Should I Be Baptized Again?

While second baptisms aren’t necessarily sinful, I don’t believe they are biblically right or necessary if someone has already been baptized as a believer. Paul writes:

“There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.” (Ephesians 4:4–6)

Just as there is one Father, Scripture teaches there is one baptism for the believer.

Because of that, rather than being re-baptized, I believe many people are being invited to honor God’s saving work by trusting the salvation He already gave them—memorialized in their first baptism

Baptism as a Testimony of God’s Faithfulness

We did not save ourselves. And when believers fall away for a season and later return, baptism reminds us that salvation was never rooted in our consistency, but in God’s commitment.

Your baptism stands as a testimony to God’s pursuit of you—from the moment He saved you, through the seasons when you wandered, and even while you were running. If you’ve returned to the Lord, reflect on this: God was faithful to pursue you the entire time. That reality should shape your gratitude, your worship, and your testimony.

Scripture consistently presents us as desperate for the saving power of Jesus from beginning to end. All the saving is accomplished by God, not us. We added nothing to our salvation at the outset, and we remain dependent on His sustaining grace afterward.

As Jeremiah reminds us, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick” (Jeremiah 17:9). Though we are called to strive forward in obedience (Philippians 3:12–15), believers still fail. When we return to the Lord, we must remember: it was never we who pursued God first. God pursued us, saved us, and keeps us by His Spirit.

Because of that, baptism stands as a permanent testimony to God’s saving work—even when we fall short.

The One Clear Exception

There is one important exception: if someone was baptized before they were ever saved.

When baptism occurs as a non-Christian for reasons other than following Jesus—the clearest example being infant baptism—Scripture calls for baptism following repentance and faith. Peter commands:

“Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” (Acts 2:38)

Only believers can repent and turn to Christ.

Some argue for infant baptism from this passage because Peter says, “the promise is for you and your children,” or by pointing to household baptisms later in Acts. This interpretation assumes two things the text does not clearly state: that those households necessarily included infants, and that infants received the promise through baptism itself.

The promise of salvation is indeed for believers and their children—but that means parents are called to repent, believe, and be baptized, then raise their children to later receive the promise personally. Children capable of confessing Christ are baptized; those not yet able do so later upon belief.

This view is commonly called believer’s baptism or credobaptism (credo meaning “I believe”).

So, Should You Be Baptized Again?

If you were baptized as a baby, that was not a believer’s baptism—it was not your choice, and you were not yet able to call on the name of the Lord. In that case, baptism following repentance and faith is appropriate.

But if you were genuinely saved and baptized as a believer—even if you later fell away for a season—I would encourage you to cling to that first baptism. Let it remind you that it was always Jesus who saved you—not your good works, not your steadiness, and not the perfection of your heart.

He saved you.

He pursued you.

And He will finish what He began.