The Gospel of the Forty Days: Baptism, Part 6       Following our recent articles on Christ’s command to baptize, we thought it appropriate to address the following statement published each week on this “Church” page [of the Mojave Desert News ]:  “Some will vainly trust baptism as sacramental. 1 Corinthians 1:17 deals with that false teaching very clearly and succinctly, ‘For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel ....”       Now there are several problems with this statement. But first, note that Christianity since the Apostles and through the present (Catholic, Orthodox) has always understood baptism to be a sacrament (something God does), as have the main denominations created by the 16th Century Protestant Reformation (Lutheran, Reformed, Presbyterian, Anglican, and later, Methodist). Those who reject the concept of sacrament are the multiple Baptist groups (begun in the 17th Century) and some newer 20th and 21st Century...

The Gospel of the Forty Days: Baptism, Part 5       We have been considering Christ’s command to the Apostles to baptize, and last week began to look at the effect baptism as making one a child of God. This is so important that we might look a little more at what it means.       St. Paul says, “For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ, have put on Christ” (Gal 3:25-26). Baptism incorporates us into Christ and makes us children of God. This is God’s intention: God the Father predestined believers “for adoption to Himself  as sons through Jesus Christ” (Eph 1:5).       It is the Holy Spirit, given in baptism, which makes one a son or daughter of God (Ro 8:14) for the Holy Spirit is a “Spirit of sonship” or “Spirit of adoption as sons” (Ro 8:15), and thus also heir of God and fellow-heir with Christ (Ro 8:17; Eph 1:11). As children of God and heirs, if we...