Baptism serves as an
initiation of purification for most Christian churches. In earlier times, it was
considered an essential act in order to receive salvation, and it is a
sacrament which
conveys divine grace, blessing, or sanctity upon
the believer who participates in it, or a tangible symbol which represents an intangible
reality.
It is often symbolic
of cleansing of sins, or even of original sin, a reason that infant baptism, or
christening, is so popular. It is also symbolic of dying
and a rebirth with Christ, and baptism is also tied to the acts of both burial and
resurrection. Some churches acknowledge that baptism represents a supernatural
transformation symbolic of Biblical events such as that of Noah and the great flood, and
Moses' parting of the Red Sea that allowed the passage of the
Israelites.
According to Martin
Luther,
To put it most simply, the power, effect,
benefit, fruit, and purpose of Baptism is to save. No one is baptized in order to become
a prince, but as the words say, to "be saved". To be saved, we know, is nothing else
than to be delivered from sin, death, and the devil and to enter into the kingdom of
Christ and live with him forever.
No comments:
Post a Comment