Are You Considered Christian If You Haven't Been Baptized?

Are You Considered Christian If You Haven't Been Baptized?

For example if I go to Church every Sunday and prey and believe in Lord Jesus Christ but I've not been baptised can I call myself a Christian?

Although I plan to be baptised in the future if for some reason it never happened am I a Christian? Or must I be baptised to become a Christian?

I know people who have been baptised at a very young age who are not believers and have zero interest in Religion. Are they a Christian just because they have been baptised.

Apologies if this has been asked before but I'm new to the forum and have always wondered but never sure who to ask?

 

Yes. You absolutely can identify yourself as a Christian. Baptism is entry into the Church, so those who have been baptized are called Christians. It is ordinarily required of us. But in cases where faith precedes baptism, and where the desire for baptism is present, those individuals can be called Christians also. If someone came to faith in Christ and never had the opportunity for baptism, we know that God looks upon the heart of that individual. His call and his grace are clearly present in that person's life. That sounds like a Christian to me!

 

Brilliantly said DK. I agree completely.

 

Of course! It is your faith that makes you a Christian, not
Baptism. In the Anabaptist tradition we do not baptism infants, instead waiting the child is old enough to understand the Christian faith and able to make a personal choice to accept Christ. Though I was raised in the faith I was not baptized until I was 11. My triplet sister was baptized about a year or so after I was, and my brother just last summer. That doesn't mean we weren't Christians before then. Far from it!

 

Well said - I love your signature line.

 

Thank you! I think Les Mis is a brilliant example of the redeeming power of God.

 

The Brethren never use the term sacrament. The only term I've ever heard used is ordinance. For me, my baptism was the first time I committed myself to living a Christian life. I don't understand what you mean by the rest of your post.

 

Terminology can be confusing sometimes...

What Anglicans believe is summarized in our Creeds, Catechism and Articles of Religion check out the online documents section of this forum, the following is a link to the Catechism:

http://forums.anglican.net/threads/the-church-catechism.715/#post-13855

 

Thanks! I'll need to read that.

 

That's kind of what I was trying to say. Baptism is an important sign to the world that you are a committed Christian; however, it is what is in your heart that really matters.

 

I believe the more evangelical parties of Anglicanism would totally agree with you BB and Celtic1. Bishop once wrote a short but wonderful tract on something very similar to this topic:
Are you Born Again
Noticeably absent from his list of marks of a "born again" Christian is anything to do with baptism.

 

I would argue that in High church or classical Anglicanism, baptism is not only a sign to the world. At least that is how the 39 express it.

 

I'm just quoting from the 39:
XXV. Of the Sacraments.
Sacraments ordained of Christ be not only badges or tokens of Christian men's profession, but rather they be certain sure witnesses, and effectual signs of grace, and God's good will towards us, by the which he doth work invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken, but also strengthen and confirm our Faith in him.


Whatever else they are, they are also badges and tokens of Christian men's profession.

 

I do believe Baptism is a requirement, if you made a profession of faith than your starting your Christian journey

 

I certainly agree with you that baptism has an important role to play in the way of salvation. As the homilies state, in the sacraments " hee imbraceth vs, and offereth himselfe to bee embraced of vs" (Homily on Common Prayer & Sacraments), but I think there is a misunderstanding about what "necessary" means. The Catholic New Advent Encyclopedia has this to say about the nature and necessity of sacraments:

I think the point here is that God has gives us sacraments, and has given us no less than the forgiveness of sins through those sacraments, but as beneficial and beautiful as they are, they are not the end all and be all of the salvation story. I can't remember exactly which church father said it, but it is not the absence of baptism, but the disdain for it, that condemns a man. Just as Mark 16:16 shows that it is not absence of baptism but absence of faith that condemns a man. If a man of faith, truly seeks to obey God but for whatever reason does not receive the grace of sacramental baptism, I don't believe God will remove his name from the book of life.

 

What happened to my conversation with Cramer1?

 

I agree that becoming a Christian is first a decision based on faith, but baptism needs to be done as soon as possible per the commandment of the Lord.

Matthew 28:16-20 "The Great Commission"

"Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshiped him: but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."

 

As Admin has already said they had to restore from last weeks backup., so some pasts will be lost.

 

Technically, you are not yet In Christ (via Baptism), but you are definitely a Christian. You may call yourself a Catechumen, if you are actively seeking the holy sacrament.