Answer # 83

This is a vital question for many of our readers. Baptism is an important step in your spiritual life, and it must be done at the right time and in the right way, after true repentance.

The key to this whole problem was given by the apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost when he said, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38).

Notice that repentance comes first. Baptism is second - after repentance.

What do you repent of? Sin. And what is the Bible definition of sin? "Sin is the transgression of the law" (I John 3:4, Authorized Version). Sin is breaking God's law. To be really converted, you must repent of breaking God's law - stop breaking it and begin obeying it, now and in the future. And you must believe that Jesus Christ paid the penalty of your sins in your stead and is your personal Savior.

And repentance is not something you can "work up" yourself. God must grant you true repentance in the first place. As Romans 2:4 says, "The goodness of God leads you to repentance." This must come first.

Then you need to be baptized by complete immersion as an outward sign of your willingness to completely bury your old self and literally give your very life to God.

But, frankly, most people who attend the churches of this world and are baptized by them don't really know what to repent of, especially teenagers. They don't know what sin really is.

In early youth, most young people sincerely intend to "do better" or to "follow their church." But since they have not been taught what sin actually is, they completely fail to realize exactly where they have stood in God's sight. They are usually only sorry humanly for having disobeyed their conscience, their parents or their church.

In short, they don't really repent. They aren't broken up about the sinful state of their lives - about their own human vanity and selfishness, which express themselves constantly -about their basic nature or disposition to serve self and not God, to get and not give.

If you are wondering about your baptism, ask yourself why you were baptized in the first place. Were you baptized simply because many of the members of your family were baptized, and you felt looked down upon or left out? Did you stand in the water and go through the ordinance of baptism simply to join the group with whom you had been fellowshipping? Were you baptized because you temporarily thought it was the "right thing" to do?

Such people don't immediately begin to study and understand the Bible. They just continue to go along with the ways of their friends and this world. Their lives are not changed. They don't come to personally know God. Such people have not truly repented and their baptism was not valid!

If you were baptized for any of these reasons, your baptism was probably not valid, because your motives were not right. You need to really repent and be baptized into Jesus Christ by a true servant of God in order to receive the Holy Spirit and be added to the true Church of God (I Corinthians 12:13).