Do I need to confess sins before baptism? Do I need to confess sins committed before Baptism if I was baptized as an adult? Answered by priest Afanasy Gumerov, resident of Sretensky Monastery

I was baptized five years ago. I have never been to confession. I want to confess during Lent. Do I need to remember and talk about what I did before baptism? I heard that when a person is baptized, it is considered that he is pure before God, and there is no need to confess what happened before baptism, even if it was terrible, I had an abortion. Is it so? After all, the soul of my murdered child still exists. Did baptism remove this sin from me? Should I talk about him in confession?

Priest Afanasy Gumerov, resident of the Sretensky Monastery, answers:

In the sacrament of baptism, a person is cleansed of all sins, regardless of age. “Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we are united with Him by the likeness of His death, then we must also be united by the likeness of the resurrection, knowing that our old man was crucified with Him, so that the body of sin might be abolished, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for the one who died was freed from sin. But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him” (Rom. 6:3-8). This truth is enshrined in the Creed: “I confess one baptism for the remission of sins.” St. John of Damascus says: “So, remission of sins is given through baptism to everyone equally, and the grace of the Spirit is given according to the measure of faith and purification” (Creations, M., 2002, p. 294).

If sins (including mortal ones) were committed after baptism, a person receives forgiveness upon sincere repentance. Saint Demetrius of Rostov writes: “Are sins always forgiven if we repent of them after proper correction? “Always, at the very time when a sinner cries out to the Lord with heartfelt contrition, he is heard by Him, like the publican, Zacchaeus, Manasseh, David, the harlot, etc.” (Cell chronicler, M., 2000, p. 595).

It is necessary to distinguish between the forgiveness of sins and the feeling of guilt before God, which can remain for life. However, by the grace of God, this feeling gradually ceases to be painful. It can become a constant source of thanksgiving to the Lord for His love and patience.

There is also no need to be sad about the fate of the murdered baby. Everything must be left to the boundless mercy of the Lord.

The demon, who lived in a person and was expelled, walks through deserted places and finds no peace for himself. And he says: “I will return to my house.” He returns and sees that the house is not occupied. Then he takes seven more evil demons and comes and inhabits this person. For the latter, this settlement is even more bitter than the previous one (Matt. 12:43-45). How to understand this?

The man was baptized and began to continue his previous sinful life, did not go to church and pray. At baptism he received the Holy Spirit into himself, but lost the grace given to him in this Sacrament, and the Holy Spirit leaves him. His soul becomes empty, graceless. The evil spirit, expelled at baptism, returns to its former abode and sees that it is not occupied by the Holy Spirit, and occupies it, and even brings other demons with it...

This happens to us. A huge stream of people goes to be baptized, because now everyone is baptized, for them it is some kind of magical ritual. People don't know why they are baptized. Before being baptized, a person must study the Holy Scriptures, constantly go to church, and learn Christian life. What does the Lord expect from him? If a person is baptized, then he should know that this is a second birth - the birth of the soul. The Lord forgives sins (personal and original sin), gives a Guardian Angel; this person is given the grace-filled gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation. A person dies together with Christ and is resurrected when he is immersed in water three times... Therefore, even after baptism, he must be with Christ, live according to His commandments. Otherwise, he will work for the devil, and his soul will be inhabited by demons.

The man was baptized as an adult. Continuing his sinful life, he became an apostate from Christ. What awaits the soul of such a person? Wouldn't it have been better for him not to be baptized at all than not to justify the mercy of God?

The Monk Macarius the Great was walking through the desert one day and came across a human skull. He was a special person before God, had the grace of the Holy Spirit, and much was revealed to him from God. He, being in special grace, hit the skull with his staff and asked:

Tell me, who are you and where are you?

“I am an idol priest,” he answered. “I am in hell.”

“Do you find any joy,” asked the Reverend.

