The Prayer Book: XI

Stages of Life: Living & Dying among the Saints

In the Pastoral Offices of the Book of Common Prayer, we learn to live this life as a Christian life. Our life is lived in the world, but it is a life set apart from the world; a life of faith and sacraments. The stages of life are celebrated within the context of the faith. We find ourselves living and dying among the saints, experiencing the stages of life in communion with the whole people of God. From the celebration of birth to the funeral at death, we find the way in which the Church, together as one people, approaches the stages of our lives in light of Christ.
First, we are led into an affirmation of the faith and full reception into the church at our Confirmation. In confirmation, we renounce evil; we confess faith in the one true God: Father Son, and Holy Spirit; we affirm our resolve to follow the apostolic teaching and live a Christ-like life.
Secondly, in the liturgy for a marriage we enter another stage of the Christian life, where we learn the mystery of the union between a husband and a wife, its significance as a reflection of Christ and His Church, and the indissoluble nature of the consecrated covenant as set forth and sealed by God.
Thirdly, the Prayer Book offers us a recognition of the stage of life in which we thank God for the blessing of new life. This calls to mind the fact that God is the Author of Life and the God of the Living, who has revealed himself as a giver of life both in birth and in baptism. This means that the life that is lived in Christ must be "pro-life"; it must honor life as a precious gift of God, and must cherish those lives with which God has entrusted us.
The fourth stage of life for which the Prayer Book provides direction is actually a continual stage throughout our lives, in which we need forgiveness and reconciliation to God. As sinners, the Prayer Book offers a liturgy for us to experience the grace of God through confession and reconciliation. Confessing our sins to God and to the priest whom God has called into his service, we receive a physical manifestation of the grace of Christ's forgiveness in a way that we cannot attain by personal and private confession. By confessing to the priest, we receive assurance from one who represents the Church, who has been invested with the authority to bind and loose (Matt. 18:18), to forgive or retain sins (John 20:23). We receive the audible assurance of the forgiveness of our sins, and the pronounced blessing and priestly affirmation of a renewed state of grace. Through the priest, we hear the words of Christ: “Your faith has saved you; go in peace” (Luke 7:50).
The Fifth stage which the Prayer Book sets apart for the Church to work among its people is the time of suffering and illness. Through this we are reminded that Christ came not only telling the Good News, but healing the sick and raising the dead; that he sent the Apostles not only to preach, but to drive out demons and heal the sick. We recognize in our time of need that we have a Lord who offers healing and peace. We are also confronted with our call as disciples to extend that healing to others through works of mercy among the sick and dying.
Finally, we learn through the Prayer Book that the Christian life remains a Christian life even in death. In the Rite of Burial, we find an affirmation of faith in the resurrection of the dead and of Christ as the Victor over death. We recall that the faithful who die, died long ago in baptism, and it was at that time that we recieved the new life in which they have now entered. We recall that our trust is in Christ, and that we belong to him, and will rise with him. So then, we do not mourn as others mourn, as those who have no hope in the resurrection (1 Thess. 4:13); rather, we know that "if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s" (Romans 14:8).
All of this teaches us that the Christian life must be lived as a Sacramental life in every stage; that in every aspect of our lives, our life has been set apart as Holy, for we are the hagios of God; that in a very real way our life is a Catholic life, connected through the work of the Church to all the people of God, saints past and present. A life that is lived among the saints, that is Sacramental, Holy, and Catholic - that is a Life lived in Christ.

The Prayer Book: X

The Holy Eucharist

"Holy and gracious Father: In your infinite love you made us for yourself, and, when we had fallen into sin and become subject to evil and death, you, in your mercy, sent Jesus Christ, your only and eternal Son, to share our human nature, to live and die as one of us, to reconcile us to you, the God and Father of all...
...He stretched out his arms upon the cross, and offered himself, in obedience to your will, a perfect sacrifice for the whole world. On the night he was handed over to suffering and death, our Lord Jesus Christ took bread; and when he had given thanks to you, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me." After supper he took the cup of wine; and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and said, "Drink this, all of you: This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me...
...Therefore we proclaim the mystery of faith:

Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again...

