-13).<\/li>\n<li>You haven&#8217;t entered the kingdom of God (John 3:5) or into Christ himself (Galatians 3:27).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It is great that you want the rest of your family saved, but to put off your own salvation until they join you isn&#8217;t going to help you. &#8220;<em>If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple<\/em>&#8221; (Luke 14:26). God doesn&#8217;t want to hear excuses about why you think you need to delay. He wants your heart and that means your obedience.<\/p>\n<p>The baptism of the Holy Spirit only occurred twice in the history of the church (Acts 2 and Acts 10). It is not something the person chose to do but what the Holy Spirit did to the person. See:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/when-was-cornelius-saved\/cornelius-received-the-holy-spirit\/\">Cornelius Received the Holy Spirit<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: I am a new convert. I converted about 6 months ago, but I have been always curious about God and learning about Jesus. The only problem is that I&#8217;m not baptized through the waters yet. I still know that the Holy Spirit is with me and I can carry (at least to me )&hellip;<\/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":[52,428,142,141],"class_list":["post-31044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-baptism","tag-gifts-of-the-holy-spirit","tag-speaking-in-tongues","tag-tongue-speaking"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22011,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-one-receive-the-holy-spirit-without-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":31044,"position":0},"title":"Can one receive the Holy Spirit without baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 15, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can one receive the Holy Spirit without baptism? Answer: The clear answer to this is \"yes.\" Baptism is a command found in the New Testament, yet people had received the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. In addition: \"While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25657,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-paul-asked-the-ephesians-if-they-had-received-the-holy-spirit-what-was-he-referring-to\/","url_meta":{"origin":31044,"position":1},"title":"When Paul asked the Ephesians if they had received the Holy Spirit, what was he referring to?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 18, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: When Paul asked the Ephesians, \"Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?\" in Acts 19:2, was he referring to the gift of Acts 2:38? And is that the same as the\u00a0Spirit given in Acts 5:32. Thanks. Answer: \"And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":95205,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/were-cornelius-and-his-household-saved-before-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":31044,"position":2},"title":"Were Cornelius and his household saved before baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 21, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I've been studying the Holy Spirit and have been reading some of the articles on your website. I'm a little confused. The article says that it's obvious that the gift of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:38 is salvation. If it's salvation, then the people in (Acts 10:45) received\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42314,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-dont-understand-where-you-are-getting-gifts-of-the-holy-spirit-in-acts-816\/","url_meta":{"origin":31044,"position":3},"title":"I don&#8217;t understand where you are getting gifts of the Holy Spirit in Acts 8:16","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 25, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was reading one of your Q&A's\u00a0Must you speak in tongues to have the Holy Spirit? I was a bit confused about this tail end of a verse \"They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25348,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-the-baptism-of-the-holy-spirit-give-you-the-power-to-fight-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":31044,"position":4},"title":"Does the baptism of the Holy Spirit give you the power to fight sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 19, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi! Does the baptism of the Holy Spirit give you the power to fight sin? Does the baptism of the Holy Spirit give you the power to overcome sin? Answer: Peter was baptized with the Holy Spirit: \"Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, 'John\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35795,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-exceptions-made-for-those-who-are-unable-to-be-baptized\/","url_meta":{"origin":31044,"position":5},"title":"Are exceptions made for those who are unable to be baptized?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If we are told that to be saved we must be baptized by being dunked in water, how or what allowances do you make for the sick, bedridden, old, or too young, who cannot go into the water and dunk their head? Answer: The argument is flawed because it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","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\/31044","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=31044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31044\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}