After accepting Christ, do you have to be baptized to get to the next level in heaven?<\/p>\n\t
First, there is no mention of different levels in heaven in the Bible. There is some indication that what each person has in heaven may not be exactly the same. See:\u00a0Are there degrees of rewards and punishment?<\/a><\/p>\n Second, the Bible doesn’t mention acceptance as a condition of salvation, unless you are using “acceptance” as a synonym for belief. Belief is required to become a Christian. “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins<\/em>” (John 8:24). However, belief is not the only requirement. “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only<\/em>” (James 2:24). A belief that isn’t accompanied by action isn’t a belief sufficient to save a person.<\/p>\n The Bible also speaks of the need to change your attitude toward sin and to give up your sinful ways. “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent<\/em>” (Acts 17:30).<\/p>\n You also need to be able to stand up for your belief. “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven<\/em>” (Matthew 10:32-33).<\/p>\n Baptism is also a requirement for salvation because it is the act that symbolizes the change in the person. “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin<\/em>” (Romans 6:3-7). The claim that one is saved without baptism is false. “Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you — not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience — through the resurrection of Jesus Christ<\/em>” (I Peter 3:21).<\/p>\n See:\u00a0What Must I Do to be Saved?<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0What Saves a Person?<\/a><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: After accepting Christ, do you have to be baptized to get to the next level in heaven? Answer: First, there is no mention of different levels in heaven in the Bible. There is some indication that what each person has in heaven may not be exactly the same. See:\u00a0Are there degrees of rewards 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":[52,47],"class_list":["post-43297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-baptism","tag-salvation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":41163,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-happens-to-people-who-die-without-being-baptized\/","url_meta":{"origin":43297,"position":0},"title":"What happens to people who die without being baptized?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 27, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I have been reading about the church of Christ and the issue of baptism. If baptism is required for salvation, what happens to people who die without being baptized? Thank you. Answer: What happens to a person who disobeys God? \"Do not marvel at this; for an hour\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":15189,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-if-a-person-dies-after-accepting-god-but-before-he-can-be-baptized\/","url_meta":{"origin":43297,"position":1},"title":"What if a person dies after accepting God but before he can be baptized?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 27, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question about baptism. People always ask what if a person is about to die and accepts God into his heart, does he go to heaven or hell? My response is two things: I tell them the guy had chances before, so God would be just in\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":8397,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-my-husband-saved-at-his-first-or-second-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":43297,"position":2},"title":"Was my husband saved at his first or second baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 8, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My husband had been baptized at around 13 years old.\u00a0 He said he thought he got baptized because he knew his mom wanted him too. I am sure he knew some of what was right and wrong but was not privy to a lot of Bible teaching. (He was\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":58549,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/partial-faith-is-satans-victory\/","url_meta":{"origin":43297,"position":3},"title":"Partial Faith Is Satan\u2019s Victory","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 28, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Carey Scott \"A major survey by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life finds that most Americans have a non-dogmatic approach to faith. A majority of those who are affiliated with a religion, for instance, do not believe their religion is the only way to salvation.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55907,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-one-have-a-right-to-his-own-belief\/","url_meta":{"origin":43297,"position":4},"title":"Does One Have a Right to His Own Belief?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 17, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Eugene W. Clevenger via\u00a0The Preceptor, Vol. 1, No. 6, April 1952. A question that we often hear asked is, Does every person have a right to his own belief? I cannot answer that question honestly and completely with a simple \"Yes\" or \"No\", because to me the answer is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4778,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-one-justify-being-a-christian-if-he-is-not-baptized\/","url_meta":{"origin":43297,"position":5},"title":"How can one justify being a Christian if he is not baptized?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 20, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How can one justify being a Christian if he claims to believe but is not baptized until some time later? Is he convinced that baptism does not save you? Question: Many denominations teach people that belief is all that is required for salvation. Some, such as the Baptists, do\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\/43297","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=43297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43297\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}