Board index ‹ Baptism

[Hope]

Can you be a real Christian if you haven't been baptised/christened?

Do you see unbaptised believers as the same as an ordinary Christian? How important is baptism to you?

[jimwalton]

Yes, you can be a real Christian if you haven't been baptized. Baptism doesn't make you a Christian. It's a symbol of your relationship with God, like a wedding ring is a symbol of my relationship with my spouse. I can wear a ring if I'm not married, and I can take it off if I am. The ring doesn't make me married or not, it's only a symbol of the relationship. Of course, I'm proud to wear the ring and declare to the whole world that I'm in love with my spouse. In the same sense I want to get baptize to gladly shout to the world that I belong to Jesus!

Baptism is a symbol of my having died with Christ and risen with Him to new life (Rom. 6.4).

So why would a believer not want to get baptized? I'm not ashamed of Christ or the Gospel. Jesus and the NT command us to get baptized. What good reason would anyone have for refusing? Baptism doesn't make me saved, but refusing to get baptized is disobedience. That's why baptism is important. It's the way I identify with Christ (just like my wedding ring is a way I identify with my spouse).