{"id":85724,"date":"2025-03-18T12:35:46","date_gmt":"2025-03-18T17:35:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=85724"},"modified":"2026-04-20T10:34:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T15:34:16","slug":"do-you-need-to-be-baptized-again-after-falling-away-and-returning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-need-to-be-baptized-again-after-falling-away-and-returning\/","title":{"rendered":"Do you need to be baptized again after falling away and returning?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>I trusted Christ as my Savior when I was a teenager, but I wasn&#8217;t baptized. Then I read Mark 16 and was scared, so I got baptized at a Pentecostal Church. However, they taught that baptism didn&#8217;t save, and I wasn&#8217;t sure if it did when I was baptized. A couple of years ago, I went to a Church of Christ preacher and told him I wanted to believe and be baptized to make certain I was saved. I believed in Christ, confessed him with my mouth, and was baptized, believing the baptism had a part in my salvation (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; I Peter 3:21). However, over the last couple of years, I fell away.<\/p>\n<p>I repented and trusted Christ again to return to God, so do those who fall away have to get baptized to be saved again?<\/p>\n<p>Also, John says very clearly that some baptisms are not in water, like with the spirit and with fire. I Corinthians 12:12 says Spirit baptism puts us into Christ, not water. So aren&#8217;t Romans 6 baptism and Galatians 3 baptism by the Spirit, too? Jesus said his death was a baptism, so there are baptisms without water.<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<p>What a Christian (someone who has already been baptized) sins, the requirement is to repent of his sins (II Corinthians 7:10-11) and to confess his sins to God (I John 1:9). There is no requirement to be baptized again. Such would not make sense. With baptism, you enter into a covenant with God. That covenant lasts for the rest of your life (Romans 7:1). When you fell away, you violated that covenant, but it did not end.<\/p>\n<p>Regarding the various baptisms mentioned in the New Testament, see &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/baptisms-of-the-new-testament\/\">Baptisms of the New Testament<\/a>.&#8221; In this lesson, you will see that the baptism mentioned in I Corinthians 12:13 is a baptism in water done at the direction of the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>I don&#8217;t understand how Christians who become lost stay in the covenant, even though they are not saved anymore.<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<p>Let&#8217;s illustrate the idea with the marriage covenant. A couple enters into a covenant with each other on their wedding day (Matthew 19:4-6). The covenant lasts for their lifetime.<\/p>\n<p>Assume the husband decides to abandon his wife. His leaving doesn&#8217;t negate his covenant. He is still married even though he has strayed from his covenant. If he wakes up to reality and returns to his wife, he doesn&#8217;t need to have another wedding. The original covenant is still in place.<\/p>\n<p>In the same way, when you were baptized, you entered a covenant with Jesus. You didn&#8217;t remain faithful, but that didn&#8217;t end the covenant. You realized you were wrong, but it doesn&#8217;t mean you must make a new covenant with Christ since the original never ended.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: I trusted Christ as my Savior when I was a teenager, but I wasn&#8217;t baptized. Then I read Mark 16 and was scared, so I got baptized at a Pentecostal Church. However, they taught that baptism didn&#8217;t save, and I wasn&#8217;t sure if it did when I was baptized. A couple of years ago,&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,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[52,248],"class_list":["post-85724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-baptism","tag-baptized-again"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":25930,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-was-baptized-as-an-infant-do-i-need-to-be-baptized-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":85724,"position":0},"title":"I was baptized as an infant. Do I need to be baptized again?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was baptized as an infant; however, I have recently found Christ and repented from my sinful ways. I know the importance of baptism and want to ensure that I am in accordance with the Scriptures. There are many different views on this subject; however, I cannot seem to\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":29048,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-spiritual-significance-of-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":85724,"position":1},"title":"The Spiritual Significance of Baptism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 26, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mark Larson via Gospel Power, Vol. 16, No. 6, Feb. 8, 2009. \"Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1038,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-authority-is-there-for-re-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":85724,"position":2},"title":"What authority is there for re-baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 16, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Where does the Bible authenticate re-baptizing anyone who believed in Jesus and was baptized in His name? Answer: I know of none. Baptism is an act that is done once. \"For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were\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":88547,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-the-apostle-paul-baptize\/","url_meta":{"origin":85724,"position":3},"title":"Did the Apostle Paul Baptize?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Louis Rushmore Plainly, the apostle Paul acknowledged that he personally baptized some individuals. \"Now I say this, that each of you says, 'I am of Paul,'\u00a0or 'I am of Apollos,'\u00a0or 'I am of Cephas,' or 'I am of Christ.\"\u00a0Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24862,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-bible-puts-baptism-between-the-sinner-and-his-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":85724,"position":4},"title":"The Bible Puts Baptism Between the Sinner and His Salvation!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 17, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dillard Thurman in Gospel Minutes, December 26, 1958, Reprinted in Gospel Minutes, Vol. 57, No. 16, April 18, 2008. I am not responsible for the place baptism occupies in God's plan of salvation. Nor was I consulted in the matter. Had the Lord taken the matter up with me,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Baptism.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24859,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/doesnt-the-bible-teach-that-you-can-be-saved-without-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":85724,"position":5},"title":"Doesn&#8217;t the Bible teach that you can be saved without baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 28, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I read your article, \"Why I Am Not a Nazarene,\" as I have been researching the\u00a0Wesleyan Nazarenes and was considering attending there as a member but I am having doubts. However, I read your article and where it says\u00a0\"No one is saved without being baptized with water\" is\u00a0not biblical.\u00a0\u00a0One\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\/85724","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=85724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85724\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}