Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born anew.' "John 3:5-7*

Baptism is the primary Sacrament of the Christian faith.  It is the door into the Kingdom of God, the agency of a new birth, the beginning of a new life.  It unites us with Christ, makes us members of His Church, imparts forgiveness of sins, and equips us to receive further gifts of God’s grace. 

Baptism is more than a sign - it is an instrument.  It is not only an indication that something has been done, but it is the means by which it is accomplished.  Christ would not have commanded it if He had not meant it to serve a real purpose.  It is a Sacrament that is not repeated, because it imparts an indelible “character.”  Once we become “a member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven,” that character is stamped upon us and we can never be anything else.  We have become members of God’s family.  We may be unworthy members, but we still belong.

Baptism is a covenant between us and God.  We pledge certain things from our side and God promises certain benefits from His side.  On our part, we pledge repentance, faith and obedience.  

Repentance is not the same as feeling sorry – it involves an act of will.  To be sorry for something wrong is a commendable sentiment, but a Christian cannot go through life looking backward, even with regret.  Christians must face forward.  We must not only disown past sins, but be determined to do better in the future.  

Faith is not the same thing as belief.  When St. Paul said that “a man is justified by faith” he did not mean acceptance of a doctrine, but personal confidence in a Person.  Faith means trust in God, loyalty to Christ, reliance upon the Holy Spirit.  Grounded in the facts of the life, death, resurrection of our Lord, Faith is the governor of our spiritual action.  

Obedience is the outcome of Faith.  It represents a desire and purpose to practice what we profess.  Christianity is more than a sentimental impulse – there are standards of Christian living which may not be disregarded.  By a pledge of obedience, we accept those standards as our own.  

God promises three special benefits to us through this sacrament – forgiveness, regeneration, and grace.  

Forgiveness of sins is not the same as the ignoring of them.  By sin we do not mean the legal rules and social norms of a swiftly changing society.  Sin means going against God’s will – the willful choice of our own desires in opposition to God’s purpose for us.  That purpose is revealed in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ – His life, His ministry, His teachings, His Sacraments.  These embody God’s Divine Law, and sin is the violation of that law.  Baptism wipes clean all past sin, making forgiveness possible.  That is not to say that a baptized person will never sin again, only that the character of sin has been replaced with the character of righteousness.    

Regeneration is an act of God, the bestowal of eternal life.   Natural birth is our point of entrance into the human family.  Regeneration – spiritual birth – is our point of entrance into God’s family, and is an event that occurs only once, and only through Baptism.  We know this because Christ tells us that it is so.    

Grace is a free gift of God, something which we have neither earned nor deserved.  Grace is an enabling spiritual power infused into human life by the Holy Spirit.  It is the means by which God enables us to keep our end of the Baptismal covenant – to maintain our Repentance, Faith, and Obedience to His Will.  In Baptism a human soul is brought into contact with God and something happens to it.  A new power is added which was not there before.  We may call it grace, and it is renewed and kept active by repeated contacts such as Holy Communion.

When the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit, which he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life. Titus 3:4-7*