NECESSITY OF BAPTISM FOR SALVATION
Is baptism necessary for salvation? Some churches say, No; some say Yes. The Holy, Roman Catholic Church says baptism is necessary for salvation, even little newborn infants. Jesus Christ said, ‘’ Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. [4] Nicodemus saith to him: How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb, and be born again? [5] Jesus answered: Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.’’ St. John 3:3-5. Our Lord is speaking of baptism here, water and the Holy Ghost. And says we shall not enter into the kingdom of God unless we receive it. When a person is baptized in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; ‘’Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Here Our Lord gives the Apostles the form of baptism’’ . St. Matthew, 28:19; the devil is driven out of the soul, and the Holy Ghost comes in, and we become sons and daughters of God. This we see when St. John the Baptist baptizes Jesus, (although Jesus was without sin, He did not need baptism but was setting the example for us, to show its necessity); the Holy Ghost comes down, and the Father declares from heaven that this is His Son. “And Jesus being baptized, forthwith came out of the water: and lo, the heavens were opened to him: and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him. [17] And behold a voice from heaven, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” St. Matt. 3:16,17. Notice also, the Father now declares him to be his Son, and the heavens were opened to him, which indicates that heaven is opened to us in baptism as well. God is giving us a figure in Jesus’ baptism, what happens to us in our baptism.
Now why is baptism necessary? Because it gives us new life in Christ. It generates new life in us. For example, a generator on a tractor generates the battery while running, giving it life, so when one is finished with their work, the battery will still have that life in it when the tractor needs to start again. So a generator gives life, and baptism generates life in the soul. That’s why it is called, ‘’the laver of regeneration. ” He saved us, by the laver of regeneration, and renovation of the Holy Ghost,” Titus 3:5. Here St. Paul is speaking of baptism, the water, (the laver); and the Holy Ghost.
Another important reason baptism is necessary is because it removes our sins, Original sin and actual committed sins. For a little baby it just removes the Original sin which we inherit from Adam, and all die. ‘’Wherefore as by one man sin entered into this world, and by sin death; and so death passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned.’’ Romans 5:12. Yes, death even passes upon little children, and that’s why some little children die early. And since the soul is contaminated by Original sin, even in an infant, he must be baptized as soon as possible, because “nothing defiled shall enter heaven.” Apoc. (Rev.) 21:27. St. Marie d”Oignies always rejoiced when an infant was baptized. Whether she was present at the ceremony, or in the general vicinity when the Sacrament of baptism was being administered in some church, she would have a vision of an unclean spirit coming out of the baby’s soul, and then witness a legion of holy angels descending to marvel at the purity of the reborn infant. * Sad story about St. Marie’s mother at the end.
If it is not baptized, and dies, the Original sin is still there, and it can never go to heaven. It does not go to hell, but the Church teaches, it goes to Limbo. Why do we believe the Church? Because the truth of the faith rests upon the Church, not the Bible, like a building that is held up by the ground (foundation) and the pillars (the supports), “the Church of the living God, is the pillar and ground of the truth. “ 1 Timothy 3:15. Also, because Christ has commanded we hear the Church, and threatens us with damnation if we don’t. “If he will not hear the church, let him be to thee as the heathen, and the publican.’’ St. Matthew 18:17. These people cannot be saved unless they repent, and Jesus puts us in a class with them if we refuse to hear the Church. Now all those who have left the Church and all those who refuse to come in, they refuse to hear the Church. They think they know better than Christ’s Church. I would not want to be in their shoes on the day of judgement, if they do not repent.
And what did St. Peter say, the head of the Apostles, who was told by Our Lord to confirm the brethren, once he was converted. St. Luke 22:31-32? ‘’And the Lord said: Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren.’’ St. Peter said that ‘’baptism was a like a form of Noah and the Ark, wherein eight souls were saved, by water,’’ he says. ‘’In which also coming he preached to those spirits that were in prison: Which had been some time incredulous, when they waited for the patience of God in the days of Noe, when the ark was a building: wherein a few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water.’’ 1 St. Peter 3:19. Then, St. Peter is very explicit that baptism saves us, ‘’Whereunto baptism being of the like form, now saveth you also,’’ verse 21. The ark is a figure of the Church, and the water is a figure of baptism. Notice they both go together, the Ark and the water, and the people that were saved were in the Ark, and the early Fathers of the Church taught that the Ark is a figure of the Church, and if we want to be saved, we must be in Christ’s Church. So which Church is his, with so many claimants to the true Church? It is the Roman Catholic, the only Christian Church that dates back to Christ. No other denomination that claims the name of Christian goes back two thousand years. Only the Roman Catholic. You can verify that by looking up the list of all the popes which go back to St. Peter. The true Church must exist in all centuries because Christ said, “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” St. Matthew 16:18. As a matter of fact, what does the Bible itself say about those who were saved? It says they were added to the Church. “The Lord added daily to the Church such as should be saved.” Acts 2:47. “Such as should be saved, were added to the Church.’’
