I want to get baptized. Who can do this if I don’t belong to a church or religion?
I have been saved and want to get baptized. I belong to no denomination or church. I have contacted a few local churches asking if they will baptize me and they either ignore my request or require that I belong to their church or at minimum attend a class at their church. This seems really odd and I don’t see any precedent for it in the Bible. In the Bible it appears to me that people first believe, and then someone baptizes them…there’s no classes to take or church membership required. I have a pool in my backyard, I’m almost to the point of just asking someone to do it there.
@CY: Why should they care if I’m genuine or not? If I’m not attending their church, isn’t it between me and the Lord?
@Uncle Guido: Ridiculous. You are interpreting scripture, not reciting it. I refuse to believe that only those that are members of a church will attain salvation. If you really believe in that, I will pray for your release from such bondage.
Quite a few years ago now, I had a friend who was in a similar situation. Being the opposite gender to him I didn’t feel it was right that I baptise him but we did the church thing too.
The SDA church told us he had to do a bible study with them first before they would baptise him. The Anglican church wasn’t interested either way and the Catholic Church said they couldn’t do it either because he wasn’t Catholic !
So in the end he got a friend to do it for him at the local swimming pool so if you are feeling this way too, know that it is just between you and the Lord..He knows your heart after all.
When Jesus Christ baptised people He didn’t say to them that they first had to belong to a church but nowadays we’ve become so much under the law that unless we are baptised we cannot have salvation and that in itself is a contradiction.
Sure our Saviour tells us to be baptised but in other parts of His Word He tells us ‘that if we call on His name and believe in our hearts that God the Father raised Him from the dead, we shall be saved’ no baptising first ..Romans 10:9…
And in Acts 16:31-34 it tells us that if you call on the Name of the Lord , you and your household shall be saved.
+.Sometimes circumstances dictate what is happening in the here and now and people only have a short time to say what is on their hearts and because our Lord knows the future of us all, I ‘m sure He knew there would be times when not all of His people could have access to water. But He does tell us to fellowship together Hebrews 10:25, so that we are united with others of the same faith., so do that after your baptism as did the early Christian Church..
Salvation does not depend on baptism..if it did, there was no reason for our Lord to be crucified instead.it depends on the relationship that we have with Jesus Christ, which is why we are called Christians..’disciples of Christ’.
On Judgment Day, we will be judged on our motives, thoughts, attitudes and actions., our choice of religion cannot save us…
Dan Serns: “Transforming Your Church” Workshop 7 of 14; Intro to Membership Class 2010
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Membership Matters: Insights from Effective Churches on New Member Classes and Assimilation $8.75 Insights from Effective Churches on New Member Classes and Assimilation Findings from a national study to improve membership classes and to motivate current members into active ministry How do churches move members—both old and new— into ministry? Many church staff and lay leaders know they need to start new member classes as a point of entry into their churches but don’t know how. This… |
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Forming Christian Disciples: The Role of Covenant Discipleship and Class Leaders in the Congregation $3.50 … |
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Class Leaders: Recovering a Tradition $8.80 … |