Recent media coverage surrounding OnlyFans contributor Lily Phillips and her decision to get “rebaptized” raises sincere spiritual questions that deserve a biblical and charitable response.
Phillips’s words express a desire to return to God, a longing that every Christian can recognize as the work of grace stirring the heart. At the same time, Phillips has not demonstrated a public desire to leave the online sexual content lifestyle she lives. Additionally, the language she uses about baptism is an example of the deep and widespread confusion in our society about what baptism accomplishes and how conversion actually unfolds within the Christian life.
Two core issues require careful attention here. First is what the Church across the ages has taught about baptism and why rebaptism is excluded from Christian practice. Second is what Scripture reveals about repentance and conversion as the proper response for a baptized believer who desires renewal and discipleship.
Baptism as a Once-for-All Gift
From the beginning, the Church has proclaimed baptism as decisive and not repeatable. Scripture consistently presents baptism as a real and singular participation in the death and resurrection of Christ. St. Paul explains that through baptism we are buried with Christ and raised to walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:1-14)—a transformation that marks the soul of the person irreversibly and establishes a permanent covenant bond with the Lord.
This permanence stands at the heart of induction into covenant life. The Letter to the Ephesians speaks of “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (4:5), thereby excluding any idea that baptism requires or even allows for repetition when faith weakens or moral failure follows. Likewise, the Nicene Creed (365) professes “one baptism for the forgiveness of sins,” a doctrine rooted in perennial apostolic teaching.
Baptism imprints a spiritual mark upon the soul that remains even when the baptized person drifts from God. The Catechism notes, “Baptism seals the Christian with the indelible spiritual mark (character) of his belonging to Christ. No sin can erase this mark, even if sin prevents baptism from bearing the fruits of salvation. Given once for all, baptism cannot be repeated” (1272). Hence, the grace given may be rejected or lie dormant, yet it remains real and accessible from the moment of baptism. Consequently, baptism never expires, and it never requires or calls for repetition. In fact, the Church guards this teaching precisely because baptism belongs first to Christ’s action in the soul rather than to human effort.
Why Rebaptism Feels Appealing
The origins of the practice are varied, but the cultural thrust of today began with sixteenth-century Anabaptists, who emphasized “believer’s baptism” only for repentant adults, earning the name “rebaptizers.” Joseph Smith’s Restorationist movement (for remission of sins, healing, covenant renewal), and various Orthodox churches (for converts from other traditions) also facilitated differing practices of rebaptism. Today, many people who seek rebaptism express some semblance of a genuine desire for cleansing, restoration, and a visible new beginning.
Modern culture associates authenticity with dramatic public gestures, and rebaptism publicly presents the façade of inner change. However, Scripture would beg to differ. God addresses post-baptismal sin through repentance, reconciliation, and transformation rather than through repeating the sacrament that already united the believer to Christ.
The New Testament repeatedly warns against treating baptism as something provisional. The Letter to the Hebrews concurs with Romans in teaching that Christ died once for all, and Christian participation in his saving work follows the same pattern (see Heb. 10:10-14). Therefore, repeating baptism would imply that God’s original gift lacked permanence, an implication the Church rejects.
Conditional Baptism Explained
There are rare circumstances wherein the Church recognizes that serious doubt exists regarding whether baptism ever occurred. In such cases, conditional baptism may be administered using the formula, “If you are not baptized, I baptize you . . .”
This practice is not rebaptism. Instead, it safeguards the integrity of the sacrament while ensuring that no one remains deprived of baptism through uncertainty. In fact, conditional baptism applies only when facts remain unclear regarding the use of water, the Trinitarian formula, or the event itself. Where valid baptism already occurred, the Church with pastoral firmness forbids repetition.
Conversion as the Proper Path Forward
If baptism is permanent, then how does renewal occur for someone who desires to return to God after moral collapse or spiritual distance? Scripture answers this question with remarkable consistency. The biblical call always centers upon repentance, conversion, and obedience flowing from grace.
Jesus begins his public ministry with the command, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4:17). Repentance in Scripture signifies a turning of the whole person toward God, involving the intellect, the will, and the moral pattern of daily life. This turning reaches far beyond emotion, spiritual sentiment, or public spectacle.
Zacchaeus is a clear example: his encounter with Christ compels restitution, generosity, and visible change. Likewise, the woman caught in adultery is forgiven but also charged with a command to leave sin behind. Throughout the Gospels, forgiveness always opens toward moral transformation.
Canon law is equally clear:
For an adult to be baptized, the person must have manifested the intention to receive baptism, have been instructed sufficiently about the truths of the Faith and Christian obligations, and have been tested in the Christian life through the catechumenate. The adult is also to be urged to have sorrow for personal sins (865 §1)
St. Paul reinforces this pattern when he reminds the Corinthians that former patterns of sexual immorality belonged to their past, and sanctification now defines their present identity (1 Cor. 6:11). Christian conversion therefore unfolds as a process grounded in grace and expressed through moral obedience.
The Teaching of Pope Benedict XVI
This understanding of conversion appears clearly in the teaching of Pope Benedict XVI, especially in his catechesis on repentance. Reflecting on the preaching of John the Baptist, Benedict explains that repentance involves a realignment of life according to God’s truth rather than a private spiritual preference. Conversion engages the whole person, including moral decisions, habits, and public conduct.
According to Benedict, conversion remains a lifelong journey rather than a single emotional moment. Grace initiates the process, and cooperation sustains it. Faith grows through obedience, humility, and willingness to accept correction from divine revelation.
What Authentic Conversion Looks Like
Authentic Christian conversion unfolds through several visible dimensions. First, repentance confesses sin truthfully and seeks forgiveness humbly. Second, reconciliation restores communion between the penitent and God through sacramental grace. Third, firm purpose of amendment of life gradually aligns one’s moral conduct with the gospel.
Conversion is rarely instantaneous. Scripture portrays virtuous growth as a process shaped by struggle, perseverance, trust, and cooperation with God’s divine life. Our intentionality matters: a heart turned toward Christ seeks constant conformity to his teaching rather than easy accommodation to prevailing culture or, worse, clinging to old ways of life.
The Church’s response to public claims of spiritual renewal always combines compassion with discernment. Encouragement and validation without truthful examination risks scandal. Baptism was established by Christ to be a once-for-all sacrament that anchors Christian identity securely in Christ. Conversion remains a lifelong response that unfolds through repentance, obedience, and grace. When these realities remain united, the Christian life reflects the fullness of the gospel.
Hence, Lily Phillips’s intent might have been good, but her execution and subsequent life choices warrant concern. Conversion requires returning to the font of baptismal grace in reconciliation, allowing Christ to complete the work he began in her original baptism, which remains indelibly sealed in her, compelling her (and all of us) to conversion and newness of moral life.