Not All Baptisms Are Acknowledged by God
As a preacher of God, people from all walks of life come to me to ask questions which are vital to their salvation. Although sometimes they ask similar questions, I never tired of giving them answers based on the Bible especially when I see that they are really seeking for the truth. I feel that I have the moral obligation to answer them with the hope that, through the intervention of the Holy Spirit, they will be enlightened.
As written in 1 PETER 3:15 (KJV),
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
One of the most frequently asked questions concerns baptism. Specifically, they want to find out if it is still necessary for them to be baptized again if they want to be members of the Church of God International considering they had already received baptism in their former religions.
To this question, my straightforward answer is, if you were baptized in a manner that is not in consonance with what the Bible teaches, then, that baptism means nothing.
MARK 7:7 (KJV) says,
Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
If what you received in the past were merely teachings and commandments of men, everything that you do in the name of religion, including your worship to God, is considered vain.
Let me reiterate, if you became a victim of false preachers and you became a follower of the teachings, commandments, and doctrines of men, even the highest work of salvation, which is to worship our Creator, is going to be in vain.
TITUS 1:14 (KJV) says,
Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.
The term “be baptized again” is only legal if you were really baptized. If the first baptism that you received is the kind of baptism that is acknowledged by God, then we can say that this will be a re-baptism, or to be baptized again.
But, if what you have received is something which is vain or without worth, it is not even logical and grammatical to use “to be baptized again” because you have never really undergone baptism yet. If you were baptized in a church that teaches doctrines and commandments of men, your baptism is not acknowledged by God.
Furthermore, EPHESIANS 4:4-5 (KJV) says,
4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, . . .
You have to notice the way the Apostle Paul emphasized things. He repeatedly used “one”. There is one body, and one Spirit. The body which is one is the church.
COLOSSIANS 1:18 (KJV) says,
And he is the head of the body, the church: . . .
We are certain that the body being mentioned in Ephesians 4:4 refers to the church. There is one body and one spirit. What one spirit? One spirit that gives life to the body because according to JAMES, “A body without the spirit is dead.” (James 2:26) It is nothing. In the same way that faith without work is also dead.
“Even as ye are called in one hope, of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” (Eph. 4:4) There is only one baptism, there is only one true body, or church, and there is only one true baptism.
The word “true” is not found in the verse but all the things enumerated by the Apostle Paul are the true things that concern salvation. One body, one spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism – they are all in that body, or church. So, baptism is in the body.
1 CORINTHIANS 12:13 (KJV) says,
For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
That was the Apostle Paul’s declaration to the first century Christians. Everything is in the body. Everything that pertains to salvation and worship is in that body, which is the true church of the Bible. Now, if you received baptism outside of that body, I frankly tell you, your baptism is nothing.
We cannot use the word re-baptized because, in truth, you haven’t been baptized yet. It is inappropriate to say that you will be baptized again since you really haven’t received yet the true baptism.
Biblically speaking, if you received a baptism in a wrong jurisdiction, or from a wrong church, your baptism is null and void. Practically, you did not receive anything.
We always have to be disciplined by the Bible. Let us not think outside the perimeters of the Scriptures, instead we should always be within its perimeters. And based on the Scriptures, true baptism is one, and it is in the body, which is the Church of God.
Actually, even the name of the church spells the truth. How can you receive true baptism if the name of your church is Seventh Day Adventist Church for instance? The true church of the Bible is named after its owner. The true church of the Bible is of God that is why it is called the Church of God. Calling it by another name is wrong because there is a doctrine in the Bible that the true church must be called after the name of the owner, who is none other than God.
I repeat, true baptism is in the Church of God, not in anywhere else. Therefore, baptism outside the Church of God is nothing; it is vain; it is invalid; it is not acknowledged by God.
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