There is joy when Christians in the Orthodox Church commemorate their dead on Saturdays and Sundays. There is light then in the upper layers of hell, and part of it penetrates to us. Then we see each other. This brings us great joy.

The monk also asked:

And below you - the idol priests - is there anyone?

Orthodox Christians who were baptized, but did not go to Church, did not wear crosses, did not repent of their sins, did not confess, lived unmarried, did not receive communion and died without repentance. They are even lower than those pagans who did not know the True God.

I was baptized not in church, but at home, and not by a priest, but by my grandfather. Is this baptism considered valid?

Saint John Chrysostom says that no one has the right to perform the sacraments except the bishop and the priest. But there is a caveat: it happens that a person is dying, and the priest is not nearby. Then a person can be immersed in water by an Orthodox Christian, one who constantly goes to church, lives according to the commandments, observes all fasts, prays, confesses; such a person can immerse the sick person three times in the “Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” If this Orthodox Christian baptized a dying person, and the sick person recovered, then you need to get to the nearest church, to the priest and ask to complete the sacrament through anointing.

Previously, I know there were many such people who were baptized by their grandmother or grandfather. But sometimes these grandfathers and grandmothers did not go to church themselves; if they prayed to God, it was at home. And this is no longer considered to be an Orthodox person. Therefore, people who were baptized by their grandparents need to be baptized again.

My husband wants to be baptized. Can I be his godmother?

If you are a godmother to your husband, then he will already be your spiritual relative - a godson, and you will not be able to continue your marital relationship with him.

It often happened that a girl and a boy were friends and wanted to get married. And then they are somehow asked to become godmothers and godfathers, and they agree. After baptism, they became spiritual relatives - godfather and godfather, and they no longer have the right to marry.

If a husband and wife have become godparents to someone, they should not continue to live according to the flesh, they should live like brother and sister.

My daughter used to live unbaptized, having children, having abortions, now she has been baptized. Is her sin absolved for having abortions? Does baptism remove all sins from a person?

Yes, it is said that in baptism a person is born again. The Lord writes it in the Book of Life. He who is not baptized is not in the Book of Life. During baptism, a person is forgiven all sins, both original and personal sins. This is what it says in the Holy Scripture: when the holy prophet John the Baptist baptized, he immersed a person up to his head, he confessed his sins, and he immersed him completely in water with his head - he baptized (Matthew 1: 4-5). Therefore, in the Orthodox Church this Sacrament is truly performed this way: before the Sacrament, a person confesses his main sins...

I have to baptize in a women's colony. I call each one individually and ask: “What are your sins? Who did you kill?” - and then I baptize. At this time, all sins are forgiven. And we ask about sins committed before baptism so that the person becomes aware of them and does not repeat them after being baptized.

Then he is immersed headlong into water three times; Special prayers are read for the expulsion of an unclean spirit and for the dedication of this person to God.

In the Sacrament of Baptism, new citizens of the Orthodox Church, new children of God are born.

Something interesting is happening with the Sacrament of Baptism. Many people turn baptism into magic. They believe that the most important thing is to be baptized. How should this be understood? When a child is born, if his parents do not feed and water him, he will die. And the parents will be murderers. The same thing happens when a person is baptized. He was born spiritually, and if he does not pray, does not confess, repent and receive communion, then he dies spiritually.

The one who pushed this person to perform baptism unknowingly, irresponsibly, will be the same murderer.

A huge mass of people are now baptized, but then they don’t go to church, they don’t pray to God, they don’t repent. But they say with conviction about their strong position in the Christian world: “We are the baptized...” And what is the use of the fact that you are baptized? A man became a member of the Church, a cell in the Body of Christ, and suddenly he did not go to church. He again falls into darkness, into the power of Satan, and therefore suffers and is tormented.

The Apostolic Canons say that baptism is performed by complete immersion. My daughter was sprinkled. Is this really baptism?

