Should I be baptised again ?

[Victor in Christ]

You should draw closer to those the Apostles taught.

Ezekiel 36:25
Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

Commentary on Ezekiel 36:25-26 by John Gill

Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you
Not baptismal water, as Jerom; an ordinance indeed of the Gospel, and to which the Jews will submit when converted; and which is performed by water, but not by sprinkling, nor does it cleanse from sin; and is administered by men, and is not an operation of God, as this is: rather the regenerating grace of the Spirit; though this does not purify from all sin, and besides is intended in the next verse: it seems best to understand it of the blood of Christ, the blood of sprinkling, and of justification from sin, and pardon of it by it; so Kimchi and Jarchi interpret of purification by atonement; and the Targum is,

``I will forgive your sins, as one is cleansed by the water of sprinkling, and the ashes of a heifer, which is for a sin offering:''and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness, and from all your idols
will I cleanse you;
the blood of Christ cleanses from all sin; by it men are justified from all things, and are made perfectly pure and spotless in the sight of God; they are cleansed from original sin, the pollution of their nature; from all actual sins and transgressions, which are very defiling; from sins of heart, lip, and life; even from such as are idols, set up in the heart, and served.

Ezekiel 36:26

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put
within you
A "new heart" and a "new spirit" are one and the same; that is, a renewed one; renewed by the Spirit and grace of God; in which a new principle of life is put; new light is infused; a new will, filled with new purposes and resolutions; where new affections are placed, and new desires are formed; and where there are new delights and joys, as well as new sorrows and troubles; the same which in the New Testament is called the "new man", and the new creature, ( Ephesians 4:24 ) ( 2 Corinthians 5:17 ) . The Targum paraphrases it,

``a heart fearing, and a spirit fearing;''where the true fear of God is, a truly gracious heart; and which is purely the gift of God, and is the fruit of his rich grace, abundant mercy, and great love: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh;
the Targum is,``and I will break the heart of the wicked, which is hard as a stone;''this is a heart hardened by sin, and confirmed in it; destitute of spiritual life and motion; senseless and stupid, stubborn and inflexible; on which no impressions are made; and which remains hard and impenitent: now this is in "the flesh", in corrupt nature; and this hardness of heart is natural to men; and all who have it are after the flesh, or are carnal; and it requires omnipotence to remove it; it cannot be taken out by men of themselves: nor by ministers of the word; nor by the bare mercies and judgments of God; but by the powerful and efficacious grace of God; giving repentance unto life; working faith in the soul, to look to a crucified Christ; and shedding abroad the love of God in the heart, which softens and melts it; all which is done by the Spirit, and frequently by means of the word. This is interpreted, in the Talmud F14, of the evil imagination, or corruption of nature; and is one of the names of it, a stone; and it refers, it is said F15, to the time or world to come, the days of the Messiah: and I will give you an heart of flesh;
a heart sensible of sin and danger; a penitent one, soft and tender, through the love and fear of God; a spiritual and sanctified heart; submissive to the will of God; flexible and obsequious to the commands of Christ; on which impressions are made by the grace of God; where the laws of God are written, the Gospel of Christ is put; where Christ himself is formed; where are the fear of God, faith, hope, and love, and every other grace.

 

[Marumorose]

I was baptised as a baby but only recently because a Christian at 20 ?

should I be baptised again?

YES. You confess your sins first and then you get baptised because baptism is for the remission of your sins (from childhood up to now). Babies do not have sins to confess. Remember that Jesus Christ was a Grown man when he got baptised.
Acts 2:32 says "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."

 

[Eloy Craft]

"When Phillip baptized the Ethiopian eunuch, did he just find a bit of water and sprinkle the eunuch with it? No."


What about that community of Christians living in the desert? Their water is critical to their survival. Would it be appropriate for them to sprinkle water or would they have to immerse their whole bodies? Would God expect them to use water they need to survive to baptize?

 

[Victor in Christ]

"When Phillip baptized the Ethiopian eunuch, did he just find a bit of water and sprinkle the eunuch with it? No."


What about that community of Christians living in the desert? Their water is critical to their survival. Would it be appropriate for them to sprinkle water or would they have to immerse their whole bodies? Would God expect them to use water they need to survive to baptize?

No physical water, God will baptise you from above. Baptism is a divine ordinance of the Gospel, the meaning behind the immersion is important for a believer who is convicted they need to be baptised.

 

[Daniel Marsh]

Commentary on Ezekiel 36:25-26 by John Gill

Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you
Not baptismal water, as Jerom; an ordinance indeed of the Gospel, and to which the Jews will submit when converted; and which is performed by water, but not by sprinkling, nor does it cleanse from sin; and is administered by men, and is not an operation of God, as this is: rather the regenerating grace of the Spirit; though this does not purify from all sin, and besides is intended in the next verse: it seems best to understand it of the blood of Christ, the blood of sprinkling, and of justification from sin, and pardon of it by it; so Kimchi and Jarchi interpret of purification by atonement; and the Targum is,

``I will forgive your sins, as one is cleansed by the water of sprinkling, and the ashes of a heifer, which is for a sin offering:''and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness, and from all your idols
will I cleanse you;
the blood of Christ cleanses from all sin; by it men are justified from all things, and are made perfectly pure and spotless in the sight of God; they are cleansed from original sin, the pollution of their nature; from all actual sins and transgressions, which are very defiling; from sins of heart, lip, and life; even from such as are idols, set up in the heart, and served.

