Roman Catholicism : On Baptism

I realize that there are a lot of issues surrounding baptism and also that some Protestant denominations practice infant baptism. Yet, foregoing a long discussion on the various modes of baptism (immersion, sprinkling, etc.) let us differentiate Roman Catholic baptism, in particular, and Biblical baptism, not in how the water is applied but when and upon whom.

Typically, Roman Catholic parents will have their infant baptized as soon after birth as possible therefore, making it impossible for the baptized baby to accept or deny any Christian doctrines or Roman Catholic dogmas.
What actually occurs at a Roman Catholic baptism is that the baby is an unintelligent, undiscerning, unbelieving, unknowing, unaware, bystander. In fact, just a few decades back an infant would be baptized and confirmed and would have their first communion at the age of 7 or 8. A mere child was rushed through three of seven Roman Catholic sacraments before they knew which way was up.

The infant is walked through the baptism without consenting and without regard to what is occurring. Instead, there is a proxies (godparents/sponsors) who stand in the place of and speaks for the infant. An example of this procedure come to us from the Collectio Rituum, Ritual Approved by the National Conference of Bishops of the USA. Prepared under the guidance of Very Rev. Walter J. Schmitz, S.S. and approved as Nihil Obstat by Frederick R. McManus and Nihil Obstat for Appendix by John F. Murphy:

…Next he [the priest] questions the one to be baptized, addressing him by name: N[ame], do you renounce Satan?
The sponsors answer: I do renounce him.
Priest: And all his allurements?
Sponsors: I do renounce them…
[the priest says] “I anoint you with the oil of salvation in Christ Jesus our Lord, so that you may have everlasting life”…
At the font, the priest questions the one to be baptized by name, and the sponsors answer: N[ame], do you believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth?
Sponsors: I do believe.
Priest: Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord, who was born into this world and who suffered?
Sponsors: I do believe.
Priest: Do you believe also in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting?
Sponsors: I do believe.
Then addressing the candidate for baptism by name, the priest says: N[ame], do you wish to be baptized? The sponsors answer: I do” [bold in original, underlining added].1

Let us search the Scripture to see what God has revealed as His will.

Peter said, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38).
This seems a very straightforward verse which teaches that forgiveness of sins (therefore salvation) comes about through baptism. However, if someone said “Take this aspirin for a headache” would you think they were saying “if you want a headache you should take aspirin?”
Or if the television show Americas Most Wanted advertized, “John Doe is wanted for robbery” would you think that they are saying that they want John Doe to commit a robbery for them?
Of course not.

The Greek word “eis” means “for” which in this case signifies an action that is passed. Therefore, the scripture comes across as saying, “…be baptized everyone of you because your sins have been forgiven.” Peter is calling those who have been saved by their belief to now come forward and be baptized. How are we to know that this is not merely a way to explain away a verse that contradicts the rest of the scriptures or a preferred doctrine?
For various reasons; note that Peter did not say “be baptized…for the forgiveness of your sins” but begins with “Repent.”
Moreover, it is because it is the shed blood of Jesus the Messiah that washes away our sins and not water:

Unto Him who has washed us from our sins in His own blood (Revelation 1:5).

This was an internet craze at one time;
a supposed miracle rosary appearing
in the waters of infant baptism
—as if compounding two false doctrines helps

But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin (1st John 1:7).

For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul (Leviticus 17:11).

Peter also said, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19) indicating that sins are blotted out by repentance and conversion and not by baptism.
We also learn, “To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins” (Acts 10:43).
John wrote, “He that believes in the Son has everlasting life, and he that does not believe in the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides in him” (John 3:36).

Again, belief is the deciding factor. If baptism is necessary for salvation why did Paul say,

I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest anyone should say that I baptized in my own name.
Yes I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other” (1st Corinthians 1:14-16)

Contextually, Paul was afraid that they might accuse him of baptizing in his own name. Yet, is he thanking God that he did not bestow this saving sacrament upon these people, is he thanking God that he did not offer them salvation?

“He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16).
Notice it does not state, “He who does not believe and is not baptized.” The verse clearly states that belief is the line drawn between saved and lost.

In John 3:3, 5 “Jesus answered and said to him [Nicodemus], ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God…unless one is born of water and the Spirit.”
Jesus’ words, “born of water,” are interpreted by Roman Catholicism to mean baptism. Yet “born of water” is sandwiched between two verses which are speaking of natural child birth (see John 3:4-6).
First Nicodemus says, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born?”
Then Jesus states, “that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
Therefore, in its proper context “born of water” can mean being born of flesh, natural childbirth and born of the Spirit is just that, being born again.

Moreover, Jesus told Nicodemus, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). He does not say, “unless one is born again and baptized.”

