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Religion

2005-10-01 14:59:00

Is baptism required to enter heaven?

: Does a person have to be baptized in order to enter heaven? Abraham and Isaac and Jacob were not baptized, yet Scripture affirms that they are in heaven.   Did the Old Testament have a different type of Baptism than we have?

ANSWER:  The Lord Jesus himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation: "I say to you that no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is reborn of water and the Spirit" (John 3:5). Jesus also commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them: "Go throughout the whole world and preach the Gospel to all mankind. Whoever believes and is baptized, will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned" (Mark 16:15-16). Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed, and who have the possibility of asking for this Sacrament. The Church takes very seriously this injunction of her Lord, and endeavors to provide that all who can be baptized are "reborn of water and the Spirit." God has tied salvation to Baptism, but He Himself is not bound by His Sacraments. This truth affords hope of salvation for good persons not formally baptized.The Church has always been convinced that those who suffer death for the sake of the faith or of morality (authentic martyrs), without having received Baptism, are baptized by their death in union with Christ. This "Baptism of blood," assumes the desire for Baptism, and achieves the effects of Baptism. Likewise, those persons who are preparing for Baptism but die before receiving the Sacrament: are considered to have received "Baptism of desire," through their explicit desire to receive it, and are repentant for their sins.   These alternate forms of Baptism assure those persons the salvation that they were not able to receive through "Baptism by water."Also, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "Every person, who is ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of his Church, but seeks the truth and does the Will of God insofar as he/she understands it, can be saved.   It may be supposed that such persons would have desired baptism explicitly, if they had known its necessity."The Gospels report that St. John the Baptist was performing a kind of baptism, when he recognized Jesus as "the Lamb of God," a term associated with the Messiah.   John's baptism was a sign for  repentance of sins, and an invitation to conversion of one's life.   This kind of baptism seems to have had occasional usage among the Jews of the Old Testament and the Qumran community.   It was not considered necessary for salvation until Jesus gave it that new meaning, which involves a re-birth and incorporation into the Body of Christ, his Church.God gave the people of the Old Testament another sign for salvation, namely Circumcision.  Thus Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and their descendants, male and female, underwent Circumcision. Jesus, as the Son of God and Messiah, replaced this sign of Circumcision with that of Baptism, giving to Baptism the power to take away sins, and to enable the baptized person to identify with Him.  And so those, who were circumcised in accordance with the Old Testament, and really lived the meaning of Circumcision, i.e. they cut themselves off from a sinful way of life, are in heaven.   After Jesus' death and resurrection, Circumcision became irrelevant to salvation. The Catechism continues: "As regards children who have died without Baptism, the Church entrusts them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them.   Indeed, the great mercy of God, who desires that all persons should be saved (cf 1 Tim 2:4), and Jesus' tenderness toward children, which caused him to say: 'Let the children come to me, do not hinder them' (Mk 10:14), allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children, who have died without Baptism.   All the more urgent is the Church's call not to prevent little children coming to Christ through the gift of Baptism."