Is My Roman Catholic Baptism Valid?

I grew up Catholic, and I'm now a Protestant.

Is my Roman Catholic baptism valid? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Hi, this is Bill Meyer along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. You can call us right now with your question at 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. You can also post your question on one of our social media sites. You can watch Adriel right now live on YouTube and message us through our YouTube channel. And of course, you can always email us your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com. First up today, let's go to a voicemail we received from one of our callers named Greg. How does a person have a spiritual relationship with a spiritual being who you can't see, you can't touch, you can't hear?

How do you relate to somebody? I mean, you read the Bible. I understand that you pray. I don't even know if my prayer is even getting through. But how do you do that if he's invisible? You can't touch him. You can't hear him. You know, I don't know if people say they hear him, and do they really hear him? That's my question.

Thank you. Hey, Greg, thanks for that question. You know, when Jesus was on earth with his disciples, obviously they had a very close relationship. They loved him. They got to see him perform miracles, experience even his healing power. And then one day Jesus told his disciples he was leaving. And obviously they were devastated. You know, what's going to happen, Lord?

You're taken off. This is described in Jesus's upper room discourse in the Gospel of John, beginning in John 13 all the way to John 17. And Jesus said, look, I'm leaving, but I'm going to send to you the Holy Spirit.

I'm not going to leave you as orphans. And so even though God is invisible, even though Jesus is not physically present here on earth right now, he ascended into heaven, he's at the right hand of the Father, we can still have this closeness, this relationship with him, personal relationship with him, through the power of the Holy Spirit. And that's why Greg Peter said when he wrote in 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 8, he says, Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. And so we have a personal relationship with God, with Jesus, by faith, and the Spirit of God unites us to Jesus so that we might experience his presence even here and now.

And that could be a sort of tangible feeling, but it's even more than that. It's based on God's promise and the promise that we find in his word. And so one of the ways we get to know God better and understand who he is and experience his power and presence in our lives is through the word. We study the scriptures. We also gather together with other believers.

I think that that's really, really important in this. One of the ways we experience the presence of God here on earth today is through his people, the body of Christ, brothers and sisters in Christ who are filled with the Holy Spirit, who God uses in our lives to build us up. I think of what John said in 1 John chapter 4 verse 12.

No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. It's almost as if John is suggesting there, Greg, that look, we can't see God, but when we love each other as the body of Christ, God is manifesting his presence in our midst. It's as if we're able to see his working here and now and experience his mercy, his grace. And so you can, we can have a very personal, very close relationship with the true and the living God through his son Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit. We come to him in faith. We grow in our understanding of who he is through the word. And I would say, dig into the scriptures, open them up and pray to the Lord asking that God would give you understanding and then become a part of a Christian community, the body of Christ where you can there through others, brothers and sisters in the Lord experience his love, his goodness, his care in a tangible way.

And so those are all things that I would point to. And I appreciate your question, brother. May God bless you, Greg. Greg, thanks so much for committing to growing in faith and thanks for your question here at Core Christianity. Well, let's go to Tim who's calling in from Lincoln, Nebraska. Tim, welcome to the program. What is your question for Pastor Adriel? My question is, does the true Christian, the true believer like I am, have to go through the great white throne judgment?

Hey, Tim, thank you for that question. There are some who say the great white throne judgment is only for non-believers, that Christians are not going to be judged on that day. And I don't think that that's true. It seems to me like whenever the New Testament talks about the judgment of God, the judgment seat of the Lord, that we're all there. We're all going to stand before God.

It includes everyone. In Acts chapter 17 verse 31, Paul's speech to the people at the Areopagus and also in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 10, again, Paul says we must all stand before the judgment seat of God. And so that's not just non-Christians, it's also believers. And you have descriptions of that event in places like the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter 20 verse 11, Then I saw a great white throne, and Him who was seated on it.

From His presence, earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And the books were opened, then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And that's of course where believers have their names written. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them according to what they had done. And so this seems like it's all encompassing.