Saint John Chrysostom says that baptism is performed by immersion in water, following the example of our Lord Jesus Christ. Plunging into the water, as if into a tomb, we die with Christ. And after being immersed three times, we are resurrected together with Christ, just as He was resurrected on the third day. Christ entered the waters of the Jordan and plunged into them. That is why we are immersed in the waters of the font of salvation.

If a person is near death and wishes to be baptized, he should, as Saint Ignatius the God-Bearer says, be doused with water so that the whole body is washed with water. I had to baptize a sick woman in Ivanovo; she was a bedridden patient - a cripple. They lifted her out of bed, held her over the basin, and I poured a full bucket of pre-blessed water on her. They wrapped her up and put her in bed. They put on a white shirt, and it lay clean and bright, like a newborn baby.

Sprinkling is a Catholic, Uniate technique. Sometimes in a Uniate church there are 100 people waiting to be baptized. The priest takes a brush and sprinkles everyone at once. Who will get water and who won't? Maybe there is a woman standing there in a wig, and a few drops will fall on her wig, but she remains unbaptized! There is a blessing from His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II to perform baptism only by immersion. To do this, baptisteries must be built in churches. A small platform is selected, three steps are built down; water is poured into the pool, and the person can freely plunge headlong... Usually those people who have been baptized by sprinkling are rebaptized with the wording: “Unless baptized...”

When we receive baptism, we often do not realize what the Orthodox faith is and what it gives to a person.

The other day a young man came to our monastery and said: “I want to be baptized, to accept the Holy Orthodox Faith.” We ask him:

Well, what do you know about Orthodoxy? What it is?

He hesitated, then said:

I cannot formulate it, but deep down I feel that I should become Orthodox.

Then he was asked:

Do you know how many disciples Jesus Christ had?

Yes I know. Three.

And who betrayed Him?

I know he was betrayed by the devil.

That’s how we talked to him and realized that a person is not yet ready to become a real Orthodox true Christian.

When we are baptized, we read the Creed. What is he talking about? That we believe in our One Lord Jesus Christ, in the Life-Giving Trinity.

I had to talk to this young man, Volodya:

Tell me, why did Christ come into the world?

Well, tell people how to live correctly. Show them the way.

It seems that he answered correctly.

And who was He supposed to be?

Well, like a tour guide.

No, dear. I must tell you that before the birth of Christ, 5508 years passed after the fall of the first people, Adam and Eve. None of the people after death entered the abode of Paradise; everyone went to hell. For the righteous there was “Abraham’s bosom,” where there was no torment.

Lord is Love. He himself took on human flesh and lived on earth for thirty-three and a half years. He gave the Gospel law and took upon himself the sins of the entire human race, starting from Adam to the last man. He atoned for both my and your sins two thousand years ago with His Blood. How many more people will be born on earth - their sins have already been washed away by the Blood of Christ. The Lord suffered for everyone. And he left us faith and repentance.

If we now do not believe in the One God, the Creator of the Universe, Heaven and Earth, if we do not repent, we will be punished for our sins.

We talked with him for a long time. Later I gave him the Gospel. Time has passed, I ask:

So how many disciples did Christ have?

Father, twelve, and besides them there are seventy more.

How did you know?

They worked with me.

Well, thank God! But you can't be baptized yet. You are "raw, unprocessed material." You don't know what the Lord wants from you. Internally you must change. After all, what is repentance? This is a change of thoughts, a change of life. The fact that we baptize you now is of little use: as you were, so you will remain. Nothing will change in you, no change will happen in your life. For example, how do parents prepare for the birth of their first child? They prepare the children's trousseau: a crib, a stroller, everything necessary. This is exactly how a person is born into the spiritual world. For his birth into the world of spirits, everything must also be prepared.

For example, you cannot give a person a diploma of graduation from a university when he has just entered the institute. He hasn’t received his education yet, he’s not yet an engineer or a doctor. He needs to work hard and learn a lot.

