My Baptism: An Inward Grace

When I was 19 years old, I attended a tent revival held at the White County, Arkansas Fair Grounds and answered an altar call at the end of the service. That next Sunday I was baptized in my local Baptist church. What makes this story interesting to an Anglican is that I had been baptized already at the age of 7 in my local Baptist church. Oops.

Why did I get baptized again? Well, to 19-year-old Baptist Tony, I had not really accepted Christ into my heart at age 7; I had just wanted to be like my friends. So, the logic goes: If I was not a believer at 7, then my baptism was not valid. Again, oops.

Multiple baptisms are fairly common in rural areas of Arkansas and—I would assume—rural areas across the country. “One baptism for the forgiveness of sin” was not a part of the liturgy in any church I attended until I was 34 years old. The sacrament of baptism was certainly the largest barrier to my confirmation in the Anglican church. It took me a while to come around to the Anglican view on the subject. You can take the boy out of the Baptist church, but you can’t take the Baptist church out of the boy so easily, and I am thankful for that. And I believe that our Baptist brothers and sisters are just as much a part of the Body of Christ as we are. Therefore, how can we hold such different views on the sacrament of baptism?

Well, here is how I handled it 10 years ago in my then 34-year-old newly confirmed Anglican brain: oops and thankful for God’s grace. I received the outward and visible sign of God’s inward and spiritual grace at the age of 7. I was baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit in that small Baptist church in front of some of the most God-loving people you will ever meet. My church family wrapped around me and my family and helped raise me in a Christian environment; that alone is an amazing demonstration of God’s glorious grace.

It was another 12 years before I fully accepted Christ and made my commitment to the faith. I wasn’t baptized a second time; I just stood up in front of everyone and made a commitment to Christ in lukewarm water. To my Baptist brothers and sisters, I made an outward declaration of accepting what Christ did for me on that cross. As an Anglican, I could not agree more with them, but I am so thankful for that inward and spiritual grace at the age of 7. Sometimes it just takes a good ‘ole tent revival to get us to commit.