haven't I already done that? I'm totally confused now. This is probably my first spiritual crisis.....God help me. It's the Holy Spirit of course. I will tell you how hasty my first decision was...I don't remember the date, I didn't wake up that morning planning to be baptised. I asked mum out of fear I wasn't saved because I wasn't baptised. I now don't hold those views of salvation being reliant on baptism of water. What am I supposed to do?
calm down.
I was baptist by my wife and I baptized her in a bath tub. Any one who is saved can baptize. It is by The authority in Jesus we baptize and not of our self. Jesus asked the Pharisee by what authority did John the baptist baptize The answer is by Jesus, His authority.
I research how to do it. I was baptist in the name of The Father, The son and The Holy Spirit. That is important because you must be baptize in all three names of God, all 3 parts of God.
What did you feel afterward? i think you have answered your own question if You should do it again. For me i will never do it again and i know the church might not recognize it.
WHen I went under the water i felt like I was buried with Jesus in the grave. I was at perfect peace and it seemed I was under water for hours, days a long time, time had no meaning any more. When I came out of the water The Holy Spirit hit me, and i felt Life, more alive than I had ever been, and Joy at the same time happier than i have ever been. Like I had never known happiness until that moment that is what it was like when The Holy Spirit hit me.
So you see i won't do it again because i know God recognized it and to do it again would be an insult.
You got to understand being baptized is being buried in the grave with Christ, Nail to the cross with Him and dying with Him, that is when you go under the water. That is the grave. When you come out of the water. that is being resurrected with Jesus when he was. Time has no meaning, you are with Him at those times even though they already happen. That is what it means. It is not public statement of following Christ, You gave that when you confessed Jesus as your Lord. It is about the going to the grave with Christ and being resurrected to Life with him.
You need to know that what i told you when you do it. You can't do it out of fear. And doing it in building of wood and stone does not matter.
Let deal with Your fear. Do you love Jesus? The fastest way and surest way to Know if your saved is if you love Jesus in your heart. Are you willing to lay down your will and take up Gods? Ask God to increase the love you have for him in your heart. If you Love Jesus, asked for forgiveness, You are saved. Take up your faith that God will never leave you. He said i will never reject you(my children) You have a one way ticket to heaven. Not even the gates of Hell can take that away from you, because your in Gods hands where no one takes anything away from God. also written. The gates of Hell can not erase what Jesus already won. Our souls. He paid our debt in full, He bought us, we are now His slaves,servants, Sons and Daughters.
Should you get baptized yes it is commanded and Great. You want that experience trust me.
You said in another post in this thread you did not stop sinning after that but now you have. Do you understand what sin is? It is disobeying God. Trust me you still sin, and you will, and you will struggle it is our struggle here on earth The flesh wars with the new Spirit. But now you have a new Spirit you can reject the flesh, put it to death, you do not have to follow it, but before you had to obey the flesh. See Paul writings if you want to check what I am saying with the Bible. We will fall to sin, but we are saved and will win in the end because Jesus already won for us. Does that mean you can go on sinning wildly no. You are to struggle, pray, let God change you from the inside out. Because we can do nothing to save our selves and we can not change our selves. It is God who changes us from the inside out. We will sin less and less over time and be free when we see Jesus and take our new bodies.
You must pray, read the Bible, pray for others, pray for God to change you, and pray some more and read the Bible more, You will get closer to God daily by doing this, and you will sin less. You must love everyone, but you can not force this and you can not make yourself do it, you must pray and let God work in you. It will happen. Have faith In God. The sooner you realize you are dependent on God the sooner you can start running to him.
praying for you
Peace and Love
blu