Some of you may know that on July 4th I was rebaptized. I’ve been waiting for the Lord to tell me when was the right time to make this public in a blog post. I haven’t been keeping it a secret, but I haven’t blogged about it yet because for some people the idea of rebaptizing might be offensive. I think the Lord is prompting me to share this with you now.
The baptism was held during a July 4th church party at a members’ home. The baptisms were performed in their backyard swimming pool by the pastor of our church. I think it was through God’s divine planning that my parents were present for the baptism, even though they did not know before they made their travel plans that I was planning to be rebaptized. In fact, I don’t know if the date for the baptism had even been set yet. I think this is incredibly ironic considering, unbeknown to me or my sister, my sister would be present in church when I gave my testimony to the church about the cracked pitcher. Keep in mind that I only see my sister about once a year typically. God has a way of weaving our plans together to agree with his greater plan.
I put a lot of thought, prayer, and study into the topic of baptism. Being such a critical component of a believers Christian walk, it’s amazing to me the vastly different conclusions denominations have come to regarding baptism. And coming from a denomination where infant baptism is the norm, I felt that I needed to clearly articulate to myself and others the reasons I was being rebaptized. What follows is the testimony I wrote and read prior to being baptized:
I consider myself extremely fortunate to have been raised in a family where everyday of my life I have known the love of God. Knowing how skeptical and stubborn I can be, I shudder to think how long it would have taken me to accept Christ if I hadn’t been born into the church. My parents loved me, taught me bible stories, and ensured that I had opportunities to grow in my faith. I am who I am today because of them.
According to their tradition, I was baptized as an infant. I publicly accepted that baptism as my own through confirmation, and went on to be involved in many different ministries in high school and college. Through these ministries I had many more opportunities to grow in my faith and give testimonies.
A couple years ago my brother-in-law told me that the Greek word for baptism literally means ‘immersed’. Maybe I had heard this before, I don’t know, but this was the first time I was willing to receive it, but only a little bit. I filed it away under “that’s interesting” and down played its significance. But in time, as I revisited scripture with this new piece of information in hand, I can’t help but admit that the clear biblical model is believers’ baptism by immersion.
Now, I don’t think I need to be baptized again. I am secure in my salvation. I have made public professions of faith. I love Jesus, and more importantly Jesus loves me. I have no question that the Holy Spirit lives within me. I am not being baptized today to please men, especially considering I know this action risks insulting friends and family who were also infant baptized. I am not being re-baptized today because I think my first baptism was illegitimate. In fact I can make some persuasive arguments in favor of infant baptism because I’ve spent the last few years doing that.
But I have to ask myself, “why make an argument?” If Jesus meant ‘immerse’ when he gave us the Great Commission, why argue with Jesus? If Acts gives us clear examples of believers’ baptisms, why speculate about the validity of infant baptism?
I’m here because I want to be obedient to Jesus. This year I have come a long way in my faith-life by submitting myself to Christ in obedience. It might be a tad legalistic, but I’m willing to take that chance if it means receiving blessings from the Father or knowing my savior more intimately. One of the blessings I anticipate is a deeper appreciation of what it means to be baptized into the death of Jesus, and raised into new life (Rom 6:4). I look forward to what else God has in store.
At the cross,
Nate
I can’t say that much has changed for me since the rebaptism. I didn’t expect to. I knew I was saved by grace then just as much as I do now. I knew I was a child of God just as much then as I do now. I didn’t feel like I needed to be rebaptized to turn from some great sin or to reconnect with God. But I do feel peace knowing that I was obedient to what God was calling me to do: to humble myself, to submit to Him, to desire to be obedient. I receive joy from the fact that I was baptized becauase I wanted to be, not because it was expected of me or because I didn’t have a choice about it. It was me, all me, the adult version of Nate making an adult decision for the Lord, stepping out in faith. And I am very excited about that.
God bless,
Nate
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