BAPTISM
1 Corinthians 1:17- “For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel:” |
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ROME SAYSSession 7 of The Council of Trent lists several Canons concerning baptism. CANON III- If any one saith, that the Roman church, which is the mother and mistress of all churches, there is not the true doctrine concerning the sacrament of baptism; let him be anathema (cursed or damned to hell). CANON V- If any one saith, that baptism is free, that is, not necessary unto salvation; let him be anathema. CANON XIII- If any one saith, that little children, for that they not have actual faith, are not, after having received baptism, to be reckoned amongst the faithful; and that, for this cause, they are to be rebaptized when they have attained to years of discretion; or, that it is better that the baptism of such be omitted, than that, while not believing by their own act, they should be baptized in the faith alone of the Church; let him be anathema. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we find the following statements: I. ONE BAPTISM FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 977-Our Lord tied the forgiveness of sins to faith and Baptism: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved.” (Mk. 16:15-16) Baptism is the first and chief sacrament of forgiveness of sins because it unites us with Christ, who died for our sins and rose for our justification, so that “we too might walk in newness of life.” (Rom. 6:4) 978-“When we made our first profession of faith while receiving the holy Baptism that cleansed us, the forgiveness we received then was so full and complete that there remained in us absolutely nothing left to efface, neither original sin nor offences committed by our own will, nor was there left any penalty to suffer in order to expiate them…. Yet the grace of Baptism delivers no one from all the weakness of nature. On the contrary, we must still combat the movements of concupiscence that never cease leading us to evil.” 979- In this battle against our inclination towards evil, who could be brave and watchful enough to escape every would of sin? “If the Church has the power to forgive sins, then Baptism cannot be her only means of using the keys of the Kingdom of heaven received from Jesus Christ. The Church must be able to forgive all penitents their offences, even if they should sin until the last moment of their lives.” 985- Baptism is the first and chief sacrament of the forgiveness of sins: it unites us to Christ, who died and rose, and gives us the Holy Spirit.
Holy Baptism then possesses first place among the Sacraments, because it is the door of spiritual life, for by it we become members of Christ, and of the Body of the Church. Since every man is born into the world with the stain of Original Sin on his soul (Rom. 5:12; I Cor. 15:22), and nothing defiled can enter into the Kingdom of Heaven (Isa. 25:8; Rev. 21:27), and since Baptism alone cleanses the soul from Original Sin (Jn. 3:5), the Church has ever insisted that infants be baptized as soon as possible after birth. While there is no express mention of infant Baptism in the New Testament, Christ certainly implies it when he said, “Let the little children come unto me )Matthew 19:14). In A Catholic Dictionary Of Theology, Vol 1, p. 236, the following statement is made: “Scriptural proofs (for infant baptism) are not quite conclusive, though Cullmann has urged that. . .the episodes in the gospels of Christ blessing the children would not have been found their way into the gospels had not the early Church been familiar with the practice of child baptism.” The same source then quotes Irenaeus, “Christ came to save all through Himself, i.e., all who by His means are born again to God, infants, children, boys, youths and old men.” An Explanation of the Baltimore Catechism outlines what actually takes place at Solemn Baptism. The priest asks the baby, “What do you ask of the Church of God?” and the godparents reply, “Faith.” The baby is then exhorted to keep the commandments and love God; then the priest breathes three times upon the child and bids the evil spirit depart. He prays several times for the baby, putting salt in his mouth, placing the end of his stole over the child, placing a little spittle on the ears and nose. then the priest asks if the baby renounces the devil and all his works and pomps; when the godparents answer, the baby is anointed with holy oil. The priest again asks for a profession of faith, and then baptizes the baby. After baptism, the head is anointed with holy chrism and places a lighted candle in the hand of the godparents. Then the priest will sign the baby with the sign of the cross. Vatican Council II gives us some additional information about the Sacrament of Baptism. “By the Sacrament of Baptism into the crucified and risen Christ man is reborn to a sharing of the divine life. In explicit terms He Himself affirmed the necessity of faith and baptism and thereby affirmed also the necessity of the Church, for through baptism as through a door men enter the church. Baptism is the sacrament of spiritual regeneration by which a person is incorporated in Christ and made a member of his Mystical Body, given grace, and cleansed from original sin. Actual sins and the punishment due for them are remitted also if the person baptized was guilty of such sins. The theological virtues of faith, hope and charity are given with grace. The sacrament confers a character on the soul and can be received only once.” |
THE BIBLE SAYSThe official position of the Roman Church concerning baptism is baptismal regeneration. According to the findings of The Council of Trent, anyone who disagrees with the official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church is Anathema (cursed or damned to hell). Supposedly that is their solution for anyone who takes issue with the teachings of the Roman Church. Nowhere in the New Testament is baptismal regeneration taught. Nowhere in the New Testament is it taught that baptism conveys salvation or is necessary for salvation. The New Testament teaches believers baptism. In every instance where a person is baptized, it always comes after they have repented and experienced Biblical salvation by grace through faith alone. There is absolutely no president in the New Testament for the baptism of infants. Certainly baptism does not reckon anyone among the faithful from a Biblical standpoint. We must conclude that the Roman Catholic teaching of baptism is solely the result of man’s traditions.
