Lesson Three: The First Sacrament

Baptism

Matt 28:19-20

For those who don’t fully understand Baptism and it’s power, the Catholic Church teaches that after Adam and Eve’s first sin in the Garden of Eden, that first sin brought sin upon the whole of the human race. Now, many think this means that Catholics believe that humans are consequently born evil and have to work for good in order to earn heaven (Salvation is a whole other debate which I will cover when I’m finished with the sacraments), but that is not true. Catholics believe we were created in the image and likeness of God and are therefore inherently good, the problem being our human nature, which has a tendency to turn away from God. If any dispute against such a belief, one should only look at Romans 5:12-13, 15, 18-19 and 1 Corinthians 15:22.

The Catholic Church gives this circumstance the title of Original Sin.

We are all born with this Original Sin. It’s by no fault of ours, but we still need cleansing from it. That’s where Baptism comes in, but baptism did not start in the New Testament as many believe. St. Augustine said that the Old Testament is the New, concealed and the New Testament is the Old, revealed. And that principle is evident in the Sacraments, especially Baptism and Eucharist.

In the Old Testament we have types of Baptism. A type is somewhat of a “prophetic symbol,” it prefigures what will come later.

A perfect example of this biblical typology is explained in 1 Peter 3:19-21. Peter explains that God cleansed the world of evil people by the waters of the great flood. Then he goes on to say that this flood prefigures the waters of baptism in that Baptism cleanses us of our pre-existing sins, original and actual. Actual sin is sins committed by us; all our sins except original sin (which, again, we ourselves did not commit) are actual sin. An other type of Baptism in the Old Testament is circumcision (Colossians 2:9-13).

Baptism was not only prefigured, but it was also predicted! Ezekiel 36:25-27 speaks for itself, I believe.

Jesus says, in John 3:5, that we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven unless we are born again of “water and spirit.” Here, He is talking about two sacraments: Baptism and Confirmation. The waters of Baptism are our entrance, or spiritual birth, into God’s community of Christians.

Many Protestants argue that Baptism is a symbol of our rebirth into Christ, but has no saving power. “It’s an outward sign of an inward grace.” Sure, it is that. But it’s so much more! 1 Peter 3:21: “...baptism, which saves you now.” READ THAT AGAIN. Baptism “saves” you! John 3:5 says we need to be born again of water in order to get into heaven. Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-5, Matthew 28:19, 1 Corinthians 6:11, 12:12-13, Acts 22:16 and Hebrews 10:22 describe how Baptism unites us to the body of Christ, how Baptism is not just a symbol, and how we “too might walk in newness of life.” We receive the Holy Spirit in Baptism, just as Jesus demonstrates to us in Mark 1:9-11.

Another popular disagreement between Catholics and Protestants is the idea of infant Baptism. Most Protestants believe that infants cannot be baptized because babies are incapable of believing, and believing is a requirement of Baptism. But wouldn’t we want our children to gain access (John 3:5) to the kingdom if they were to (God forbid) die before they could make that conscious decision to accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior? Here are some verses that I pulled from those Apologetics Flashcards from Lesson one:

Acts 16:15
Infants may have been baptized in lydia’s household. The Bible doesn’t make this point clear, so to hold that the Bible alone disproves infant baptism is not biblical. There is more Biblical evidence to suggest that infants were Baptized, though not conclusive. However, the early Church Fathers who were the disciples of the first century apostles taught and practiced infant baptism.

Acts 16:31-33
Tradition tells us that infants were included in Baptism. The Bible doesn’t specifically address infant Baptism. So to hold to a Bible alone theory and deny infant Baptism is not biblical, as not everything Jesus did is included in the Bible (John 21:25). We must look at Tradition and the history of the early Church. A prominent convert to the Catholic Church once said something to the effect of “To be steeped in history is to no longer remain Protestant.”

1 Corinthians 1:16
Paul Baptized the household of Stephanas. The Bible does not say whether there were infants in the household or not. It is most likely there were children and possibly infants in the household. However, we cannot say from the Bible that there were or not, so we must turn to the Tradition of the Church. If you hold to the Bible alone, you cannot deny infants being Baptized nor can you prove it because the Bible does not specify age.

Colossians 2:11-12
Circumcision was the sign that united people to the Old Covenant. The law commanded that male babies were to be circumcised on their eighth day. Moses, after coming down form the mountain, was going to be killed by God because he had not circumcised his baby (Ex 4:24-27). Baptism fulfills circumcision in the New Covenant.

Matthew 8:13, 9:2-6, Luke 18:15-16
Many times in the Bible it was the faith of others that healed their loved ones by God’s grace. This supports the Church teaching that the faith of the parents is sufficient for the baptism of their infant children.

Acts 2:39-39
Peter said that the promise was made to children but he did not specify age. Are we to believe that there were no infants included in this promise? Was the promise given to children only over the age of accountability? There is no age specified when a child is to be accountable






I’ll tackle Reconciliation (confession) in my next lesson, and thats a very controversial sacrament. Please send me any questions on this, that, or any other Sacrament!

Also, I think that from now on, if I can’t put a question directly into my lesson, I wont answer it in the email. So, to see answers to those questions “Follow” my blog! Lambs-supper.blogspot.com

Peace in Christ,
Luke