...We celebrate the memorial of our redemption, O Father, in this sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. Recalling his death, resurrection, and ascension, we offer you these gifts...
...Sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of your Son, the holy food and drink of new and unending life in him..." (The 1979 Book of Common Prayer; The Holy Eucharist: Rite II).

The Eucharist: Body & Blood

The Book of Common Prayer affirms the teaching of Christ, the Apostles, the Fathers and the early Reformers that the Eucharist is the true Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, in which he is truly present. This was the consistent teaching of the church throughout the world for the first 1500 years+ of the church.

The Eucharist - The Real Presence; The True Body and Blood of Jesus Christ

"Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf" (1 Corinthians 10:16-17).

The Lord’s Supper

The Lord’s Supper is the ongoing Sacrament that marks the life of a disciple of Jesus Christ. This is the event in which we remember the sacrifice of our Lord and seek our most intimate fellowship with him. This event is referred to as the Lord’s Supper in scripture (1 Cor. 11:20). It is also commonly called Communion, from the Greek word koinonia, which can be translated as “fellowship,” “communion,” or “sharing” (Verbrugge, V.D., 2000, p. 310-311). In the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches it is typically called the Eucharist, which comes from the Greek eucharisteō – meaning blessing, or thanksgiving (esp. in reference to before a meal) – as in the “cup of thanksgiving” (1 Cor. 10:16) (Verbrugge, V.D., 2000, p. 220-221).

The Foreshadowing of the Lord’s Supper

There are hints to the Eucharist throughout the Old Testament, glimpses of the gift to come. We know that Melchizedek, "priest of God Most high" brought out bread and wine when he blessed Abram (Gen. 14:18-20). We know that in the Tabernacle bread that was "most holy" was to be set out before the Lord "Sabbath after Sabbath" as a "covenant", and that it belonged to the priests (Leviticus 24:5-9). Most importantly, however, is the foreshadowing of the Eucharist in the Passover event (Ex. 12). Christ is our Passover Lamb (1 Cor. 5:7), who was slain for us (Rev. 5:11-12; Isa. 53:10; Heb. 10:10; 1 Cor. 15:3) as the Passover Lamb was slain (Ex. 12:6). As the Lamb must be unblemished, so Christ was not blemished by sin (1 Pet. 1:18-19; Heb. 9:14; Rom. 5:17-19; 2 Cor. 5:21). The blood of the lamb caused God's judgment to pass over the Israelites (Ex. 12:7, 13), as the blood of Christ causes God's judgment to pass over us (Rom. 3:23-25; 1 John 1:7; Matt. 26:28). As the Passover was regularly celebrated in remembrance, so the Eucharist is celebrated in remembrance (Ex. 12:14; Luke 22:19l 1 Cor. 11:26). Finally, only the people of God are to partake of both the Passover Lamb (Ex. 12:43) and the Eucharist (1 Cor. 11:28-29). The worship of Christ in the Eucharist is the fulfillment of the worship of God by the people of Israel.

The Institution of the Lord’s Supper

The institution of the Eucharist was of supreme importance to the faith of the early church. The event of the Last Supper is recounted in all four Gospels, three of which recount the words of Christ as he declared the bread to be his body and the wine to be his blood, given for the sins of the world, and commanded that the Eucharist be celebrated in remembrance of him (Matt. 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20). These words of institution are also recorded (1 Cor. 11:23-26) in one of the earliest letters of the New Testament, Saint Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians (c. A.D. 55). What Paul "had received", he passed on to the Corinthians, who celebrated the Eucharist just as he had taught them.

The Observance of the Lord’s Supper

Observed in the Early Church…

We know that the Lord's Supper was observed regularly in the early church from the time of the resurrection. On the Lord's Day, the church came together to celebrate the Eucharist and to glorify Christ. The early church expressed its worship chiefly in "the breaking of bread" (Acts 2:42; Acts 2:46; Acts 20:7; Acts 20:11; Acts 27:35).

