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Is Re-Baptism Ever Necessary? 

Through the course of our studies (I trust you have already studied Baptism for yourself), we have seen that baptism is:

1. Essential in Obeying the Word of God (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16)

2. Essential to Becoming a true disciple of Christ (Matthew 28:19, Galatians 3:27) 

3. By Immersion, not by sprinkling or pouring water over.  

4. For Believers who have repented. 

5. NOT FOR infants who are incapable of understanding even the most basic concept of sin and repentance.

 The Question is Often Asked, DO I NEED TO BE RE-BAPTIZED? 

We see only ONE case of anyone in the Word of God who was re-baptized. Acts 19:1-5. 

Paul found some disciples (apparently disciples of Apollos who already believed in Jesus, but were baptized under John)…see Acts 18:24-28 for a little background. 

Paul came across these disciples and questioned them about the Holy Ghost. When they stated that they had not even heard of the Holy Ghost, his next question was “UNTO WHAT THEN WERE YE BAPTIZED?” This gives us a good insight into baptism.  

It may not matter to YOU in what manner or by what means you are baptized, but by the Word of God, it mattered very greatly to Paul.  

The interesting part of this to me is in verse 5 “When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.”  

They didn’t argue over whether it was ‘commanded’ or not, the didn’t argue that they were ‘saved by grace’ and ‘faith alone’ or any of the other things you hear today. The Word of God says “WHEN THEY HEARD THIS…….THEY WERE BAPTIZED in the name of the Lord Jesus!" 

Even though their baptism was by immersion … Even though it was for the Remission of Sins (Go back and read John’s baptism in Mark 1:4); There was still something lacking. Do you know what it was?  

They had not been baptized in the NAME of Jesus Christ! Their first baptism was lacking an essential element!

They were required by Paul and by the Word of God to be baptized CORRECTLY.  

By these scriptures, we can only conclude that if an earlier baptism lacks some essential element, then by Paul’s own teaching, Re-Baptism is necessary.  

Consider a "Proper" Baptism 

A Proper Baptism Must Have

1. A proper burial (immersion under the water). Romans 6:3, Colossians 2:12  

2. The proper authority (in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ). Acts 2:38, Acts 8:16, Acts 10:48, Acts 19:5, Acts 22:16. 

3. The proper purpose (reason) … (for the remission of sins). Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16 

4. The proper subject (or person who is being baptized … a believer with a repentant heart). Acts 2:38, Acts 8:37, Mark 16:16

We see that when one of these elements is lacking, re-baptism was commanded. 

When Should You Consider Re-Baptism?

Generally, you should not consider re-baptism at all unless one of the following applies. 

1. If you were baptized by sprinkling or pouring. Why? Because it lacks the essential element of immersion as required in the scriptures. 

2. If you were baptized in the name of anyone else other than JESUS. (This includes religious GROUPS and TITLES also!) Why? This one should be obvious. It is because it was not in the proper authoritative NAME.  

3. If you were baptized simply to make a “public profession of faith” or a “show of faith”. Why? Because you were not baptized for the proper purpose (remission of sins), and lacked understanding of the reasons for baptism. 

4. If you were NOT TRULY repentant when you were baptized. For example, if you were baptized because everyone else was doing it, or for friends, family, etc., then the purpose was to please THEM, not because you were penitent.

ALSO, if you were baptized as an infant, you were incapable of understanding repentance, faith, or sins. In the cases we’ve listed here, your baptism did not have the proper subject (a believer with a repentant heart). 

 In All of Those Cases Listed Above, Re-Baptism Would Be Necessary. 

 Let Me Summarize and Clarify This in Conclusion 

If you lacked any of the essential elements of a proper Scriptural baptism, then you need to be baptized Scripturally. 

Technically, a “Re-Baptism” is not really a RE baptism if it is done for the above reasons. You would be getting baptized for the first time SCRIPTURALLY in these cases! 

Now, once you have been baptized according to the Scriptures, THERE IS NEVER a need to be baptized again. Once you have “Put On Christ” (Galatians 3:27), it is then the blood of Christ that continually cleanses us of our sins and we must repent and confess our sins to God in prayer (Acts 8:22; 1 John 1:9) 

Have You Obeyed the Scriptures? Have You Been Baptized According to the Word of God? 

IF the answer is NO, then you need to make immediate arrangements with your Pastor to get Baptized according to the Word of God!  If your Pastor refuses to baptize you properly, get out and find yourself a church that will baptize and follow the entire Word of God as it it written!

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