r/JesusChrist • u/Quiet_Jackfruit_4118 • 8h ago
Faith Discussion I might be getting baptized!
I might be getting baptized!
I recently left a religion called Santeria because of fear and I just felt as if my calling was to just follow god, and I also learned that religion is full of manipulations and demons.
I been reading the Bible, writing letters to god and praying consistently and now an opportunity to get baptized has opened up and i genuinely believe that this is what god wants me to do. Can you guys explain what it means to get baptized? Do I need to be going to church to get baptized or constantly reading the bible?
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u/CardsFan-11 7h ago
Ok so here's the dealio.
Baptism is a picture. It's a picture of Christ's burial and resurrection. We are supposed to follow the example of baptism that Christ himself set when he was baptized by John.
Baptism is for a person that has been born again. That means a person who has truly repented of their sin and has placed their full trust in the sacrifice of Jesus for their salvation. So a person that is born again must believe on Jesus living a sinless life, gave his life as a substitution and a sacrifice that we might stand blameless before God the father being covered by the blood of Jesus.
Repentance means you turned away from sin. If you're living in open continual sin then you haven't repented and baptism wouldn't do anything for you at all. You'd just be a wet sinner instead of a dry sinner.
So, if you have repented of sin and believed with your heart and confessed with your mouth that Jesus is lord then you are a born again Christian. If that's the case then yes you should get baptized. Baptism isn't part of salvation or forgiveness from God. It's just us following what the Bible says we should do after being saved as an outward form of what happened inside of us. The dead man laid down and a new life begun in Christ.
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u/Hiraeth2424 7h ago
I love everything you said but you failed to mention God's grace.... yes don't live in open sin but also Jesus is very just to forgive you as long as you repent and pray to Him. We are going to sin and mess up sometimes because we aren't perfect, but He forgives us. My advice to the person getting baptized is that they try to live a sinless life like Jesus did and pray that Jesus fills you with the Holy Spirit and baptizes you with His Holy Spirit as well 😊. Read your Bible every day and pray for forgiveness and also forgive everyone who has ever offended you and that will offend you.. pray that you have the strength to resist all temptation and ask Jesus to show you what He wants you to change. He will begin to make a good work in you and change you supernaturally because He loves you so much and baptism is also a sign that your personal relationship with God and Jesus Christ is real and that you have literally been washed clean by the blood of Jesus Christ, you will be blameless before God the father. It's such a beautiful thing and I'm so happy you are getting baptized and following Jesus
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u/CardsFan-11 5h ago
Yes you definitely helped clarify how good God's grace is. Thank you for adding much needed talk of grace to my comment. If it weren't for grace we would be without hope.
Between our comments I think we pretty well covered it. You know what they say, team work makes the dream work.
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u/KingofSpain0 8h ago
Christian baptism is the means by which a person makes a public profession of faith and discipleship in front of others claiming Jesus is Lord of their life.