baptism Archives - Understand the Bible

Baptism pt 2 – baptising infants (Heidelberg 27)

Posted on 1st February 20211st February 2021 by Phill Sacre

We continue thinking about baptism in this session (following on from the previous session) and there are two important questions: (1) does baptism just work in and of itself, and (2) should we baptise infants?

The question of baptising infants is something which churches do not agree on today. At the time of the Reformation (when the Heidelberg Catechism was written), it was the practice of Reformed churches such as the Church of England to retain this practice. In this session we’ll take a brief overview of why the Reformers believed this was right. I do not wish to be divisive! But it can be helpful to look at other perspectives and remember that Christians may disagree on certain things without it being an issue of critical importance.

There are three questions in this session:

Q72: Does this outward washing with water itself wash away sin?
Q73: Why then does the Holy Spirit call baptism the washing of regeneration and the washing away of sin?
Q74: Should infants, too, be baptised?

Want more?

If you enjoy this, you can do the whole series right here on the website, or on the app (see links on the right hand side of the page). Alternatively, I am uploading them regularly to YouTube and Facebook. All sessions on YouTube are available on this playlist.

What is baptism? (Heidelberg 26)

Posted on 25th January 2021 by Phill Sacre

In this session we start looking at baptism – what baptism represents and how it links in with the gospel. Baptism is one of the sacraments, which we started looking at last time. In that session we started to think about how the sacraments have been given to help us understand the gospel. This is exactly what baptism is about.

There are three questions in this session:

Q69: How does baptism signify and seal to you that the one sacrifice of Christ on the cross benefits you?
Q70: What does it mean to be washed with Christ’s blood and Spirit?
Q71: Where has Christ promised that he will wash us with his blood and Spirit as surely as we are washed with the water of baptism?

This last question gets to the heart of a sacrament: it reminds us that the spiritual cleansing from sin offered in Christ is as real as taking a bath or shower! Jesus cleanses us truly on the inside, as surely as water cleanses us on the outside.

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What are Sacraments? (Heidelberg 25)

Posted on 18th January 2021 by Phill Sacre

What are the sacraments and why are they important for Christians? In this session we start to look at the sacraments and how God uses them to help us to understand the gospel.

There are four questions in this session:

Q65 – Since faith alone makes us share in Christ and all his benefits, where does this faith come from? (In other words, is even faith itself something which is to our own credit?)
Q66 – What are the sacraments?
Q67 – Are both the Word and the sacraments then intended to focus our faith on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross as the only ground of our salvation?
Q68 – How many sacraments has Christ instituted in the new covenant?

This last question is one where particularly Roman Catholics and protestants will disagree. Protestant churches believe there are only two sacraments. It’s no surprise that the Heidelberg Catechism, being a Reformed / protestant catechism, takes this line.

The sacraments were one of the key battle grounds in the middle ages between Catholic and protestant theology, and it’s important to understand what they are and why they’re important. I hope that the Heidelberg Catechism in looking at the sacraments warms your heart and enlivens your faith as you think through these things.