Baptized later in your adult life

[1riot1ranger]

I had an uncle baptized when he was 80. Went to church every Sunday and took all the neighborhood kids and grandkids. I never asked him why he waited but I'm sure he always felt there was one thing he needed to do. Figure same as you, you know what to do, now go do it.

[camoclad]

As said above. If you are saved, knowing Christ died for you and you accept his sacrafice, be baptized!
Jesus was baptized by John. He was about 33.

The Baptism of Jesus
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Matthew 3:13-17

[KactusKiller]

I’m using “baptism” in this discussion as a symbol, a stepping stone or a launching pad to fulfillment of higher faith better Christian living. If I take thy step I want to be ready to take a huge leap. I don’t want to be a hypocrite. Like many who openly and willing create massive sin but feel they clean the slate every Sunday at church because they attend church and ask for forgiveness. I know that’s the process of salvation but it just never set well with me. I want to be different.


Thank you all for your reply’s, they were all great!I needed this.

[camoclad]

Man, don't confuse salvation and sanctification. You are saved once. Sanctification is a life long process. Peaks and valleys bud. Salvation through Christ is eternal.

Get saved
Be baptized

[kch73]

Sola fide

[Texas Grown]

Sounds like your last two sentences in your opening statement sum it up for your current position. If you want the next step in life, seek it. God is big enough to handle all things. If you want to get to know Him better, seek him in all things. As to being baptized, it is symbolic. And a choice. Walking the path for our Father is one thing. Walking the path with Him is another.


There is a difference between justification, and sanctification. The bible spends time teaching us each of these in the first half and second half.

[SaltwaterSlick]

OP, the nature of your original post would seem to indicate that you seem to believe that you are a Christian. However, your explanation of your problem tends to make me think you actually may have some doubts. First of all, there is nothing anyone can do FOR you or TO you that makes you a Christian. There is no long term "process" or refinement that you have to go through to be a Christian. It is a very simple and free action that you must do in order to be a Christian. Once done, Jesus does the rest. It really is that simple. PLEASE don't make it more complicated than that. Please let me try to explain...
There is an old series of verses that have been used in Bible Studies literally for hundreds of years to help people of all ages to understand what it is and how to become a Christian. It's called the Roman Road to Salvation. There are various versions and they differ only in which verses are picked out and used to paint this picture of Salvation. Below is a list of the verses that I was taught and that I have used no telling how many times to try to explain what it means to be a Christian and to show anyone interested in becoming a Christian how to do it... Please read through these verses in order and later, using your own Bible, read the verses around them for an even greater understanding... These are taken from the New American Standard Bible. I don't want to make this too "churchy" and hard to understand, but if you want to read more, I suggest going back and reading the book of Romans, especially around the verses listed below, then read the Gospel of John for a good read on who Jesus is and why He is the Messiah...




(Rom 1:16) For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (A Christian is not ashamed of who he is and who Jesus is. This free gift of God is available to any and everyone who asks for it.)
(Rom 10:9) that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
(Rom 10:10) for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. (It really is quite that simple. If you call on the name of Jesus and believe in your heart that God the Father raised him from the dead, you will be SAVED... Period!!)
(Rom 3:23) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (NONE of us is ever "ready"... we are separated from God by SIN from birth.)
(Rom 3:24) being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; (You are redeemed by Christ. He gave Himself up for you and for me.)
(Rom 5:8) But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.(God gave His only Son for our sins. Jesus who knew no sin, went to the cross and died for our sins, all our sins past, present and future! We do not have to keep working for our Salvation. We cannot work for it. It is a free gift from God.)
(Rom 6:23) For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. This is the whole enchilada right here in this one statement!)
(Rom 8:14) For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
(Rom 8:38) For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
(Rom 8:39) nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (This is one of the places where we get the idea of once we accept Jesus as our Savior and turn from our sins and repent, we can never be taken from Him. We are and always will be Saved.)
(Rom 10:13) for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED."
(Rom 12:1) Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
(Rom 12:2) And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
(Rom 14:19) So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.
(What this last part means is that once we accept Jesus as Savior, we are bound to obey Jesus's command to be Baptized as an act of worship. We were made by God to worship Him, period. Even Jesus obeyed and was Baptized, though he and no "need" to be Baptized other than to give God the Father the opportunity to show all who where there that this man Jesus was God's Son and sent by Him.

Your Baptism is nothing more than an act of obedience to follow Jesus in Baptism. It is a public profession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord of your life... It is nothing more, nothing less. This Baptism is done after your acceptance of Jesus as Savior, once you have prayed and asked Jesus to be Lord of your life and you confess that he died on the cross, was buried and on the third day, God raised him from the dead and was ascended to Heaven where he sits at the right hand of God the Father. If you have accepted Jesus as Savior and confessed with your mouth that God raised him from the dead, to not be Baptized is to be in disobedience toward God.

[kerrbow]

When a person truly believes that Jesus, and Jesus alone, died on a cross for their sins, was buried and 3 days later rose from the dead, so we can have an eternal relationship with Him and surrenders their life to His lordship, you are saved. Share that testimony with believer's baptism and you will never regret it. The very moment you accept Jesus you are filled with the Holy Spirit in full. God sent His Spirit to direct our life's journey. Praying for you, brother in your search.

[Mertzon Man]

God bless you Jack.
You are ready my friend from what you have told us. We are all sinners and continue to sin until we leave this earth. Jesus was perfect and his blood covers our sins and transgressions. Accept his grace and mercy and live your life being an example to others. We all fall short in our walk but when we repent and ask for forgiveness God hears our pleas and forgives.

