atholic Questions on Baptism
Message 1 of 4
,
Jul 26, 2011
What is baptism? Is it needed? What does it do exactly? I
would like to address these questions in this paper by studying
Scripture, both the Old AND the New Testament, and determine what does
baptism actually do to the one receiving it through faith.Many identify a baptism to be a sacrament…but what is a sacrament? The Catholic Church defines a sacrament this way: “Celebrated worthily in faith, the sacraments confer the grace that they signify.
They are efficacious because in them Christ himself is at work: it is
he who baptizes, he who acts in his sacraments in order to communicate
the grace that each sacrament signifies.” (CCC 1127)In fact one could define a sacrament to be an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace.Since we see that in 2 Tim 3:16, which states, that “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness” we can, and should look to the Old Testament for a kind of foreshadowing of the things to come. So that we may see what the Old Testament has to say to help our ‘training in righteousness’.Let’s start with Ezekiel 36:25-27 which states:
I
will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all your
impurities, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. …I will put my
spirit within you .“I will sprinkle clean water” – And so with this outward sign using water we see that God gives us His spirit. Pretty sacramental don’t you think? What else does God promise us. He promises us that through this sprinkling we will be cleansed of all our impurities. Is this prophecy truly made alive in the New Testament through the sacrament of Baptism? Let’s compare what God said through Ezekiel to what God said through Peter at Pentecost.Peter
(said) to them, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name
of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive
the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38).Ezekiel said: “I will sprinkle clean water”Peter said: “be baptized”Ezekiel said: “[I will] cleanse you from all your impurities”Peter said: “for the forgiveness of your sins”Ezekiel said: “I will put my spirit within you”Peter said: “you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”It seems quite undeniable that Ezekiel’s prophecy is perfectly fulfilled in the sacrament of Baptism. Because
of His promise from Ezekiel we now know that the Grace of God comes
during the sacrament of Baptism but what else does baptism do?We know through Scripture that baptism makes us members of the Body of Christ. “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.” (1 Cor 12:13)Baptism brings us in communion with each other by becoming members of the One Body of Christ.For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.(Gal 3:27)We are brought into the Body of Christ, the Church.And he is the head of the body, the church (Col 1:18)and,And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. (Eph 1:22-23)Since
we are baptized into the one body of Christ and we now know that
Christ’s Body is the Church means that baptism brings us into the
Church. And this is why there is no salvation outside the Church because there is no salvation outside of Christ.Baptism is the New Covenant fulfillment of the Old Covenant symbol of circumcision. As
the Hebrews circumcised those for entrance into God’s Covenant with
Israel, so too does the New Covenant fulfillment of circumcision bring
entrance into the New Covenant of God to His Church through baptism.In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not administered by hand, by stripping off the carnal body, with the circumcision of Christ. You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God. (Col 2:11-12)If
eight-day old children could enter the Old Covenant through
circumcision via the faith of their parents how much more so can infants
become adopted children of God through the New Covenant circumcision,
baptism? The New Covenant is much more inclusive
than the Old seeing as the New can include the gentiles as opposed to
those of the line of Abraham.We have seen that baptism fulfills the Old Covenant practice of circumcision (Col 2:11-12). Baptism
was prophesied by Ezekiel to bring graces through the sprinkling of
water (Ez 36:25-27) and washes away sins (Ez 36:26; Acts 2:38).What else is baptism for? Well, is baptism necessary for salvation? The answer, very plainly is YES. “…eight in all, were saved through water. This prefigured baptism, which saves you now.” (1 Pet 3:20-21). Pretty simple. As plain as it can get. Jesus taught this also in the Gospel of John“Jesus answered and said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born again." Nicodemus doesn’t understand and so Jesus repeats himself, He says "Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.One is born again through baptism, and that through baptism one can enter the kingdom of God, the Church…And
so we see that baptism brings Graces from God (Acts 2:38), washes away
sins (Acts 2:38), we enter into a covenant with God through baptism (Col
2:11-12), we become Christians through baptism (1 Cor 12:13) by
becoming members of the Church as through a door (Eph 4:4). And baptism is instituted by Jesus Christ when He sent out the disciples to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Mat 28:19)God BlessNathan
Jul 26, 2011
