“And Jesus came and said to them: ‘All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. 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; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age’”. (Matthew 28:18-20)
“And he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.’” (Mark 16:15-16, RSV-CE, rest of the quotes in this article are from Douay-Rheims Bible)
Jesus wanted people to become Christian through this sacrament: Baptism.
1. In order to become a Christian, one needs to be baptized. Merely believing in Jesus and reading the Bible is not enough.
“Now when they had heard these things, they had compunction in their heart, and said to Peter, and to the rest of the apostles: What shall we do, men and brethren? But Peter said to them: Do penance, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins: and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 2:37-38)
2. Baptism is essential for salvation.
“Which had been some time incredulous, when they waited for the patience of God in the days of Noe, when the ark was a building: wherein a few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water. Whereunto baptism being of the like form, now saveth you also: not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the examination of a good conscience towards God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 3:20-21)
3. Baptism is not just a symbol, but washes away sins.
Paul narrates to the crowd in Jerusalem, that Ananias told him after his conversion: “And now why tarriest thou? Rise up, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, invoking his name.” (Acts 22:16)
In the quote further above, Peter also told the crowd that baptism is for “the remission of sins”.
4. How baptism is performed
Baptism is performed normally by priests and deacons, in case of adult converts, by the bishop. However, if somebody is in danger of death, anyone can baptize, even if he or she is not baptized. This point cannot be emphasized enough. Baptism is normally necessary for salvation, therefore anyone can perform it in such a danger if an unbaptized person asks for it.
Baptism is not complicated. One uses one of the most common things on the planet, water, pours that water three times on the forehead and says the baptismal formula, which reads: I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
5. Baptism makes one a part of the Church that Jesus founded, that is, the Catholic Church
This is also important. Baptism is not just some private ceremony, but the sacrament by which one receives entrance into the Catholic Church.
“For as the body is one, and hath many members; and all the members of the body, whereas they are many, yet are one body, so also is Christ. For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether bond or free; and in one Spirit we have all been made to drink.” (1 Corinthians 12:12-13)
6. In baptism, the baptized person is born again
“Jesus answered: Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5)
Jesus speaks here of water, and that can only be a reference to baptism.
Conditions for a valid baptism
– water has to be used;
– the baptismal formula has to be said;
– the water has to reach the skin;
– the water has to flow at least a little bit on the skin;
– the baptism should be on the head.
What if someone dies without baptism?
There are two possible baptism substitutes:
Baptism of Blood, that is, martyrdom and Baptism of Desire, which is a wish to be baptized when actual baptism is impossible. But this wish can also be implicit, which means that someone without his or her own fault is not aware of the necessity of baptism, but still intends to do everything needed to be saved.
An important aside on conditional baptism
If it is unknown or uncertain if someone baptized or not, that person can get a conditional baptism. This is made using adding a condition before the baptismal formula.
This brings up an important aside. If someone is not what’s called “morally certain” about being validly baptized, he should seek to get a conditional baptism. Moral certainty means in this case that one knows without reasonable doubts that he or she was validly baptized.
In certain Protestant communities and even in the Catholic Church in recent decades, the minister could have used an invalid formula or an invalid way of administering baptism.
One could establish with moral certainty one’s baptism if for example the minister baptizes validly on observable occasions, if there are witnesses and a few other ways.
If one is not morally certain, one should seek conditional baptism. However, if one is morally certain about being baptized, getting a “second baptism” is invalid and a sacrilege, and that is a mortal sin.
And what about unbaptized children who die?
This question is not settled. They either go to heaven or to a paradise-like state of natural happiness called “limbus puerum” (limbo of children).