I searched for an answer to a question and happily ran into a church of Christ site. I saw your question and answer section, and I need more specific information. As briefly as possible I will explain.<\/p>\nI was baptized at the age of 12. I went way <\/b>off course in my life. and ended up with addiction issues.
\nI made very bad decisions in my life.\n
I left the church for a long time. I felt that I never left God, but I stayed in my sinful lifestyle.<\/p>\n
Much later in life, I was baptized again. I repented over and over, but I couldn’t or wouldn’t stop using alcohol. Even though I was a church and worship leader, I continued to sin.<\/p>\n
I am more than ashamed. I am tired of feeling the pain, guilt, and shame — not to mention the physical damage done to myself. I’m fighting hard and I am finally able to stop.<\/p>\n
I’m truly repentant. I am turning my life over to Christ. I’ve told my brothers my exact state of being multiple times and I’ve asked for prayers. I do not believe I should be baptized again. But your prayerful and Scriptural opinion is requested.<\/p>\n
Sincerely, I am just a repentant sinner in need of redemption.<\/p>\n\t
When a person is baptized, he enters into a covenant with Christ. That entrance is only needed once. By becoming a child of God, the past with its sins is removed (Acts 22:16), and the person begins a new life (Romans 6:3-7). This doesn’t mean that a Christian is prevented from sinning or that he is expected to live a sinless life. Sins happen to even the best of us (I John 1:8-2:1). What changes is that a Christian is dedicated to fighting sin while knowing he may slip occasionally.<\/p>\n
You left the Lord (Isaiah 59:1-2), but happily, you are fighting your way back to him. You are correct, you don’t need to be baptized again. You need to buckle down to fight Satan for the rest of your life (Ephesians 6:10-18). You can’t let your guard down and think you have this sin conquered (I Corinthians 10:12).<\/p>\n
You’ve done well. Continue to fight the fight of faith.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I searched for an answer to a question and happily ran into a church of Christ site. I saw your question and answer section, and I need more specific information. As briefly as possible I will explain. I was baptized at the age of 12. I went way off course in my life. 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,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[387,371,248,1319],"class_list":["post-65989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-addiction","tag-alcohol","tag-baptized-again","tag-drinking"],"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":65989,"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":37608,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-convince-someone-to-be-baptized-again-when-they-think-their-past-baptism-is-good-enough\/","url_meta":{"origin":65989,"position":1},"title":"How do I convince someone to be baptized again when they think their past baptism is good enough?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi again, brother Jeffrey, I had asked for your help before regarding beverages. Thank you so much for the help because it gives me clarity on what to do. I moved out from the church where I used to worship because I heard from the leader of that church\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":85724,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-need-to-be-baptized-again-after-falling-away-and-returning\/","url_meta":{"origin":65989,"position":2},"title":"Do you need to be baptized again after falling away and returning?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I trusted Christ as my Savior when I was a teenager, but I wasn't baptized. Then I read Mark 16 and was scared, so I got baptized at a Pentecostal Church. However, they taught that baptism didn't save, and I wasn't sure if it did when I was baptized.\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":41491,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-got-baptized-for-selfish-reasons-do-i-need-to-get-baptized-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":65989,"position":3},"title":"I got baptized for selfish reasons. Do I need to get baptized again?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was baptized according to the Bible when I was 14. I'm now 20 years old. I have been faithful in the church. However, recently I have been questioning the motive behind my baptism. Now that I look back I knew Jesus had died on the cross for my\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":31442,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-a-person-from-a-baptist-background-need-to-be-baptized-again-if-he-believes-he-has-done-everything-god-asks-of-him-correctly\/","url_meta":{"origin":65989,"position":4},"title":"Does a person from a Baptist background need to be baptized again if he believes he has done everything God asks of him correctly?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 23, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question about baptism. My husband and I are setting up to teach a man who has been visiting the church where we attend for going on two years now. His background is Baptist and when I asked him was he baptized for the remission of sins\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":92369,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-a-congregation-deny-someone-who-desires-to-be-baptized-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":65989,"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 "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\/65989","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=65989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65989\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}