What else did Jesus say about salvation and baptism? He said, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be condemned.” St Mark 16:16. So important is baptism that after Philip preached to the man of Ethiopia, a eunuch, and they came upon water, in the desert, Acts *;26, and he asked Philip to baptize him right there on the spot. Verses 26 through 39. Our Lord insisted on baptism, and what was the first thing Ananias told Saul to do when he came into his presence? To rise up and be baptized for the remission of your sins. ‘’And now why tarriest thou? Rise up, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, invoking his name.” [Acts of Apostles 22:16]. Baptism washes away our sins. And what did St. Peter instruct the people to do when they asked him? “They had compunction in their heart, and said to Peter, and to the rest of the apostles: What shall we do, men and brethren? [38] But Peter said to them: Do penance, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins: and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. [39] For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all that are far off.” And not only the adults but also the children, “the promise is to you, and to your children whomsoever the Lord our God shall call.” Acts chapter 2 36_41. “They therefore that received his word, were baptized; and there were added in that day about three thousand souls.”
What else does baptism do? It makes us members of his body, the church. “Christ is head over all the church, which is his body,” Eph. 1:22-23. As St. Paul tells the Corinthians, “We are baptized into his body,” 1 Cor. 12:13. As St. Paul had said, ‘’ We were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest:” [Ephesians 2:3]. So as you can see, baptism is necessary for salvation, even for infants. It drives the devil out of the soul; it cleanses us of our sins, and it makes us members of Christ’s body the church. Why would God raise a child from the dead to be baptized? And Father Pfeiffer answers, “To show the necessity of baptism.” Do we have any examples of extraordinary circumstances that bear out this truth? Let us see.
St. Colette: To show the necessity of baptism, let us look at a story about St. Colette and a stillborn baby who was restored to life through her prayers in order to be baptized: One stillborn baby was born to a wife of a man named Prucet, at Besancon. The husband did not want to believe the baby was dead. He seized the lifeless body and ran to the church, where he insisted it be baptized. But the priest had to tell him it was undoubtedly dead. The father returned home sadly with his tiny, silent burden. Perhaps, to distract his mind, or to give him some hope in his grief, friends and neighbors encouraged him to take the dead infant to the Poor Clare Monastery and ask the prayers of St. Colette. The father grasped at this hope and went to the monastery, where Colette , when informed of the story, came to the enclosure grate by the parlor.
Prucet fell on his knees and held out the dead infant in mute appeal. The abbess also fell on her knees and began to pray. The friends who had followed Prucet also crowded into the parlor. At the sight of both the father and the abbess on their knees, and of the dead infant, they all fell silent. Then they too sank to their knees and the men doffed their caps in reverence. After a while Colette arose, stepped back from the grate, took off her veil and had it passed out to the father. She said to him, “Wrap the child up in it, and take it back to the church to be baptized.” Prucet obeyed with the simplicity of a child. When he and his friends arrived at the church, Prucet again asked the priest to baptize the baby. The poor priest thought Prucet had lost his senses in his grief. But he was shaken when the familiar cry of an infant came out from under the black veil of the abbess. Prucet told the priest what had happened. The priest, fearing that life might only be temporary, decided not to delay the child’s baptism for even a moment. “What name?” he asked. “Colette!” Collette Prucet grew into sturdy girlhood, entered the convent at Besancon, and later made her solemn vows. She related this story to Sister Perrine herself. St. Colette is credited of raising a nun to life who died without absolution. Also raising a child who had been buried, four grandees, and a number of stillborn infants, as noted above.
St. Frances of Rome, and her sister-in-law Vannoza, with whom she went about doing good deeds, were walking one day in the old Rioue dei Monti district of Rome. Hearing sobs and cries from a mean-looking dwelling nearby, they entered it. They found a mother weeping over the dead body of her child. The child had died a few hours earlier, without having been baptized. Frances reproved the mother for delaying the child’s baptism. Then she took the corpse of the baby in her arms, prayed, and gave it back to its mother alive.