Observed as Spiritually important…

We know that the Lord's Supper was spiritually significant in the early church and regarded as having very real implications on how one should live; Paul says: "Do I mean then that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he?" (1 Cor. 10:19-22). We know that to take the Eucharist unworthily can bring judgment from Christ: "Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup" (1 Cor. 11:27-28).

The Lord’s Supper as a Holy Meal / Spiritual Food

Is Eating and Drinking a Spiritual Act?

The scriptures present eating and drinking as a spiritual act, having a great importance in the context of a covenant instituted by God. Eating certainly had huge spiritual implications when Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil: "And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die" (Gen. 2:16-17). The offerings made by the Levitical priests and then partaken of were regarded as holy: Eat it as something most holy; every male shall eat it. You must regard it as holy" (Num. 18:10). Eating the Lord's Supper is presented as a holy act, and one which "proclaim[s] the Lord's death" and looks to his return (1 Cor. 11:26).

Supernatural Food

More than just being spiritually significant, Paul presents the Eucharist as supernatural food. "They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ" (1 Cor. 10:2-4).
Paul speaks in 1 Cor. 10:2 of the Israelites being baptized into Moses; he then, in verses 3-4, connects this with communion, saying that the Israelites ate “spiritual food” and drank “spiritual drink.” The word translated “spiritual” is pnĕumatikŏs, which can literally mean “supernatural.” After speaking of supernatural food and drink Paul says, “Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?” (1 Cor. 10:16). Clearly he viewed the cup of thanksgiving, or eucharist, as supernatural.

The Lord's Supper as a Revelation of Christ

It is in the Eucharist that Christ is revealed to us fully: "...he took bread, gave thanks, broke it...their eyes were opened and they recognized him" (Luke 24:30-31). On the day of the Resurrection of Christ, it was in the breaking of bread that he revealed himself to his disciples. While their "hearts were burning within" (Luke 24:32) as he spoke the word to them, it was in the breaking of the bread that he was revealed. For "they were kept from recognizing him" (Luke 24:16), but "Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread" (Luke 24:35). It was when Jesus "gave thanks", from which we get the term eucharist, the Greek for thanksgiving, that he was made known to them. In the same way, our hearts burn within us when we hear the Gospel message, but it is in the eucharist that Christ is revelaed fully to us.

The Lord’s Supper as Christ’s Body and Blood

The Eucharist is spoken of clearly throughout the New Testament as being the actual Body and Blood of Jesus Christ: "Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf" (1 Cor. 10:16-17). Jesus presented the bread and the wine not as symbols, but declared the "my body" and "my blood" (Matt. 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-26). However, this fact stands out most strikingly and most clearly in the Bread of Life Discourse (John 6). Almost posing a direct challenge to the abilities of Jesus, the Jews say, “Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat’” (John 6:31). We seen above that it was for the Jews that God went so far as to “rain bread from heaven for” (Ex. 16:4), and this had ever since been a reminder of God’s work among his people: “he rained down manna for the people to eat, he gave them the grain of heaven” (Psalm 78:24). Thus, this became a direct expectation of the Messiah, who would be like Moses (IVP Dictionary of Jesus & the Gospels, p. 444). This work of sending bread from heaven was to be an indicator of the Messiah: “and it will happen at that time that the treasury of manna will come down again from on high" (2 Baruch 29:8), and was a theme cited frequently in the writings at the time of Christ: “Instead of these things you gave your people food of angels, and without their toil you supplied them from heaven with bread ready to eat, providing every pleasure and suited to every taste” (Wisdom of Solomon 16:20). Christ himself even promised this to his church: “To everyone who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna” (Rev. 2:17). Interestingly, those in ancient Israel grumbled against God even when he provided them with manna, with “supernatural food” (1 Cor. 10:1-4, 10), and the Jews likewise grumbled against Jesus, who offered to give them bread from heaven: “At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?” (John 6:41-42).
Jesus then contrasts Himself and the bread which he offers, with the bread that was offered by Moses. He makes this point clearly when he says: “I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John 6:48-51).
The Jews, who had shortly before praised Jesus as the awaited Prophet, now turn on him, as he equates the bread from heaven with Himself, indeed with his flesh. “Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” (John 6:52). The only question that remains is: Who can accept this teaching?: "On hearing it, many of his disciples said, 'This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?'" (John 6:60). Jesus cries out to those who would hear and believe: “Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever” (John 6:57-59).

