01 - What is Baptism?

Definitions

Baptism is the Holy Mystery through which we are "born again" by being immersed in the water three times in the name of the Holy Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The Mystery of Baptism is the gate of the Mysteries. Only after baptism is one given the right to partake of the rest of the Mysteries.

Baptism is also known as the Mystery of Enlightenment

βάπτισμα meaning "immersion" or "dipping in water"

• Root Verb βάπτω meaning "to dip" or "to dye"
• Active Verb βαπτίζω meaning "to immerse" or "to submerge" or "to go under"

Institution of the Mystery of Baptism

The Great Commission

• (Matthew 28:18-20): And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
• (Mark 16:15-16): And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.

Nicodemus Discourse

• (John 3:5) Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
• (John 3:5): Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 

The Baptism of Christ and the Sanctification of the Waters

• Christ was baptized in order to point us to baptism
• "No Baptism was necessary for Christ, but He freely received the baptism of a servant [John] to draw us towards His baptism"  (Tractate 5 on the Gospel of John - St Augustine)
• "The Lord was baptized, not to be cleansed himself, but to cleanse the waters, so that those waters, cleansed by the flesh of Christ which knew no sin, might have the power of baptism. Whoever comes, therefore, to the washing of Christ, lays aside his sins." (Commentary on Luke 2:83 - St Ambrose of Milan)

Conferred Grace

Imagine a slave who leaves his slavery behind and goes to live in the palace of the king. He is adopted by the king and becomes his son. He lives in the house of the king. His former life is forgotten. He is arrayed in the clothing of kings. This is baptism.

Death and Resurrection with Christ

"Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission" (Hebrews 9:22)

• Christ did this part

"that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death," (Phillippians 3:10)

• St Paul says that we should be conformed to Christ's death
• Unless we undergo such death, we cannot be saved. How do we undergo this death? How do we share in the death of the Lord?

"Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." (Romans 6:3-4)

• Baptism into Christ is baptism into His death
• We are buried with Him in baptism
• We are raised with Him
• We should walk in the newness of life

St John Chrysostom: "What the cross and burial were to Christ, baptism is to us, though not in all respects. For Christ died and was buried in the flesh, whereas we have died and been buried to sin." (St John Chrysostom - Commentary on Romans 6:3)

"In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." (Colossians 2:11-13)

This baptism, therefore, is given into the death of Jesus: And so are owned to be heirs of His Kingdom. For since you have "been baptized into the Lord's death" - Apostolic Constitutions

"There are two mortifyings and two deaths. One of them is accomplished by Christ in baptism, and the other is our duty to effect by earnestness afterwards. For it was Christ's gift that our former sins were buried, but remaining dead to sin after baptism must be the work of our own earnestness, however much we find that God gives us enormous help here as well. For baptism does not just have the power to obliterate our former transgressions; it also protects us against subsequent ones." - (St John Chrysostom - Commentary on Romans 6:5)

"And that Water of salvation was at once your grave and your mother." (St Cyril of Jerusalem - Mystagogical Lectures 2.4)

Special Topic: The Right-Hand Thief Was Not Baptized!
See Below

Born Again (New Creation)

• (John 3:5) Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
• (John 3:5) Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 
• (Titus 3:5) not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,

"We receive the hope of eternal life through the laver of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit" (St Ambrose - On the Holy Spirit Book III, Chapter 10)

• "Renew their birth a second time by the washing of the New Birth and the forgiveness of sins; prepare them to be a temple of Your Holy Spirit" (Rite of Baptism)

"And that Water of salvation was at once your grave and your mother." (St Cyril of Jerusalem - Mystagogical Lectures 2.4)

Forgiveness of Sins and Cleansing from Original Sin

"Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous." (Romans 5:12-19)

"We confess one baptism, for the remission of sins" (Nicene Creed)

"And the bishop shall lay his hand upon them [the newly baptized], invoking and saying: 'O Lord God, who did count these worthy of deserving the forgiveness of sins by the laver of regeneration, make them worthy to be filled with your Holy Spirit and send upon them thy grace [in confirmation], that they may serve you according to your will." (Apostolic Tradition 22:1)

Special Topic: Baptism of Infants
See below.