It’s exactly the same in Orthodoxy. I know from experience that you can baptize a thousand people, but they will pass by the Church. They will not truly become church members; after baptism they will die spiritually because they are not prepared.

A person can be baptized when he has studied the Gospel, began to read morning and evening prayers, and learned to speak to God in his own words. And, most importantly, prepared for a life change.

Those who prepared themselves changed internally and felt inner grace after receiving baptism. And they began a completely different life.

Sometimes a person who has begun to live in the spiritual world has so much grace and spiritual strength that he is ready to convert everyone to faith.

Volodya says:

Well, that’s it, now I’ll go and convert all my friends!

My dear, how can you convert people to the faith when you yourself haven’t really read the Gospel? After all, if a person is drowning, then only someone who is a good swimmer can save him. And if he doesn’t know how to swim and tries to save, then both will go to the bottom. You must first feel the ground under your feet. A person in faith must stand firmly on his feet, be a convinced, living Orthodox Christian. Without deviating from the Gospel into heresy, one must be able to explain what the Orthodox faith is. After all, many have been burned by reading the Holy Scriptures without knowing its interpretation. The Bible is a double-edged sword; if you take it the wrong way, you will be circumcised.

If loved ones persuade an unbeliever to accept baptism, can he be saved?

The Lord says: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. And whoever does not believe will be condemned.” If a person received spiritual birth from God in the sacrament of baptism, but did not go to church, did not pray, did not confess, did not receive the Holy Gifts, his spiritual life ends there and his soul dies.

Now there are many such people. They usually go to church very rarely. What are parishioners like?

There are “everyday” parishioners, there are “Sunday” parishioners, and there are “holiday” ones.

There are “Lenten” ones, there are “Thursday ones” (they come to receive communion on Maundy Thursday), there are “Easter ones”. They say: “No matter how you come to church, everyone sings “Christ is Risen!” There are “Christmas” ones, there are those who go only on their Angel Day. There are parishioners “of need”, they don’t show up in church at all, they call a priest to the house to confess sins, to offer unction, to receive communion.

There are “baptismal and funeral” parishioners: they brought the baby, baptized him, and he is not in the church all his life. And then they will bring you in a hearse and sing “Rest in peace with the saints...” Of course, these are not Orthodox Christians. They are thrown out of the Church, like a premature fetus from a mother’s womb, and are in darkness, in the power of the devil.

Received baptism - must constantly attend the temple of God, be a living member of the Church. Let us recall the Apostolic rule: if a person has not been to church for three Sundays without a good reason, then he is cast out of the Church by the Holy Spirit and is in darkness, in the power of the devil. Only through the sacrament of repentance, where he promises God to correct himself and attend divine services, can he be reborn into spiritual life. The priest reads a special prayer, and this soul rejoins the Holy Apostolic Church.

I was baptized at home. Do I need to be rebaptized?

If grandmothers who did not go to church were baptized at home, then they must be baptized again. When we lived in Siberia, there was an old man with a beard who walked around the villages and baptized everyone for a glass of vodka. Before "baptism" he will take a glass, and then "baptize". But it was simply blasphemy. He'll dip it three times, and then they'll give him another glass, and he'll fall off somewhere...

Now there are churches everywhere, they are open, so this sacrament should only be performed in a church. But at home (or in a hospital) you can baptize as an exception, and among the laity only true Orthodox Christians have the right to baptize. If a sick person (an adult or a small baby) is near death, and it takes a long time to get a priest, an Orthodox person can baptize, the one who receives communion worthily, constantly confesses, in whom the grace of God lives. He, saying: “The servant of God (name) is baptized in the name of the Father. Amen. And the Son. Amen. And the Holy Spirit. Amen,” immerses the person three times. This baptism is considered valid. If the patient remains alive, then the baptism must be supplemented by the priest with confirmation and prayers from the rite of baptism.

