{"id":53958,"date":"2018-08-22T19:53:00","date_gmt":"2018-08-23T00:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=53958"},"modified":"2022-09-20T19:55:43","modified_gmt":"2022-09-21T00:55:43","slug":"is-there-a-minimum-level-of-faith-needed-to-become-a-christian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-there-a-minimum-level-of-faith-needed-to-become-a-christian\/","title":{"rendered":"Is there a minimum level of faith needed to become a Christian?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>I have been a Christian for many years. When I was baptized I came up out of the water and began to doubt if I really believed in Christ. I was under much emotional stress at that time. I did not let this doubt stop me from worshiping, but I always seemed to feel others were sure of their salvation and showed it. As the years have gone by, I have been told I am a true example of Christian living and have been told to just let this doubt go.<\/p>\n<p>My faith in Christ has grown over the years. I know He is my Savior and truly want to be with Him in heaven. I want to please God in every way and let my works be a true expression of that love. But these doubts still flare up sometimes and leave a measure of uneasiness.<\/p>\n<p>My best friend, a Bible scholar in the church and who originally baptized me, knows I worry a lot. He tells me he has seen my Christian growth over the years and wants me to just let it go. He sees no need for another baptism. Do I follow His advice?<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<p>Many people do not allow for growth as a Christian. &#8220;<em>Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation<\/em>&#8221; (I Peter 2:2). Notice that the growth is in respect to salvation. You had some faith, otherwise, you would not have agreed to be baptized. You had some knowledge of Christ. You had some faith because you admit your faith has grown. True, it is not nearly as strong or as deep as it is today, but it was still there in a small measure back then. There is not a minimally accepted level of faith in Christ that God said is required. The amount of faith you need is the amount that drives you to obey God and get baptized.<\/p>\n<p>There is no need for you to get baptized again.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: I have been a Christian for many years. When I was baptized I came up out of the water and began to doubt if I really believed in Christ. I was under much emotional stress at that time. I did not let this doubt stop me from worshiping, but I always seemed to feel&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,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[99,49],"class_list":["post-53958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-becoming-a-christian","tag-faith"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":49530,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-dont-think-i-have-sufficient-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":53958,"position":0},"title":"I don&#8217;t think I have sufficient faith","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 27, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello Brother, I came across your website over a year ago and have found it to be sound and very helpful. I am a member of the body of Christ, the church of Christ. I am 21 years old and have been a Christian for many years and have\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":24451,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-much-repentance-is-needed-before-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":53958,"position":1},"title":"How much repentance is needed before baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 8, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a few things that bother me from time to time and I can't seem to be at peace with it. The topic of repentance comes to mind. I have read through some of\u00a0your articles, as well as other articles, regarding repentance and its necessity for baptism (which\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":8059,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-get-baptized-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":53958,"position":2},"title":"Should I get baptized again?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 3, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I read your\u00a0answer about re-baptism. For a time now I have struggled with about being re-baptized. When I was originally baptized, it was done the proper way by immersion in the name of the Father, of the Son, and Holy Spirit for the purpose of becoming saved. But since\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":70925,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-i-truly-born-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":53958,"position":3},"title":"Was I truly born again?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 6, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I had a question regarding baptism. I was baptized a few years ago when I was around 20 years old; however, I struggled with sexual immorality and lust with my girlfriend for a long time. Eventually, we got married. After this, I started to think baptism wasn't necessary\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":17425,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-beginning-to-doubt-my-baptism-whether-i-really-understood-that-i-was-to-die-to-sin-should-i-be-rebaptized\/","url_meta":{"origin":53958,"position":4},"title":"I&#8217;m beginning to doubt my baptism, whether I really understood that I was to die to sin. Should I be rebaptized?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 13, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have heard of many people who have questioned their salvation because they didn't know a particular scripture at the time. I have learned through the years that there will always be something you don't know at the time of your baptism. A person does not need to know\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":51395,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-should-i-go-from-here-im-an-alcoholic-my-wife-has-left-me-and-i-doubt-my-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":53958,"position":5},"title":"Where should I go from here? I&#8217;m an alcoholic, my wife has left me, and I doubt my baptism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: To start off, I was baptized at the church of Christ I attended. Before that time I was getting really bad into drugs, and my drinking was off the charts. I don't remember what I knew of Christ, just that I needed to be baptized to enter Heaven. 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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53958","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=53958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53958\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}