§537Through Baptism the Christian is sacramentally assimilated to Jesus, who in his own baptism anticipates his death and resurrection. the Christian must enter into this mystery of humble self-abasement and repentance, go down into the water with Jesus in order to rise with him, be reborn of water and the Spirit so as to become the Father's beloved son in the Son and "walk in newn…

§628Baptism, the original and full sign of which is immersion, efficaciously signifies the descent into the tomb by the Christian who dies to sin with Christ in order to live a new life. "We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life."474 IN BRIEF

§648Christ's Resurrection is an object of faith in that it is a transcendent intervention of God himself in creation and history. In it the three divine persons act together as one, and manifest their own proper characteristics. the Father's power "raised up" Christ his Son and by doing so perfectly introduced his Son's humanity, including his body, into the Trinity. Jesus is concl…

1. Little children who go daily to their teachers receive their lessons, and repeat them, and never cease from this kind of acquisition, but sometimes employ nights as well as days, and this they are compelled to do for perishable and transient things. Now we do not ask of you who have come to age such toil as you require of your children; for not every day, but two days only i…

Source. Translated by J. Walker, J. Sheppard and H. Browne, and revised by George B. Stevens. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 11. Edited by Philip Schaff. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1889.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/210224.htm>. Contact information. The editor of New Adven…

2. But first I wish to remind you who are initiated of the response , which on that evening they who introduce you to the mysteries bid you make; and then I will also explain the saying of Paul: so this likewise will be clearer to you; we after all the other things adding this which Paul now says. And I desire indeed expressly to utter it, but I dare not on account of the unini…

1. You have heard how much Paul found fault with the Hebrews for wishing to be always learning about the same things. And with good reason: For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, you have need again that some one teach you the elements of the first principles of the oracles of God. Hebrews 5:12 I am afraid that this might fitly be said to you also, that when for the tim…

Chapter 10.—What is to Be Replied to Those Who Think that Resurrection Pertains Only to Bodies and Not to Souls. There are some who suppose that resurrection can be predicated only of the body, and therefore they contend that this first resurrection (of the Apocalypse) is a bodily resurrection. For, say they, “to rise again” can only be said of things that fall. Now, bodies fal…

Sanctification is the work of God's free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.

Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. Calvin shows that Paul refutes the charge of antinomianism. Those who have been united with Christ in his death are dead to sin and alive to God. Baptism signifies this union with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection. Sin shall not have dominion over the believer, for we are not under law but under grace. The …

What is Baptism? Baptism is not just plain water, but it is the water included in God's command and combined with God's word. What benefits does Baptism give? It works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare. How can water do such great things? Certainly not just water, …

What does such baptizing with water indicate? It indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever. Where is this written? St. Paul writes in Romans chapter six: We are buried with Christ by Baptism …

1. How Christians are the Spiritual Israel. That people which was called of old the people of God was divided into twelve tribes, and over and above the other tribes it had the levitical order, which itself again carried on the service of God in various priestly and levitical suborders. In the same manner, it appears to me that the whole people of Christ, when we regard it in t…

1. Jesus Comes to Capernaum. Statements of the Four Evangelists Regarding This. After this John 2:12-25 He went down to Capernaum, He and His mother and His brothers and His disciples; and there they abode not many days. And the passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and He found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers…

1. Relation of the Baptist to Elijah. The Theory of Transmigration Considered. The disciples asked Him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elijah must first come? Matthew 17:10 The disciples indeed who went up with Jesus remembered the traditions of the scribes concerning Elijah, that before the advent of Christ, Elijah would come and prepare for Him the souls of those who w…

Were we freed from sin by Christ's Passion? Were we thereby delivered from the power of the devil? Were we freed thereby from our debt of punishment? Were we thereby reconciled with God? Was heaven's gate opened to us thereby? Did Christ derive exaltation from it? Article 1. Whether we were delivered from sin through Christ's Passion? Objection 1. It would seem that we were not…

