Hi again, brother Jeffrey,<\/p>\n
I had asked for your help before regarding beverages. Thank you so much for the help because it gives me clarity on what to do. I moved out from the church where I used to worship because I heard from the leader of that church that it’s OK to drink alcohol inside the house, and I saw him smoking and so was so discouraged by his action.<\/p>\n
Anyway, can I ask you another question regarding baptism? Can you help me explain baptism to someone, without hurting his feelings? I want to encourage him to be baptized in the church of Christ. Their reason for not being baptized again is because they are already baptized at the Baptist church they are attending. They said they were not baptized into the Baptist church but into the name of Christ, our Lord and Savior.<\/p>\n
Your reply will be a great help to me as a brother in Christ. Thank you in advance and God bless.<\/p>\n\t
I’m glad you are making progress in your walk with God.<\/p>\n
In regards to your friends, there are more fundamental problems that need to be addressed first. Encouraging your friends to be baptized for the right reasons while they continue to attend a denomination that doesn’t teach the truth of the Bible won’t do them much good.<\/p>\n
Make the point that baptism is for the purpose of removing sin (Acts 22:16; I Peter 3:21). If they think that this is the reason they were baptized, then you don’t have room to disagree since you weren’t there nor do you know their hearts. But if they wish to say that baptism is unnecessary for salvation, then you have things to talk about with them. The point is that they say they were baptized into Christ, which would be correct even though you and I know that Baptist doctrine says the purpose of baptism is for becoming a member.<\/p>\n
But being baptized into Christ means they claim to accept Jesus as Lord (Luke 6:46). From there you can discuss things like instrumental music in worship, which the Lord did not command. Or you can talk about inherited sins, which Ezekiel 18:20 contradicts. Or the idea that once you are saved you cannot lose your salvation, though Paul talks of several who did.<\/p>\n
What I hope you see is that there are many topics that need to be discussed because they go to the fundamental view of the Bible’s authority and application in our lives. Perhaps they will see that the Baptist church they are attending isn’t teaching the full truth. It is then that you can once again discuss whether they think they were baptized for the right reason or not.<\/p>\n
“But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will<\/em>” (II Timothy 2:23-26).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\t
Response:<\/h2>\n
Good Day Bro. Jeffrey,<\/p>\n
Thank you so much for your reply and for the suggestion on what to do on this matter. I really love the questions and answers portion of your website. It gives me a clear understanding of this situation.<\/p>\n
Take care always and God bless us all.<\/p>\n
Your brother in Christ,<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Hi again, brother Jeffrey, I had asked for your help before regarding beverages. Thank you so much for the help because it gives me clarity on what to do. I moved out from the church where I used to worship because I heard from the leader of that church that it’s OK to drink…<\/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":[1388,248],"class_list":["post-37608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-baptist-church","tag-baptized-again"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"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":37608,"position":0},"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":2450,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/must-a-baptist-be-rebaptized-even-though-he-says-he-was-baptized-for-the-right-reason\/","url_meta":{"origin":37608,"position":1},"title":"Must a Baptist be rebaptized even though he says he was baptized for the right reason?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 7, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"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\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":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":37608,"position":2},"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":16027,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-person-be-baptized-correctly-while-being-in-a-denomination-that-teaches-wrongly\/","url_meta":{"origin":37608,"position":3},"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":31297,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-successionist-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":37608,"position":4},"title":"What is successionist baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 28, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello brother, I had a question about John Smith. Can you please explain to me what successionist baptism is? I saw it in your \"Where Do They All Come From\" sermon, and I just didn't understand very well what this baptism is about. Answer: Successionism is the belief 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":22932,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-acts-238-heresy\/","url_meta":{"origin":37608,"position":5},"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. 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