Adoption as Children of God

"But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ." (Galatians 4:4-7)

• Christ is the Son of God by nature
• We are sons of God by adoption

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved." (Ephesians 1:3-6)

"For you were bought at a price;" (1 Cor 6:20)

This baptism, therefore, is given into the death of Jesus: And so are owned to be heirs of His Kingdom. For since you have "been baptized into the Lord's death" - Apostolic Constitutions

"For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise." (Galatians 3:26-29)

Membership in the Body of Christ

"For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many." (1 Cor 12:12-14)

• Having the Church as my Mother

  • “He can no longer have God for his Father, who has not the Church for his mother." - Cyprian of Carthage

• Participation in the Sacramental Life
• Fellowship with the faithful
  • We are not called to live as isolated Christians
  • Serving one another according to our gifts
  • Caring for one another in love

Putting on Christ

• "For as many of  you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ." (Galatians 3:27)
• "But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness." (Ephesians 4:20-24)
• A new identity and life
  • To put on Christ is to put on His righteousness as a gift that He grants through Baptism
  • To put on Christ is to put on His Salvation that He grants in Baptism through His Blood
    

"keep holiness in all your members, as having put on Christ. "For," it is said, "as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ." Wherefore let all your members be holy as becomes their investment in a raiment of holiness and light." (St Basil - Letter 292)

Visible Sign

Water as the Material Element

Can Water Really Save?

• “When once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:20-21)
• “Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.” (1‭ Corinthians‬ ‭10‬:‭1‬-‭4‬)
  

What about the Cross?

• Some Protestant objections to baptism will say “We don’t need baptism, we need the Blood of Christ!”
  • Baptism is not a "magical action" that works independently of God! It is the sacramental means established by Christ to grant us participation in His Blood - His Death and Resurrection.
  • Baptism was not instituted until after the Resurrection!
• Christ called the Cross His Baptism!

  • “I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished!” (Luke 12:50)

  • When James and John asked the Lord to sit on His right and left… the Lord Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” (Mark 10:38) - (Matthew 20:22)
  • Baptism by water and Spirit IS participating in the Sacrifice of Christ. It is dying with Him and being buried with Him, and rising from the tomb with Him.

Why Water?

"If you wish to know why it is by means of water and not some other element that grace is given, you will find the reason in going through the Scriptures. Water is a wonderful thing: - and the most beautiful of the four sensible elements of the cosmos - the sky is the dwelling of the angels, but the skies are made of water; earth is the home of men, but the earth has come out of the waters; and before the creation of visible things in six days, the Spirit of God hovered over the waters. The water is the principle of the Cosmos, and the Jordan of the Gospel" (Cyril of Jerusalem - XXXIII, 433 A)

"Why are you plunged into the water? We read: 'May the waters bring forth living creatures (Gen. 1:20). And the living creatures were born.' This happened at the beginning of creation. But for you it was reserved that water should bring you forth to grace, as that other water brought forth creatures to natural life. Imitate this fish, who has received less grace." (III 3)

• • • Fish is ichthys, the image of Christ and so of the Christian.
    • ⲒⲬⲐⲨⲤ - means "fish" in Greek, acronym for Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior
      • Ⲓⲏⲥⲟⲩⲥ
      • Ⲭⲣⲓⲥⲧⲟⲥ
      • Ⲑⲉⲟⲩ
      • Ⲩⲓⲟⲥ
      • Ⲥⲱⲧⲏⲣ

"We are little fishes according to the ichthys, Jesus Christ, in Whom we are born, and we only live by remaining in the water" (Tertullian - De Bapt. I)

Three Immersions

• Three days in the tomb
  • If we are dying and being buried with Christ, then just as he was in the tomb three days, so also we will immerse three times
• Name of the Trinity
  • Immerse three times in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
• Immersion vs. Sprinkling
  • The word "baptism" literally means "immersion"
  • "Buried" with Christ is only accomplished through complete immersion
  • The Church has always baptized with complete immersion
    
  • Both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. Now when they came out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away" (Acts 8:38-39)
  • Baptism is called many times "washing" (Titus 3:5, Acts 22:16, 1 Peter 3:18-21, Ephesians 5:26) - to wash a piece of cloth you need to completely immerse it in water!
    