This isn't just one group of people, this is everyone who has ever lived on planet earth. But here's the good news for believers. We can have confidence on the day of judgment.

Why? Because of the love of God for us and because of the judgment that Jesus Christ endured on our behalf. John, who wrote the book of Revelation also in his first letter, in 1 John chapter 4 verse 17, he talks about us having confidence for the day of judgment. He bases it on ultimately God's love for his people.

We love because he first loved us. But there's also another text I think that's really helpful and frankly a great comfort to me when I think about the judgment seat. And it's found in the Gospel of John in John chapter 5 verse 24. Listen to what the Lord Jesus himself said, speaking of the judgment. Truly, truly I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment but has passed from death to life. That is to say, we're not going to be condemned on that day. We're not going to come into judgment, if you will.

We've already passed from death to life through Jesus because we're in him. We're united to him. And so we can, you can be confident on that day, brother, because of the work of Jesus Christ on your behalf if you believe in him. Thank you for that question. Thanks for that explanation, Adriel.

This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. And we thank you so much for listening. Our phone number, if you have a question for us, is 833-THE-CORE.

That's 833-843-2673. Now, one of the things we want to mention is that school is starting up here in just a little bit. And to coincide with that, we have a free resource we'd like to offer parents and grandparents today. Yeah, it's called Six Ways to Help Your Kids as They Go Back to School. And so just something to encourage you and to encourage your children or grandchildren as they wrestle through things like peer pressure. This is a helpful resource reminding parents about what's the most important thing for our kids to grasp, for them to understand. So many people today, so many young people today are placing their identity first and foremost in their performance. Am I measuring up?

Am I doing enough? And so we want you to help. We want to help you to root your children or your grandchildren in ultimately the truth of the gospel and those things that will help them as they're going through school. Now, get a hold of this resource. It's called Six Ways to Help Your Kids as They Go Back to School. It's a free download. You can find it by going to corechristianity.com forward slash offers.

Look for Six Ways to Help Your Kids as They Go Back to School. You can also call us about that resource or any one of our resources at 833-THE-CORE. That's 833-843-2673. Well, here's a voicemail we received from one of our listeners named Steve. I was born and raised Catholic and was baptized as a baby, which I think most Catholic babies are.

And I'm wondering, I've been told that I'm not saved until I go through another Christian baptism. And I'm wondering, is that true? Thank you. Well, this is a question that we've received on the broadcast before. And the first time I answered it, it was kind of interesting. We got a lot of response.

And so maybe the phones will start ringing off the hook right now as I answer this one. But here's the first thing I would say is, what makes a baptism a baptism? Well, first and foremost, it's the word and promise of God. That's what makes a baptism a baptism. Where you baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit with water as Jesus himself instituted. And baptism is a sacrament.

It's a holy mystery. It's one of the ways that God extends his grace to his people, his covenant promises to his people. And so I would say you were baptized as a child even in the Roman Catholic Church. Now, there are some who disagree with this who say, well, I don't think that the Roman Catholic Church is a true church and therefore I don't know that I would accept that baptism. But I think in terms of understanding the doctrine of God, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, baptizing in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, that's there in the Roman Catholic Church.

And so I would say that you are baptized and you're called to live in light of that great reality. And the promise of God that's extended to us at our baptisms, essentially the promise of the gospel objectively is something you're called to lay hold of by faith. And so one thing that's really problematic about whoever is suggesting this to you is it seems like what they're doing is they're saying the baptism that you're about to have, that Catholic baptism didn't save you, but the baptism that you're about to have is what's going to save you, the Christian baptism we're going to give you. And so the problem is the object of your faith is not your baptism. It's not this other baptism that they're trying to say you need to have. The object of your faith is Jesus Christ, and that's who baptism points us to in his death and resurrection. That's precisely what the Apostle Paul said in a number of places like Romans chapter 6 and Galatians chapter 3. We're baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus.

