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19 Comments for 'Watered up!'

1. On May 29, 2008 @ 4:58 pm Shurinai said:

   • Greg,

     When I was around 10 I “accepted Jesus” and then I was baptized obviously that wasn’t reall considering the qoutes then I got baptized at my new church and it was before I was saved as well. I haven’t been baptized since I was truly a follower of Jesus so what is your advice on what to do?

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2. On May 30, 2008 @ 7:17 am ED... said:

   • In some ways it’s the church’s welcome that makes a baptism valid. It’s the appointed method of entry into the church, symbolic of a burial, a bath, and a birth. I’d say that once you have been baptised there’s no reason to do it again. I’d give this as an analogy: It’s like when a madman gets married. Once society recognises a matrimonial bond, whether or not the madman understands his commitment, he remains married and retains the legal status until society intervenes to take it away. That’s why Jesus told his followers to “baptise” - it’s more about the community, than the individual. It’s something the church does - a community recognition, a common statement, and a witness to Christ’s ministry and purposes in the world.

     ED.

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3. On May 30, 2008 @ 7:49 am Greg Stier said:

   • Yeah, that’s a tough one. I think ED has got some valid points. On the other hand baptism is for true believers only. If you are convinced that you weren’t a Christian when you were originally baptized I would probably advise getting baptized again.

   • Permalink to Greg Stier's comment

4. On May 30, 2008 @ 7:56 am Julia Coleman said:

   • I want to share a story about a friend. I beleive it was D2S 3 years ago. When I got home I started thinking of some friend that I could lead to the lord. The majority of my friends already were christians so it took awhile be for I thought of Kayla. From what I knew about Kayla (which wasn’t much since she was my online school friend) was that she was not a christian.

     Kayla had a pretty good life except she always was buying expensive things for herself. I thought she just liked expensicive things but then I thought she was trying to fill a hole. SO I immedetly got on my IM and told her. I told her how much people love, serve and even give up their lives for him. I had used the skit you had that year to show her how much people care.

     I told her she was one of my firends and as so I didn’t want her to go to hell. I told her John 3:16 and she excepted the lord right there.

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5. On May 30, 2008 @ 10:53 am a girl said:

   • i was sprinkled on when i was 8 years old, i didn’t really know what i was doing and my whole family was doing it. i never accepted Jesus as my savior. i went through a bunch of stuff dealing with addicitions, i hated God became deist. a couple of people talked to me about it, one asked me to read through James. i liked it so i decided i wanted Jesus in my life. started praying about it read through Acts. then i was baptized 5/27/08 (tuesday).

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6. On May 30, 2008 @ 11:08 am Kelsey said:

   • haha, that’s funny. I always called it “getting dunked”. After D2S, about 5 of my friends in the youth got dunked. It has been really neat to see their transformation. I got dunked earlier this year.

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7. On May 30, 2008 @ 12:30 pm Kathy said:

   • I grew up Lutheran and was baptized as an infant. I didn’t become a believe until my sophomore year of college. So I was rebaptized as a believer. While my life was radically changed right after I accepted Christ, I am glad that I was rebaptized–it makes my faith my own and not something my parents did when I was too young to realize the signficance–or the privilege.

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8. On May 30, 2008 @ 2:18 pm Eddie said:

   • My son Jordan trusted Christ when he was 3 but I didnt truly grasp that he understood it till he was 4.

     It happened one day while in the swimming pool and I was quizzing him about it. I had trusted Christ when I was 3 so I know it’s possible. He not only understood but argued with me when I played devils advocate. I felt pretty confident that he had in fact believed in Jesus as his Savior.

     Then we talked about getting baptized. He said he wanted to do it but didnt know what it was. I explained it and then thought well, I’ll walk him through it so he’ll be ready. I grabbed him and went through the whole thing just like the pastor would do at church. Did the speech, dunked him under and brought him up. When he came up he was excited. He said he was baptised and wanted to tell mama. I told him we were practicing and he asked “what’s the difference?”

