I was baptized at the age of 14. I know my baptism was real but 2 yrs. Later [and since] I’m living in sin for 20+ yrs., [but] now trying to come back with a sincere heart. Well my question is can I come back to Christ, and is my baptism is still worthy or effective? Please comment on this. Thanks, Kevin
Yes, you can “come back to Christ.” There is no sin if we are willing to repent of it for which God is unwilling to forgive us (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). We humans can put ourselves beyond the reach of a loving God by hardened, rebellious hearts (Matthew 12:31-32; Ephesians 4:19; 1 Timothy 4:2; Hebrews 6:4-6).
Someone may have doubts (Romans 14:23) about his or her baptism received at a young age or for other reasons (Acts 19:1-6), and subsequently request baptism again to make sure. There is one baptism (Ephesians 4:5), though, and either the first baptism was valid or the second baptism was the valid immersion “for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38) or to be saved (1 Peter 3:21). However, Bible baptism saves one from past sins (Romans 3:25); that is, Bible baptism saves the participant from sins that he or she is no longer doing habitually. Furthermore, Bible baptism does not save one respecting sins that he or she may commit in the future.
Baptism cleanses the soul from sins (when preceded by faith, John 8:24; repentance, Luke 13:3; acknowledging Jesus as Christ and Savior, Romans 10:9-10) that occurred prior to baptism. After baptism—after becoming a Christian, instead of being baptized again to remove sin, the child of God repents and prays for forgiveness (Acts 8:22; 1 John 1:9). Usually, this repentance is as public as the sin is known so that brothers and sisters in Christ can pray with us (James 5:16) and so that a local congregation can know of an erring Christian’s return to the Lord (1 Corinthians 5:1-13; 2 Corinthians 2:6-8).
The salvation of a Christian, no matter who one is or how exemplary one practices Christianity, is fundamentally the same. We become Christians, and after that, we repent of sins that creep into our lives from time to time, and we ask God for forgiveness through prayer.