[dhall1414]

Jesus told Nicodemus no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and spirit. Then his disciples went out and baptized entire households including children. I am not in a position to tell anyone what to do but that seems pretty clear to me.

OP, i was baptized at 33 after having been raised in the Church of Christ with similar beliefs regarding baptism as the Baptists. what i had waited for was to find a woman to marry and make a life with, but in retrospect that wasn't necessary. "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

I had them read John 3 1-21 for my baptism.

[Bro. Bill]

A lot of good post here.
Op
On August the 5th of 2003 the Blood of Jesus had done it job!

I was Reborn! No doubt in anyone’s mind that God had touched me.
My drug dealer said man something’s wrong with you!
Just by seeing me.
He said what’s wrong with you!
And in my best east Texas voice I told him I got saved that’s what’s wrong with me!
The Baptist preacher who had led me to Jesus told me the next step is believers baptism.
I said when can we get that done. And two weeks later I invited 30 plus people to see me get dunked I wanted them to know that the wild man had changed.
That’s my story. No two are the same.
I truly feel if this had been laid on your heart then it’s time to get in the water!
Be Blessed

[CassCounty]

My Dad was baptized 4 weeks ago in the hospital at 84 years old. He passed away 4 days later. He had been a believer and wanted to be baptized but just never had went through with it.
If it's on your heart to be baptized, I truly hope and pray you do it. You are in my prayers. God Bless You!!

[DosToros]

Lots of good answers here on baptism so I will let them speak for themselves. However I would urge you to find a church that you love and where you want to get plugged in. Remember, churches are full of sinners! If you love the church you attend I would urge you to invest yourself in it and see what happens. Find some likeminded buddies there, or do a bible study, join a Sunday school. I didn't grow up this way but it awesome what happens when you get in a church community.

[rolylane6]

Great posts, and I really appreciate the input. I enjoy reading others stories, makes me feel not alone. I just can’t get myself past the thought of needing to be a better person before making that leap. I think it’s why I have felt “unfinished” and “unsatisfied” with most every facet of life. I just want to be able to sit back and feel a sense of relief, accomplishment or a sense of total relaxation and enjoyment of present day.

I was baptized when I was 4. Had no idea what I was doing or why I was doing it. I just thought it would be cool to "swim" in church, Lol.
After I accepted Christ as an adult I decided I would be baptized as an adult, who knew what he was doing and why. So at the age of 50, my wife and two of our children joined me and we were all baptized together in the presence of our church. It was a turning point for me in my relationship with Jesus. It was the point where I decided that following Him was a lifetime commitment for me, allowing Him to change me into someone He could use for His purpose. The goal of a Christian is, or should be, to become more like Christ, every moment of everyday. In that regard, the idea that you need to be a better person before you're baptizped will never end because you will never be fully like Christ and therefore are alway becoming a better person. We can do our best to be as much like Him as we can but we will never, in this life, be fully like Him. He is perfect. Aside from His intercession on our behalf, we are not perfect. It's His intercession for us that makes us perfect in God's sight because He cleansed our sin by the shedding of His own blood. "Being better" is too subjective and you may never think it's enough. Don't put it off for that reason. Baptism is symbolic of the changing nature of accepting Christ. You go "under" as the old you and emerge as a new creation in Him by Him. Born again. For me, being baptized meant I was fully accepting the gift of salvation that Christ offered and was ready to allow Jesus to change me into the child of God I was meant to be. Being better didn't matter because I was ready for the current (old) me to die and the "new" me to be born again. No need to get better in order to die. Instead, I needed to die and be born again to get better. I had spent most of my adult life up to that point trying to get better by my own means. I couldn't. It had to be done by Him.
Don't question you're desire to follow Christ and His desire for you. Question your desire not to. Baptism is His desire for you. Baptism is not a requirement to follow Christ or a requirement for salvation but it is a symbolic statement of your desire and commitment to both. It's His desire that you make that commitment.
I absolutely love that you have such a desire for a deeper relationship with Jesus that you're here asking for advice and counsel. I pray you find your answers and the relationship you desire. As someone else already recommended, pray and ask Jesus these same questions. He will answer. Your desire to be baptized has most likely been placed in your heart by Him. Don't deny His desire for you.

Rev 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
Sounds like He's knocking and I'm so excited for you! Praise Jesus!

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[rolylane6]

Simply put, this is exactly what I think of when I think of baptism. But I fear I will not be able to keep up my end of the bargain. I’m a people pleaser and nothing hurts more than me knowing I let someone down. I’m sure I’m still letting him down now as a lot of us do but it feels like inviting him over for dinner and the house is a wreck and I can’t seem to get it organized and keep it clean. If that makes sense.

Failing is part of growing. We fail that He may teach us and we may learn. Failure shows our weakness so He can show us how we can be strong. Jesus told Peter he would fail before he did it. Peter argued with Him. In the end Peter failed three times just like Jesus said he would. Peter realized Jesus knew him better than he knew himself. You are no different. Jesus already knows your weakness and your failures. Your "getting better" will not hide anything from Him. It will only hide it from you and delay His ability to change you and make you the better person He desires you to be. You can't get better without Him and it's an eternal commitment to transformation that he desires from you. Peace and rest are His promise to you. But rest does not mean we stop moving, it means we stop struggling to move because we move with the passion of higher purpose. And peace does not mean we no longer have pains and trials, it means we know He has already secured our victory in them.
The only way you'll ever let Him down is by rejecting Him. His whole purpose and desire is to help you be who God made you to be. He doesn't even want you to get better or "clean your house" on your own. He desires to do that with you. That's who He is and all He wants. Let Him help you. Don't deny Him of His purpose. It's what God sent Him to die for. He knows your house is a wreck. That's why he's knocking on your door.

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