     So now, he believes himself to have been baptized by his daddy in the pool in the backyard. We’ve asked him if he wanted to get baptized in a church by the pastor and get a certificate and have everyone watch and he said “no, I’ve already been baptized but if I have to do it again, I want to do it at the lake and I want daddy to do it again.” Of course, that’s just an excuse to get us to the lake so he can go fishing. I have to honestly say, I’m pretty proud of the boy.

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9. On May 30, 2008 @ 3:47 pm BigFatPonyDancer84 said:

   • that’s very cute=] Yes I’ve been baptized and it was an amazing life changing experience

     ~Ellen

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10. On May 31, 2008 @ 4:55 pm Steve said:

    • I have been baptized.

      “While water baptism doesn’t save you” I know you believe that and that is why “Christians who were [are] nonchalant about being water baptized”.

      You are so worried about Grace only you forget Mark 16:16 where Jesus says he who believes AND is baptized shall be saved. Peter responds to the crowds comment about what they need to do in Acts 2:38 by telling the crowd to repent and be baptized. You water the Gospel down to Grace only and then wonder why folks don’t feel they need to be baptized. Why should they, IF it has nothing to do with salvation then why should they? You spend so much time teaching they don’t need to be baptized to be saved then why should they later after all you just got done explaining why they didn’t need it.

      Galatians 3:26-27 (New International Version)
      26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

      Paul identifies those of faith as those who have been baptized into Christ.

    • Permalink to Steve's comment

11. On June 1, 2008 @ 8:12 pm Scott Eaton said:

    • Hi Steve:

      I am thankful that you desire to know the truth. This is obvious from your comment. However, on this subject you are “all wet.” Addressing Greg you said, “You water the Gospel down to Grace only and then wonder why folks don’t feel they need to be baptized.” Friend, Greg isn’t watering the gospel down to grace. The gospel IS all about grace and nothing more.

      As you probably know the word gospel means “good news.” How good would the news be if it was also dependent upon my obedience, my baptism, my church membership, etc. It is only good news because it is all of grace. It is good news because the sinless Son of God did EVERYTHING for me. He lived the perfect and sinless life that we can’t live, he died the perfect death to take the penalty of our sin, and he rose again! And he did it all for me and you. And now everyone who trusts in him alone has their sins forgiven and possesses eternal life.

      Let me address a few of the verses you mentioned above.

      Mark 16:16 - we must be careful basing any doctrine upon this verse. The best scholarship agrees that everything after Mark 16:8 is probably not original to the text. Check the notes in the New International Version to quickly verify this. The New American Standard, English Standard Version and New Living Translation all concur. It is not a good idea using these verses to make such important doctrinal assertions.

      Acts 2:38 - there is just too much to address here. For an excellent sermon explaining this passage go to this excellent and very comprehensive sermon at Bible.org: http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=3426

      Galatians 3:26-27 - this verse does not speak about water baptism at all. It is a reference to our baptism into Christ by the Holy Spirit at the time of our conversion or justification. At the moment we trust in Christ alone we are baptized by the Spirit into Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:13 says, “For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” You see, the Spirit baptizes us into the body of Christ. And this is what Paul is refering to in Galatians.

      If any passage is certainly NOT teaching that baptism is necessary for salvation it is the passage in Galatians. If you understand anything at all about Galatians it is Paul’s magnificient declaration of salvation through grace alone by faith alone in Christ alone. It has sometimes been called the “little Romans” because it possesses so many of the same themes as Paul’s letter to the Romans. It teaches nothing but grace. And indeed, this is good news.

      Steve, I could go on and on with text after text that supports salvation by faith alone. John himself uses the word believe 98 times in his Gospel alone. Paul again makes it clear in Eph. 2:8-9. There are so many places to explain and demonstrate this that I don’t know where to start and this is already too long.

      Friend, I would implore you to stop trusting in Jesus AND your baptism (works) and just trust in Christ alone. After all, the gospel is a message of grace.

    • Permalink to Scott Eaton's comment

12. On June 2, 2008 @ 5:46 am Greg said:

    • Yeah…what Scott said. Thanks for making the case bro!

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13. On June 2, 2008 @ 9:20 am JessAmaka said:

    • I friend of mine has a dilemma. My youth group is organizing a small get together this summer to baptize the new believers and those who have decided to get watered up. But her parent’s are extremely Lutheran and would feel dishonored if she were to get re-baptised. I’m doing it, but she’s just scared to hurt her parents.

