SHOULD I GET BAPTIZED AGAIN IF I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT I WAS DOING THE FIRST TIME?
As one reads the New Testament, it becomes fairly clear that a person should be baptized with an awareness of what they're actually doing. Here are some key passages on this point:
(Acts 8:35-38 NKJV) Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. {36} Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?" {37} Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." {38} So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.
(Romans 6:3-4 NKJV) Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? {4} Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
(1 Peter 3:21 NKJV) There is also an antitype which now saves us; baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Each of these scriptures indicate that baptism is something that you need to fully comprehend in order for it to have any true significance in your life. Based on this, once you are fully aware and have an understanding of what baptism is and what it represents, you should be baptized again. Please check our schedule for upcoming baptisms.
(ANSWER TO QUESTION, IF BAPTIZED AS AN INFANT)
In order to see the answer to this question, we need to recognize that the Bible never teaches or demonstrates infant baptism. As a matter of fact, the Bible teaches just the opposite, that baptism should be something experienced only by those who consciously place their faith in Jesus Christ:
(Acts 8:36-37 NKJV) Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?" {37} Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."
(1 Peter 3:21 NKJV) There is also an antitype which now saves us; baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
It's obvious that an infant is not capable of believing with all of their heart in the gospel of Jesus Christ, nor can they pledge that their conscience has been cleansed by God. Therefore, we believe that infant baptism is something without warrant in the word, and that it doesn't have any true spiritual significance for the infant that is being baptized. It might be a nice tradition in some churches, but it's value never goes beyond this since God never commands or commends it.
We do, however, see infant dedication taught and demonstrated in the Bible. Both Samuel (1 Samuel 1:27-28) and Jesus (Luke 2:22) were dedicated to God as infants, and Jesus even welcomed parents to bring their little children to Him so that He could bless them (Matthew 19:13-15). For this reason, our church offers infant dedication services instead of infant baptisms.
In your case, we would definitely encourage you to be baptized now that you're an adult, since your baptism as an infant was really irrelevant from a biblical standpoint. Remember, the value in baptism is that it's an outward reflection of an inward commitment (Romans 6:4-5). Your commitment to bury the past and follow after Jesus will be powerfully expressed and demonstrated as you take the step to be water baptized now that you're a believing adult.
