Recently, on an almost unreasonably beautiful November day, I baptized my daughter in the Chicago River. Certain elements of my extended family had been nagging me throughout my daughter 's first year on planet Earth to do so, despite my lack of a formal denomination, “In case anything happens.”
What they meant could not be clearer. They were afraid that if some terrible accident befell my daughter and she passed away, she would be consigned to hell or purgatory because of her lack of baptism.
Growing up and into my teens I had thought of baptism as a sort of insurance policy; babies are too young to accept Jesus as their savior, so baptism is a way to do it for them – just in case.
I no longer think of baptism this way, mostly because I refuse to accept the notion of a God who would damn babies to hell (or purgatory) because they never had the chance for an old man to sprinkle water over their head. Consequently I did not plan at first to even bother with baptizing my daughter.
But still, something about it nagged at me. One of the things we can be most sure of about Jesus is that he was baptized by John before the beginning of his own ministry. If it was good enough for Jesus, who am I to argue?
Of course, all the doctrine about hell and purgatory is post-Biblical, post-Jesus. What did baptism actually mean to Jesus, to John?
Mark (the earliest gospel) says, almost at the very beginning of his story, “John appeared baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” (Mark 1:4) Josephus, a 1st-century Roman-Jewish historian, also mentions John in his Antiquities, remarking that, “Herod slew [John], who was a good man, and commanded the Jews to exercise virtue, both as to right...
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...ommunicates through the High Priest. In the story, Jesus rebukes them and proceeds to heal the paralysis to prove his authority.
So Jesus 's forgiveness of sins and John 's baptism for the remission of sins are to be understood as assertions of the non-exclusivity of God 's forgiveness; in other words, of the universal accessibility of God. Understanding this, I had no problem baptizing my daughter.
Her godfather held her and I poured the water over her head, and I baptized her in the name of the Kingdom of God, not in Heaven, not in a Temple or church, but among the followers of Christ who walk the narrow path. I did it not for her, not for the sake of avoiding a hell that does not exist, but simply as an assertion that no man-made institution has a monopoly on access to God, and that whatever spiritual path my daughter chooses to follow will be her own decision.
The Gospel of John, the last of the four gospels in the Bible, is a radical departure from the simple style of the synoptic gospels. It is the only one that does not use parables as a way of showing how Jesus taught, and is the only account of several events, including the raising of Lazarus and Jesus turning water into wine. While essentially the gospel is written anonymously, many scholars believe that it was written by the apostle John sometime between the years 85 and 95 CE in Ephesus. The basic story is that of a testimonial of one of the Apostles and his version of Jesus' ministry. It begins by telling of the divine origins of the birth of Jesus, then goes on to prove that He is the Son of God because of the miracles he performs and finally describes Jesus' death and resurrection.
After seeing though the eyes of my pastor I’ve come to realize the importance of faith and committing to one’s beliefs. Returning to church after two massive losses has helped my mother in many ways and it has also taught me as a young man how small things that I could do would turn to have a big impact on someone’s life the same way my pastor impacted my life and the life of my siblings.
On one hand, baptism is a sacrament that any human must have because it is a lifelong process of salvation and it is necessary for eternal salvation. Since Adam’s sin, all human is born spiritually death; therefore a newborn in spirit is necessary, in order for humans to have “spiritual eyes open” It will keep the person closest to God, because “open eyes” helps to discriminate good from bad during the person journey in life. Baptism present two parts, an outward and sensible sign, and an inward and spiritual grace implied, but baptism is not sanctification by itself. Furthermore, baptism is the Church’s external affirmation and proclamation of prevenient grace; it is an initiation and incorporation into Christ Holy church. During baptism church as a whole play an active role; first, by welcoming the new member, then after baptism, the church provides the nurture that makes possible a comprehensive and lifelong process of growing in grace. On the other hand Communion celebration by using bread and wine is a remembrance of Jesus death, and resurrection and the waiting until He comes again. The way in which bread and wine is converting into Jesus’s body and blood is a mystery. When during celebration Jesus says “for you” it connotes expiating and sacrifice meaning to liberates “us” sinners. Participate in communion
The New Testament teaches about who Jesus is and what he did on the earth. John wrote the last of the four gospels which recount Jesus’ life and what is to come. The gospel of John is somewhat different from the other three gospels, in that it is more symbolic and less concrete. For example, John expresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb when Matthew, Mark, and Luke do not. This gospel is showing that Christianity is moving away from the long-practiced Jewish traditions. John’s gospel can be laid out into four parts: the prologue or the incarnate word, signs of the Messiah with teachings about life in him, the farewell teaching and the passion narrative, and the epilogue or the roles of Peter and of the disciple whom Jesus loved. The Gospel of John is arguably the most
After Bevel Summers says the river will take you to heaven or the holy land, Harry takes it literally and drowns after attempting to baptize himself. Although he committed suicide and died, his faith brought him to God as he really believed that heaven is where he was looking for, to accept Jesus Christ as his savior. I personally never experienced Baptism, but my when I read about people who are suffering from their religion and belief, devastating conclusions to their life, brought to do the good but ending in bad result is what I hate to hear. Warriors who fight to save people from ISIS or places where people are judged, stoned and sentenced to death for their belief in Christian faith is those who are saved by God and brought up to heaven just like Harry
The power of water, a meek and gracious force, as illustrated in the Bible is the source of life and fruitfulness. The prayer has different sections to articulate the overall purpose of baptism, beginning with gratitude and recognition of God’s omnipresence, the prayer then references from the Old Testament, as the church has seen in Noah’s ark a prefiguring of salvation by Baptism. As the water of baptism gives new life, the crossing of the Red Sea, the liberation of Israel from the slavery of Egypt, proclaims the liberation wrought by baptism. The final reference to the Old Testament is prefigured in the crossing of the Jordan River by which the people of God received the gift of the land promised to Abraham’s descendants, an image of eternal life. All the Old Covenants prefiguration’s find their fulfilment in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ begins his public life after being baptised by St. John the Baptist in the river of Jordan. After his resurrection Christ gives this mission to his apostles: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." To fulfil all righteousness, Jesus’ submissive baptism by John the Baptist, is a gesture of
... always preached to the Jews first (13:5), and turned to the gentiles only after his fellow Jews had rejected him. "And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister."
