Q: How do you know when you are ready to get baptized?

Good question. Baptism is publicly declaring our faith in Jesus Christ.  By the work of the Holy Spirit, the believer is united with Jesus Christ in his death, burial and resurrection. It is acknowledging that our old sinful nature has been crucified and that we have been raised to new life in Jesus Christ. So, to answer your question, I would say you should get baptized:

1.  After we have made a GENUINE commitment of faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 8:35-38)
2.  After we understand clearly the meaning of baptism.
 
I make the analogy that baptism is like a wedding. When you want to marry the person whom you love, do you only do so when you know you are the perfect husband or wife? Of course not. But you marry them with the PUBLIC promise that you will try your best to be as good as possible to your spouse. In the same way, when you get baptized, you are publicly declaring your love to God with the hope that you will try - in the power of the Holy Spirit - to follow Him as best as you can.

So friend, if you genuinely love Christ and desire to follow Him, get baptized. Sometimes taking this public step of faith is exactly what you need to spur on your faith.

[Answered by Pastor HM]

Why is it that in our church, people who are not baptised cannot take communion?

"The Bible clearly makes a distinction between baptism with water, and baptism with the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11). We know that we live in God when we receive the Holy Spirit (1 John 4:13). Isn't living in God enough to take communion? 1 Corinthians doesn't mention anything about baptism in the Lord's Supper, only that we examine ourselves to see if we're living in God. Why then is our church drawing such a connection between baptism with water and the Holy Spirit?"

The last thing our church wants to do is be legalistic about this matter. Technically, we will not stop anyone from taking communion whether they are baptized or not. However, the reason why we ask that baptized believers take communion is because Lord's Supper must be taken very seriously.

Baptism is a way for believers to make a public commitment that they have indeed received Christ as Savior and Lord. That's why we encourage and tell believers to be baptized. And that's why we ask that only baptized believers take the communion. It's not because we are making a connection between water baptism and baptism of the Spirit. It's because it's the most definitive way for believers to show they are truly living with God. I have been approached by students asking whether they can take the communion because they are hungry or because they want to taste the elements for fun! At our church, when you want to get baptized, we ask that you attend a 3-month class (in addition to a special class on baptism) so that we can clear up any such misconceptions and misunderstandings. Once you understand the importance and reason why you - as a Christian - ought to be baptized to proclaim your faith to the world, then the natural step is to participate in communion, a time when we remember the Lord's sacrificial death for us.

[Answered by Pastor HM]

Q: Is baptism necessary to get into heaven?

The answer to this question once and for all is: NO! Baptism is NOT NECESSARY to "get into heaven."

John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." What this means is that the gift of heaven (what we call eternal life) is a FREE gift that has been given to us through our FAITH in Jesus Christ and in full recognition that we gain this gift through GRACE (as in, we could never "work" for this gift and gain it with our good deeds, but that Jesus allows us to have it because He loves us so much).

If we believe that Christ is our Savior who died for our sins, and then resurrected as He promised, we have eternal life. It's as simple as that. With or without baptism, a person who proclaims and believes Jesus Christ as their Savior, has been granted eternal life.

[Answered by Pastor Kelly J. Tam]