Ezekiel 36:26

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put
within you
A "new heart" and a "new spirit" are one and the same; that is, a renewed one; renewed by the Spirit and grace of God; in which a new principle of life is put; new light is infused; a new will, filled with new purposes and resolutions; where new affections are placed, and new desires are formed; and where there are new delights and joys, as well as new sorrows and troubles; the same which in the New Testament is called the "new man", and the new creature, ( Ephesians 4:24 ) ( 2 Corinthians 5:17 ) . The Targum paraphrases it,

``a heart fearing, and a spirit fearing;''where the true fear of God is, a truly gracious heart; and which is purely the gift of God, and is the fruit of his rich grace, abundant mercy, and great love: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh;
the Targum is,``and I will break the heart of the wicked, which is hard as a stone;''this is a heart hardened by sin, and confirmed in it; destitute of spiritual life and motion; senseless and stupid, stubborn and inflexible; on which no impressions are made; and which remains hard and impenitent: now this is in "the flesh", in corrupt nature; and this hardness of heart is natural to men; and all who have it are after the flesh, or are carnal; and it requires omnipotence to remove it; it cannot be taken out by men of themselves: nor by ministers of the word; nor by the bare mercies and judgments of God; but by the powerful and efficacious grace of God; giving repentance unto life; working faith in the soul, to look to a crucified Christ; and shedding abroad the love of God in the heart, which softens and melts it; all which is done by the Spirit, and frequently by means of the word. This is interpreted, in the Talmud F14, of the evil imagination, or corruption of nature; and is one of the names of it, a stone; and it refers, it is said F15, to the time or world to come, the days of the Messiah: and I will give you an heart of flesh;
a heart sensible of sin and danger; a penitent one, soft and tender, through the love and fear of God; a spiritual and sanctified heart; submissive to the will of God; flexible and obsequious to the commands of Christ; on which impressions are made by the grace of God; where the laws of God are written, the Gospel of Christ is put; where Christ himself is formed; where are the fear of God, faith, hope, and love, and every other grace.

I just lost respect for John Gill because, it was God speaking in Ezekiel 36.

22 So tell the family of Israel that this is what the Lord God says: ‘Family of Israel, you ruined my holy name in the places where you went. I am going to do something to stop this. I will not do it for your sake, Israel. I will do it for my holy name. 23 I will show the nations how holy my great name really is. You ruined my good name in those nations! But I will show you that I am holy. I will make you respect my name, and then those nations will know that I am the Lord.’” This is what the Lord God said.

24 “I will take you out of those nations, gather you together, and bring you back to your own land. 25 Then I will sprinkle pure water on you and make you pure. I will wash away all your filth, the filth from those nasty idols, and I will make you pure. 26 I will also put a new spirit in you to change your way of thinking. I will take out the heart of stone from your body and give you a tender, human heart. 27 I will put my Spirit inside you and change you so that you will obey my laws. You will carefully obey my commands. 28 Then you will live in the land that I gave to your ancestors. You will be my people, and I will be your God. 29 Also, I will save you and keep you from becoming unclean. I will command the grain to grow. I will not bring a famine against you

 

[Daniel Marsh]

YES. You confess your sins first and then you get baptised because baptism is for the remission of your sins (from childhood up to now). Babies do not have sins to confess. Remember that Jesus Christ was a Grown man when he got baptised.
Acts 2:32 says "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."

A child has sin the first time they disobey their parents. Only God knows when that happens.

 

[ViaCrucis]

YES. You confess your sins first and then you get baptised because baptism is for the remission of your sins (from childhood up to now). Babies do not have sins to confess. Remember that Jesus Christ was a Grown man when he got baptised.
Acts 2:32 says "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."

Note that Peter does not say, "repent and then be baptized" as though it is some kind of proscribed order to do things. Rather he says, "repent and be baptized", because of the importance of both.

For starters, repentance isn't some one time thing. The Christian life is a life lived in repentance, we should daily drown ourselves in repentance.

So what does it matter if one is baptized as an infant or an adult? It's the same thing. One baptized as an infant is raised in the faith, and thus lives into the Christian life which is, again, a life lived in repentance. And if one converts as an adult, receives baptism, they are still living into that life lived in repentance.

Baptism is new birth and union with Christ and His atoning work, it means our entire lives are brought into the water--our past, our present, our future, the entire reality of who we are as a human person--and brought into the life of Christ which is by God's grace, and through faith (itself God's gift to us apart from ourselves).

What you are presenting is a very legalistic approach to the subject; as though God has some kind of several step program that we must pass in order to attain salvation. That's simply not the case. Far from it, salvation is the work and gift of God, freely given to us. There is no twelve step program (or even one step program) that we must do in order to be saved.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Eloy Craft]

No physical water, God will baptise you from above.

this is no solution for the believer who is convicted they need to be Baptized.

