why do different Baptist churches not accept baptism in another baptist church?

Daniel, I have never heard of this. I do know that some Baptist churches will not accept baptism from another denomination. Others will not accept baptism if the person believed that it was essential to salvation.

I don't think it's just Baptists, although it has been a while so I am not entirely sure ...most of them were Baptist ...but not all
I was relatively new in the Word having recently been rescued by God from playing on the wrong team and certain death….

I was searching different congregations for a good fit and every place I went wanted to baptize me with water. To which I would respond “I have already accepted Jesus Christ… I am born again and from what Acts 1:5 states …water is not necessary”….but they would persist….. so that …and other reasons caused me leave.

When I did find a church that felt like a fit, they also wanted to baptize me, even though I told him I was 1000 % sure I am born again (which I am) He still wanted to baptize me saying.... he needed to make sure and it was necessary to belong to the congregation.

So, one Sunday he caught up to me and said they were doing a baptism and wanted me there. I told him I didn’t need it, and I could prove it. ….I said “follow me”. We walked out of the church down the stairs and started walking towards the parking lot …when he stopped, and said “wait ..where are we going” I said “I am going to get some coffee…I’m buying”. He said, “I thought you said you could prove it”. I said “I just did”. “Jesus Christ told people to follow Him, and they did, I just told you to follow me ….and you did, so I must have Christ in me”……………..He told me not to come back.

I don't know much about this - but I suspect "Missionary Baptist" or "Fundamental Baptists" might be what is referenced here.

It is odd because the SDA denomination would recognize the Baptism of all of them -- and we are not Baptist (technically speaking)

Daniel Marsh said:

why do different Baptist churches not accept baptism in another baptist church?

Click to expand...

When I was searching for a church that was Word-centered and zealous, I came upon a Southern Baptist Church that seemed to fit, and after a few visits I went to the Pastor and told him I wanted to join the church. He told me I had to be Baptized first. I told him I was already Baptized, and felt it would dishonor my Baptism to repeat it. I told him to be Baptized again would be a denial, or rejection, of my prior Baptism - which was into Christ - and that would be to me an insult to Christ.

He explained his insistence this way: they believe that one is Baptized into the particular individual church/parish that you seek to become a member of. I could not agree to that understanding, nor could I be Baptized again, so that was that. I left, disappointed and very saddened that such a requirement would exclude me and my understanding of the meaning of Baptism, from other Christians!

fide said:

When I was searching for a church that was Word-centered and zealous, I came upon a Southern Baptist Church that seemed to fit, and after a few visits I went to the Pastor and told him I wanted to join the church. He told me I had to be Baptized first. I told him I was already Baptized, and felt it would dishonor my Baptism to repeat it. I told him to be Baptized again would be a denial, or rejection, of my prior Baptism - which was into Christ - and that would be to me an insult to Christ.

He explained his insistence this way: they believe that one is Baptized into the particular individual church/parish that you seek to become a member of. I could not agree to that understanding, nor could I be Baptized again, so that was that. I left, disappointed and very saddened that such a requirement would exclude me and my understanding of the meaning of Baptism, from other Christians!

Click to expand...

Out of curiousity was your baptism "believer's baptism" in some other denomination than Baptist?

The denomination I belong to accepts "believer's baptism" in other denominations so that when someone wants to join - we ask them to look over a set of Bible studies that explains what we find in the Bible - and if they agree to it they join by "profession of faith" not baptism since they already were baptized as a believer.

BobRyan said:

Out of curiousity was your baptism "believer's baptism" in some other denomination than Baptist?

The denomination I belong to accepts "believer's baptism" in other denominations so that when someone wants to join - we ask them to look over a set of Bible studies that explains what we find in the Bible - and if they agree to it they join by "profession of faith" not baptism since they already were baptized as a believer.

Click to expand...