The necessity of His Resurrection The time of the Resurrection Its order Its cause Article 1. Whether it was necessary for Christ to rise again? Objection 1. It would seem that it was not necessary for Christ to rise again. For Damascene says (De Fide Orth. iv): "Resurrection is the rising again of an animate being, which was disintegrated and fallen." But Christ did not fall b…

Is Christ's Resurrection the cause of our resurrection? Is it the cause of our justification? Article 1. Whether Christ's Resurrection is the cause of the resurrection of our bodies? Objection 1. It would seem that Christ's Resurrection is not the cause of the resurrection of our bodies, because, given a sufficient cause, the effect must follow of necessity. If, then, Christ's …

If anyone saith that the sacraments of the New Law do not contain the grace which they signify, or that they do not confer that grace on those who do not place an obstacle thereunto — let him be anathema.

The sacraments are signs of a sacred thing, namely of grace already given. They do not confer grace but testify that grace has been given. Baptism is the sign of initiation by which we pledge ourselves to a new life. The Eucharist is a thanksgiving and remembrance, not a repetition of Christ's sacrifice. The body of Christ is not locally present in the elements.

Baptism is to be ministered in the face of the congregation. The minister shall instruct the people that baptism is the sign of our engrafting into Christ and of our purification through His blood. The Lord's Supper is to be administered frequently with a common table, that all may share alike, not after the manner of a sacrifice but after the manner of a communion.

Q. How does baptism remind you and assure you that Christ's one sacrifice on the cross is for you personally? A. In this way: Christ instituted this outward washing and with it gave the promise that, as surely as water washes away the dirt from the body, so certainly his blood and his Spirit wash away my soul's impurity, in other words, all my sins.

Q. What does it mean to be washed with Christ's blood and Spirit? A. To be washed with Christ's blood means that God, by grace, has forgiven my sins because of Christ's blood poured out for me in his sacrifice on the cross. To be washed with Christ's Spirit means that the Holy Spirit has renewed me and set me apart to be a member of Christ so that more and more I become dead to…

Q. What is involved in genuine repentance or conversion? A. Two things: the dying of the old self, and the coming to life of the new.

We believe that this true faith, produced in us by the hearing of God's Word and by the work of the Holy Spirit, regenerates us and makes us new creatures, causing us to live a new life and freeing us from the slavery of sin. Therefore, far from making people cold toward living in a pious and holy way, this justifying faith, quite to the contrary, so works within them that apar…

Baptism was instituted and consecrated by God. The first that baptized was John, who dipped Christ in the water of Jordan. From him it came to the apostles, who also baptized with water. The Lord expressly commanded them to preach the Gospel and to baptize "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." And Peter said to the Jews who inquired what they shou…

Baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ, to be unto the party baptized a sign of his fellowship with Him in His death and resurrection, of his being engrafted into Him, of remission of sins, and of his giving up unto God through Jesus Christ to live and walk in newness of life. Those who do actually profess repentance towards God, faith in, and ob…

Sacraments ordained of Christ are not only badges or tokens of Christian men's profession, but rather they are certain signs of grace, and God's good will toward us, by which He doth work invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken, but also strengthen and confirm, our faith in Him.

We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion in water of a believer, into the name of the Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost; to show forth, in a solemn and beautiful emblem, our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, with its effect in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life; that it is prerequisite to the privileges of a church relation; and to the Lord'…

Gregory describes baptism as simultaneously a tomb and a womb — the old self dies and the new self is born. We are buried with Christ through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised, we too may walk in newness of life. The water is a grave for the sinful nature and a birthplace for the regenerated soul.

When you were immersed in the water, you were buried with Christ; when you rose from the water, you rose with Him. Baptism is a true participation in the death and resurrection of Christ — you die to sin and are raised to new life. Ambrose insists this is not a mere symbol: the old self is truly drowned, and a new creature emerges from the font.