VII. The Grace of Baptism

The different effects of Baptism are signified by the perceptible elements of the sacramental rite. Immersion in water symbolizes not only death and purification, but also regeneration and renewal. Thus the two principal effects are purification from sins and new birth in the Holy Spirit.1

By Baptism all sins are forgiven, original sin and all personal sins, as well as all punishment for sin.2 In those who have been reborn nothing remains that would impede their entry into the Kingdom of God, neither Adam’s sin, nor personal sin, nor the consequences of sin, the gravest of which is separation from God.

Yet certain temporal consequences of sin remain in the baptized, such as suffering, illness, death, and such frailties inherent in life as weaknesses of character, and so on, as well as an inclination to sin that Tradition calls concupiscence, or metaphorically, “the tinder for sin” (fomes peccati); since concupiscence “is left for us to wrestle with, it cannot harm those who do not consent but manfully resist it by the grace of Jesus Christ.”3 Indeed, “an athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.”4

Baptism not only purifies from all sins, but also makes the neophyte “a new creature”, an adopted son of God, who has become a “partaker of the divine nature”5, member of Christ and coheir with him,6 and a temple of the Holy Spirit.7

The Most Holy Trinity gives the baptized sanctifying grace, the grace of justification:

• Enabling them to believe in God, to hope in him, and to love him through the theological virtues;
• Giving them the power to live and act under the prompting of the Holy Spirit through the gifts of the Holy Spirit;
• Allowing them to grow in goodness through the moral virtues.

Thus the whole organism of the Christian’s supernatural life has its roots in Baptism.

Baptism makes us members of the Body of Christ: “Therefore … we are members one of another.”8 Baptism incorporates us into the Church. From the baptismal fonts is born the one People of God of the New Covenant, which transcends all the natural or human limits of nations, cultures, races, and sexes: “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.”9

The baptized have become “living stones” to be “built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood.”10 By Baptism they share in the priesthood of Christ, in his prophetic and royal mission. They are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that [they] may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called [them] out of darkness into his marvelous light.”11 Baptism gives a share in the common priesthood of all believers.

Having become a member of the Church, the person baptized belongs no longer to himself, but to him who died and rose for us.12 From now on, he is called to be subject to others, to serve them in the communion of the Church, and to “obey and submit” to the Church’s leaders,13 holding them in respect and affection.14 Just as Baptism is the source of responsibilities and duties, the baptized person also enjoys rights within the Church: to receive the sacraments, to be nourished with the Word of God and to be sustained by the other spiritual helps of the Church.15

“Reborn as sons of God, [the baptized] must profess before men the faith they have received from God through the Church” and participate in the apostolic and missionary activity of the People of God.16

Baptism constitutes the foundation of communion among all Christians, including those who are not yet in full communion with the Catholic Church: “For men who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are put in some, though imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church. Justified by faith in Baptism, [they] are incorporated into Christ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers by the children of the Catholic Church.”17 “Baptism therefore constitutes the sacramental bond of unity existing among all who through it are reborn.”18

Incorporated into Christ by Baptism, the person baptized is configured to Christ. Baptism seals the Christian with the indelible spiritual mark (character) of his belonging to Christ. No sin can erase this mark, even if sin prevents Baptism from bearing the fruits of salvation.19 Given once for all, Baptism cannot be repeated.

Incorporated into the Church by Baptism, the faithful have received the sacramental character that consecrates them for Christian religious worship.20 The baptismal seal enables and commits Christians to serve God by a vital participation in the holy liturgy of the Church and to exercise their baptismal priesthood by the witness of holy lives and practical charity.21

The Holy Spirit has marked us with the seal of the Lord (“Dominicus character”) “for the day of redemption.”22 “Baptism indeed is the seal of eternal life.”23 The faithful Christian who has “kept the seal” until the end, remaining faithful to the demands of his Baptism, will be able to depart this life “marked with the sign of faith”24, with his baptismal faith, in expectation of the blessed vision of God—the consummation of faith—and in the hope of resurrection.