No, that was not the case.

fide said:

When I was searching for a church that was Word-centered and zealous, I came upon a Southern Baptist Church that seemed to fit, and after a few visits I went to the Pastor and told him I wanted to join the church. He told me I had to be Baptized first. I told him I was already Baptized, and felt it would dishonor my Baptism to repeat it. I told him to be Baptized again would be a denial, or rejection, of my prior Baptism - which was into Christ - and that would be to me an insult to Christ.

He explained his insistence this way: they believe that one is Baptized into the particular individual church/parish that you seek to become a member of. I could not agree to that understanding, nor could I be Baptized again, so that was that. I left, disappointed and very saddened that such a requirement would exclude me and my understanding of the meaning of Baptism, from other Christians!

Click to expand...

Yeah, that idea is problematical. I'd give it only two favorable presumptions:

1. If they required a "commendation" from another congregation with similar baptism rules certifying that you had, indeed, been previously baptized by the same rules.

2. If they accepted any baptism done after you'd reached an age of reason.

I'm not saying that either requirement is necessary, but I could accept the rationale.

But just to move from one congregation to another...no, that's not biblical.

I've seen this question argued elsewhere. As I see the Scriptures, the only requirement for baptism is that you have accepted Jesus as Savior.

When born-again Christians apply for membership, they are asked to explain their baptism, and if they were saved and then baptized, I have always accepted that.

RDKirk said:

Yeah, that idea is problematical. I'd give it only two favorable presumptions:

1. If they required a "commendation" from another congregation with similar baptism rules certifying that you had, indeed, been previously baptized by the same rules.

2. If they accepted any baptism done after you'd reached an age of reason.

I'm not saying that either requirement is necessary, but I could accept the rationale.

But just to move from one congregation to another...no, that's not biblical.

Click to expand...

He made clear to me that they understood "Baptism" as into a specific "Body of Christ" congregation. That is not true, as I understand the meaning of "the Body of Christ."

fide said:

He made clear to me that they understood "Baptism" as into a specific "Body of Christ" congregation. That is not true, as I understand the meaning of "the Body of Christ."

Click to expand...

Yes, there are some independent Baptist churches that insist that baptism is into a particular congregation and that when one moves to another city and wishes to join another independent Baptist church just like the one they left, they must be baptized yet again. There are two particular problems that jump out to me, as follow:

1. "Church" is misunderstood to mean a particular congregation, not the Church of God which is united by His Holy Spirit.

2. Baptism is associated with joining a church. Never in the Bible is anyone commanded to be baptized so they can become a church member.

bbbbbbb said:

when one moves to another city and wishes to join another independent Baptist church just like the one they left, they must be baptized yet again

Click to expand...

The first problem, it seems to me, is the embrace of the contradiction "another independent Baptist church". Your point #1 is exactly right: "the Church of God ... is united by His Holy Spirit."

I've been an independent Baptist since 1970, and I have never attended a church that required you to be baptized into their congregation. However, I have heard about it.

PS. I was baptized in a creek on a winter day with snow on the ground.

Vince53 said:

I've been an independent Baptist since 1970, and I have never attended a church that required you to be baptized into their congregation. However, I have heard about it.

PS. I was baptized in a creek on a winter day with snow on the ground.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your comment - but I have to ask: in your "independent Baptist" church, did the pastor ever preach on this passage below, and if he did, how did he interpret/understand it?

fide said:

The first problem, it seems to me, is the embrace of the contradiction "another independent Baptist church". Your point #1 is exactly right: "the Church of God ... is united by His Holy Spirit."

Click to expand...

I agree with you completely on the oxymoron of "another independent Baptist church".

Good to hear from you Fide.

I have personally taught on Ephesians 4:2-3 on getting along with each other. But baptism has never been an issue in any Baptist church I have ever attended. The Bible clearly teaches that we need to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in order to be saved, and then we are to be baptized.

As far as Baptist churches that require you to be baptized into their congregation, I suspect that if they told their side of the story, it would not be what they actually believe.

