Do people have to be a pastor to baptize?

You can find Jesus’ explanation of the ability of ALL Believers to baptize new converts in Matthew 28.

A baptism under Baptist doctrine is invalid unless it is conducted by immersion: the person must have their entire body completely covered by water, otherwise it is not a baptism and God does not recognize it as such.

Baptism cannot forgive sin and a person who is Saved but not baptized is not damned. However, a person who refuses to be baptized was never Saved to begin with, because the transformative power of the Holy Spirit leads to rebirth and an ongoing conformation to the Image of Jesus’ Character (sanctification), which leads to a desire to be baptized (see for instance the Ethiopian Eunuch).

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In the Baptist church, the Holy Orders (clergy) consist of the Overseer (also called Pastor or Bishop, the shepherd and first of equals), the Deacon (servant to the church flock and to orphans, widows, etc.), and the Elder (the administrators of the church who vote in plurality). Some Baptists, such as my church, combine the office of Deacon and Elder. The Holy Orders are described in 1 and 2 Timothy, and also in Titus.

Jesus tells ALL Believers to go forth and make disciples of all nations, BAPTIZING THEM in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That includes all baptized laymen in good standing with God and in whom the Holy Spirit dwells. All baptized Christian laymen of both sexes can baptize a new convert.

First off, ALL Believers who are Saved, know Jesus, and have been baptized themselves may baptize any other new convert upon their profession of faith in Jesus. In fact, baptism itself is a command that all Believers must undergo in order to prove that they are changed. We, as Believers, are commanded to baptize new converts if God uses us to lead them to Christ. Baptism is even allowed to occur on the spot, as the story of the Ethiopian Eunuch shows. Baptism does not forgive sin and does not save you, but if you are saved and are forgiven, you will be baptized.

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Baptism in the Baptist church is one of the two Holy Ordinances and one of the Five Holy Sacraments. Holy Ordinances are established by the Mouth of the Lord Jesus Himself, and those are the Ordinance of Baptism and the Ordinance of Lord’s Supper. The other three Sacraments (Holy Orders AKA clergy, Anointing the Sick, and Marriage) are established by the Church Fathers in the rest of the New Testament. (Catholics recognize seven, we only recognize five.)

Baptism is non-negotiable: if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that He is God, crucified for your sin sand risen from the dead, you MUST be baptized to prove that you made that choice. Baptism does not save you and it cannot forgive sins, nor is it a condition to get into Heaven, but if you are not willing to be baptized, then the transforming power of the Holy Spirit has not indwelt you, and you are clearly not yet Saved. If you are actually Saved and forgiven, you will be baptized and want to be baptized.

Overseers, Deacons, and Elders are ordained clergymen and it is by their virtue of ordination by Laying of Hands and their election to spiritual office by consent of the laity that gives them the power to Bind and Loose.

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Short answer: any baptized Christian, regardless of sex or role in the Church, may baptize any new convert who has accepted Jesus into their heart,upon the new convert’s profession of faith. However, to join the church and become a voting member, one must be baptized publicly by an ordained man.

Now, who can baptize? That depends. Do you mean who can baptize a person who has just found Jesus, or do you mean who can baptize a person into church membership? The answer is different.

Baptism is not valid to Baptists unless the whole body of the individual is completely immersed in, and soaked by, the water.

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When a person who has converted to Christianity wishes to join a church, he must be baptized by an ordained man in front of the congregation in order to become a voting member. This is because the authority of the Church as the Bride of Christ is exercised by the men called to clerical ministry, elected by the advice and consent of the laity.

For a baptism to be legally valid, it must be publicly conducted by an ordained man in front of witnesses: baptism to Baptists is the public confession of faith. You have already been Saved, but now that you are Saved and want to become a voting member of the church, you should come boldly before the altar of God and declare your allegiance to Christ.

However, in order to make a baptism valid for the purpose of becoming a member of a church, and have that legally recognized before the congregation, only a person who has been given the authority to Bind and Loose spiritual things can perform a valid baptism for the purpose of membership. This is called Believer’s Baptism or, specifically, Obedience Through Baptism.

