I am a member of the church of Christ and lately, an issue has arisen. A few of our members were baptized in denominations but have been allowed to join our congregation on the basis that their baptisms were valid or scriptural based on an investigation. According to these members, as soon as they found out more about the church of the Bible, they left their denominations and became members of the church. My question is: was their baptism scriptural even though done by a denomination and not the church?<\/p>\n
I eagerly await your response.<\/p>\n\t
None of us are God. We can’t see into a person’s mind, we cannot determine their motivations, or see into the past to see what actually happened. “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God<\/em>” (I Corinthians 4:5).<\/p>\n What I can do is teach what God has said about baptism and the reasons for it. When doing so, I usually ask the person when they were baptized, why they were baptized, and whether they thought salvation came before or after baptism. Only after having their answers do I then invite them to look at the Scriptures to see if what they did matches what God taught.<\/p>\n There are some denominations that teach an incorrect doctrine on some things, but they do practice baptism for the correct reasons, such as the Christian Church. It is possible for individuals to be baptized correctly and for the right reason even though it isn’t what the denomination they attended taught. I will grant you that it would be rare, but it is a possibility. If a person claims to have been baptized for the right reasons, they acknowledge that baptism is essential for salvation, and they were baptized correctly, then you have covered everything with them. The rest is between them and God.<\/p>\n\t Thanks, my brother. Your perspective has really shone some light on this issue. May God continue to be your guide in your presentation of His word.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: I am a member of the church of Christ and lately, an issue has arisen. A few of our members were baptized in denominations but have been allowed to join our congregation on the basis that their baptisms were valid or scriptural based on an investigation. According to these members, as soon as they…<\/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":[52,300],"class_list":["post-43041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-baptism","tag-denominations"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":30900,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-a-person-leaving-the-christian-church-need-to-be-baptized-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":43041,"position":0},"title":"Does a person leaving the Christian Church need to be baptized again?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 11, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What is your thinking (based on Scripture) on a situation where someone has been baptized in the Christian Church but says they were baptized for the remission of sins and they want to place membership in the church of Christ? Do they need to be baptized again? The argument\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":43041,"position":1},"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":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":43041,"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":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":43041,"position":3},"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":84502,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-baptism-be-refused\/","url_meta":{"origin":43041,"position":4},"title":"Should baptism be refused?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 13, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi Jeff, Greetings to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I would need your insights on two questions. We are currently studying baptism, which may seem an unlikely topic for members of the Church of Christ. However, we aim to target some young people who may\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":87294,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-all-denominations-false\/","url_meta":{"origin":43041,"position":5},"title":"Are all denominations false?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 28, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Are all denominations false? Did Jesus ever command anyone to create denominations? To me, it seems that denominations are man-made religions, not something the Lord initiated. I don't believe God leads people to follow a particular denomination or to find their identity in one. 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