Vince53 said:

Good to hear from you Fide.

I have personally taught on Ephesians 4:2-3 on getting along with each other. But baptism has never been an issue in any Baptist church I have ever attended. The Bible clearly teaches that we need to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in order to be saved, and then we are to be baptized.

As far as Baptist churches that require you to be baptized into their congregation, I suspect that if they told their side of the story, it would not be what they actually believe.

Click to expand...

I ran into this doctrine shortly after I moved to my present home and was visited by the pastor and a deacon from an independent Baptist church. The pastor was fully committed to the doctrine and made certain that his members did, as well. A few years previously, there had been a split in the church he had founded and he ended up on the outside and formed another congregation of members from the original church. They were all baptized again when his (and I emphasize his) new church was started.

The Southern Baptists, while a bit less strict on transfers from other SB congregations, are fairly hardcore on this "rebaptism" thing from other denominations. It's probable they would make exceptions for, say, former Independent Baptists or Bible Churchers, but that's about it.

While they will refer to "of like faith and order", that "order" part knocks out almost everyone but other Baptists, and they'd probably even apply that to the Free Will Baptists because of their rejection of "once saved always saved".

It stems from disputes with what is now known as the Church of Christ over who was the "New Testament Church". The founders of the Restoration Movement claimed that they were restoring the true New Testament Church. In response, a group of Baptist writers came up with what they felt were five or so marks of a true church...which coincidentally lined up with Southern Baptist theology and practice. However, they applied those markers loosely so that almost anyone up to Martin Luther who dissented with the Roman Catholic Church counted, making it possible to create a variant on apostolic succession in which there was always some kind of "Baptist" church from the resurrection forward.

TL; DR: I'm a Nazarene now because I refuse to make my wife, who was immersed in the Christian Church, undergo another baptism just to satisfy a quirk of Baptist ecclesiology.

bbbbbbb said:

Yes, there are some independent Baptist churches that insist that baptism is into a particular congregation and that when one moves to another city and wishes to join another independent Baptist church just like the one they left, they must be baptized yet again. There are two particular problems that jump out to me, as follow:

1. "Church" is misunderstood to mean a particular congregation, not the Church of God which is united by His Holy Spirit.

2. Baptism is associated with joining a church. Never in the Bible is anyone commanded to be baptized so they can become a church member.

Click to expand...

I've heard of such churches as well. It stems from a very strict approach to congregational polity in which the "Body of Christ" exists in its fullness in each individual congregation as opposed to an extra-local wider Church.

actionsub said:

The Southern Baptists, while a bit less strict on transfers from other SB congregations, are fairly hardcore on this "rebaptism" thing from other denominations. It's probable they would make exceptions for, say, former Independent Baptists or Bible Churchers, but that's about it.

While they will refer to "of like faith and order", that "order" part knocks out almost everyone but other Baptists, and they'd probably even apply that to the Free Will Baptists because of their rejection of "once saved always saved".

It stems from disputes with what is now known as the Church of Christ over who was the "New Testament Church". The founders of the Restoration Movement claimed that they were restoring the true New Testament Church. In response, a group of Baptist writers came up with what they felt were five or so marks of a true church...which coincidentally lined up with Southern Baptist theology and practice. However, they applied those markers loosely so that almost anyone up to Martin Luther who dissented with the Roman Catholic Church counted, making it possible to create a variant on apostolic succession in which there was always some kind of "Baptist" church from the resurrection forward.

TL; DR: I'm a Nazarene now because I refuse to make my wife, who was immersed in the Christian Church, undergo another baptism just to satisfy a quirk of Baptist ecclesiology.

Click to expand...

Interesting. The Seventh-day Adventist church does accept "by profession of faith" anyone in any Christian denomination who was baptized by immersion - and practices open communion with all Christians in its communion service. I think the Southern Baptists also practice open communion -- since they have done so in cases where I have attended their Sunday services.