The Lord’s Supper as Imparting Life

As cited above, Jesus clearly presents the Eucharist as his flesh and his blood, which give us life: "But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world" (John 6:50-51). So, in order to “live forever” we must eat “this bread”, which Christ himself calls his flesh – the very same flesh that was given “for the life of the world” on the cross. It is this “living bread” that a “man may eat and not die.” How can we disconnect this statement from Christ then taking bread and declaring, “This is my body”? The Word tells us that baptism saves us (Mark 16:16; 1 Pet. 3:21, etc.). In the same way the gospel says that those who want to live forever will feed on the bread that is the flesh of Christ: Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink" (John 6:53-55). Jesus very clearly declares eating his flesh and drinking his blood as essential to eternal life. So, just as scripture speaks of baptism as essential to new life (Acts 2:38; Rom. 6:4-6; Col. 2:11-12; Titus 3:5, etc.) it also speaks here of eating Christ’s flesh and drinking His blood as essential to new life.

The Lord’s Supper as Communion into Christ

To abide in Christ, we must partake of the Eucharist: "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me." (John 6:56-57). Christ here equates eating his flesh and drinking his blood with remaining in him. So, he commands this feeding on him and says “do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). So, just as in baptism we are baptized into Christ (Rom. 6:3-4; Gal. 3:27, etc.), in the Eucharist we remain in Christ. This is not to separate faith from remaining in Christ and to diminish remaining in him to a physical act, but rather to uphold the view that remaining in him results in certain things – baptism, communion, spiritual fruit.

The Lord’s Supper as Communion into the Church

The Lord’s Supper, like baptism, has been observed since the foundation of the Church. Christ gave it, the early church celebrated it, and the Apostles instructed us on it. Therefore, it should be observed in every church that claims Christ as Lord.
The Didache (A book of instruction on the faith, A.D. 80-140): "But every Lord’s Day, gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having confessed your transgressions, so that your sacrifice may be pure" (Bercot, 1998, p. 405). Taking part in the Lord’s Supper is spoken of as being identified with the Body of Christ: "Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf" (1 Cor. 10:17). Just as “we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body” (1 Cor. 12:13), we also are in Communion with one body.

Sinning Against the Body

I find it interesting that Paul would refer to taking the Lord’s Supper unworthily as actually sinning against the body and blood of the Lord if in fact the bread and wine are not actually the body and blood of the Lord. Listen closely to the words of the apostle: "Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord." (1 Corinthians 11:27).

Recognizing the Body

"For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself" (1 Corinthians 11:29). It can, and will, be argued easily enough that in this statement Paul is simply referring back to examining ones self (which surely is part of his point), but I think this issue goes deeper – to the actual recognition of the body and blood of the Lord in the Eucharist. In light of this view it is fascinating to see Ignatius of Antioch referring in A.D. 107 to those who do not take communion because they do not recognize the Eucharist to be the flesh of Jesus Christ.

The Teachers of the Church

The Fathers Speak…

Ignatius of Antioch, A.D. 107
“Be careful, therefore, to employ one eucharist, for there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ and one cup for unity with his blood” (Ferguson, 1999, pg. 91)

“[The Docetists] avoid the eucharist and prayer because they do not confess the eucahrist to be the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ” (Ferguson, 1999, pg. 103)

“breaking the one bread, which is the medicine of immortality, the antidote in order that we should not die but live forever in Jesus Christ” (Ferguson, 1999, pg. 103)

Justin Martyr, c. A.D. 160
“In the same manner as our Savior Jesus Christ was made flesh through the word of God and had flesh and blood for our salvation, even so we are taught that the food for which thanks has been given through the prayer of the word that is from him and from which our flesh and blood are nourished according to the bodily processes is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh.” Justin Martyr (Ferguson, 1999, pg. 103-104)

