Hey Brother,<\/p>\n
Would you baptize an individual who you\u00a0think\u00a0<\/em>is still living in sin or is setting a bad example? For instance, if the individual is living with a girlfriend but claims that they do not have sex and sleep in different rooms.<\/p>\n\t “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity<\/em>” (I Timothy 4:12).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n While the individual claims that they are sleeping in separate rooms, the fact remains that no one knows that this is actually taking place. All his neighbors and friends will simply assume that they are having sex because that is what worldly people do in such a situation. It is what he would assume if he saw another couple living together.<\/p>\n In becoming a Christian, a person is declaring that Christ is his Lord and Master. That declaration is not just to God, it is a bold declaration to the entire world. “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven<\/em>” (Matthew 10:32). Such a confession is ruined if our example contradicts what the Lord teaches or encourages others to engage in practices that are against the Lord’s will. This was one of the faults of the Jews. “And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God<\/em>” (Romans 2:3).<\/p>\n I would have a serious discussion with both the man and his girlfriend about the commitment being entered into. No one is perfect, especially those new to Christ, but when something is clearly wrong or would be naturally seen as wrong, then the best thing is to fix the problem first. Encourage them to separate until they can get married. If there is no place else to live, offer one of them a room.<\/p>\n Baptism is about freedom from sin. “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 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 6:1-7). That change starts now.<\/p>\n A person who knows he needs to be baptized but doesn’t realize he is sinning is only half-taught. After Peter spoke of the need to repent and be baptized, we find him continuing to teach. “And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation” <\/em>” (Acts 2:40).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: Hey Brother, Would you baptize an individual who you\u00a0think\u00a0is still living in sin or is setting a bad example? For instance, if the individual is living with a girlfriend but claims that they do not have sex and sleep in different rooms. Answer: “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to…<\/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":[52,50,179],"class_list":["post-46869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-baptism","tag-repentance","tag-sin"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13725,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-living-together-but-not-sleeping-together-a-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":46869,"position":0},"title":"Is living together, but not sleeping together, a sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 28, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I've just got back from my youth group after having a discussion about living together before getting married. I've searched your articles and I don't think they quite answer the question \"Is living together before marriage a sin?\" We actually want to know is living together, but not sleeping\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":6222,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-person-be-baptized-who-is-living-with-someone-but-not-having-sex\/","url_meta":{"origin":46869,"position":1},"title":"Can a person be baptized who is living with someone but not having sex?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can a person be denied baptism if he is living with his fianc\u00e9e but isn\u2019t committing fornication because they saw the error of their ways Answer: Paul declared \"that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance\" (Acts 26:20). If a person realizes that fornication\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":3612,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-does-the-bible-talk-about-the-unmarried-living-together\/","url_meta":{"origin":46869,"position":2},"title":"Where does the Bible talk about the unmarried living together?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 21, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Where is the Scripture that talks about living together if unmarried? Answer: Generally the phrase \"living together\" is a polite way of saying that two people are sharing the same bed in the same home, thus engaged in sex, though unmarried. In the Greek, the word for this is\u00a0pornos,\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":39870,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/ive-been-living-with-a-man-while-my-divorce-was-going-through-but-now-he-is-reluctant-to-marry-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":46869,"position":3},"title":"I’ve been living with a man while my divorce was going through, but now he is reluctant to marry me","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, We have lived together for 7 years. We probably would've been married long ago, but I was going through a divorce for 6 of those years, and hospitalized due to medical illnesses for about a year or something like that, on and off. We are utterly and completely\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":35301,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-living-with-my-fiancee-but-we-are-not-having-sex-am-i-living-in-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":46869,"position":4},"title":"I’m living with my fiancee, but we are not having sex. Am I living in sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 15, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I've been a newborn in Christ for about three years. Jesus 180'd my life. My problem is that I've been with my fiancee for ten years now. She is starting to get closer to God but not convicted as I am yet. She wants that relationship I have\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":32021,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-for-a-couple-not-married-to-stay-under-the-same-roof-who-will-not-be-sexually-active\/","url_meta":{"origin":46869,"position":5},"title":"Is it wrong for a couple not married to stay under the same roof who will not be sexually active?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 28, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I have a question: Is it wrong for a couple not married to stay under the same roof who will not be sexually active? To be truthful, my girl has nowhere to go, besides the fact that we both want to be together, that is the main factor\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\/46869","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=46869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46869\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Answer:<\/h2>\n