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Jesus, Scripture, and the Catholic Church teach that water baptism is necessary for our salvation. It washes away our sins, infuses our souls with grace, and puts us in communion with God and His Church. Still, many wonder why we need water for baptism. Why can’t faith in Jesus be enough? Accordingly, this article will lay out the reasons for water baptism. Let us begin with the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Catechism on Baptism
Catechism paragraph 1213 states:
Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: “Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word.”
Paragraph 1218 adds, “Since the beginning of the world, water, so humble and wonderful a creature, has been the source of life and fruitfulness.” Thus, baptismal water both represents and communicates the life and fruitfulness of grace to the one who receives it.
For more from the Catechism on baptism, please read paragraphs 1213 to 1284. Now, let us turn to Scripture.
Scripture on Baptism
In the Old Testament, we find a rather specific prophecy about a future water baptism that cleanses and gives a new heart and spirit. Ezekiel 36:24-27 states:
For I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the countries, and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances.
In the New Testament, we see Jesus’s unambiguous choice of words to describe the necessity of water baptism. In John 3, Jesus says to Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Then, Nicodemus asks Jesus a very specific question: “How can a man be born when he is old? Read this question carefully. The words, “when he is old,” implies the word “anew,” since one who is old was already born. So, Nicodemus is asking how one can be born anew.
Jesus replies, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” So, one is born anew (or again) when on he is reborn by both water and Spirit. Some Protestant sects insist that the word water in this passage refers to our first birth from the womb. However, the wording of both Jesus’s statements and Nicodemus’s questions prove otherwise.
Although Jesus’s words are clear enough, St. Peter gives us a detailed explanation for the necessity and effects of water baptism. In 1 Peter 3:18-21, Peter writes about Jesus going to the spirits in prison (click here for more) “who formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is eight persons, were saved through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
First, Peter mentions the fact that water saved Noah and his family, and then he says that baptism corresponds to this saving through water. Second, Peter clarifies that baptism is not about removing dirt from the body, a clarification that would have been completely irrelevant unless water were involved. Finally, he tells us what baptism does—it appeals to God for a clear conscience. Thus, the very act of water baptism, by the power of the Holy Spirit, is both an appeal to God for a clear conscience and saving action.
In Ephesians 5:25-27, St. Paul writes:
Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of the water with the word, that He might present the Church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
This passage tells us that Jesus fulfilled the prophecy from Ezekiel 36 above. Those heavenly drops of water land on each member of the Church during baptism, and they cleanse everyone who enters the Church. They give us a new heart and a new spirit in Christ.
Although some Protestants point to passages that mention baptism by the Holy Spirit, none of those verses reject the use of water. Also, some will say that faith in Jesus Christ is all that we need for justification and salvation. This is true but not in the way they mean it. Rather, we must have faith in all that Jesus taught, did, and continues to do. Therefore, to deny water baptism is to deny one of Jesus’s core teachings and, therefore, Jesus Himself. As Catholics, we believe it all without excuse and without twisting of Scripture.
To read what the early Church said about the necessity of water baptism, please click here.
Reason and Baptism
We are matter-spirit composites. Jesus did not come to redeem our souls alone. He came to redeem our entire persons. So, the use of water (matter) to effect the works of the Spirit is a fitting way to cleanse the entire person from sin and save him from eternal death. In other words, Jesus cleanses both body and soul of sin with both water and Spirit. God makes both body and soul as one, and He justifies both as one. To deny the efficacy of water in baptism is to deny baptism itself, thereby leaving one in his or her sins.
Thank God we are in the Church His Son established and which the Holy Spirit guides into all truths! Thank God for this Church’s role in clarifying and transmitting the true faith of Jesus Christ! Finally, thank God for the Church’s 2000-year mission of going to all nations and baptizing disciples in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Author’s Note: Here are further resources:
- Please read this article on why baptism is not a human work.
- For an article on baptism by pouring, please click here.
- Click here for an article on infant baptism.
- Regarding the reasons for auricular confession, please click here.
Photo by Julia Michelle on Unsplash
