Roman Catholics (questions asked by them)

10. I must be born again, and that is clear to me, but what do you mean when you affirm that I must be baptized? A new baptism? I have been baptized, I have taken communion and I have been confirmed, but this has been done according to custom and usage ….

I mean that you must be baptized by immersion.

If you read for instance ACTS 8:26-39, the story of the conversion of the Eunuch, you will see that the Eunuch asked Philip to baptize him when they came to some water, and that Philip baptized him by immersing him in the water, for it is written that they went down into the water and Philip baptized him, and then “they came up out of the water ….” (Acts 8:39 - NIV). And then keep in mind that Jesus Christ Himself was baptized by John in the Jordan river, as it is written that “as soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water” (Matthew 3:16 - NIV). Therefore the baptism by sprinkling that you – as well as many others - received when you were a little baby is of no value, but not only because the form is not biblical, but also because before being baptized one must believe for Jesus said: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16). Please note that faith must precede water baptism. How can a little baby believe? If you read the book of the Acts of the apostles you will notice that water baptism was always administered to those who had believed. For instance, in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost when about three thousand souls turned to the Lord (Acts 2:41); in the city of Samaria (Acts 8:12), and also in the city of Corinth (Acts 18:8). Therefore it is evident that since faith must precede water baptism and the remission of sins is obtained through faith (Acts 10:43), water baptism does not remit sins because baptism follows faith (instead your priest teaches that baptism remits sins).

As far as I am concerned I was baptized in Locarno (Ticino, Switzerland) in Lake Maggiore by a pastor and an elder (we have no priests) at about twenty years of age. It was a beautiful day because on that day through the baptism I confessed I had believed with my heart in the Lord Jesus Christ. My brother also was baptized together with me on that day.

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