This week I was asked two very important questions:
1. Is being baptized the same as being a Christian?
2. If you want to accept God in your life, can it be just between you and Him?
After answering them personally, I realized that if one person was asking, there might also be someone else with the same thoughts, so let’s see if I can explain accurately.
Many Christians can point to a specific date and time when they accepted the gift of salvation. Others, myself included, grew up in a home where a relationship with God was an everyday part of family life. Whether your prayer of faith was in a quiet moment alone or in a huge cathedral, God is the One Who works the miracle of salvation.
Whatever your personal journey of faith, it can be easy to become so familiar with “church jargon” that we forget how to give simple answers to important questions like these. Yet, the Bible encourages us to study, understand, and clarify “the hope that we have” (1 Peter 3:15) with anyone who asks.
First, baptism is not the same as being a Christian. The Bible says that salvation and forgiveness comes through faith alone — that is, believing in the sacrificial death of Jesus (Acts 16:30, 31; Romans 10:9; Ephesians 2:8, 9). Baptism often follows as a one-time public expression of your new spiritual identity as a Christian but is not always physically possible, as in the case of the thief beside Jesus at His crucifixion (Luke 23:39-43).
Secondly, your decision to repent for the wrong you have done and ask God to forgive you is always between you and Him. While God created us to be in fellowship with other believers and even reminds us that we need to continue meeting together (Hebrews 10:23-25), that initial conversation with Him is personal.
The most important decision you will ever make is to recognize your need for a relationship with God and ask Him to forgive you. Don’t let another day pass without reaching out to Him. I promise that He’s waiting to hear from you.
mpaxson99@yahoo.com