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14. On June 2, 2008 @ 1:10 pm Will said:

    • Never been dunked (unless I count the time in Cozumel when a huge wave broke over me while I was snorkeling and I received a right lung full of seawater). I’ve been really pulled to be baptized (fully immersed), but not in church for two reasons: One, my church is Methodist and we don’t have a baptismal since we “sprinkle”. Two, I am always amazed when I read Acts 2 when 3,000 were added to the number of Believers when they were baptized publicly. How cool would that be???? I’ll find out this summer, Greg. Keep ya posted. - Will PS-Should I play it safe and get dunked in the Arkansas or really put my faith in Christ Alone and have my pastor wade out in the Fountain, praying that Colorado Springs doesn’t have any sewage spills the day before? The Arkansas has my vote.

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15. On June 2, 2008 @ 2:21 pm Ed said:

    • Steve -

      A good friend of mine once put it this way in response to “he who believes AND is baptized shall be saved.”

      He basically said this, “If I were to get on a plane, sit down, and fly to Florida. What got me to Florida? The getting on the plane? Or the sitting down? Of course it’s the getting on the plane. But any idiot knows, if you get on a plane, you better sit down or it’s gonna be a rough ride.”

      It’s also possible that this verse speaks of the spiritual baptism that happens automatically and immediately upon belief in Christ as Savior and which the physical dunking is a symbol. Getting wet is simply a physical action done in obedience to God to match the spiritual one that has ALREADY happened at salvation.

      This verse may not even be speaking of water baptism since it never even mentions it. Likewise the same could be said for Gal 3:27. The clothes of Christ are spiritual and not physical so why assume the baptism would also be the physical dunking rather than the spiritual washing?

      Just things to think about before coming to a conclusion.

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16. On June 2, 2008 @ 6:20 pm Shane Vander Hart said:

    • I’ve been baptized and have experienced the joy of getting to baptize two of my kids after they placed their faith in Christ.

    • Permalink to Shane Vander Hart's comment

17. On June 2, 2008 @ 10:36 pm Bubelaiken said:

    • Greg- i was baptized like last year.

      it was great except one of my freind was there to see my bapitism and i kinda lied about something to my freind and she was my teachers of Middle school and she is christians herself. anyway she told me that pastor need to keep you under the water 3 mins to get all that bad side of mine out!!!

      i was cracking up but it was my fault for lying!!!

    • Permalink to Bubelaiken's comment

18. On June 2, 2008 @ 10:52 pm Steve said:

    • Scott,

      Ephesians 4:5 “one Lord, one faith, one baptism;”

      And you said “You see, the Spirit baptizes us into the body of Christ. And this is what Paul is referring to in Galatians.”

      So my friend you are preaching another baptism? After all if you argue Paul meant in Galatians we were Baptized by the spirit and there is one baptism then that must be it right.

      Yet now you say we also need water baptism so there must be two baptisms then but that cant be because Ephesians says there is only one.

      The problem with faith only is that it does not really require anything of the person who says they have faith. Then new testament is clear that God asked for more than faith, he wanted believers who were obedient. I think that there is a clear case for baptism being the last step of faith. And I know we can argue that point until Christ comes.

      Read 1 Peter 3:20-22
      Peter states that baptism is the pledge of a good conscience toward God and that is what saves you.

    • Permalink to Steve's comment

19. On June 3, 2008 @ 9:18 am Jess Gru said:

    • Ha baptism is awesome! The Lord called me to be His daughter on September 1, 2006 at an allnighter. Before that I was full of sexual promiscuity and unforgiveness. Thinking back on that I realize that my life before I was a Christian was full of trials because I was predestined to be His child.

      My baptism’s attendance went up 80 from normal church attendance. My parents, who are unregenerite, came with my sister. This is sooo exciting. The day of my baptism we had communion and sadly my parents didn’t partake, which just proved to me that they are essentially not saved.

      But they did get to hear my testimony for the Lord and how He can wash away any sins we have due to His grace and mercy.

      If you would like to watch my video of my baptism feel free to email me!

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