Irenaeus, c. A.D. 180
“[The wine and bread] having received the Word of God, become the Eucharist, which is the body and blood of Christ” (Bercot, 1998, pg. 252)

“How can they be consistent with themselves when they say the bread for which they give thanks is the body of the Lord and the cup his blood, if they do not say he is the Son of the Creator of the world?...How can they say that the flesh that is nourished from the body of the Lord and from his flesh comes to corruption and does not partake of life? Let them either change their views or avoid offering bread and wine. But our view is in harmony with the eucharist, and the eucharist confirms our view. We offer to God his own things, proclaiming rightly the communion and unity of flesh and spirit. For as bread from the earth when it receives the invocation of God is no longer common bread but the eucharist, consisting of two things – one earthly and one heavenly – so also our bodies when they partake of the eucharist are no longer corruptible but have the hope of the resurrection to eternity.” (Ferguson, 1999, pg. 104)

“But if [the flesh] indeed does not obtain salvation, then neither did the Lord redeem us with his blood, nor is the cup of the Eucharist the communion of his blood, nor the bread which we break the communion of his body (Bercot, 1998, pg. 252)

Clement of Alexandria, c. A.D. 195
To drink the blood of Jesus is to become partaker of the Lord’s immortality (Bercot, 1998, pg. 252)

“and they who by faith partake of it are sanctified both body and soul” (Bennett, 2002, pg. 322).

Tertullian of Carthage, c. A.D. 204
“We feel pained, should any bread or wine, though our own, be cast upon the ground” – Ca. A.D. 204 (Bennett, 2002, pg. 322).

“The flesh feeds on the body and blood of Christ, that the soul likewise may fatten on its God” (Willis, 2002, p. 303)

“Jesus declared plainly enough what he meant by the bread when he called the bread his own body. He likewise, when mentioning the cup and making the new testament to be sealed ‘in his blood’, affirms the reality of his body” (Armstong & Engle, 2007, pg. 192)

Cyril of Jerusalem, c. A.D. 350
“The bread and wine of the eucharist before the holy invocation of the worshipful Trinity was simple bread and wine, but when the invocation is done, the bread becomes the body of Christ and wine the blood of Christ… For in the type of the bread is given to you the body, and in the type of the wine there is given to you the blood, in order that you may become by partaking of the body and blood of Christ the same body and blood with him. For even so we become bearers of Christ since his body and blood are distributed in our members… We beseech the loving God to send forth the Holy Spirit upon what is offered in order that he may make the bread the body of Christ and the wine the blood of Christ. For whatever the Holy Spirit touches he sanctifies and changes. (Ferguson, 1999, pg. 105)

Gregory of Nyssa, c. A.D. 381
“He disseminates himself through that flesh whose substance comes from bread and wine in everyone who believes in the economy of grace, blending Himself with the bodies of believes, as if by this union with what is immortal, a human being may too become a partaker in incorruption. He gives these things by the power of the benediction through which he transelements the natural quality of these visible things to that immortal thing (Ferguson, 1999, pg. 105).

Athanasius of Alexandria, c. 293-373
So long as the prayers of supplications and entreaties have not been made, there is only bread and wine. But after the great and wonderful prayers have been completed, then the bread is become the body, and the wine the blood, of our Lord Jesus Christ [Athanasius, Sermon to the Newly Baptized] [Shea, M.P. (1996). By What Authority?: An Evangelical Discovers Catholic Tradition. Hunington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor]

Augustine of Hippo, c. A.D. 400
“How was Christ carried in his own hands? Because when he commended his own Body and Blood, He took into his hands that which the faithful know; and in a manner carried himself, when he said, ‘This is My Body’” (Willis, 2002, p. 411).