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptiz- ing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” ( Matt. 28:19-20 NIV ). The idea of sharing in the death of Christ connects remission of sins with baptism which the death of Christ effected. ( Act 2:38; 1 Pet. 3:21). Just as physical washing cleanses our bodies from filthiness, so also baptism symbolically cleanses our spirits through participation in the death of Christ. “For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink (I Cor. 12:13 NIV). In addition, baptism connects with spiritual birth along with the Spirit’s reception. Hence, participation in Christ’s resurrection indicates that the Holy Spirit is presently in our lives. Baptism is an indication of the relationship we have with Christ and wherever we find ourselves in the world, our deportment, attitude and disposition should be in alignment with our confession of faith. Jesus’ baptism should help us realize how much we are loved by God. Jesus died to pay a debt he did not owe to release from a debt we could not pay. Baptism is a two-fold operation because we are symbolically
After a 20 year hiatus in the stories and teachings of the Bible, Jesus reappears for his baptism. After experiencing life as a human and witnessing how man can be tempted to evil, Jesus converted to Christianity when John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the Jordan River. The purpose of the baptism was to repent ...
John was one of the first twelve disciples of Jesus and therefore an eye-witness (John 19:35); John brings out the spiritual significance as well as recording the practical aspects of Jesus' works and words. John lived to be older than any of the other writers. It is therefore likely that he was familiar with their accounts and wanted to supplement theirs with additional teaching and miracles by Jesus which had a bearing on the situation towards the end of the first century AD.
16:5; 1 Cor. 1:2) and should rightly reflect the purpose of the catholic Church. Jesus ordained the Church to perform the sacraments of baptism (Matt. 28:19) and the Lord’s Supper (Lk. 22:17-20). The sacraments are able to mediate grace to believers and thus provide spiritual benefits, however they are not salvific. Baptism is a ceremonial rite to entering the covenant community of the Church, which is extended to one upon joining the community. Therefore, it would be right and proper for a child, who is born to parents within the covenant community, to be baptized as an infant (Acts 16:15, 33; I Cor. 1:16). Baptism fundamentally signifies one’s union with Christ in his death, burial and resurrection (Rom. 6:3-7; Col. 2:11-12) and thus the cleansing of the believer’s sin (Ac. 22:16; I Pt. 3:21), and the inclusion of one into the Church (Jn. 3:5; Rom. 6:4). Baptism should be performed by immersion when feasible and appropriate as was the practice of the Church in the NT (Matt. 3:16; Acts 8:36-39). The Lord’s Supper is a sacred rite for all baptized Christians (Matt. 26:26-30), which signifies Christ’s death and celebrates the received benefits of Christians (I Cor. 11:23-26). The Lord’s Supper unites believers (I Cor. 10:17) pointing them forward to Christ’s second coming (I Cor. 11:26), and likewise provides them spiritual nourishment (I Cor. 11:27-29). The local church has at least two key offices: elders or bishops (πρεσβύτεροι, ἐπίσκοπος; Eph. 4:11; I Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9), and deacons (διάκονος; Acts 6:1-7; Phil. 1:1; I Tim. 3:8-13). These offices are to be appointed on the basis of his or her spiritual qualifications (I Tim. 3:1-13). Elders are men whose primary responsibility is spiritual care of the body by means of shepherding (Acts 20:28; I Pet. 5:2), leading and teaching by example (I Thess. 5:12; I Tim. 3:2; 5:17; I Pet. 5:3) and equipping (Eph. 4:11).
In the same way as before this helps relieve the guilt for anything they may have done. wrong in their past. A Believers baptism is the outward sign of their faith and they must continue that until they are called by God to Heaven. The. Infant and believers baptism are both important to many.
...ollowing in my sister's footsteps, I began learning from her experiences. We tread lightly around the subject of the religion these days. Thankfully, there are no wild debates at the dinner table on holidays. We respect one another's beliefs and agree to disagree about them. She often tells me, "You should come to my church!" when I call her seeking sisterly advice or needing a sympathetic ear. I have attended her church and admire how she's strengthened her parish and community. That's more inspirational to me than any Sunday sermon - as she is one who sincerely lives in the word, even when it's difficult for her.
The word Baptism derives from the "Greek word of baptein, which indicates the washing away of sins within the Christian religion" (Meslin 1). Baptism allows for ordinary individuals to take a break from the profane world and reconnect with God, or the sacred. The waters of baptism is often linked to development of the world. To practitioners of this faith, water is considered the first essential item to be made, that could sustain and give life to humans, plants, and more. Baptism often begins immediately after a child is born, although adults can participate in this practice. The attention is often focused on younger children because adults are concerned on saving them from the profane world from a young age. Parents/guardians are keen on building their new life and faith in order to obtain spiritual maturity as adults. Due to the complex process of baptism, it requires people to participate in a sacred place and time.
John's Gospel and Epistle, assuming that Christ came from God and went to God (John 13:3), emphasize his being sent by the Father on divine mission, expressing divine love (John 3:16; 1 John 4:9 - 10), a revelation of the unseen Father by one belonging "in the bosom of the Father" (John 1:18), a divine Word, present when God spoke at creation and now again conveying meaning and power to the world (John 1).