Hi everybody! I have been looking at posts on narcs and narc abuse on here and if has really helped me out a lot. I am currently struggling with my situation and need some advice/support. I met a narc last year, everything seemed to good to be true. Love bombing, always texting calling and taking me on dates. Everything changed when someone warned me about him out in public in front of him and who he is. This caused a conflict with us and the love bombing seized. he would tell me that everything is okay and i can come and talk. He would set a time limit on me and kick me out after that. he would then text me like everything was fine and we hung out again and after that he completely ghosted me for one week. He came back and texted me a week later laughing about the ghosting and acting like nothing had happened. he continued to text me ( not like in the beginning) make plans with me, then on the day of the plans he would just ghost me. One day he would act interested the next silence. i contacted him a month later and he acted like nothing happened. He was on a vacation and sent me a picture of another woman ( someone he allegedly met on the trip) to strike a reaction but i never gave him one. After the trip he came to my place and was extremely rude, accusing me of going on dates with a bunch of men. The next day he accused me of being an alcoholic and that he wanted nothing to do with me but said well maybe we can be "friends" then ghosted me i assumed at this point it was over and i would never hear from him again. He contacted me on the holiday a month later acting like everything was great. We ended up hanging out a month or so later and when we hung out it went well, i thought things were going in the right direction. after we hung out.. silence. I would try to text him and if he replied it would be very short then he just stopped replying. He ghosted me for almost three months. I thought he was done this time and of course he popped up again like nothing happened. At this point i was getting sick of if so i questioned him as to why he dissapeared and always does this. Of course he had some sob story about a injury and family member dying of cancer. I felt pity for him and he gave me an apology.. so i took him back stupidly. things seemed to be going smooth for a couple months, of course until his family member died and his injury got better he never contacted me and was distant. Menawhile, i was there for him during the difficult time for him. He lied to me about the funeral and never wanted to chat. I was chasing him and he would always claim nothing was wrong but when i said i thought he used me when he was down he could not handle it and would always tell me he didnt care and to go away. I would get so upset i would try texting him to work it out he would barelt respond and if he did he would not be nice about it. we did hang out a couple times after that, he would ignore me after. One day i was like hey i think you are seeing someone else, and i was like well ixam seeing someone so no problem if you are he said " buy bye good luck with your new guy stop contacting me" i was devastated and tried to get into contact with him for weeks then i just gave up and accepted it was over. He ended up contacting me a month later acting like everything was fine. He wanted to go out and have drinks i told him i would. He and i both seemed to have a great time. He ends up ignoring me again. I kept texting him trying to figure out what was wrong. He kept saying everything was fine and i said ok can we hang out again? He said maybe i was like why? He just kept saying maybe … our last conversation we had… i said what is wrong ? He said nothing is wrong everything is fine. I asked him why he keeps saying maybe. He said " maybe but i dont want to see you right now" i said why? He saix " im just not feeling it, if i wanted to date i would" i said why did you contact me less then a week ago wanting to go out? He said i didnt.. even though he did. So i said should i just move on or what? He said whatever you want to do. So i said that he was really confusing me and asked him if he had anything more to say before i move on? My messages were turning green so i panicked he blocked me and reacted irrationally. I said " omg did you block me? My messages are not going through. Even texted him on my work phone asking what was up. And called him twice ( please dont judge me i know it is pathetic i never was this type of girl before him) so he replied and said " Ok I'll block you now" then immedietly blocked me. He has never blocked me before since I have met him he will just ghost. Is this ths final discard aka " grand finale? Did i just push him too far? this has upset me so much its hard to even function.

This is one big issue where Protestants and Orthodox stand opposed to Catholics: we believe that it was Peter’s CONFESSION that was the Rock that Jesus would build His Church on, not Peter himself, and it was that STATEMENT OF FAITH that gave Peter and the other Disciples the authority to Bind and Loose as the first clergy and temporal founders of the Truth that Jesus left them to spread. Baptists believe that Apostolic Succession (the authority to Bind and Loose and to be an ordained clergyman in the Holy Orders) is passed from clergyman to new clergyman by the Laying of Hands. A man (and it MUST be a man) who is ordained in the ministry must have hands laid on them by previously ordained men, and be prayed over to be commissioned to service. Baptists, like all Christian clergy that haven’t been broken by female clergy, can trace an unbroken ordination train back to Jesus Himself. (The question is whether or not a schismatic can calim Apostolic Succession: all Protestant denominations come from popery, so by definition, Martin Luther’s status as an ordained Catholic monk carried over with the Reformation to create new clergy.)

The authority to Bind and Loose is found in Matthew 16:13–20, and was the basis of the authority of the Disciples and Apostles to serve as the arbiters and authorities of the faith after Jesus’ Ascension, acting under the Divine Inspiration of the Holy Spirit as they (and the Apostle Paul, etc.) wrote what would become the Bible. It was a Jewish doctrine originally entrusted to the Jewish religious leaders directly imposed by Jesus, as the Fulfillment of the Law and as God Himself, to interpret the Scriptures under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

To conclude:

Why am I not getting any atheists to debate with? Are they scared?

When a person converts to Christianity, the baptized person sharing the Gospel with him has the authority and duty to baptize him if a body of water is available, regardless of age, sex, or ordination status. This is commanded by Jesus Himself.