Exodus 23:20-23 reads, in the Authorized Version:

“Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him. But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries. For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.”

Much has been speculated as to the identity of the “Angel.” We should note, first, that these words are spoken by “the LORD” (compare Exodus 20:22). The Hebrew word for “angel” is “mal-ak” and means “messenger.” It can have reference to a human messenger, an angelic being, or God Himself, depending on the context. In Malachi 3:1, “the LORD” is referred to as the “Messenger of the covenant.” The specific reference in that passage is to Jesus Christ–not God the Father. The designation “LORD” can refer to both God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son–again, it is a matter of context. In most cases, the Hebrew word for “LORD” refers to Jesus Christ–but not always.

The Bible teaches both. Unfortunately, many modern English translations–including the New King James Bible–have clouded the meaning by falsely rendering certain Scriptural passages.

It is of course true that we must have faith in Christ–including in His name, identity, role and function, His message, and His Sacrifice (Acts 3:16; 20:21; 24:24; John 3:14-15; 5:24; 11:24; 12:46). Before we receive the Holy Spirit, which God only gives us after repentance, belief, proper adult baptism and the laying on of hands through God’s true ministers–our faith IN Christ is the ONLY kind of faith we can have. But even this is not a “dead” faith, but a “living” faith–it is that kind of faith which manifests itself through works of OBEDIENCE (James 2:14, 17, 22, 26; Romans 1:5; 16:26; Acts 6:7). John 3:36 reads, correctly translated: “He who believes IN the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not OBEY the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (compare Revised Standard Version, “RSV”). In fact, without living, obedient faith in God the Father and Jesus Christ, we cannot even receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:32).

Although this might be surprising to some at first sight, the answer is clearly, “Yes.” Here is why:

In John 1:1, we read that the “Word” (“Logos” in Greek, meaning Speaker or Spokesman) was with God (the Father), and that the Word was also God. That is, both God (the Father) and the Word were members of the Godhead–they were both God Beings. Verse 3 tells us that “all things were made” through the Word, and verse 14 explains that “the Word BECAME flesh and dwelt among us”–as the “only begotten of the Father.” So, clearly, the “WORD” was none other than the second Member of the Godhead, Who became a human being.

Hebrews 1:1-2 reveals that God spoke in these last days by His Son, “through whom also He made the worlds.” Colossians 1:13-16 explains, too, that God created “all things” through “the Son of His love.” The Son then is clearly identical with the Word, as God made everything through the “Son” and through the “Word.”

The answer may very well be YES! In fact, no matter how many times you may have been ceremonially baptized, the crucial question is whether or not you followed all that the Bible requires in order to have a valid baptism.

It is true that many church organizations that nominally claim to be based on Biblical Christianity also include baptism in one form or another.

Several groups baptize newborn babies by pouring or sprinkling water on their foreheads—this is associated with rites of christening, which also includes naming a child. This practice emerged following the first century A.D. and was institutionalized by the Roman Catholic Church—a practice continuing to this time. According to the Illustrated Dictionary of the Bible (Lockyer, 1986 Edition), “Those who believe in baptismal regeneration (Catholics especially) argue that baptism of infants is necessary. In traditional Roman Catholic teaching, unbaptized infants who die cannot enter heaven in this state, but are instead consigned to a state of limbo. If this fate is to be avoided, they must be baptized in order to remove the guilt of their sins and receive new life.”