By Mark Ng
Holy Baptism, defined as the basis of the whole Christian life, is the gateway to life in the Spirit and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. The word Baptism comes from Greek baptizo – to plunge, dip, or immerse. It takes on the image of something being so immersed into a solution that it assumes the qualities of that solution, like how a cucumber soaked in vinegar becomes a pickle. The plunging into the water produces a change in the one baptized; they take on new characteristics and a new identity. Similarly, just as our birth is the most radical and fundamental event of our natural life, so is baptism, which signifies the most radical and life-changing event of our spiritual lives; the beginning of new life in Christ.
Fruits of Baptism
Through Baptism we are freed from sin and our Original Sin is taken away. Additionally, we die to our old selves and are reborn as sons of God. “See what great love God our Father has lavished on us that we can be called children of God!” (1 Jn 3:1) It is in this sacrament too that we no longer belong to just ourselves but to Jesus and his Church.
How is One Baptised?
“Baptism is performed in the most expressive way by triple immersion in the baptismal water. However, from ancient times it has also been able to be conferred by pouring the water three times over the candidate’s head.” (CCC 1239) The use of water is significant in Holy Baptism. Just as how we use water to wash many things, water signifies the washing away of our sins. Similarly, The necessity of water for life expresses the necessity of God giving us a new life with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Hence, this sacrament is also called the “the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit,” for it signifies and actually brings about the birth of water and the Spirit without which no one “can enter the kingdom of God. (CCC 1215)
Necessity of Baptism
We get baptized because Christ himself instituted and commanded Baptism. He first began his public ministry only after himself being baptized by St John the Baptist in the river Jordan. Jesus himself affirms that baptism is necessary for being saved: “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. And again after his resurrection: “ Go therefore and 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.’ It is through Holy Baptism in which we receive salvation.
However, though God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, he himself is not bound by his sacraments. (CCC 1257) For those who are ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of his Church, but seek the truth and does the will of God in accordance with their understanding of it, can be saved. It may be supposed that such persons would have desired Baptism explicitly if they had known its necessity. (CCC 1260)
The sacrament of baptism therefore is God’s most beautiful and magnificent gift and reveals his desire to love and be in a relationship with us!
