QUESTION:
 Question: Under what scriptural circumstances 
would someone need to be baptized a second or 
third time? Would a divorce and remarriage 
be ‘washed away’ with multiple baptisms? If not, 
how should we deal with congregations who accept 
those who are in unscriptural marriages? 

ANSWER:
There are no scriptural circumstances that call for a second or third baptism. 
There may be situations, however, when a person is baptized for the wrong reason, 
which would render the act unscriptural. Examples would be a baptism in order to 
get someone to marry them or a baptism just because others were being baptized, 
where no sincere repentance was involved. Often people request re-baptism 
because “they didn’t understand what they were doing at the time they were 
baptized.” That raises the question of just how much one must know in order to be 
scripturally baptized. Those in Acts the second chapter had heard only one gospel 
sermon. From this\ they learned they were guilty of assenting to the death of 
Christ and hence sinners. Upon learning this they asked “what must we do?” When 
they were told to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins, they yielded 
and were baptized. Their knowledge about the church, its worship and work, the 
duties of the Christian life etc was extremely limited or basically non-existent. 
From this I conclude that every sinner needs to know he/ she is lost, that Jesus 
died for their sins, and that in order to be forgiven they must turn away from 
sinful conduct and be baptized in water for the remission of their sins. I can’t 
imagine why anyone would baptize a person who did not know that, or why one would 
want to be baptized who did not know that. For sake of discussion let us suppose 
someone is baptized young in life and later decides that they did not have 
sufficient knowledge the first time they were baptized and desires to be re-
baptized because of that fact. Then later decides they need to be baptized again a 
third time because they didn’t understand what they were doing the previous time. 
Something is wrong here. In such cases baptism becomes a mockery. Such actions are 
totally inconsistent with bible teaching and practice. The second question deals 
with the rebaptism of a person in an unscriptural marriage relationship. For 
example: an individual obeys the gospel and is baptized. Some time later they 
divorce their companion for something other than fornication and marry again. Later 
they want to be re-baptized because they say they didn’t understand what they were 
doing when they were baptized the first time. Since baptism washes away all sins, 
they now claim that their unscriptural marriage is sanctified and scriptural: I 
cannot agree with such a conclusion. The law of God that governed this marriage 
when it was contracted is the same law that governs its duration and any grounds 
for its dissolution. Re-baptism was never intended to make an unscriptural marriage 
scriptural. I cannot judge the heart of the person wanting to be re-baptized; 
however, he/she should understand that such an act on their part is not going to 
mean that their marriage is now acceptable to God. Any person who holds out such a 
prospect to anyone in this situation is doing them a great disservice in the 
opinion of this writer. It should also be noted that repentance is to precede 
baptism. Repentance means one stops the practice of sin and changes their life. The 
drunkard stops drinking, the thief stops stealing, and the immoral cease committing 
immorality. Whatever conduct that was sinful before baptism has to be abandoned. 
Baptism never allows one to continue sinful behavior. Churches that harbor and 
condone people in unscriptural relationships do them a great disservice. Had the 
Corinthian brethren continued to approve and shield the unscriptural relationship 
of that brother in 1 Corinthians 5, he would have been lost. Due to their dealing 
with the matter in a forthright and scriptural fashion, he was saved. Any church 
today that “looks the other way” or openly justifies and condones unscriptural 
marriage relationships will have to answer to God for so doing. The words of Paul 
sound a warning for all time “But now I have written to you not to keep company 
with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, 
or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, not even to eat with such a person” 
I Corinthians 5:11. Unfortunately today some churches have allowed unscriptural 
marriages to go unchallenged and undisciplined, others like Corinth seem to 
be “puffed up and have not mourned.” The results of such situations will come back 
to haunt us, both now and in eternity.