Just curious on something. I was baptized in the Catholic Church as a baby, but when I left Christianity a few years ago and returned to it over a year ago, I feel like my faith is different for me, now. Like I ''own'' it, like it is truly a representative part of my life, without all the nonsense I had been indoctrinated to believe, growing up. Talking with a friend recently, she said that it would be good to be baptized again, because as a baby, we don't have the ability to offer our consent, but as adults, we do.
What do you think? For those who have been baptized as infants, did you go through another baptism when you were ''born again?''
*I posted this in the Christianity DIR section, but thought I'd post it here too in case there are people who wish to add their thoughts but my not do so if it's in the DIR section
Baptism with water (done by human hands) is only symbolic of an internal spiritual reality. I was baptized when I was seven (by human hands) but it meant nothing. I grew up over the years knowing that I was going against God's commands without caring. What did that baptism do? Nothing. I wasn't spiritually baptized, only physically baptized. Just like circumcision of the heart. If you are circumcised in the heart, you have a heart that is for God and His Law; of you have an uncircumcised heart you are sinful and against God and His Law, but for your flesh (sinful nature). As the years went by I eventually came to Christ.
Now, I have still not been baptized (by human hands) since I was seven. But I am saved. How? Grace alone, by faith alone. We are saved by the undeserved forgiveness of sins through faith, no more and no less. Baptism by human hands is nothing, but the internal baptism is what is something. That baptism is when we die. We are baptized into Christ's death and it is a participation in His death, but it is spiritual. We then rise to a life of serving God as Christ did. Notice here that we die to Sin, then are raised to be alive to God. There is a death first, then a new life. So when we die to Sin it is actually us coming to faith in Christ: realizing that we are condemned for our sins but hearing the way out of condemnation: Faith in Christ; Christ is the Word of God made flesh (John 1:14), so having faith in Christ is the same as having faith in God's Word. God's Word tells us that our ways are evil, and that we are/were condemned because of them. We believe that and therefore will repent if we truly believe the Word of God. Our repentance is our death to Sin, which is a part of our faith. We died, but then we begin to serve God in the newness of life, in the new man. The old sinful man has passed away, and the new faithful man is here. Our old self died, and our new self has risen from the dead to serve God.
This is true about what happened to me. I died to my sinful self, and arose to God.
"Most certainly I tell you, he who hears my word, and believes him who sent me, has eternal life, and doesn't come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life" (John 5:24). This seems to agree with me.
What did the thief on the cross do? Did he go on and hop down to get baptized before death? No he did not, yet he was saved. Baptism with water is symbolic of all this, nothing more. You don't need it, but can glorify God through it. I say glorify God through it: demonstrate the work God has done in you. But whatever you do, do it not for salvation.