A mechanic gets his tires rotated by a Catholic who knows how to get born again the "Bible way."
Scenario:
It's nine o'clock on Saturday morning. You've taken your car to the local garage for new tires and an oil change. Bill, the manager, introduces himself with a broad smile and a firm handshake. As he finishes the paperwork and you're signing on the dotted line, you notice him eyeing the icon of Our Lady of Guadalupe on your T-shirt. Bill asks, "I gather from your T-shirt that you're Catholic. I was raised Catholic, and I respect Catholics, but . . ." (You were waiting for that infamous conjunction.) "I now have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, one that's not dependent on being a member of a church or denomination."
He smiles widely. You nod politely as he tells you how he accepted Jesus Christ as his "personal Lord and Savior," how he was "born again," and how he now attends a Bible teaching church "where the Word is really preached." As he hands you your receipt he pops the question: "Have you been born again?"
Your response:
As a matter of fact, I have. In fact, I was born again the Bible way. But before we cover that, I have to tell you that I find it odd that you left the Catholic Church in order to find a personal relationship with Jesus. I have a very personal relationship with Jesus through prayer as well as through the Church and the sacraments He instituted. He gave us these gifts so we can know with certainty the truth He came to preach and experience the divine life of grace in our lives. My relationship with Jesus couldn't be any more personal." Bill furrows his brow. "Huh. But I thought you were Catholic."
"Yes, I'm Catholic, and that's why I was born again the Bible way. I was born again when I was about three weeks old when I was baptized."
Bill frowns slightly and tilts his head to one side, but says nothing. "Jesus explains what it means to be born again in John 3:3-5," you explain. "In that text, He teaches us about the sacrament of baptism."
Bill shakes his head. "No. Baptism doesn't save you, brother. John 3:5 says we must be born again of water and the Spirit. The water means amniotic fluid, our first, natural birth through our physical mothers. But the second birth, being born again, is from the Holy Spirit. Jesus meant that we are born again accepting Him as our personal Lord and Savior."
Confident that you won't be able to answer him biblically, he awaits your response. Bill is busy running the garage and he can't spend a lot of time talking with you. You've got maybe ten minutes in which to share the basics of what the Bible says about baptism and salvation, so you'll have to work quickly.
Step One:
Go get your Bible from the back seat of your car and ask Bill to show you where in John 3 Jesus mentions "accepting Him as your personal Lord and Savior." He wont be able to because the passage doesn't say anything like that. Explain that he's reading something into a text that is simply not there.
"The Bible way of getting born again," you explain, "is by being baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Anything else is unbiblical." Now ask him to look at the context of chapters one through three of the Gospel of John.
First, Christ Himself is baptized (John 1:31-34; cf. Matt. 3:16). When He is baptized, the heavens are opened and the Holy Spirit descends upon Him in the form of a dove. Obviously, Jesus didn't need to be baptized. In fact, St. John the Baptist exclaimed that he needed to be baptized by Christ (cf. Matt. 3:14). The Lord was baptized to show us the way of salvation (cf. Luke 1:77), the way the heavens are opened to us, and the way Holy Spirit descends upon us.
Second, He performs His first miracle in John 2:1-11 by transforming water into wine. Notice, that He used water from "six stone jars . . . for the Jewish rites of purification." According to the Septuagint (Greek) canon of the Old Testament, these ritual purification waters were called baptismoi, in essence, the Old Testaments "baptismal" waters (cf. Numbers 19:9-19). The Old Testament rites and sacrifices were only "a shadow of the good things to come" (Heb. 10:1). They could never take away sins. Scripture scholars point out that the number six was often used to denote imperfection. Christ transformed the Old Testament water of "ritual washings" into wine, a symbol of New Covenant perfection. (cf. Joel 4:18, Matt. 9:17).
Third, in John 3:22, immediately after Christ's "born again" discourse to Nicodemus, what does He do? He and His disciples go out into the countryside and begin to baptize. Also, in John 4:1-2, His disciples alone are seen baptizing. The Lord most likely baptized His disciples (though this can't be proven, only inferred from the text), and then they went out and baptized the multitudes.
Let's recap the progression of events in the Gospel of John: Christ is baptized, He elevates and sanctifies the waters of baptism, He gives the "how to be born again" discourse, He baptizes the disciples and commissions them to go out and baptize. Clearly, in view of the context of these passages, Christ's words in John 3 mean that baptism is the way one is born again.
Saying that the "water" spoken of in John 3:5 is amniotic fluid goes way beyond stretching the context of this passage. John 3:5 ("No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit") is not describing two events, but one. For example, the text doesn't imply something like: "No one can enter the kingdom of God without being first born of water and then born again of spirit." He is speaking of the event of water baptism, the effects of which were depicted for us in His own baptism: He went down into the water, the Holy Spirit descended on Him, the voice of the Father was heard saying, "This is My beloved Son, with Whom I am well pleased." This is what happens at the sacrament of baptism. We are made right with God, justified, and put into a son/Father relationship.
Step Two:
Ask Bill to show you where the Bible mentions that being born again happens as a result of saying the "Sinner's Prayer" and accepting Christ as one's personal Lord and Savior. He will probably quote Romans 10:9-10: "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified; and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved . . . For anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Rom. 10:9-10, 13).
Bill looks at you steadily. "The Bible doesn't explicitly say we're born again by accepting Jesus, but it does say wer'e saved by professing faith in Him."
