Under What Circumstances Should Someone Be Rebaptized?

When should someone be re-baptized? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Hi, I'm 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 also post your question on our Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter account, and you can always email us at questionsatcorechristianity.com.

We do receive voicemails here on a regular basis, and here's one from one of our listeners named Tom. And frankly, I'm at a loss about how to pray for these people. Do I pray for healing?

Often it seems to me like people who should have the most hope often live their life, especially at the end of their life, as people who have no hope. So I appreciate an answer to how to pray for these people, and also curious how maybe you have prayed for people in the hospital when you've gone to visit them, especially if they're elderly. Do you pray for healing in front of the family?

Thank you. Well, Tom, thank you for that question. Yes, there have been instances where I will pray for healing in front of the family, but I think that you're onto something here, just in terms of, you know, God works in our lives, and we get to the point where, you know, the Lord is bringing us home to be with him. We've lived a life of faith, trusting in him, trusting in his promises. I think of what Paul said in Philippians chapter one, where he's sort of going back and forth. He's talking to the Philippians about how, you know, soon he sees himself departing to be with Christ, and he knows that that's better than anything else in this world.

He's torn because he wants to continue to serve the Philippians and to encourage the churches, and so he says, you know, I don't know what to choose. For me to live is Christ. To die is gain, and I think that's the thing for the believer.

I mean, can we say that? To die is gain. That doesn't mean that death is not a terrible thing, something that we mourn over and it brings sorrow to our hearts, but we also have the hope that Jesus gives us through his resurrection from the dead, and so I think it's okay to pray that we would die well and with faith, trusting in the Lord, and that in those final days and hours that the Lord would renew and strengthen the faith of an individual so that as they come to that point, they would meet it with full hope and faith in the victorious work of Jesus Christ. Now, oftentimes when I'm visiting someone, depending on the situation, they might be elderly, they might just be sick, and they're in the hospital, I will use the Psalms. I love to go to the Psalms and pray the Psalms with an individual or over an individual.

Some of the ones that I go to, Psalm chapter 22, verse 19, but you, O Lord, do not be far off. O you, my help, come quickly to my aid. Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog. Save me from the mouth of the lion.

You have rescued me from the horns of the wild ox, and I will tell of your name to my brothers. In the midst of the congregation, I will praise you. And in particular, when I'm praying for the Lord's healing in an individual's life, saying, Lord, raise up this person so that they might, in the midst of the congregation, praise you. And so often I'll go to the Psalms, like Psalm 22, like Psalm 25, for example, verses 16 and following, where the Psalmist says, turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.

The troubles of my heart are enlarged. Bring me out of my distresses. Consider my affliction and my trouble and forgive all my sins. And that's what we cry out to the Lord for. Every situation is going to be different and requires wisdom in terms of how we ought to pray. And I think in situations like the one that you're in, I would just say that the Lord would continue to strengthen the faith of this individual. And even in these days, be renewing the inner man as God promises in his word, even while the outward person, while our bodies are perishing, while we're growing weaker and weaker, that our faith in Christ would grow stronger and stronger, and that God would comfort those, especially the family around, that needs the comfort of his Holy Spirit.

And so, Tom, thank you for your question. God bless you and your father-in-law as well. May the Lord be with him and do just that. May he strengthen his faith.

Some great words of encouragement. Thank you for that, Adriel. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We'd love to get your call if you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Let's go to Chad calling in from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Chad, what's your question for Adriel?

Chad, are you there? Hey, guys. Yeah, hey, hey. I just wondered if you would address the Ant Christ. I have a friend that's completely sold into Bill Gates' Ant Christ, and the vaccine is, you know, the mark of the beast, and I heard you address that the other day.

I just wanted to get someone. I mean, you guys, obviously, extremely intelligent. I just wanted him to hear from somebody that, you know, Bill Gates is not the Ant Christ, and they believe this is why. All right. Well, Chad, if I was talking to your friend, the first thing I would do is I would go to the book of 1 John in 1 John chapter 4. Listen to what John says here. He says, Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist. This is the spirit of the Antichrist, John says, which you have heard was coming and now is in the world already. So the spirit of the Antichrist, I would say, has been at work since the days of the apostles. And what is it that the spirit of the Antichrist is trying to do in the world today? The spirit of the Antichrist is trying to direct people away from Jesus, from who he is and what he's accomplished for us.

