Should those new converts who had been immersed before they accepted the true Sabbath be reimmersed when they accept God's message for these last days?
When the Lord Jesus Christ came to John the Baptist to be baptized of him in Jordan, John at first refused to baptize Him. John told Jesus, "You do not need to be baptized by me, but I need to be baptized by you." This was - true. How easily Jesus might have said, "You are right. I am not a sinner. I have not committed a single sin. There is really no need for Me to be baptized." But, no, Jesus said, "Suffer it to be so now : for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness." Jesus Christ was determined not to leave off any right thing. So He was immersed beneath the waters of Jordan.
In the light of His example, when a person who has not been baptized by immersion accepts Christ's message for our day, he will plan to be immersed, as Jesus was. And if he has been baptized before he accepts Christ's special message for these last days, he should consider very carefully whether or not he will be reimmersed under this special message.
Some may ask, "I was immersed once to show my faith in Christ, and if I should be re-immersed, wouldn't that be a denial of my faith in the Lord Jesus ?" The answer is "No." Being reimmersed under the message of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus would be showing more faith in Jesus Christ than when you were immersed the first time. Colossians 2:12 says: "Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead."
One purpose of baptism is to show one's faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Immersion is the true memorial of Christ's resurrection. The keeping of Sunday in honor of Christ's resurrection, is a man-made memorial of his resurrection which men, contrary to the Word of God, have instituted in the place of Christ's appointed seventh-day Sabbath.
When I was immersed the first time, I was keeping Sunday as an alleged memorial of our Lord's resurrection. Since I was keeping Sunday as a false memorial of Christ's resurrection, this first immersion could not take its divinely appointed place in my life as the true memorial of Christ's resurrection. When Christ's special message for our day came to me, and I learned that Sunday is not a true memorial of Christ's resurrection, but that immersion is the true memorial of Christ's resurrection, I decided that I should be reimmersed. How could immersion be to me the true memorial of Christ's resurrection until the false memorial of Sundaykeeping was dislodged from my life?
The question may be raised, "Do we know whether God approves of people being immersed more than once ?" We have a record in the New Testament where God led people to be immersed at two different times in their lives. You will find this in Acts 19:1-5. It reads as follows:
"And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, he said unto them, Have you received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were Ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on Him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus."
The instruction of Jesus regarding baptism needs to be carefully studied. Let us notice His words in Matthew 28: 19, 20: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Notice that teaching precedes baptism. What does this teaching include? Jesus tells us in verse 2o :"Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you."
A person should be taught to observe all the commandments of Jesus Christ before he is baptized. Those who were immersed before hearing God's special message for these last days should ask themselves the question, "Was I taught all the commandments of Jesus before I was immersed?" I think the answer will have to be in the negative. For example, there were six different principles or Bible precepts pertaining to the Christian life that I was not taught when I was immersed the first time. Here they are:
To keep holy the seventh day of the week.
To wash each other's feet before we partake of the Lord's supper.
To render unto God one tenth of one's income.
To eat and drink to the glory of God, which involves the laying aside of tobacco, pork, tea, and coffee.
To refrain from following the sinful ways of the world, like dancing, card playing, theater going, etc.
To dress modestly, and not to adorn oneself with ornaments such as rings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, etc.
God's message calls His people out of Babylon. In Revelation 18:4 the call of the Lord is, "Come out of her, My people." If we have been immersed in some church which is a part of Babylon, and we decide to respond to the call of God, to "come out," it is necessary to be re-immersed into Christ's remnant church, to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
This special message for the last days sustains the same relation to Christ's second advent- as the message of John the Baptist did to the first advent of our Lord. Connected with John's message was a special baptism called "John's baptism." So also there is a special baptism conneeted with this counterpart message for these last days.
The Scriptures tell us that in order for a person to have a true baptism he must die to sin. In Romans 6:3 we read: "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?" I wish to ask a few. questions. What is sin? "Sin is the transgression of the law." i John 3 The law in this case means the Ten Commandments. Did Jesus Christ die for the transgression of just nine of tlre Ten Commandments ? Or did He die for all ten of the Ten Commandments? He died for the transgression of all ten, of course. Since a person must die to sin in order to have a true baptism, and Jesus died for all ten of the Ten Commandments, on how many of the Ten Commandments must a person be immersed in order to have a true baptism? If you were immersed on only nine of the Ten Commandments before you accepted the true Sabbath, isn't it necessary to be immersed again on all the Ten Commandments, in order to die with Christ to sin, and to have a true baptism?
A person who has been immersed before he accepts the Sabbath may become a member of the remnant church on profession of faith without being reimmersed. But these Scriptural considerations show that it is better to be re-immersed when we accept this message. My second immersion brought me the greatest spiritual blessings of my life. I believe that those who have been immersed before learning this special message for these last days will say as the Saviour said on the banks of Jordan, "Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness."