"I promised you [new Christians], who have now been baptized, a sermon in which I would explain the sacrament of the Lord’s Table. . . . That bread which you see on the altar, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the body of Christ. That chalice, or rather, what is in that chalice, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the blood of Christ" (Sermons 227 [A.D. 411]) –obtained from www.catholic.com

The Reformers Speak…

Luther
“It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under the bread and wine, instituted by Christ himself for us Christians to eat and drink”… “In this sacrament Christ gives us his own true body and blood for the forgiveness of sins”… “God’s word clearly teaches that those who misuse the sacrament sin not against bread and wine but against Christ’s body and blood”…”By the power of his word, Christ gives his body and blood in, with, and under the consecrated bread and wine.” (Armstrong, 2007, pg. 162-163)

Calvin
“We confess that the Lord’s Supper, which is the second sacrament, is a witness of the union which we have with Christ, inasmuch as he not only died and rose again for us once, but also feeds and nourishes us truly with his flesh and blood, so that we may be one in him, and that our life may be in common.” The French Confession of Faith (Armstrong, 2007, pg. 166)...“Those who receive this promise by faith are actually made partakers of his flesh and blood” (Armstrong, 2007, pg. 185)

The Prayer Book: IX

Baptism: Water & Spirit

"...We thank you, Almighty God, for the gift of water. Over it the Holy Spirit moved in the beginning of creation. Through it you led the children of Israel out of their bondage in Egypt into the land of promise. In it your Son Jesus received the baptism of John and was anointed by the Holy Spirit as the Messiah, the Christ, to lead us, through his death and resurrection, from the bondage of sin into everlasting life...We thank you, Father, for the water of Baptism. In it we areburied with Christ in his death. By it we share in his resurrection. Through it we are reborn by the Holy Spirit. Therefore in joyful obedience to your Son, we bring into his fellowship those who come to him in faith, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (The 1979 Book of Common Prayer; Rite of Holy Baptism)."

Baptism & Salvation History

In the above prayer, taken from the liturgical rite for Holy Baptism in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, we see the connection of baptism to the great saving acts of God throughout the history of his people. We see the recognition of the life-giving action of the Holy Spirit upon the waters from the very beginning of creation (Gen. 1:2); we see the people of Israel saved by passing through the waters of the Red Sea (Ex. 14); we see Christ submitting to baptism, both as our example in all things (Heb. 2:17-18) and as the revelation of his anointing by the Spirit (Matt. 3:16-17). This connection of Baptism to the events of Salvation History (heilsgeschichte) is common in the New Testament. Paul sees baptism in the circumcision of the Israelites, as marking the people of God; and, just as circumcision removes flesh, baptism removes the sinful nature that Paul commonly refers to as the "flesh" [Greek "sarx"] (cf. Col. 2:11-12). He also connects baptism to the exodus: "For I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea" (1 Cor. 10:1-2). Peter connects baptism to the Ark of Noah, "in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 3:20-21). So, we see both Peter and Paul connecting the saving acts of God throughout history with Baptism. The Lord commanded that his disciples "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matt. 28:19); as a result, baptism has thus continued top be a central act in Salvation History, as God continues to save those who are baptized - baptized into new life, into Christ, and into the Church. For the entirety of Church history, there has been no other way in which one was placed into Christ or his Church. Thus, baptism is central, indeed necessary, to the salvation of God's people.

Baptism into New Life

First of all, baptism is a baptism into new life; it is in baptism that one receives salvation/regeneration. “In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead” (Col. 2:11-12). This circumcision done by Christ is the circumcision of the heart - the Old Testament tells of God’s plan to send his Spirit to his people, and of their need to receive a new heart, a circumcision of the heart rather than of the flesh (Deut. 10:16, Deut. 30:6, Is. 32:14-15, Is. 44:3, Jeremiah 4:4, Ezekiel 11:19-20, Ezekiel 18:31, Ezekiel 36:26-27, Joel 2:28-29, Zech. 12:10), this is the circumcision of new birth by the Spirit (Rom. 2:29), of which Paul says is “the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism” – it doesn’t get much more clear than that. Paul says of the love of Christ that “he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). The very words of Christ reveal this truth: Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit” (John 3:5). No one will see Christ without being born of water (baptism) and the Spirit (indwelling). Jesus said that “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16). Many argue here that it is only unbelief that condemns – very true, but they ignore that belief and baptism is said to save; for true belief will bring about baptism. From the very beginning the saving response to the gospel for those who believed the message has been to “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). In the same way, Ananias told Saul “And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name” (Acts 22:16). Peter tells us that baptism saves, showing us that the righteous of the earth were, and still are, preserved through water by the work of God (1 Peter 3:20-21, see above).