And he'll do that any way that he can, right? Confusion about the person of Christ, confusion about the work of Christ, the redemptive work that he's accomplished. And so the first thing to note is that the spirit of the Antichrist has been at work for the last 2,000 years. Now, the Bible does seem to indicate that there's going to be a particular individual, one individual referred to in places like 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 as this man of lawlessness who leads this rebellion, this apostasy against the truth of God's word. But I think it's not really helpful for us to speculate about that individual. Our focus should not be, who is the Antichrist?

We're playing this sort of guessing game. And no doubt, throughout the history of the church, there have been a number of individuals who have been considered by Christians and by the church, we think that that's the Antichrist. Well, I think rather than focusing on the identity of the Antichrist, is it this person?

Is it that person? I think it's better to just say, look, we know that the spirit of the Antichrist has already been at work, so we need to make sure that our eyes are fixed on the true Christ according to what scripture says. Nowhere in the Bible are we called to try to figure out who the Antichrist is. What we're called to is to grow in the grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ. And so when an individual is consumed by trying to figure out the end times prophecies and the Antichrist and who is that person, I say, take a step back.

Let's direct focus not on the Antichrist. There's scripture about that and it's important for us to unpack that, but we are called, you are called, to set your eyes on Jesus, on Christ crucified for you, placarded before you, as Paul says in Galatians chapter three, verses one and following. And so just as a way of encouragement, I'd say, look, it's okay to look at those passages, 1 John chapter four, 2 Thessalonians chapter two, to be vigilant, to be aware of the tactics of the evil one. And as we're more and more aware, I think we're enabled to pursue God like we should through his word. And that's precisely what God wants for you, Chad, and also for your friend, to grow in the grace and the knowledge of Christ.

And so just speculation, is the Antichrist going to be Bill Gates? I think it's just better to not speculate like that and to focus on Christ through the scriptures. And ultimately, it's with our eyes fixed on Jesus that we're kept safe in the midst of all the things that are going on around us. It's a focus on Jesus that is the most helpful for you and for your friend. Chad, thanks so much for your call.

Thanks for being a regular listener. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. And with Easter coming up this weekend, we have a wonderful book that we want to tell you about.

Yeah, I'm excited about this resource. Today we're offering the book Captivated, Beholding the Mystery of Jesus's Death and Resurrection by Thabiti Anyabule. In our culture, we are taught that we're basically like Martha's. It's really Martha's character in the gospels. We busy ourselves with doing lots of spiritual things. We worry about the culture's impact on the church.

Everything is screaming for our attention as we scroll through social media. In this book, Captivated, Pastor Thabiti helps us to stop and ask, how would our friendship with Jesus and our familiarity with his ways be deepened if we looked long at his nail-scarred hands for us? If we really asked and contemplated with Paul, oh death, where is your sting? With Easter here, there's no better time to stop ourselves from being swept up into the commotion and panic of the world and reframe our lives around the hope that we have because of the resurrection. Join us by getting a hold of this resource.

Again, it's called Captivated. It's yours for a donation of any amount at corechristianity.com. Just as I was talking with the previous question there, that's what we're called to is to fix our eyes on Jesus, him crucified for us, his resurrection for us, and this book will help you do that.

Amen. To find out more about the book Captivated, Beholding the Mystery of Jesus's Death and Resurrection, just go to our website corechristianity.com forward slash offers. Again, corechristianity.com forward slash offers. And of course, you can call us for that resource or any one of our resources at 833-THE-CORE. Well, we do receive emails here at Core Christianity. You're always welcome to email us your questions. And here's our email address. It's questions at corechristianity.com.

And Adrielle, here's an email from Chelsea. She says, my question is concerning baptism. I was baptized as a child when my mom was baptized in a Reformed church. I was raised with and believe in the covenantal views of baptism. I'm now married and attend a Baptist church with my husband. In order for me to become a member at that church, I must be re-baptized and it must also be by submission, submersion. While I agree with believers baptism when someone becomes a believer, I also believe that my baptism as a child was a sign and seal of God's covenant promises to me.

