Yes you should get baptized. And no its not a second baptism, I believe if you get baptized it would actually be your first time getting baptized. Why? . Because Infant baptism is not a Biblical practice. An infant cannot place his or her faith in Christ. An infant cannot make a conscious decision to obey Christ. Therefore sprinkling water onto an infant is not baptism.
If you have more question or you just don’t understand I will explain it more in a upcoming post which will be called (What does the Bible say about infant baptism?)
BTW I am very happy you have been thinking about getting baptized. I really encourage it, if you are serious about Christ. I will be praying for you. God Bless.
Catholics believe, and most Protestants I believe , believe in original sin. Baptism is nessesary for the removal of original sin. It counts as a baptism, however it must be ratified as an adult – which is Why Catholics renew our baptismal vows every year and at Confirmation.
Infant Baptism became a practice because at the beginning converts were baptized as families, but as children became born into the faith there became a concern for their souls since infant mortality was a pretty big thing. Thus, babies were baptized to let them be reborn in Christ and then they could choose to be in the faith or not when they got over.
Thats just a Catholic perspective.
AFAIK, the Protestant view on Baptism is that it is an outward sign of your salvation? IDK how to phrase it. Like, if Baptism was enough to remove and forgive your sins then Jesus wouldn’t be necessary? You get Baptized after you are saved. As an act of obedience to God, and sometimes as a public declaration of your commitment to God.
Baptism is just original sin only (and sins up to that point if you’re an adult). Otherwise confession is nessesary.
I grew up Protestant and was baptized when I was about 6. A lot of Protestant denominations place importance on the baptize-ee making a conscious choice in the matter (my church was this way); the person has to say yes to Jesus themselves first (and sometimes recite the sinner’s prayer, which is asking Jesus to come into your heart and be your Lord and Saviour). There’s a lot of difference between denominations as to which ones consider baptism to be an actual sacrament vs. an outward symbol of an inward truth.
As far as the Catholic Church is concerned, Protestant baptisms are considered valid and sacramental if they are done explicitly in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (this practice is rooted in Scripture, where Jesus gives the great commission- Matthew 28:19). However, Protestant denominations all have their own varied beliefs about Catholic infant baptism. It would depend on what each individual pastor’s interpretation of Scripture is.
Now (since I can’t resist), doesn’t the Protestant side of the Church seem rather fractured in all of this when it comes to “correct” teachings and interpretations? Ask three Protestants from three different denominations about what baptism really is and you’ll see what I mean. But Jesus Himself, just hours before He knew He was to die for our sins, prayed to the Father asking that the whole Church “be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:21). The Catholic Church is unique among all Christians in that it is the ONLY branch of Christianity that is officially and completely united in its teachings. Do some Catholics stray from official teachings? Yes, but it is the person who strays while the teachings remained fixed.
I would strongly urge this anon to take all of this into account when comparing their non-denom church to the Catholic Church they grew up in. It seems to me that a lot of people leave the Catholic Church because they do not fully understand her teachings and they have an experiential encounter with Christ somewhere else. Again, as someone who has seen both sides, I GET it. I’ve had certain powerful experiences among my Protestant friends that I have only experienced on very rare occasions in a Catholic setting.
But let me say this. The Catholic Church claims that Jesus actually gives us Himself to consume when we take Holy Communion. The Church claims this is NOT a symbol, but an actual fact. As a former Protestant I can’t help but ask my Protestant brothers and sisters: If there’s even a chance that the Catholic teaching about Communion is true, is it not worth looking into? Because what could possibly be a better experience of Christ than THAT? If you reject this teaching of the Church, I humbly beg you to prayerfully read John’s Gospel, chapter 6 and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth to you. He will, whether I myself am right or wrong.
As someone who has been on both sides, and who is so convinced of the rightness of the Church that I experienced painful rejection from some of my own family members, I urge every Christian to reconsider the Catholic faith. There are answers to every question you could pose concerning doctrine and practices, I promise. It just takes time to seek and find them.
My family’s Catholic but, I’m a Non-Denomonational Protestant. I was batized as a baby by having water poured over my head. However, I’ve been feeling like having an immersion baptism where I’m entirely underwater. Should I? Would it be getting baptized twice?
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