This teaching of scripture, that baptism brings forgiveness of sin and new life, was maintained by the Early Church Fathers. Irenaeus reminds us that, “the baptism instituted by the visible Jesus was for the remission of sins” (Bercot, 1998, p. 51). The same truth was taught by the early theologian Tertullian: “'Unless a man has been born again of water and spirit he will not enter into the kingdom of Heaven.' These words have tied faith to the necessity of baptism. Accordingly, all thereafter who became believers were baptized” (Bercot, 1998, p. 53). Cyril of Jerusalem compares baptisms purification of the flesh to the Spirit’s purification of the soul, saying, “Since man is of twofold nature, composed of body and soul, the purification also is twofold…the water cleanses the body, and the Spirit seals the soul” (Armstrong, 2007, p.196). Consistent teaching on the subject follows with St. Augustine: “This is the meaning of the great sacrament of Baptism, which is celebrated among us. All who attain to this grace die thereby to sin-as he himself is said to have died to sin because he died in the flesh, that is, ‘in the likeness of sin’: and they are thereby alive by being reborn in the baptismal font, just as he rose again from the sepulcher” (Augustine, 2006, p. 58). Martin Luther taught, in his Small Catechism, that baptism was made effectual by the promise of God: “Baptism is not simply plain water. Instead it is water enclosed in God’s command and connected with God’s Word…it brings about forgiveness of sins, redeems from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe it, as the words and promise of God declare” (Lull, 2005, p. 325). The clear teaching of the scriptures and the church regarding baptism is, and has always been, that baptism saves.

Baptism into Christ

When we are baptized, we are baptized into much more than water – we are baptized into the Lord Jesus Christ. We were dead in our sin (Rom. 6:23), but were made alive in Christ and placed into the life of Christ (Gal. 2:20), so that we should now live for him just as he died for us (2 Cor. 5:15). “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Rom. 6:3-4). See, through our death in baptism we die to our old self- that person is left behind, and we are raised up to live a new life in Christ, because he was raised to new life for our sake (Rom. 4:25). This is a mystery, but the baptized die to themselves, and the life they live is the life of the risen Christ. Simultaneously, we are an expression of his death and his new life: "We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body" (2 Cor. 4:10). So we, the baptized, are mystically "in" Christ in a way that we cannot fully understand but in a way that calls us to live out our lives as an expression of Jesus in the world: Christianus alter Christus ("the Christian is another Christ").

Baptism into the Body

When we are baptized we are baptized into Christ, and we are also baptized into his Body, the Church. “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink” (1 Cor. 12:13), and we, as a Body, must hold firmly to “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Eph. 4:5). For those of us who have been “baptized into Christ have clothed [ourselves] with Christ” (Galatians 3:27), and we are now “all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). Therefore, baptism calls the church to unity, and the baptized, who all share in the same Spirit, hope in the same Lord, and call upon the same Father, should never be comfortable with division among them. Baptism, then, is central to achieving unity in the church.