Is it wrong to be re-baptized so I can become a member at my church? They are a Bible-believing, expository-preaching, gospel-centered church. I'm so thankful for the leadership and family there.

Hi, Chelsea. Thank you for that question. It sounds like you're in this dilemma. You're in a good church, but it sounds like maybe there are some theological differences here between what your convictions are and what the church teaches. You were baptized as an infant.

Now, I know that there's debate about this specifically in the church today and there has been for some time now. I would say, what is baptism? Baptism is, you use the language of sign and seal. It's a sign of the gospel and a seal of God's goodness, his grace, his goodwill towards his people. It's one of the ways, I would say, that God communicates his goodness to his people. I, on the basis of scripture, think that baptism is rightly administered to the children of believers.

Just like circumcision under the old covenant, Abraham was commanded to circumcise the infants in his household. It was this sign and seal, Paul says in Romans 4, verse 11, of the righteousness that is by faith. Similarly to baptism, this picture of the gospel of the righteousness that is by faith, and Abraham was commanded to give that to his infant children. So, too, we, under the new covenant, I believe, as Christians, apply the sign of baptism to our children. This is why in the book of Acts, you have the language of household baptisms, for example.

But not everyone agrees with this, and it took me a while to come to this conclusion as well. And, of course, this is not something that would cause us to look at, you know, other believers and say, well, you must not be a Christian because you think differently than I do on baptism, but it's not an insignificant thing. Now, if you have been truly baptized according to God's holy word, and I believe that you have, then you can't be baptized again. There's only one baptism. And so I would be very much against going through this other thing, because I think that you've already been baptized, but that raises all sorts of questions.

Because if the church says, well, you can't be a member here unless you do it our way, well, then you have to ask yourself, you know, do I really believe that I have been baptized? And if I have, then I shouldn't try to do this thing again. God has already spoken once in my baptism. It's not something that I need to go and try to do a second time.

I couldn't. I've already been baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Or do you maybe believe in line with what this church teaches, that your initial baptism wasn't valid?

And it sounds to me like that's not the case. And so part of me thinks, you know, sometimes there are churches that will be accommodating and say, well, you know, even though we differ on baptism, we want to accept you as a member here. It sounds like this church is not willing to do that.

And so you have a difficult decision to make. You do want to be a member of whatever church it is that you're a part of. I think that too many times today folks will just go to a church and never commit to being a member, never get plugged in in that way. And I think membership is important for a church. And so you have to ask yourself together with your family, you know, is this a church where we could be members? But I would say, you know, don't let go of your convictions, your biblical convictions, I would say, just so that you could become a member at that church. I think that you have been baptized. And if they're willing to accept that baptism and let you be a member, then I would say, okay, great.

If not, then I think you have a tough decision to make, Chelsea. Thanks for giving us a call and grateful for your question. God bless.

This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Our phone lines are open. We're taking your questions about the Bible or the Christian life for the next five, six minutes or so if you want to give us a call. Here's the number. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Of course, you can always leave us a voicemail if you have a question as well. Let's go to Devonna in Baudette, Minnesota.

Devonna, what's your question for Adriel? Hi. Can you hear me? I can hear you. Hey.

Okay, perfect. So, as I was telling your phone answer, Easter Sunday, and I'm the scripture reader, right? So I received the bulletin from the pastor. We're a congregational church.

We are affiliated with the UCC. Anyways, the scripture reading is John 20, 1 through 19, but what she has there is where I would read a little bit and then I would go into explanation on why it mattered that Mary was the first one to the tomb and why it mattered that it was dark and why it mattered that the how big the stone was rolled away. Then go back to the scripture and then why it mattered that, you know, the guards and why it's just by the time I'm done reading it, I just feel like you lose the whole story of Jesus, the whole point. It seems more like a Bible study thing, something that should be addressed outside of Easter and I'm just really haven't, you know, a troubles with this. I reached out to our other council members as I am on the council and I sent it to them and they all kind of felt the same way of, you know, just read the scripture and let the story be the story and then of course it's Easter. You're going to have other people and it would, I'm afraid it would confuse and lose some people on what the true meaning of Easter is and I'm not sure what to do about it.