It's this sign and seal of our engrafting into Jesus Christ. And so the question is, and this is the million-dollar question with regard to salvation, is are you trusting in Jesus, the one who your baptism points you to? That's where you need to trust. You don't trust in your baptism per se. Trust in Christ himself, and your baptism points you to Jesus.

So that's the important piece there. And so I would say if you were going to my church and you had been baptized in the Roman Catholic Church, we wouldn't make you go through that all over again. We wouldn't make you be baptized again. We'd say, you are baptized. The promise of God is very real, the objective promise of the gospel.

You lay hold of that by faith, and you rest in Christ and in his work for you. And so I appreciate that question, brethren, and I trust that that clears it up. God bless.

You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Just a reminder that we have a great group of people we want to say thank you to. They are part of our inner core.

They make this program possible with their ongoing gift of $25 or more a month. It means so much to us. It helps us to continue to spread the word and share the core tenets of the Christian faith on radio every day and through our podcast. So if you'd like to join the inner core and learn more about that, just go to our website at corechristianity.com. If you want to call us with your question about the Bible or the Christian life, here is the phone number. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. We'll be taking calls for the next 10 minutes or so. So hop on your phone right now and give us a buzz if you've got a question for Pastor Adriel.

Here's a voicemail we received from one of our listeners earlier this week. If you're in a relationship and one has faith and hope and believes in God as the true savior, then the other one is lost because he feels that God took away his mother. How do you make him see that God is the true savior and he just needs to open up his heart so that that hurt inside of him can heal?

How do you get them to do that? Well, boy, this is an uncommon situation where someone experiences a great loss, some struggle, some tragedy, and they're angry, they're upset. So one, I think first you go to this person obviously sympathizing with the pain that they're going through, praying for them, encouraging them. But you also need to realize that you can't open another person's heart. That's the work of the Holy Spirit. So the first thing you need to do is pray and seek the face of God and say, Lord, there are walls up. This person is hurt.

This person is angry. God, send your spirit to soften their heart. And God, here's that prayer. Anytime anyone ever turns to the Lord, anytime that the veil is removed that Satan puts there, it's the work of the Spirit of God. I think of what Luke records in the book of Acts in Acts chapter 16, where he talks about the conversion of Lydia. It says in verse 14, one who hurt us was a woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatira, seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptized, her and her household as well, she urged us saying, if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.

And she prevailed upon us, Luke writes. So who opens the heart there? As the disciples are preaching the word of God, it's the Lord himself. It's the Spirit who's at work. And so I would say, you need to pray that the Spirit of God would work in this person's life and encourage them with the truth of God's word. God uses his word oftentimes to soften those hard hearts.

And this is probably an ongoing conversation, but certainly taking the burden off of yourself of, I need to help this person see, I need to open their hearts. Now this is the work of the Holy Spirit. And what you can do is point them to the truth of the gospel in scripture, to God's love and goodwill towards humanity, his care for his creation. Oftentimes we don't know why certain things happen, why tragic events happen, but it's not helpful to look at God and to get angry and just to sort of turn our backs to him.

No, at that time, that's when we need to cast ourselves upon the Lord and seek his face, even if that means lamenting for a season. You see that all throughout the book of Psalms. And so may the Lord bless you as you have these conversations with this friend, and may God open this man's heart. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.

Tough situation. And we know many people are in the, as you said, it's not uncommon to be talking to somebody and they've had a terrible, tragic experience in their life, and that's caused them to believe that God has abandoned them. And of course that's the furthest thing from the truth, isn't it?

Yeah, it is. And I think sometimes it's okay for us as believers to say, I don't have an answer for why this happened this way. We won't know a lot of times the answer to those kinds of questions, the kinds of suffering that people experience.

You think about Job's suffering, for example, Bill. He has all these questions about why he experienced the great suffering that he experienced. And in the end, when God comes to him, God doesn't say, well, let me give you all the answers as to why those things happened. He just says, Job, I am the Lord. I'm the one who made all things.

Remember who I am. And sometimes that's what we have. We don't get to peer behind the curtain to see everything that God is doing, everything that God has decreed and why he's done it. But we trust that he's the Lord and that he's good and that we can go to him even in our sorrows and our suffering and that he hears us.