Dear Nathan,
Wow! You have many references here! They all
express the great love that God has for us. No one will ever argue with
you, that God loves us. But, culturally, we baptize people as a
welcome into the Church. I see adult converts being baptized and I can
fully appreciate how they understood what the church teaches and stands
for, and they agree to join such a group. I have difficulty
appreciating an infant baptism. Yes, I heard Brian's explanation of
grace being infused by a third party, but I still tend to believe it
needs to be fully accepted by a more mature intellect.God Bless
Jul 26, 2011
Michael said:
I
have difficulty appreciating an infant baptism. Yes, I heard Brian's
explanation of grace being infused by a third party, but I still tend to
believe it needs to be fully accepted by a more mature intellect.Nathan replies:
It
CAN be fully accepted by a more mature intellect...that's what the
sacrament of Confirmation is for. Once this sacrament is done, the
individual is THEN a full member of the Catholic Church.Here is the part I spoke about infant baptism in my previous post..."On Tue, Jul 26, 2011 at 1:26 PM, michael quinlan <mpquin@...> wrote:Dear Nathan,
Wow! You have many references here! They all
express the great love that God has for us. No one will ever argue with
you, that God loves us. But, culturally, we baptize people as a
welcome into the Church. I see adult converts being baptized and I can
fully appreciate how they understood what the church teaches and stands
for, and they agree to join such a group. I have difficulty
appreciating an infant baptism. Yes, I heard Brian's explanation of
grace being infused by a third party, but I still tend to believe it
needs to be fully accepted by a more mature intellect.God Bless
On Jul 26, 2011, Nathan <rdnuclearmed@...> wrote:
What is baptism? Is it needed? What does it do exactly? I
would like to address these questions in this paper by studying
Scripture, both the Old AND the New Testament, and determine what does
baptism actually do to the one receiving it through faith.Many identify a baptism to be a sacrament…but what is a sacrament? The Catholic Church defines a sacrament this way: “Celebrated worthily in faith, the sacraments confer the grace that they signify.
They are efficacious because in them Christ himself is at work: it is
he who baptizes, he who acts in his sacraments in order to communicate
the grace that each sacrament signifies.” (CCC 1127)In fact one could define a sacrament to be an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace.Since we see that in 2 Tim 3:16, which states, that “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness” we can, and should look to the Old Testament for a kind of foreshadowing of the things to come. So that we may see what the Old Testament has to say to help our ‘training in righteousness’.Let’s start with Ezekiel 36:25-27 which states:
I
will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all your
impurities, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. …I will put my
spirit within you .“I will sprinkle clean water” – And so with this outward sign using water we see that God gives us His spirit. Pretty sacramental don’t you think? What else does God promise us. He promises us that through this sprinkling we will be cleansed of all our impurities. Is this prophecy truly made alive in the New Testament through the sacrament of Baptism? Let’s compare what God said through Ezekiel to what God said through Peter at Pentecost.Peter
(said) to them, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name
of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive
the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38).Ezekiel said: “I will sprinkle clean water”Peter said: “be baptized”Ezekiel said: “[I will] cleanse you from all your impurities”Peter said: “for the forgiveness of your sins”Ezekiel said: “I will put my spirit within you”Peter said: “you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”It seems quite undeniable that Ezekiel’s prophecy is perfectly fulfilled in the sacrament of Baptism. Because
of His promise from Ezekiel we now know that the Grace of God comes
during the sacrament of Baptism but what else does baptism do?We know through Scripture that baptism makes us members of the Body of Christ. “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.” (1 Cor 12:13)Baptism brings us in communion with each other by becoming members of the One Body of Christ.For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.(Gal 3:27)We are brought into the Body of Christ, the Church.And he is the head of the body, the church (Col 1:18)and,And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. (Eph 1:22-23)Since
we are baptized into the one body of Christ and we now know that
Christ’s Body is the Church means that baptism brings us into the
Church. And this is why there is no salvation outside the Church because there is no salvation outside of Christ.Baptism is the New Covenant fulfillment of the Old Covenant symbol of circumcision. As
the Hebrews circumcised those for entrance into God’s Covenant with
Israel, so too does the New Covenant fulfillment of circumcision bring
entrance into the New Covenant of God to His Church through baptism.In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not administered by hand, by stripping off the carnal body, with the circumcision of Christ. You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God. (Col 2:11-12)If
