The Role of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Baptism - Essay Example

The Role of the Holy Spirit in Sacrament of Baptism Baptism, which means to immerse, was presided by purification washings in the Greco-Roman world which, though done in pagan rituals, had many striking similarities to the Christian Baptism as known and practiced today (Thomas, 2008). Just as purity is a major reason for baptism today, it was also sought by the Romans through immersing in water, and it was a way to keep the gods happy so that bad things would not happen to the people who practiced it. New-born Christians, who included Gentile converts, needed to separate their view of baptism from the pagan view existing at that Greco-Roman time. The general use of purification in the pagan manner of worship means cleansing before entering the temple, after engaging in warfare, before handling of idols which they considered sacred, and to put oneself in a spiritual position. Christian baptism basically is for the purpose of cleansing the person so that they may receive the Spirit of God (Thomas, 2008). Washing which was done by immersion in some pagan religions was the first step in the ceremony of initiation and it was concluded with a meal (Edward, 1994). This seems to resemble the cleansing done before the Eucharist or communion service, and even though the two are not presided by an immersion, the purposes of the cleansing seem to resemble each other. There was also a myth surrounding the idea of immersing that the god Thetis immersed people completely to make them invulnerable holding them only at the heel but having all other parts of the body immersed. John13:9 narrates about John asking Jesus not to only wash his feet, but also his whole body. John the Baptist baptized Jesus at Aenon where there was much water which implies that it was an immersion whereby the whole body needed to be covered by the water. In the beginning of all of the four Gospels, the phrase “baptize with the Spirit” is found eight times and John the Baptist promises that the one coming after him was to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire. The symbolic meaning of fire was judgment, since Mathew3:12 and Luke 3:17 narrate, “His winnowing fork is in His hand, He will clear His threshing floor and gather His wheat into His granary, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire”. Fire and judgment were associated, for example, by prophets as they preached, as shown in Amos7:4 and Malachi 3:2 (Killian & Montague, 1994). Other prophets, like Jeremiah and Isaiah, also mention fire and judgment in their prophesies, denoting God’s judgment. Commentators then argue that the Holy Spirit mentioned by John during his ministry of baptizing in the Jordan was the Spirit of repentance and preparation so as to receive the Messiah and escape the fire of God’s judgment, and also to be prepared for ministry, when one underwent the ritual with true repentance. The baptism of Jesus in the river Jordan, the subsequent descent of the Holy Spirit, and the confirmation by God that He was God’s beloved son are the same steps today that a Christian follows, being purified or being initiated, being empowered by being filled by the holy Spirit to perform ministry in the Kingdom of God as a son in the Kingdom (Edward, 1994). Jesus also calls His suffering and death on the cross baptism, as found in Mark 10:38 -39. The reason for this use of the term “baptism” is because the suffering is looked upon as a bath into which Jesus was to be immersed. The view is that the death of Jesus was God’s way of dealing with mankind’s sin; a judgment gives more reason where the passion of Christ is referred to as a baptism (Killian & Montague, 1994). This inclusion of this aspect in St Marks Gospel also demonstrates that the Holy Spirit’s baptism of believers is not only for ministry empowerment to heal and cast out demons, but also to enable them to have the Grace to offer their lives as a ransom for many, due to the fact that Jesus is their role model and that he stated they were to drink the same cup He drank. The inclusion of this aspect in Mark’s Gospel seems to alert mostly the converts of the early Church which was to face the threat of being martyred due to Christian beliefs and, thus, they were to understand that together with the Spirit’s empowerment for ministry, they were also supposed to draw power from Him so as to be faithful unto death for their cause, or that it was an anointing for martyrdom. In the life of the disciple after the resurrection of Jesus, the initiation entails the participating in His baptism in the Holy Spirit due to the fact that they are empowered to continue the charismatic ministry of Jesus Christ (Killian & Montague, 1994). Though the baptism is unto suffering with each follower carrying a cross as Jesus said, according to Mark 8:34, it also vests power unto the Christian to follow Jesus. In the Roman Catholic Faith, Baptism is the gift of new life in the Spirit, the way to join ecclesia or the body of believers and the source of the Grace that emanates from the Trinity, through which the rite of initiation is accomplished (Everett, 2009). In the Reverend Father Camelot’s work called “The Spirituality of Baptism”, he wrote that baptism is the symbol and the expectation of all that which constitutes the spiritual life and that in life’s journey, the Christian is expected to enhance and bring into the fore what has been received at baptism, the entry into the realm of the Spiritual life. As one reads through the rituals of the Catholic Church’s baptism, they show us the pattern of the believer’s new life in Christ which includes the renunciation of the devil and his works, the confessions of belonging to Christ, the baptism into Christ’s death and rising up with Him. The seal of the Spirit which is done through the process of Chrismation is done to usher the person being baptized into the loyal priesthood or the body of believers. Chrismation with the Seal of the Spirit must not be separated from baptism because both are integral parts of one another with the Spirit expected to give power to the believer to experience and be able to achieve the new life in Christ (Everett, 2009). The Holy Spirit is a very integral part in the Sacrament of baptism because it is the Holy Spirit who enables the Sacrament to become effective as a sign. Catholics have always held the view that Sacraments, including baptism, owe their efficacy to the Holy Spirit because He must include His dynamism, fire and breathe since He is the finger of God who sanctifies and brings into completion (Killian & Montague, 1994). In the rite of baptism, the power of the Spirit is invoked by the celebrant to bless the water, where he prays to God and the Son that they may send the Holy Spirit upon the water of baptism so that it may acquire the power to cleanse from sin to usher the believer into the new birth. In the rite of baptism too, the celebrant baptizes the believer in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit cannot be separated from the Sacrament of baptism since baptism, being a physical attribute, is made complete spiritually by the unction of the Holy Spirit. Baptism as understood today shows forth Christ’s sole ownership of the Christian soul, which forms the foundation of the Christian as a person, and joins the Christian to the other members of the Church or the body of Christ (Everett, 2009). Through baptism, Christ claims the members of His body as His own since they become one in Him. The historical, cultural and liturgical differences that are hindrances to all Christians becoming one body are supposed to be wiped away by the unity that is brought about by the common baptism. References Edward, Y., 1994. The Awe-Inspering Rites of Initiation; Baptismal Homilies Of The Fourth Century, Liturgical Press, Collegeville. Everett, F., 2009. Baptism in the Early Church: History, Theology, and Liturgy in the First Five Centuries, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids. Killian, M. & Montague, G. T., 1994. Christian Initiation and Baptism in the Holy Spirit, Liturgical Press, Collegeville. Klein, G. L. & Wolfe, R. A., 1998. Pastoral Foundations of the Sacraments: A Catholic Perspective, Paulist Press, New Jersey. Thomas, B. F., 2008. Baptism Today: Practice, Ecumenical Implications, Liturgical Press, Collegeville. Yves, C., 1983. I believe in the Holy Spirit, Volume 111 Seabury Press, New York. Read More