Be Not Ye Damned

A few days ago a friend called me because he wanted to talk about belief. We got reacquainted after his daughter began asking the "big questions" about faith and religion, questions to which he did not have answers. Although he was raised in a mainline Protestant denomination, when I asked him where he and his family worshiped he said they did not currently attend church.

I tend to tread somewhat slowly and carefully in speaking with people who have a natural curiosity about faith and religion, specifically Christianity and more specifically, Catholicism. After discussing some commonalities, and me sharing some of the basic tenants of Christian belief--which he wasn't unfamiliar with--the issue of baptism came up.

He confessed his struggle to reconcile how those in far parts of the world who, through no fault of their own had not been exposed to the teachings of Christ, could be damned. He also admitted to disagreeing when I stated that baptism is what grafts us into God's family, and that it is necessary for salvation. I said that Christian missionaries throughout history left homeland, comfort, and security to carry out the Great Commission--the command (not suggestion) of Christ to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Mt 28:19); that "No one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit, and that "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved" (Mk 16:16). While stressing that God is not bound by the Sacraments and can save whomever He wishes, I also said as clearly as I could so there was no mistaking its importance: "Baptism is necessary for salvation."

In the Catholic faith, the sacraments are efficacious and act ex opere operato ("by the work worked"). "From the moment that a sacrament is celebrated in accordance with the intention of the Church, the power of Christ and his Spirit acts in and through it, independently of the personal holiness of the minister. Nevertheless, the fruits of the sacraments also depend on the disposition of the one who receives them." (CCC 1128) This is why we baptize infants, much to the dismay and/or consternation of Protestants who stress the "personal affirmation of faith."

But baptism confers real grace. You cannot be saved without it, and you are wholly hindered in the battle against the forces of darkness without that grace.

As I tried to expound on the relationship to the internal modus of belief and the external witness of water baptism (exemplified in the words of Jesus to Nicodemus that one must be born again--that is, born of water and the spirit (Jn 3:3, 5), it was the nature of water that came to mind:

"When you come to belief," I told him, "you are transformed so that you are a new creation in Christ. The old man is left behind and you are an entirely new man. This is the response of the will moved by grace.

"But this belief is made manifest explicitly in baptism--you are not longer sitting dry on land, but you are immersed. You cannot be "a little wet" in such a state. You are either wet, or dry. Baptism leaves an indelible mark on the soul, which can never be erased or undone."

Ven. Fulton Sheen makes this point as well when he says "Water very often is the natural boundary between city and city, state and state, nation and nation, continent and continent, tribe and tribe. Those who live on one side of water are “separated” from those who live on the other. In the early days, before rapid communication, it was a dramatic experience to pass from one territory to another. This symbolism, therefore, was well fitted for the Divine Master to indicate the separation of the Christian from the world, as the water which was divided in the Red Sea, was a symbol of the separation of Israel from the slavery of Egypt."

When I go into the local prison to share the Good News I always make it clear, in no uncertain terms:

REPENT AND BE BAPTIZED

BAPTISM IS NECESSARY FOR SALVATION

FOR YOU KNOW NOT THE HOUR OF YOUR DEATH

I tell the men there every time, in case they think it unimportant or ancillary. You want to be a new man? You want to resist the devil? You had better repent. And you had better get baptized.

We have our little photo ops and family luncheons when children are baptized. But in many parts of the world, (adult) baptism marks an intentional grafting from one family to another, and, often, a complete severing. Baptism is the outward sign of this inward severing from sin and death that has very real repercussions. For what believer would profess Christ and refuse to be baptized? Some may for fear of reprisal, but even that drives home the point that it is significant and a definitive crossing of a line in the sand. It is the mark of a Christian, a true believer and follower of Christ.

The gifts the Spirit pours out makes the impossible, possible--unattainable forgiveness, unexplainable miracles, supernatural faith, and yes, love. One Islamic leader stated at a large conference of Muslim clerics "Do not allow your people to have close contact with Christians because if you do the Christians will love your people into their faith."

In Baptism, the Holy Spirit makes his home in a man. "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). When one receives the Holy Spirit, he then has, by grace, the opportunity to be moved by the Spirit. "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come" (Jn 16:13).