eight-day old children could enter the Old Covenant through
circumcision via the faith of their parents how much more so can infants
become adopted children of God through the New Covenant circumcision,
baptism? The New Covenant is much more inclusive than the
Old seeing as the New can include the gentiles as opposed to those of
the line of Abraham.We have seen that baptism fulfills the Old Covenant practice of circumcision (Col 2:11-12). Baptism
was prophesied by Ezekiel to bring graces through the sprinkling of
water (Ez 36:25-27) and washes away sins (Ez 36:26; Acts 2:38).What else is baptism for? Well, is baptism necessary for salvation? The answer, very plainly is YES. “…eight in all, were saved through water. This prefigured baptism, which saves you now.” (1 Pet 3:20-21). Pretty simple. As plain as it can get. Jesus taught this also in the Gospel of John“Jesus answered and said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born again." Nicodemus doesn’t understand and so Jesus repeats himself, He says "Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.One is born again through baptism, and that through baptism one can enter the kingdom of God, the Church…And
so we see that baptism brings Graces from God (Acts 2:38), washes away
sins (Acts 2:38), we enter into a covenant with God through baptism (Col
2:11-12), we become Christians through baptism (1 Cor 12:13) by
becoming members of the Church as through a door (Eph 4:4). And baptism is instituted by Jesus Christ when He sent out the disciples to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Mat 28:19)God BlessNathan
Message 4 of 4
,
Jul 26, 2011
I
think in your mind you're combining baptism and confirmation they way
our Protestant brothers do. They are two halves of a whole.(Acts 2:38-39) Peter
[said] to them, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name
of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive
the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is made to you and your
children and to all those far off, whomever the Lord our God will call."
Baptism
is only one of the sacraments of initiation. The justification of
children is covered by proxy from the faith of the parents or
godparents. We see this example multiple times in scripture. In 1
Corinthians 1, Paul mentions baptizing the entire household of
Stephanus. In Acts 16, we see that the woman Lydia became a believer and
as a result of her faith, her entire household was baptized. The same
for the jailor in the same chapter.
(Acts 16:30-33) Then
he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" And
they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be
saved." So they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in
his house. He took them in at that hour of the night and bathed their
wounds; then he and all his family were baptized at once.
Like
Lydia, the jailor's entire household was baptized because of his faith.
This includes any children. So, in Catholicism as with most Christian
faiths, children are baptized in the faith that they will be raised.
(Joshua 24:15) As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.On the other hand, Confirmation is by declaration. The
Sacrament of Confirmation is the completion of our justification.
Scripture and the early Church refer to this sacrament the Sacrament of
Renewal or Sealing. Following Mark's formula, one must both be baptized
and believe to be saved. Our journey towards salvation begins with
baptism. Through baptism our sins are forgiven and we're counted among
God's children. It is through the Sacrament of Confirmation that we make
a declaration of faith and receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The
gifts of the Holy Spirit are granted through the Church by the
imposition of hands. We see a perfect example of the Sacrament of
Confirmation in scripture.
(Acts 8:14-17) Now
when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word
of God, they sent them Peter and John, who went down and prayed for
them, that they might receive the holy Spirit, for it had not yet fallen
upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord
Jesus. Then they laid hands on them and they received the holy Spirit.
(Acts 19:1-6) While
Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior of the
country and came (down) to Ephesus where he found some disciples. He
said to them, "Did you receive the holy Spirit when you became
believers?" They answered him, "We have never even heard that there is a
holy Spirit." He said, "How were you baptized?" They replied, "With the
baptism of John." Paul then said, "John baptized with a baptism of
repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come
after him, that is, in Jesus." When they heard this, they were baptized
in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul laid (his) hands on them,
the holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and
prophesied.
The
Sacrament of Confirmation is typically given when the recipient is old
enough to make their own declaration of faith. If they were baptized as a
child, they receive Confirmation at or after the age of reason
(typically ages 14 or 15). Adults who convert are confirmed immediately
after baptism.