We recently baptized a boy. He now has great temptations, he is nervous and shouts: “There is no God, but only the devil.” He took off his cross and accused him of being forced to be baptized. How to pray for him to help?

We need to pray for him. This is still so... childish with him. Maybe I watched something on TV, and a pernicious, demonic seed was planted in my soul. That's why he says those words.

But about the fact that there is a demon, but there is no God... But where did He go? How many thousands of years was there - and suddenly “He is not there”? There were people about whom the wise David said: “A fool says in his heart: there is no God.” Only a crazy person can say that there is no God.

The soul of such a person is saturated with sin to the last cell. And, of course, there is no God in it - the Lord comes to those who call on Him. And those who do not remember Him, He watches over them and reminds them of Himself, of His love for the lost through sorrows, illnesses, and all kinds of misfortunes. Someone will say: “Wow, this is love!” And we rarely remember God when everything is good with us. But as soon as someone died, got into an accident, went to prison, they immediately turned to God: “The last hope is in Him!” A popular proverb says: “Like anxiety, so does God.”

Anyone who says there is no God can be believed. This is true. There is no God in him! In his heart is not the grace of God, but the antichrist denial of God, the hellish flame of godlessness. How many such people are there! But today they deny God, and tomorrow the Lord will let them know His existence. And such people come to confession, repent, cry.

Dear readers, on this page of our website you can ask any question related to the life of the Zakamsky deanery and Orthodoxy. The clergy of the Holy Ascension Cathedral in Naberezhnye Chelny answer your questions. Please note that it is better, of course, to resolve issues of a personal spiritual nature in live communication with a priest or with your confessor.

As soon as the answer is prepared, your question and answer will be published on the website. Questions may take up to seven days to process. Please remember the date of submission of your letter for ease of subsequent retrieval. If your question is urgent, please mark it as “URGENT” and we will try to answer it as quickly as possible.

Date: 06/12/2014 6:45:32

Yulia (15 years old), Russia

I am tormented by sins committed before Baptism, what should I do?

answers priest Evgeny Stupitsky

Hello father! Please help me with advice. I was baptized about 4 months ago. I started going to church, taking communion and confessing. But before Baptism I did not confess. Is it true that all sins before Baptism are forgiven by the Lord? If so, why? And I heard that these sins (before Baptism) can torment. I don't understand why. I don't know if these sins are truly forgiven by God. Is it necessary to confess them? Are the words: “I deny you, Satan” considered true without confession before Baptism? Thank you very much, father. Best wishes.

By baptism, all your sins committed before the moment of baptism are forgiven. Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. At baptism we die to sin and are born to eternal life, without sin, with Jesus Christ. But we have a tool given to us by God that allows us to choose the right path in life, this is our conscience, our heart. And, according to the holy fathers of the Orthodox Church, if our conscience convicts us of sins committed before baptism, it is necessary to confess them and repent. Our heart will be cleansed of these sins, washed with tears of repentance. And your heart is quite rightly concerned that you received baptism, but there was no repentance for your early sins. Therefore, boldly go to confession and repent of everything that your conscience accuses you of. You are on the right track. God help you!

Often in conversations one hears: “I cannot agree that through Baptism you are freed from your sins; it is too easy.” Let's look at this in more detail.

In the tenth article of the Creed, Christians confess “one Baptism for the remission of sins.” Indeed, in the baptismal font a person is born for Eternal Life in Christ according to the word of the Lord Himself. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.(John 3:5). But to be born again, you must die to sin. The Apostle Paul writes about this in his Epistle to the Romans: Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.(Rom. 6:3-4). So consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus Our Lord(Rom. 6:11).

The renewed life of a Christian begins with repentance. On the Day of Pentecost, after the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, the Apostle Peter preached to people about Christ. After his sermon, they began to ask the apostle what they should do now, Peter answered their question: Repent and be baptized each of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins; and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit(Acts 2:38).