Amen. Well, let's go to Steve from Oklahoma who has a question. Steve, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Yeah, I wanted to get a clarification on the judgment seat of Christ, 2 Corinthians 5.10, which is for the Christian regarding rewards. And then the great white throne judgment, Revelation 20, 11 through 15, which is for the unbeliever. Yeah, so like I said in my answer just a little bit ago on the broadcast, there are some who differentiate who say there are two different judgments here. But it seems to me like whenever you have the language of this judgment, it's very simple. So for example, in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 10, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

That's the same essentially rationale that's given in Revelation chapter 20 and elsewhere. And so it seems to me like there's one judgment that's being described here. We don't need to differentiate between a judgment, two different judgments, a great white throne judgment and then a beam of seat judgment, that kind of a thing.

I think we can talk about one judgment, but we can say what's unique for the believer is that the curse essentially fell on Jesus. We don't enter into the judgment as Jesus said in John chapter 5. We can have confidence on the day of judgment even though we're going to stand before the Lord and be in his presence. And we can have confidence because of what Christ has done for us. But if we're apart from Christ, if we're outside of Christ, if we don't have Jesus as our advocate there on that day, then we can't have confidence and we can't have hope. But it seems to me like everywhere in the New Testament where it talks about this judgment, it's referring to the same judgment where the basis is, right? What each one will receive, what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. That's the same rationale again in Revelation 20. So Steve, that's how I take it. But again, I think the main thing and where even where those two different differing views agree is that for believers, there is great confidence that we get to have on that day. Amen.

This is Core Christianity. Let's go to Thomas in Toledo, Ohio. Thomas, what's your question?

Yeah. Thank you for taking my call. I've been listening to you guys for about three and a half years and I love the feedback.

I came across your show on Bot Radio Network and I haven't turned it off since. So my question is, the gentleman earlier that asked about the baptism as a child and the Catholic faith, wouldn't that be more of a dedication? Baptism is typically your profession of faith to the congregation, to the public, stating that I believe in Jesus Christ and you are baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, whereas as a child, he wasn't necessarily aware of what he was doing. I know that you are not saved by your baptism, but it is a profession. Hey, Thomas, I really appreciate this follow-up.

There really is a lot here. Of course, Christians and even Protestants have differed on the question of what baptism is and whether or not children, infants, should be baptized. Now, if baptism is first and foremost about my personal profession of faith, something I do, well then, if that's primarily what it is, it makes sense why we wouldn't baptize infants. We're waiting for them to do something to profess their faith, but actually, when you read the New Testament, baptism is not first and foremost about my personal public profession. It's first and foremost about the gospel, not about something I do, but something God has done, and the promise of the gospel to who?

To the helpless, to those who cannot save themselves, even to little children. You think of when Jesus welcomed the little children to himself. I would say baptism as this sign that Christ himself gave to us in the church, a sign ultimately of the gospel, of what Christ has accomplished, of his death and resurrection, is something that is given to believers and, I would say, to their children. Now, I know that this is a controversial topic, and I'm sure we can continue to talk about this, but my view actually changed on this several years ago as I was studying the scriptures and really came to the conclusion as I was reading the Bible that, no, the promises of God are for us and for our children, and those promises are extended to us in these signs, like baptism, that Jesus gives to believers. You have this pledge all throughout the scriptures where God says, I'm going to be a God to you and to your children. It's what Abraham heard from the Lord in Genesis chapter 17. It's reiterated in places like the book of Revelation. It's this covenant promise where God says, you are my people. Now, we're called individually to lay hold of those promises by faith so that a child who's baptized in the church is still called to repentance and faith like everyone else in the church community. The gospel is set before us. We lay hold of it. We receive it by faith. Thanks for listening to CORE Christianity. To request your copy of today's special offer, visit us at corechristianity.com and click on offers in the menu bar or call us at 1-833-843-2673. That's 833, the CORE. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this program, and be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's word together.