{"id":39794,"date":"2013-07-30T21:02:00","date_gmt":"2013-07-31T02:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=39794"},"modified":"2024-11-26T15:03:32","modified_gmt":"2024-11-26T21:03:32","slug":"youre-right-you-dont-have-to-be-baptized","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/youre-right-you-dont-have-to-be-baptized\/","title":{"rendered":"You\u2019re Right! You Don\u2019t HAVE to Be Baptized."},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20180114155647\/http:\/\/www.evangelismhelp.com\/youre-right-you-dont-have-to-be-baptized\/\">Jason Smith<\/a><\/p>\n<p>I have had many discussions about the subject of baptism with people, and it never fails that sometimes, during the discussion, they just deny what the scriptures say about the topic. They at times just say, &#8220;I deny what you are saying about baptism,&#8221; ignoring the fact that all I am doing is quoting verses about baptism. Another response I have gotten is, &#8220;You don&#8217;t have to be baptized!&#8221; Well, in response to this, I say you are absolutely right! You do not <strong>have<\/strong>\u00a0to get baptized. This is a true statement. You only\u00a0<strong>have<\/strong>\u00a0to get baptized if:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>you want to follow in the steps of Christ, who was baptized (Matthew 3:16);<\/li>\n<li>you want to become a disciple (Matthew 28:19);<\/li>\n<li>you want to be saved (Mark 16:16);<\/li>\n<li>you want to enter the Kingdom of God (John 3:5);<\/li>\n<li>you want your sins remitted (Acts 2:38);<\/li>\n<li>you want the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38; 5:32);<\/li>\n<li>you have gladly received the word of God (Acts 2:41);<\/li>\n<li>you have believed the preaching of the gospel of the Kingdom (Acts 8:12)<\/li>\n<li>you want to obey the commandment of God (Acts 10:47-48)<\/li>\n<li>you want your sins washed away (Acts 22:16)<\/li>\n<li>you want to call upon the Lord (Acts 22:16)<\/li>\n<li>you want to be IN Christ Jesus (Romans 6:3)<\/li>\n<li>you want to be IN the death of Christ (Romans 6:3)<\/li>\n<li>you want to be buried WITH Jesus and raised to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4)<\/li>\n<li>you want to be united with Jesus in His death and resurrection (Romans 6:5)<\/li>\n<li>you want to be crucified with Christ (Romans 6:6)<\/li>\n<li>you want your body of sin to be done away with (Romans 6:6)<\/li>\n<li>you want to no longer be a slave to sin (Romans 6:6)<\/li>\n<li>you want to be freed from sin (Romans 6:7)<\/li>\n<li>you want to be washed and sanctified in the name of Jesus by the Spirit of God\u00a0 (1I Corinthians 6:11)<\/li>\n<li>you want to be in the body of Christ (I Corinthians 12:13)<\/li>\n<li>you no longer want to be under the tutor of the law (Galatians 3:25-27)<\/li>\n<li>you want to become a son of God by faith (Galatians 3:26-27)<\/li>\n<li>you want to be in Christ and clothed with Christ (Galatians 3:27)<\/li>\n<li>you want to be sanctified and cleansed (Ephesians 5:26)<\/li>\n<li>you want a spiritual circumcision of Christ, in which your body of flesh (sin) is cut away (Colossians 2:11)<\/li>\n<li>you want to be buried with Jesus and raised up with Him (Colossians 2:12)<\/li>\n<li>you want to be made alive together with Christ (Colossians 2:13)<\/li>\n<li>you want to be forgiven of all your transgressions (Colossians 2:13)<\/li>\n<li>you want your heart and your evil conscience cleansed (Hebrews 10:22)<\/li>\n<li>you want to make an appeal to God for a clean conscience (I Peter 3:21)<\/li>\n<li>you want to be saved through the resurrection of Christ (I Peter 3:21)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So, as the verses above show, you really don&#8217;t <strong>have<\/strong>\u00a0to be baptized, but I pray you will be so you can partake of the above blessings that are given to those who are.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by\u00a0Jason Smith I have had many discussions about the subject of baptism with people, and it never fails that sometimes, during the discussion, they just deny what the scriptures say about the topic. They at times just say, &#8220;I deny what you are saying about baptism,&#8221; ignoring the fact that all I am doing is&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":[27],"tags":[52],"class_list":["post-39794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-baptism"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5702,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":39794,"position":0},"title":"Jesus&#8217; Baptism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Jesus had no sins, and John was baptizing people who needed their sins washed away. When Jesus requested that John baptize Him, John \"tried to prevent Him, saying, \"I have need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?\" Baptism is for sinners\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":4823,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-teach-a-stubborn-person-the-truth-about-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":39794,"position":1},"title":"How do I teach a stubborn person the truth about baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 22, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Thank you for\u00a0your response. I did have another question that touches on your response. The same goes for denomination such as the AME. They teach false doctrine when it comes to baptism and yet proclaim to be saved. I have a female friend that swears to be saved and\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":35978,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-wonder-if-i-falsely-remember-being-baptized\/","url_meta":{"origin":39794,"position":2},"title":"I wonder if I falsely remember being baptized","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 21, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Some say it is absolutely wrong to be baptized more than once and to not do it.\u00a0Some say it is an outward sign to others, and one can be baptized more than once for various reasons.\u00a0I have even read that water baptism is not necessary for salvation, which I\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":2440,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-want-to-be-baptized-but-how-can-i-find-a-true-believer-to-do-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":39794,"position":3},"title":"I want to be baptized, but how can I find a true believer to do it?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 9, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I recently came across the fact that baptism is a necessary step for the forgiveness of sins. If this interpretation is true, it means that I've never met a Christian in my whole life. Most people I know who are or claim to be a Christian were baptized because\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":10450,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/am-i-doing-the-right-thing-by-getting-baptized-again-after-being-baptized-as-a-child\/","url_meta":{"origin":39794,"position":4},"title":"Am I doing the right thing by getting baptized again after being baptized as a child?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 19, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am getting baptized in a couple of days and I wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing. The problem is that I was baptized as a toddler in a Catholic Church. I am not Catholic and the baptism meant nothing because I lived a life\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":92369,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-a-congregation-deny-someone-who-desires-to-be-baptized-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":39794,"position":5},"title":"Should a congregation deny someone who desires to be baptized again?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 28, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day Jeff, I hope you're doing well. I have a question. A brother stood up in church to confess that the reason he got baptized was to marry a sister in the congregation, not that he was convinced that it would give him salvation. He requested that he\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\/39794","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=39794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39794\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}