Dear Friends in Christ,
My fundamentalist friend doesn’t believe one can be a Christian without being “born again.” How can I, a convert, explain to her what the Church teaches on this matter?
Blessings,
Deb
Dear Deb,
Greetings in Christ! The Catholic Church teaches that one must be “born again” to be a Christian, and adds that baptism is normative to this process. Simply accepting Jesus Christ as one’s Lord and Savior is not enough, contrary to what many Protestants believe.
For the faithful, God has provided the Sacrament of Baptism as the normal means by which to be saved. He is not limited to saving souls in this way, but He has not assured salvation in the absence of Baptism or through some other rebirth.
“Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God … unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God’” (Jn 3:3-5). The term “anew” or “again” in the Greek also means “from above” (Dom Bernard Orchard, ed., A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture, New York, Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1953, p. 985). This second birth is clearly the Sacrament of Baptism — which is both by water and from above, for it is from the Holy Spirit.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (Catechism) expands on this passage:
The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation [cf. Jn. 3:5]…. The Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see that all who can be baptized are ‘reborn of water and the Spirit.’ God has bound salvation to the Sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments (no. 1257).
Kimberly Hahn addresses this issue further in her chapter “Born Again: What the Bible Teaches About Baptism” in Catholic for a Reason: Scripture and the Mystery of the Family of God. God provides the grace for our salvation through Baptism. But He is the one who judges, and He is not bound to this sacrament as the only means to eternal life.
As stated in the Catechism, “every man who is ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of his Church, but seeks the truth can be saved. It may be supposed that such persons would have desired Baptism explicitly if they had known its necessity” (no. 1260).
For more information on the Church’s teaching on being “born again,” see our FAITH FACT on Justification. In addition, regarding the related doctrine of “once saved, always saved” that many Protestants hold, see our FAITH FACT Persevering to the End: The Biblical Reality of Mortal Sin.
If you have further questions on this or would like more information about Catholics United for the Faith, please contact us at 1-800-MY-FAITH (693-2484). Please keep us in your prayers as we endeavor to “support, defend, and advance the efforts of the teaching Church.”
United in the Faith,
Thomas J. Nash
Senior Information Specialist
Catholics United for the Faith
827 North Fourth Street
Steubenville, OH 43952
800-MY-FAITH (800-693-2484)
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