Jesus does not tie the forgiveness of sins to baptism and faith. In Mark 16:15 notice that baptism is preceded by believing. In verse 15 the gospel is to be preached. The results of the preaching of the gospel is that a person will either believe the gospel unto salvation or reject the gospel and be damned according to verse 16. Baptism comes after the belief unto salvation and is clearly believers baptism. Romans 6:4 has absolutely nothing to do with baptismal regeneration. This verse merely is an explanation and clearly shows that baptism is merely an identification. In believers baptism the Christian is put under the water to symbolize that he is dead to the old life of sin and raised again to walk in newness of life. If anything, this verse disproves sprinkling as a mode of baptism. Since the Church has absolutely no power to forgive sins or grant salvation, there is no need to comment further. Obviously, a baby has no consciousness of sin and therefore is unable to make any kind of profession of faith. The Bible teaches that salvation is by grace through faith alone. Salvation is in a person, the Lord Jesus Christ, and not in a church. Neither does baptism give us the Holy Spirit. We receive the Holy Spirit the moment we are saved by God’s grace. Believers baptism is not a door to spiritual life. It is merely a sign. Man is not born into the world with original sin, rather a sin nature which was passed upon the human race because of Adam’s sin. In Romans 5:12-19, we read, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” It is amazing that just this one passage alone completely destroys the entire sacramental system of Romanism. Grace is imparted to man because of what Christ did on Calvary and not through the sacraments. John 3:5 is taken completely out of context and a feeble attempt to prove baptismal regeneration. To understand what is being said by Jesus in verse 5, the entire passage must be brought into play. Nicodemus is told by Jesus in verse 3, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of heaven.” It is obvious in verse 4 by the question of Nicodemus that he has no understanding of what Jesus has said when he asks, “How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? When Jesus answers his question in verses 5 and 6, the indication is that the physical birth (“be born of water”) is different from the new birth which is (“of the Spirit”). So in order for a man to enter into heaven, he must have two births, a physical and a spiritual birth. Then later on in the chapter, Jesus plainly tells Nicodemus how to experience the new birth Man can experience the new birth by believing that Jesus paid the sin debt by His death on the cross and trusting him as Savior. The quote from A Catholic Dictionary Of Theology is utterly absurd. Jesus doesn’t imply infant baptism in Matthew 19:14. Absolutely nothing is mentioned of baptism. Jesus merely puts His hands on the little children and prays for them. This account is in the Gospel of Matthew because the Holy Spirit wanted it there; not because Jesus was familiar with infant baptism. No stock is put in anything that the heretic Ireaneus might have taught concerning infant baptism. In Acts chapter 8, the Ethiopian eunuch was baptized after making his profession of faith. In Acts chapter 10, those in Cornelius’ house were baptized after hearing the Word of God and believing unto salvation. Finally, the Phillipian jailer in Acts 16 was baptized after his salvation experience. The Greek word for baptism is baptizo. In classical Greek literature, this word is used in the sense of dyeing cloth. Cloth must be immersed baptizo in order to be dyed. Once again in Acts chapter 8, we see that the eunuch “went down into the water” with Philip. Certainly no sprinkling here. |
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