"I understand what you're driving at," you say, "and I agree with you that its necessary to believe in and profess Christ in order to be saved. But, this still doesn't do away with the role of baptism. Let me explain the Catholic teaching on this."
Over the next few minutes, you explain that the initial grace of justification, in the case of adult converts and children above the age of reason, begins with the gift of faith which is entirely unmerited (cf. Eph. 2:8-9). We must then cooperate with this grace (Rom. 11:22), which has been radically augmented and perfected in the sacrament of baptism. A man does not merit anything in this process, but once he is born again the Bible way, by water and spirit in the sacrament of baptism, he can merit rewards from God (cf. Matt. 25; Gal. 4:4-6, 5:1-6, 6:7-8; Rom. 2:6-10).
Next, explain that confessing Christ is an essential part of the process of justification. But baptism is the point at which one receives the initial grace of union with Christ in a perfected sense. The difference is similar to a child's physical birth and development. He is only born once, but thereafter he must grow physically or die. Regarding Romans 10:9, where it says the one who believes "will be saved," point out that the Greek word "sozo," which means "to save," is used to describe many things necessary for salvation. Here are two examples: The one who "believes and is baptized will be saved" (Mark 16:16); and the one who "endures to the end shall be saved" (Matt. 10:22, 24:13). Similarly, in Romans 10:10 St. Paul says that confession of Christ is made "unto salvation" (KJV). The Greek phrase used here, "eis soterian," means "unto salvation" and is used in the context of St. Peter's admonishing his (born again Christian) audience to "long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation" (1 Peter 2:2). Similarly, we're told that we must also repent of serious sins: "For godly sorrow produces a repentance that leads to salvation . . . " (2 Cor. 7:10). The fact that we must repent, be baptized, grow, confess Christ and endure until the end in order to be saved indicates that salvation is a process, not merely a once for all event. St. Paul is speaking of the initial part of this process in Romans 10:9-13.
Bill responds, quoting from his King James Bible, "What about the part of Romans 10:10 that says, With the heart man believes unto righteousness? You believe and are justified before God. Isn't that being born again?" "Not exactly. Notice that the text you read doesn't say what you said. This belief is much more than just professing faith in Christ one time. In fact, right after St. Paul describes new life in Christ in Romans 6:1-10, he then warns us not to fall back into sin. In verse 16 he declares: Do you not know that if you yield yourselves to any one as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin which leads to death, or of obedience which leads to righteousness? The Greek phrase used here, hupakoes eis dikaiosunev, means obedience unto righteousness or obedience unto justification."
"Our obedience to Christ (after baptism) leads us unto justification as much as our faith in Christ does. Belief and confession are part of the process of salvation, and we must persevere in both" (cf. Matt. 10:22-33; Luke 9:23; Acts 13:43; Col. 1:22-23; 2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 2:10).
Next explain that the Bible says that one is incorporated into the Body of Christ through baptism, not by saying the "sinner's prayer." Romans 6:3-4 says, "Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were indeed buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life." Galatians 3:27 says, "For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ" (cf. Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, 22:16; 1 Cor. 12:12; Col. 2:11-13; Eph. 4:5).
Step Three:
Bill thinks for a second. "I think you're confusing spiritual baptism with water baptism. Water baptism can't save you. 1 Corinthians 12:12 says that it is the Spirit that baptizes us into Christ, not some man."
"Yes, I agree," you begin. "The Holy Spirit does incorporate us into Christ, just as the Holy Spirit convince[s] the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment (John 16:8). But don't forget that the Holy Spirit also uses human instruments to convey the message. For example, St. Paul said, How shall they hear without a preacher? (Rom. 10:14). The same is true for baptism. It is an action of grace performed by the Holy Spirit in conjunction with the human action of the one who baptizes."
"In Acts 2:38 St. Peter exclaimed, Repent, 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 Spirit. In Acts 22:16, Ananias declared to Saul, who had already professed faith in Christ as Lord in verse 10, Why delay? Get up and be baptized and your sins washed away, calling on His name. 1 Peter 3:20-21 says a few persons, eight in all, were saved through water. This prefigured baptism which saves you now. It is not a removal of dirt from the body but an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The passage is clear: Baptism now saves you. You can tell that Bill is shaken by this. He's not as assertive and confident as he was just a short time ago. He says, "But Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For by grace (not by baptism) you have been saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast."
"Exactly," you respond. "That is the description of the initial grace of salvation that we know comes through baptism." Just then, a mechanic brings your car keys to Bill. As you walk together toward the car, you can almost see the wheels turning in his mind. Clearly, he's reflecting on your answers to his questions.
You decide to take the extra step. "You know, I've got an extra copy of an apologetics booklet here in my car that Id like to leave with you. It goes into greater depth on the sacrament of baptism and what the Bible says about it. It contains many more Bible verses and even has quotes from the early Church Fathers that show what the early Christians believed about baptismal regeneration. Would you be willing to read it? Maybe we could get together and discuss this issue again sometime."
A moment's pause. "Why not," Bill says. "I've enjoyed our conversation, even though I don't agree with everything you said. One things for sure, though. I see I need to study this subject more carefully. Well have to continue this discussion."
"Yes, Id like that," you smile as you shake hands. "See you in about 3,000 miles."
Tim Staples can be reached at Catholic Answers
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