Baptism as Sacrament

To correctly understand Baptism, one must recognize baptism as a sacrament of God; basically, one must acknowledge that baptism into Christ is an event through which God acts, and that baptism is never solely an action of man but is always an action of God. Many wrongly assume that baptism occurs after regeneration/salvation. Baptism, however, is always connected in the scriptures with regeneration/salvation. The scripture does not teach regeneration/salvation apart from baptism, nor does it affirm that baptism is a result of regeneration/salvation. Rather, through baptism, God accomplishes regeneration/salvation. Therefore, by attributing baptism as an act of man (a "work"), many deny that it is in fact an act of God (a sacrament) and not an act of man at all. They have rationalized what God's Word calls a mystery and, therefore, they cannot understand it in the way that it is presented in scripture. You must acknowledge baptism as a sacramental act, in which God works - if you deny this, you can not accept baptism as effectual for either the infant or the adult, and therefore, it is irrelevant as to when it is accomplished - baptism must be more than obedience to be relevant. Baptism is not spoken of as "obedience", but it is clearly spoken of as "new life". Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit” (John 3:5). No one will see Christ without being born of water (baptism) and the Spirit (indwelling). Paul clearly connects baptism with being born again when he says “In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead” (Col. 2:11-12). Notice that we are not cleansed from our sinful acts, but from our sinful nature. We are born corrupt through the sin of Adam, and therefore must receive cleansing of our very nature through the promise of the Word of God given and accomplished in baptism. Baptism must be understood as an act of God that brings forgiveness of sins, not as an act of man that affirms that sins have been forgiven. Baptism must also be understood as the entrance into Christ - we must not only believe that Christ is the Son of God (demons believe that), we must be united with him in baptism. An infant, therefore, who is baptized, is united to Christ and receives the gift of the Holy Spirit and the purification of the sinful nature apart from a mere intellectual acknowledgment of Christ. When we are baptized, we are baptized into much more than water – again, we are baptized into the Lord Jesus Christ. We were dead in our sin (Rom. 6:23), but were made alive in Christ (John 11:25-26), therefore our life was removed from ourselves (Matt. 10:39) and placed into the life of Christ (Gal. 2:20), so that we should now live for him just as he died for us (2 Cor. 5:15). A word must be said here regarding the rejection of baptism as a sacrament, specifically the rejection of paedo (infant) baptism based on the appeal to "sola scriptura." Sola scriptura cannot be used to deny infant baptism for several reasons. First of all, infant baptism was being practiced in the church before the New Testament scriptures were completed. Secondly, infant baptism was a universal practice of the church before the circulation of the gospels or the Pauline epistles was universally practiced; therefore, the early church affirmed infant baptism before it affirmed the earliest versions of the developing canon. Third, infant baptism was solidified as apostolic tradition and practice centuries before the New Testament canon was solidified as the authoritative apostolic canon. Finally, Luther himself, the proponent of sola scriptura, continued infant baptism, affirmed its practice, and taught it in his churches and catechisms; he did not use sola scriptura in the way commonly used today - he intended it to mean that scripture contained all that is needed for salvation, not to disregard all that is not clearly commanded by scripture. The version of sola scriptura commonly appealed to in this regard is a perverted one - and based on this version of sola scriptura you cannot practice anything in the church - no guitars, no stained glass, no pews, etc. - only what is explicitly commanded - which by the way, adult baptism is never explicitly commanded as the only valid practice of baptism! Further, in the New Testament we do not see second generation Christians being born into the church, we only see adult baptism because we only see adult converts to the faith; there are not yet any children born into Christian families in the recorded conversions in Acts. There is never any prohibition on infant baptism in the New Testament, and we do see the baptism of entire families (Acts 16:15; Acts 16:33; 1 Cor. 1:16). So, in light of the lack of prohibition of infant baptism in the scriptures, the baptism of entire families, and the universal practice of the church from apostolic times, infant baptism must be accepted as a valid expression of this sacrament through which the action is accomplished by God and not by the minister or the baptismal candidate.
Baptism as a sacrament of God is clearly taught by the Anglican Church, as seen in article XVII of the Articles of Religion:
"Baptism is not only a sign of profession, and mark of difference, whereby Christian men are discerned from others that be not christened, but it is also a sign of Regeneration or New-Birth, whereby, as by an instrument, they that receive Baptism rightly are grafted into the Church; the promises of the forgiveness of sin, and of our adoption to be the sons of God by the Holy Ghost, are visibly signed and sealed; Faith is confirmed, and Grace increased by virtue of prayer unto God...The Baptism of young Children is in any wise to be retained in the Church, as most agreeable with the institution of Christ."