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Man becomes a child of the Church
through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. Baptism is the door to Christianity, the
beginning of life in God. Baptism restores the image of God in man and bestows
the saving power of Christ's redemptive feat on him. Through Baptism the
Christian receives access to all the Holy Sacraments and acts of grace of the
Church, which lead him to deification.
Baptism is called the second birth
because in it a man dies to his sinful life and is reborn into a new,
spiritual, holy life, in which he puts on the new nature, created after the
likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness (Eph. 4:24). Through Baptism
men are reconciled to God, cleansed from the impurities of sinful acts by the
Divine Spirit, and become fellow citizens with the saints, and members of the
household of God (Eph. 2:19), and children of God (John 1:12).
Just as the Holy Spirit descended in
the form of a dove upon the Lord Jesus Christ during His Baptism in the River
Jordan, so is every Christian endowed with Divine Grace in a mystic way during
his Baptism. St. Peter says: Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the
name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive
the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). Through the action of
God's sanctifying grace in the Sacrament of Baptism all the sins of the person
being baptized are forgiven. Man's sinful state is totally eradicated by
Baptism, and his sins are washed away as if they had never existed. The
newly-baptized leaves the font as a new creature.
Our Savior says: Unless one is born
of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God (John
3:5). Baptism, therefore, is necessary for every man who enters the Church.
Only through Baptism can infants be cleansed of Original Sin and enter into the
Kingdom of Heaven. They are baptized according to the Lord's words: Let the children
come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven
(Matt. 19:14); on the basis of Apostolic Tradition, and according to the faith
of their parents and godparents.
All the saving actions of Divine
Grace are indivisible in the Sacrament of Baptism. Grace, by regenerating man,
cleanses him from all sin, justifies and sanctifies him. And, by justifying and
sanctifying him before God, Divine Grace makes him a son of God, a member of
the Body of Christ — the Church — and an heir to Eternal Life.
Water is the substance used in the
Sacrament of Baptism. Man has long associated water with the concept of a
life-giving, regenerating power that cleanses and revives nature, a power
vitally necessary for human life. Therefore water in the Sacrament of Baptism
is the best symbol of the grace of the Holy Spirit, which cleanses man of sin
and regenerates him.
Baptism is administered by triple
immersion of the one being baptized, with the intoning of the Holy Name of the
Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit — Who bestows the power
of grace to the Sacrament. The Church always administers Baptism, as Christ commanded
(Matt. 28:20), through the invocation of the Threefold Name. The Teachings of
the Twelve Apostles, one of the oldest Christian writings (lst-2nd Centuries),
says in Chapter 7: “Baptize in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Spirit.” And, as St. Athanasius the Great says, “He who takes anything
from the Son, or the Father and the Son, without the Spirit receives
nothing...for attainment is only in the Trinity.”
The Creed, just as St. Paul (Eph.
4:6), calls us to confess one Baptism. This is because regeneration through
grace (is born again — John 3:3), that man experiences in Baptism, is unique
and unrepeatable, just as his natural birth is unique and unrepeatable, and
just as Christ's Death and Resurrection are unique.
A Christian should confess his
baptism through a life pleasing to God, for Christ our Savior says: Let your
light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to
your Father Who is in heaven (Matt. 5:16). Therefore a man's visible, external
life is a reflection of his inner, spiritual life. The Sacrament of Baptism
lays the foundation for a new life of grace, and the perfection of this life
with the help of Divine Grace is the task of every member of the Church. For a
Christian the path to the confession of the grace-bestowing gifts of Baptism
lies through living faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Tim. 1:15-16),
a life according to faith (James 2:20), membership in Christ's
Church, and a constant sense of prayerful repentance (Heb. 13:15;
Acts 17:30).
St. Paul tells us: without faith it is impossible to please [God] (Heb.
11:6). The basis of the Christian's spiritual life is faith in Jesus Christ, in
the Triune God, in the Divine Economy of our salvation, and in the Holy
Orthodox Church. Living faith in Christ perfects the Christian, makes him wise
and firm, and gives him joy and the life eternal (James 1:4-8, 12).
In addition to his heartfelt faith
in Christ, the Christian should confess his Baptism through his life in faith.
A Christian life is a constant struggle against sinful temptations, a feat
assisted by divine grace. In translating the Savior's Gospel into life, a
Christian is serving the commandments of goodness and justice on the basis of
the pure teaching of the Gospel.
A Christian can attain perfection in
his spiritual life through constant prayer in church and at home. Prayer is a
means of constant communion and union with God. It preserves a man from
spiritual fall and maintains him on the path of spiritual ascension. Prayerful
communion with God rewards the person praying with great spiritual
consolations: an ineffable joy, peace and an inexplicable feeling of
blessedness, which serves as a guarantee of our future total union with God in
His Kingdom.
Prayer must be accomplished by a
sense of repentance, which is the basis of a spiritual feat. Repentance is
necessary to achieve a living faith in Christ and to maintain this faith. Without
true repentance a Christian cannot attain a single virtue. A repentant feeling
saves a man from many pitfalls on the path to salvation. Penitence is a second
Baptism and renews the grace of our first Baptism; for he who truly repents and
promises to turn away from sin is not only forgiven, but his sin is erased by
God, as well, and he attains the purity and sanctity given him at Baptism.
The confession of Baptism through a
deep, truly Christian spiritual life is only possible if a man is a member of
the Church, the Body of Christ. In the Church he is made one with Christ.
Christ our Savior not only revealed God to man and drew us closer to Him, but
also showed us a perfect model of sanctity, what a man's inner, spiritual essence
should be.
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