That is what one would conclude from the immediate context. However, the greater context makes the text even clearer. Jesus was addressing “a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus” who was “a ruler of the Jews.” After affirming the necessity of being born of water Jesus asks Nicodemus, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?” He is calling upon his knowledge as a ruler of the Jews who is supposed to know his Tanakh—Old Testament.

Note Ezekiel 36:25,

Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all you idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will be careful to observe my ordinances or my commandments.

Or note Jeremiah 2:13,

For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.

And again in Jeremiah 17:13,

O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake You shall be ashamed.
Those who depart from Me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.

This theme carries over into the New Testament, such as in 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

Also, later in the Gospel of John itself in 7:38,

He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

Thus, being “born again…born of water and the Spirit” seems to mean being sprinkled with God’s cleansing fountain of living waters which are God Himself who regenerates and renews us via the Holy Spirit working through His word.

After hearing the gospel and accepting it the Ethiopian eunuch asked Philip, “See, here is water. What hinders me to be baptized?” Philip replies, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” The Ethiopian answers, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God” (Acts 8:36-37).

There are no magic tricks in Christianity. The person being baptized must believe the gospel first (for some examples of the fact that the scripture teaches that first a person believes the Gospel and are then baptized please see, Acts 2:41, 8:12-13, 9:18, 19:5).
When whole households are baptized they are not saved vicariously through the faith of one member of the family, “No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him—the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough—that he should live on forever and not see decay” (Psalm 49:7). Instead we find that the whole household accepts the gospel first.

The jailer asked Paul and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” they reply, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household. Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house” (Acts 16:31).

“Then Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized” (Acts 18:8).
This verse is a simple and beautiful explanation of the process and the verse which clearly elucidates the entire concept of baptism:

1) hearing

2) believing

3) baptized

One must be able to hear (indicative of exercising the ability to access information), believe (making a conscious decision) and only then be baptized (willingly go through the process).

Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon surnamed Peter who will tell you words by which you and all your household will be saved (Acts 11:13-14).

Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord (Acts 22:16).

We are born again by believing the Gospel; this is the only requirement for salvation. I love the translation of Matthew 3:7 in David H. Stern’s, The Complete Jewish Bible2:

But when Yochanan [John the Baptist] saw many of the P′rushim [Pharisees] and Tz′dukim [Saducees] coming to be immersed by him, he said to them,
“You snakes! Who warned you to escape the coming punishment? If you have really turned from your sins to God, produce fruit that will prove it!”

Even within John’s baptism we see the same framework as the baptism into Christ. John wants to see evidence that a person has been converted in their hearts by an outward sign that their lives have changed before he would baptize.

Did Abraham, the first Jew ever, gain salvation by performing a ritual such as circumcision, animal sacrifice or baptism? No, he believed God and it was accredited to him as righteousness. He did sacrifice and circumcise but that was later, after his salvation.
Likewise in the case of baptism, we find that one must believe God, therefore being counted as righteous (blessed with salvation) then we perform a ritual.
So as it was in the beginning so shall it be in the end, that salvation comes by trusting in God (see Genesis 15:6; Galatians 3:6).

Can a work such as baptism ever save a person?

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9 also see Titus 3:5, John 3:36)

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 (Titus 3:5).

An excellent question is: What if a person is on their way to be baptized (or any “saving” sacrament, for that matter) and they get in a car wreck and die? Are they damned because they did not arrive at the particular location where the sacrament was to take place?

Well, the Roman Catholic Church has placed a band-aid, a psychological and theological fix, upon this problem by claiming that if you desired baptism but die before being baptized then that was a baptism of desire and still counts.
But what about a baby that dies before it was baptized. Well, if that baby would sought baptism when it was old enough (or would have been baptized and spoken for by proxies) then it counts.
What if one is a soldier fighting for God’s cause but dies in battle without having been baptized? Well, that was a baptism of blood and still counts.
But what about someone did not know that baptism was required? Well, if they would have been baptized if they would have known what baptism was required then that still counts.
And on it goes.

God does not offer a type of salvation wherein one must travel to a specific location and be attended to by specific people in order to obtain (see Sacred Sites). Salvation is available right now right where you are.
The Samaritan woman asked Jesus:

“Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”
Jesus said, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, because salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such to worship him” (John 4:20-24).

Is baptism a means to salvation? No. But what about 1st Peter 3:21 which states, “There is also an antitype which now saves us, baptism”? Well, that is not 1st Peter 3:21, that is 1st Peter 3:21a.
1st Peter 3:21 reads, “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.” Thus, contextually, baptism is not getting wet, as is done to a baby, but it is a conscious action, “the answer of a good conscience toward God,” which a baby cannot do.

Thus, is baptism a means to salvation and a sacrament to be imposed upon someone?
No, not according to the Holy Word of God.
No, not according to Jesus Christ.
No, not according to the apostles.

1. 1. The Bruce Publishing Company, Milwakee, 1964, pp. 19, 21
2. 2. Clarksville, Maryland: Jewish New Testament Publication, Inc., 1998