Baptism Hammer

There is nothing heretical about this statement, it simply indicates that baptisms are taking place without the full power of baptism being activated. Persons who have only experienced a symbolic baptism should be encouraged to study Romans 6, and to apply the truths found therein to their hearts, so that ehy will experience the full power of baptism. These folks do not need to be baptized again, but their spiritual life would benefit significantly from doing the baptism teachings that we provide for new believers, based on Romans 6.

No, the Scriptures are cleear that regeneration is by faith alone, and baptism plays no part in that. Regeneration is the creation of the New Man. Baptism is the burial of the Old man.

Baptism is for cleansing, burial of the old man and identification with Christ - not necessarily for public witness. It is the Scriptural way of expressing a commitment to follow Jesus, and as such it can inspire others to follow Christ - but we should be very wary of decisions to follow Christ purely on the basis of influence of the bold decisions of others. The decision to follow Christ should be based on a recognition of my state as a sinner and the inevitable sentence of death as a result, and by the shocking realization of the love of God in Christ Jesus expressed by taking my place on the cross. This encounter with the love of God is what should evoke the decision to follow Jesus - as our response to HIs love - not any influence, however powerful, by someone else who has had this compelling encounter with the love of God. Baptism is closely paralelled to marriage. All of the advantages of making marriage public would apply to baptism, however, this does not mean that a private marriage is illigitimate. Since a new believer needs to function immediately in their office as a fully functioning member of the body of Christ, they should only be involved in a public baptism if it can be arranged immediately, and without delay.

Quite the opposite. You should only be baptized by an ordained minister if an ordiany (unordained) disciple cannot be found. There were some occasions in Scripture where people were baptized by leaders, but those situations were rare. One of the econdary purposes of baptism is to assure a person that they are part of the body of Christ, which means that the life they now live is supplied both by a direct connection to the Head, who is Christ Jesus conveyed by the Holy Spirit, but also by fellowship with ordinary believers with whom we meet regularly for fellowship.

An urge to self-baptize, as a replacement for believers baptism which requires at least one other person to be present, is probably an indicator of a need for deliverance. Let the person who baptizes you know about this urge, and make sure they exercise their authority to set you free from demon spirits, as part of the baptism ceremony.