Baptism is a divine ordinance of the Gospel, the meaning behind the immersion is important for a believer who is convicted they need to be baptised.

I doubt that immersion is more important than survival. The first Christians felt living water was necessary but....then believers needing Baptism didn't have a river handy to do it. ..God doesn't want Baptizing to be an unreasonable burden. So they decided it was ok to immerse in a pool of water. Good thing they weren't so legalistic that they placed unnecessary burdens on the faithful. Like the lawyers Jesus rebuked for not "lifting a finger " to ease unnecessary burdens imposed by traditions of men, Baptism is a tradition from God. Immersion is a tradition of men.

 

[Victor in Christ]

this is no solution for the believer who is convicted they need to be Baptized.

Eloy, you were talking about 'a community of Christians living in the desert' who had little physical water. If you haven't enough physical water and you really are convicted you need to be baptised, all 3 persons of the God-head 'know' what that believer needs. It'll happen divinely if you've not got physical water.

 

[Victor in Christ]

I just lost respect for John Gill because, it was God speaking in Ezekiel 36.

John Gill is stating the Holy water of sprinkling in Ezekiel 36, is not (simply) administered by men (as a ritual). Its divinely 'sprinkled' by God (all 3 persons of the God-head are involved). He said, "but not by sprinkling, nor does it cleanse from sin; and is administered by men,"

Believers/pasters/ministers can baptise physically with water and it is a divine ordinance of the Gospel, but the TRUE sprinkling happens divinely.

 

[Victor in Christ]

A child has sin the first time they disobey their parents. Only God knows when that happens.

There are scriptures which say a child is born as a sinner, there's also scriptures which say only God knows who's truly born from above, and these scriptures can give much comfort to a parent who looses a child when young and hasn't come to the age of 'understanding.

 

[Lawrence87]

No, you do not need to get baptised again. I would go for Chrismation or Confirmation or whatever it might be called in the denomination you attend.

"I confess one baptism for the remission of sins"

- The Creed

 

[Daniel Marsh]

John Gill is stating the Holy water of sprinkling in Ezekiel 36, is not (simply) administered by men (as a ritual). Its divinely 'sprinkled' by God (all 3 persons of the God-head are involved). He said, "but not by sprinkling, nor does it cleanse from sin; and is administered by men,"

Believers/pasters/ministers can baptise physically with water and it is a divine ordinance of the Gospel, but the TRUE sprinkling happens divinely.

I must have misread you the first time, sorry. Tired from the virus again.

 

[Daniel Marsh]

There are scriptures which say a child is born as a sinner, there's also scriptures which say only God knows who's truly born from above, and these scriptures can give much comfort to a parent who looses a child when young and hasn't come to the age of 'understanding.

And, the age of understanding is? 3, 8, 11, 12, 13 , 15???

I have a Jewish background, children are born innocent until they knowingly know that disobeying is wrong. Which is why parents have children baptised or dedicated to God and making a pledge, covenant to raise a child in the Lord.

 

[Daniel Marsh]

Romans 5:13
(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

And, David spoke about going to be with his child after death.

 

[Eloy Craft]

Eloy, you were talking about 'a community of Christians living in the desert' who had little physical water. If you haven't enough physical water and you really are convicted you need to be baptised, all 3 persons of the God-head 'know' what that believer needs. It'll happen divinely if you've not got physical water.

That works for the convert who would get Baptized but it is impossible, like the theif on the cross. The Chri9stians in the desert have water and it's not impossible if they use less water. God also knows what's more important. Baptism, which is what He commanded or a particular formula that is a tradition of man. It's more important that it be done in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit than the amount of water used. Once we begin loosely deciding what is impossible for Baptism to take place we're on a road to denying God's commands. The theif on the cross meets the evidence required to decide it was impossible for him to be baptized. Grace and Peace Victor in Christ.

 

[Daniel Marsh]

That works for the convert who would get Baptized but it is impossible, like the theif on the cross. The Chri9stians in the desert have water and it's not impossible if they use less water. God also knows what's more important. Baptism, which is what He commanded or a particular formula that is a tradition of man. It's more important that it be done in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit than the amount of water used. Once we begin loosely deciding what is impossible for Baptism to take place we're on a road to denying God's commands. The theif on the cross meets the evidence required to decide it was impossible for him to be baptized. Grace and Peace Victor in Christ.

I think the guy on the cross comes under "baptism of desire".

 

[Victor in Christ]

I think the guy on the cross comes under "baptism of desire".

a divine baptism indeed.

 

[Eloy Craft]

I think the guy on the cross comes under "baptism of desire".

Me Too

 

[Victor in Christ]

I think the guy on the cross comes under "baptism of desire".

and conviction...

He was mocking Christ along with the other, until the Holy spirit convicted him of his sins. Christ knew it, our heavenly Father knew it and the Spirit of God intervened to save his soul from hell.

Good sermon on that below, around 21mins in

The Two Thieves