Yeah, well, I mean it sounds like some conversations are in order, you know. The reality is the word of God does the work of God. Oftentimes we think we need to add to it our own sort of explanations, but so often God uses his word to convict, to build individuals up in faith and so I guess part of me thinks, right, one, what are they telling you that you need to say?

That seems sort of strange to me and frankly there's a lot of weird things that people will say around Easter time. Oftentimes I think minimizing the most important thing, which is the fact that Christ rose again bodily from the dead, conquering death and sin, that's the central message and it's right there in the text of scripture. It's certainly there in the passage of John's gospel that you mentioned, but you shouldn't do anything that you're not comfortable with doing and certainly you shouldn't say anything that you wouldn't be comfortable with saying. I think with regard to scripture readings in the context of the worship service we should just stick to the text. This is what we do in the church that I pastor, you know, we have Old Testament readings, New Testament readings. Of course, you know, when I preach a passage of scripture I unpack that text, I exposit that text of scripture, but sometimes it's just unhelpful to try to do that every little moment throughout the liturgy. I think just let the scripture speak and so I would say, I mean, just practical advice in your context, in your situation where you're at in that church and you've spoken to the council, I would say if it's something that you don't want to do, makes you uncomfortable, then don't do it.

Just say, I'll read the passage, but I'm not going to do all this other stuff and you certainly shouldn't be forced to do those other things. And so, yeah, Devona, God bless you and may the Lord bless you in this upcoming celebration, you know, as we meditate on and rejoice in the fact that Jesus has conquered death and so God bless. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Let's go to Robert calling in from Kansas. Robert, what's your question? Hey, how's it going?

Doing well. Okay, my question was about the rapture. Like, I have so many theories about it, I was just wondering what exactly is it and like how does the process start? Hey, yeah, I'll be, you know, so there are differences of opinion on this. We're talking about the end times and there are some people that think that there will be a rapture of the church that is believers snatched away into the presence of the Lord and that after that rapture takes place, there's a period of sort of worldwide evangelization, the nation of Israel, ethnic Israel is converted, like they would say Paul talks about in Romans chapter 11. Then you have the revelation of the Antichrist, this, you know, period of great tribulation and then the second coming so that you have essentially two comings of Jesus Christ. You have the rapture of the church, so Christ coming back for his church alone and then you have the second coming of Jesus. Now, I don't buy that.

Again, I'm not knocking people who do. I know that there are many faithful Christians who believe in the authority of scripture, who embrace that view. It really is not a view that was prevalent throughout the history of the church. It's more of a novel view in the Christian church. But my sense is that when you read the pertinent passages in places like 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, that when Paul is talking about the coming of the Lord, he's talking about one coming, the second coming of Jesus Christ. And so I think what we're looking forward to, Robert, is the fact that Jesus is coming to judge the world and when he comes, you're going to have the final judgment, the resurrection of the dead, the life of the world to come, but that his second coming, his final coming, is not going to be preceded by another coming of Christ, what people refer to as the rapture. And so there are different views there, but I would encourage you to open up 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 to read through that passage of scripture, to think about the other texts that focus on the coming of the Lord.

Places like Matthew chapter 24, dig into those texts and may the Lord give you guidance as you do. R. By the way, we have a great Bible study on the book of Revelation. You can find that by going to corechristianity.com forward slash revelation.

That's corechristianity.com forward slash revelation. Got a quick email question for you here, Adriel, and this one comes from Butch. He says, When Jesus came to this world and was born human, did he have all his power and wisdom at birth? Or as he grew and matured, did his wisdom and power grow as well?

A. Hey Butch, really a complex question getting into Christology here at the end of the broadcast. There are passages of scripture that talk about Jesus growing, in particular in the book of Hebrews. But we need to understand that when Jesus came, the Word made flesh. He didn't set aside his divinity, and sometimes people will talk like that. This is the divine person, God the Son, who assumed humanity for us and for our salvation. Now everything he did, he did by the power of the Holy Spirit, but that's not because he wasn't God himself. He never ceased to be what he always was, and yet at the same time he assumed human nature for us, for our salvation, Butch.

And so when Jesus came into the world, he did have all of his divine power still, and yet he was veiled in humanity, in weakness for us. God bless. 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.