    
  • For Pastoral Needs, the Church allows baptism by sprinkling (e.g. someone in a wheelchair, newborn in an incubator)

Living the Baptismal Life

"Beloved, be it known to you that those who are baptized into the death of our Lord Jesus are obliged to go on no longer in sin; for as those who are dead cannot work wickedness any longer, so those who are dead with Christ cannot practice wickedness. We do not therefore believe, brethren, that any one who has received the washing of life continues in the practice of the licentious acts of transgressors. Now he who sins after his baptism, unless he repent and forsake his sins, shall be condemned to hell-fire." (Apostolic Constitutions - Book II, Section 3, VII)

St Gregory of Nyssa when he talks about baptism he said “many of you boast about being baptized, about being renewed… but SHOW ME after the sacramental grace, the change in your ways. SHOW ME the purity of your conversion.”

• What we see after baptism, with our eyes, is the same person. He doesn’t look different. He still has the same skin color, he has the same hair, same height, etc. Physically, he hasn’t changed. So, he says, how do I know that you have changed? 
• By the intentional motions of the soul - the soul separates itself from its old life. And this word separates is the word HOLY.
• I become HOLY. SEPARATED from my old life. SEPARATED from the world. To the point that my old self is not even recognizable.
  
  • Before, I was a liar. Now I am truthful.
  • Before, I was without order in my life. Now, I have structure and order and routine.
  • Before, I was envious of what others have. Now, I am content with my possessions - and not just content but impart from what I have to those who need it.
  • Before, I was a gossiper. Now I am affable. Now I am courteous.
  • Before, I used certain language. Now, my language is clean.
  • Before, I dressed in a certain way - certain clothes, certain hairstyle, piercings. Now I put those away. Now I dress as a prince, the son of a King.
• Like darkness - if a light is ignited, the darkness disappears. It’s no longer recognizable. Like black paint. If you put a single drop of white in it, it’s no longer black. No longer recognizable as black.
• This is what it means - take off the old man and put on the new and superior one
• We became children of God - children take on the characteristics of their father. So we look at our Heavenly Father’s characteristics and we grow in His likeness.
  • “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be sons of your Father in heaven“ (Matthew 5:44-45)
• Baptism is not just a ritual. It’s not just something we have to do. It is a change in my life.

Special Topics

Right-Hand Thief

Christ did not institute the Sacrament of Baptism until after His Resurrection!

The Right-Hand Thief is a special case - and he is not the only one! But if we generalized and said "no one will enter Heaven without physical baptism" - what of all the prophets and righteous men who lived before the death of the Lord Christ? What of St John the Baptist?

The Thief did not have a chance to be baptized because of his imminent death. Had he survived the Cross, he would have been baptized just like every other Christian mentioned in the Scripture! An exception cannot be taken and made into a general rule!
What about martyrs? Many saints were martyred without baptism (i.e. they experienced the witness of the martyrs and decided in the moment to give their lives to Christ). For example, the martyr Matthew with the 21 Coptic Martyrs of Libya. Such a martyr is baptized in his blood shed.

Infant Baptism

We believe that all (with the exception of Christ, Himself) are born carrying the original sin. And we are concerned for their eternal life. So how can we deprive children from being baptized, and thus expose them to God's judgment?

