Can You Be Un-Baptized?


I finished my series of meetings at Temple Church in Greenville, NC, tonight.  What a great church!  Great pastor and people and staff and music!  Tomorrow I’m leaving for Roan Mountain; then, on Friday, back to Nashville.

Today an article appeared under the headline:  “Following Atheist Trend, Britons Seek De-Baptism.”
 
The article said:  “More than 100,000 Britons have recently downloaded certificates of de-baptism from the Internet to renounce their Christian faith…  De-baptism movements have already sprung up in other countries.   In Spain, the high court ruled in favor of a man from Valencia, Manuel Blat, saying that under data protection laws he could have the record of his baptism erased, according to a report in the International Herald Tribune.”

There was more to the article, but two thoughts came to mind.  First, most of these “de-baptisms” are by people who were baptized as infants into the State Church, but who never really consciously acknowledged Christ as their personal Savior.  What they really need isn’t de-baptism from the church but de-liverance from sin and secularism.

Second, I’m happy I can say that I don’t regret my baptism.  I was baptized as a young teenager by Rev. Winford R. Floyd on a Sunday night.  The moments before my baptism were a bit frightening, but the moments afterward were exhilarating to me.  Sometimes I wish I could be baptized anew every time I partake of the Lord’s Supper.  I’d kind of like to experience the joy of it again.

This coming Sunday, I’m scheduled to baptize a man who helped liberate Europe during World War II.  His ship hit a mine on D-Day, and he went ashore at Normandy one day late.   He told me he thought the Lord allowed the unexpected delay because he wasn’t saved at the time.  Now after all these years he’s ready to make a public profession of faith in Christ through baptism.