St. Joan of Arc, in early March, 1430, arrived at the village of Lagny-sur-Marn, in the direction of Paris. Here she learned of a woman who was greatly distressed because she had given birth to a stillborn son. Some villagers approached Joan and asked for her intercession. The mother prayed only that the child might be brought to life long enough to be baptized and so gain heaven. Joan went to the church where the dead child had been laid at the feet of the statue of the Blessed Mother. Young girls of the village were praying by the small corpse. So Joan then added her own prayers. The baby came to life and yawned three times. Baptism was hurriedly administered. Then the baby boy died again, and his beautiful spotless soul went straight to heaven. * These stories are taken from RAISED FROM THE DEAD by Fr. Albert J. Hebert, S. M., Chapter 12. They show the absolute necessity for baptism in order to go to heaven.
*The sad story of St. Marie’s mother: She had a vision one day of a black-clothed presence near her who identified herself as Marie’s mother. “Mama!” Marie exclaimed, “How are you faring?” “Bad!,” her mother answered. “Your prayers can no longer help me, for I am perpetually imprisoned within the gates of hell.” Marie’s cry of horror was heard by the priest. “Oh Mama! What was the cause of your damnation?” Her mother replied, “I was brought up and I lived on what had been acquired by usury and unjust commerce. Although I was aware of the evil, I took no account to give back what had been taken, nor did I pay any attention to God’s commandments. Having joined the crooked ways of the world, I considered it unthinkable to depart from the treacherous ways of my ancestors. I was not sorry for any of these things, and thus, enjoying a worldly life, I died to find that all had been for nothing, and thus I lost the life of the world to come.” Her mother then disappeared.
This reminds me of banks and credit card institutions, loan companies and so forth , who charge exorbitant interest rates. Also thieves, who rob other people in so many ways, and then die in sin. Sr. Josepha Menendez, a nun in France in the 1920’s, had visions of souls in hell, thieves cursing their hands, priests cursing their hands which had consecrated, their absolutions to sinners who would not reform and so forth, not correcting immodesty in the churches; worldly people cramming themselves with food, (gluttony), all ripe for hell because they refused to pray and do God’s will. She saw parents in hell who failed to teach, instruct and warn their children about worldly ways; who allowed their children to run around immodest, curse, and keep bad company. And many other things she was shown about the damned in hell, and their terrible sufferings in the lake of fire. People in hell who wrote bad books, and others who were led to damnation for reading them. “Evil communications corrupt good manners.’’ 1 Cor. 15:33. Drunkards in hell, people who caroused at bars, blaspheming and profaning God’s Holy Name, heretics who believed in Jesus Christ but denied certain of His teachings, such as His real body and blood in Holy Communion, and many other things. So many souls lost, falling into hell like snowflakes, “The number of fools is infinite,” Eccles. 1:15; “Laid in hell like sheep,” the Scipture says, Psalm 48:15, drbo.org.
St. Leonard of Port Maurice relates in his Sermon of the Little Number Who Are Saved, had this to say. “When St. Bernard died, a holy anchorite who had also died at the same time, appeared to the Bishop of Langres and told him that 33,000 had died at the same time. He and St. Bernard went straight to Heaven, 3 others went to purgatory, and all the rest were damned. “Many are called, few are chosen.” Another case of a doctor of the University of Paris, who had died, revealed to the Bishop of that city that he was damned. He was asked if there was any knowledge in hell. He answered that he knew he was damned, that his sentence was irrevocable and that he was condemned for the pleasures of the world and of the body. He asked the holy bishop if there were any men left on earth, and when asked why, he said, “Because so many souls have fallen into hell, I do not think there could be anyone left on earth.”“Oh, that they would be wise, and would provide for their latter end.” Deut. 32:29. “In all thy works remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin.” Ecclus. 7:40.
Devotion to Mary — A Great Sign of Predestination – MotherofGodlibrary.org
SOULS IN HELL. WHAT THE SAINTS AND SCRIPTURES SAY ABOUT IT. – MotherofGodlibrary.org
If you have found this article helpful, please consider sharing it with others. St. James says if we help another save their soul, we will save our own. “My brethren, if any of you err from the truth, and one convert him: He must know that he who causeth a sinner to be converted from the error of his way, shall save his soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins.” 5:19-20.