1. The words "He who believes and is baptized" are meant for adults who are capable of understanding the significance of faith. Thus, we do not baptize capable adults except after they profess their faith. But for children, we apply: "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 19:14)
   
   
2. The Scripture talks of baptisms of households:
   
   • Cornelius the Centurion (Acts 10)
     
   • Philippian Jailer (Acts 16)
     
   • Lydia (Acts 16)
     
   • Stephanas (1 Cor 1:16)
     
   • On the day of Pentecost, 3000 were baptized! It's unreasonable to believe that children were excluded - "for the promise is to you and your children" (Acts 2:39)
     
     
3. Circumcision, which is fulfilled by baptism, was done on the 8th day. (Colossians 2:11-12)
   
   
4. Children being saved on the belief (and action) of their parents is not new:
   • Circumcision, a type of baptism, fulfilled by baptism, gave one membership into God's chosen people, and participation in God's covenant with Abraham. Circumcision was done on the 8th day after birth, according to God's command
   • The Passover, a type of the Cross and Eucharist, children were saved through the blood of the Passover Lamb on the faith and action of their parents.
   • The Crossing of the Red Sea included parents carrying their children - "All were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea" (1 Cor 10:2)
   • Even in the modern era, parents decide to vaccinate their child, because they are concerned for their health and want them to be safe.
     
     
5. Through baptism, a child is given an opportunity to grow up as a member of the Body of Christ, to enjoy Her divine sacraments, to experience the work of grace, and its effectiveness in his/her life.
   
   
6. In Church History, infant baptisms were always done; in fact, there was a 5th Century heresy (Pelagianism) that taught that there was no Original Sin, and that infants are born blameless and thus need not be baptized. The Church condemned this belief at the 418 Council of Carthage, and 431 Ecumenical Council of Ephesus.

"Have you an infant child? Do not let sin get any opportunity, but let him be sanctified from his childhood; from his very tenderest age let him be consecrated by the Spirit. Do you fear the Seal on account of the weakness of nature? O what a small-souled mother, and of how little faith! Why, Anna even before Samuel was born promised him to God, and after his birth consecrated him at once, and brought him up in the priestly habit, not fearing anything in human nature, but trusting in God. You have no need of amulets or incantations, with which the Devil also comes in, stealing worship from God for himself in the minds of vainer men. Give your child the Trinity, that great and noble Guard.

Be it so, some will say, in the case of those who ask for Baptism; what have you to say about those who are still children and conscious neither of the loss nor of the grace? Are we to baptize them too? Certainly, if any danger presses. For it is better that they should be unconsciously sanctified than that they should depart unsealed and uninitiated.

A proof of this is found in the Circumcision on the eighth day, which was a sort of typical seal, and was conferred on children before they had the use of reason. And so is the anointing of the doorposts, which preserved the firstborn, though applied to things which had no consciousness. But in respect of others I give my advice to wait till the end of the third year, or a little more or less, when they may be able to listen and to answer something about the Sacrament; that, even though they do not perfectly understand it, yet at any rate they may know the outlines; and then to sanctify them in soul and body with the great sacrament of our consecration. For this is how the matter stands; at that time they begin to be responsible for their lives, when reason is matured, and they learn the mystery of life (for of sins of ignorance owing to their tender years they have no account to give), and it is far more profitable on all accounts to be fortified by the Font, because of the sudden assaults of danger that befall us, stronger than our helpers.

But, one says, Christ was thirty years old when He was baptized, and that although He was God; and do you bid us hurry our Baptism? - You have solved the difficulty when you say He was God. For He was absolute cleansing; He had no need of cleansing; but it was for you that He was purified, just as it was for you that, thought He had not flesh, yet He is clothed with flesh. Nor was there any danger to Him from putting off Baptism, for He had the ordering of His own Passion as of His own Birth. But in your case the danger is to no small interests, if you were to depart after a birth to corruption alone, and without being clothed with incorruption. And there is this further point for me to consider, that that particular time of baptism was a necessity for Him, but your case is not the same. He manifested Himself in the thirtieth year after His birth and not before: first, in order that He might not appear ostentatious, which is a condition belonging to vulgar minds; and next, because that age tests virtue thoroughly, and is the right time to teach. And since it was needful for Him to undergo the passion which saves the world, it was needful also that all things which belong to the passion should fit into the passion; the Manifestation, the Baptism, the Witness from Heaven, the Proclamation, the concourse of the multitude, the Miracles; and that they should be as it were one body, not torn asunder, nor broken apart by intervals." (St Gregory Nazianzen - Oration 40.17, 28-29)

One Baptism

One of the councils had a thing about who to rebaptize (based on whether or not the faith in the Trinity was intact)