At Baptism, not only are sins forgiven, but also a pledge of grace is given, the gift of the Holy Spirit through the Sacrament of Confirmation, which occurs immediately after Baptism. This gift of God must be preserved, cultivated, multiplied in order to bear the fruits of a virtuous life and demonstrate its correction in practice. If a person carelessly treats this gift of God and after his Baptism does not make any efforts to change his sinful life, to fight his sins and imperfections, does not strive for God, then all that uncleanness from which he was delivered at Baptism, will return to him again. The Gospel says about this: When the unclean spirit leaves a person, it walks through dry places, looking for rest, and does not find it; Then he says: I will return to my house from where I came. And, having arrived, he finds it unoccupied, swept and put away; then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more evil than himself, and entering, they live there, and for that person the last thing is worse than the first(Matt. 12:43-45).

You ask: “Is it really so easy to receive forgiveness of sins and liberation from all the burden that a person has accumulated during his life?” Indeed, it is easy and simple; you just need to have faith in Christ and sincerely repent of all your sins, have an unshakable determination to follow Christ further in life and change your life from sin to the light of the Gospel truth. Under such conditions, we receive from God the purification of our soul, the renewal of our personality, striving for God as the source of all goodness. We thus give the opportunity for the grace of God to act in our soul, in our heart, directing our will to where God’s Providence leads us.

But, unfortunately, many people perceive the Sacrament of Baptism as a kind of magical rite - they performed this rite on someone and, it seems, their sins are forgiven. This is not how we should think, because without faith in Christ Our Savior, without sincere repentance, it is impossible to receive the grace of God, it is impossible to receive forgiveness of sins. Saint Cyril of Jerusalem speaks about this: “If you are a hypocrite, then people will baptize you, but the Holy Spirit will not baptize you.” After all, if a person does not have faith, does not have sincere repentance for his sins, then his Baptism becomes simply a washing away of bodily impurity, but does not concern his soul.

In the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament there are repeated references to the need for repentance before performing the Sacrament of Baptism, if, of course, the Baptism of an adult is performed. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the surrounding Jordan came out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins(Matt. 3:5-6). John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And the whole country of Judea and the people of Jerusalem came out to him, and were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins(Mark 1:4-5). From the above passages of Holy Scripture we see that a necessary condition for the Sacrament of Baptism and the forgiveness of our sins is faith in Jesus Christ and sincere repentance. Immersion in water itself without proper faith does not bring forgiveness of sins. From the point of view of the Orthodox worldview, sin is a violation of the laws of the spiritual world, and by committing sins, we violate these spiritual laws in our relationship with God, harm ourselves, undermine our spiritual and physical strength, become infected with sin, and cannot fully realize our personality created in the image of God. Therefore, we need sincere repentance and a genuine desire to seek the grace of God in our lives.

Baptism washes away sins if we repent, if we have faith in Christ. But it does not at all abolish these sins in the subsequent life of a Christian. Baptism really gives a person the opportunity to achieve holiness, it gives that seed of life that is infused into a person’s soul during the Sacrament of Baptism. But the path to this holiness lies through the knowledge of one’s fall, one’s passion, weakness, and inability to do anything good without God. And a Christian who is attentive to his spiritual life acquires such knowledge in everyday life. A person learns from his life experience that his entire earthly existence is a constant struggle with sin within himself, overcoming all the temptations that surround him. Moreover, this struggle is sometimes very difficult, requiring the exertion of all human strength. And, of course, it requires constant prayerful appeal to God, seeking God’s constant help, without which the whole struggle will remain in vain. This struggle can rightfully be called a struggle for life and death, because the eternal fate, the Eternal Life of a person, depends on the outcome of this struggle.

Reproduction on the Internet is permitted only if there is an active link to the site "".
Reproduction of site materials in printed publications (books, press) is permitted only if the source and author of the publication are indicated.