"In Baptism we are born again, the sanctifying grace that God intended for us to have is restored to us."
The Baptism of Christ, C.1860 by Grigori Grigorevich Gagarin, public domain
Death and Rebirth
In 1995 neurologist Oliver Sacks published a book titled “An Anthropologist on Mars.” In the book he discusses a man named Virgil. Virgil was born blind but at the age of 50, he underwent a surgery that restored his vision. But doctor and patient soon learned that having the ability to see is not the same thing as being able to see.
We see with our brain as much as our eyes. It is our brain that interprets the images received by the eye. At first Virgil could make out colors and movement. But his brain had no context in which to interpret these images. It was unable to make sense out of the images and left Virgil confused. Over time he learned to identify some objects but he still behaved as a blind man.
Dr. Sacks observed that, “One must die as a blind person to be born again as a seeing person. It is the interim, the limbo... that is so terrible.”
Through Baptism we are restored to grace, but sometimes the interim between death and life, is terrible.
A Misleading Analogy
John the Baptist preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus had no sin and yet He insisted that John baptize Him.
Jesus does this for many reasons but perhaps first and foremost He does it to serve as an example to all of us. As followers of Christ we are called to follow His example and be baptized.
There is an analogy attributed to Martin Luther that is probably not true, but nevertheless it shows how he understood the workings of grace.
According to this analogy, Luther described people as piles of dung, and grace serves as a covering, like snow on a dung heap. It may look white and pure on the outside, but it is still a pile of dung.
But that is not what the Church teaches. First we are not piles of dung we are sons and daughters of God. Second, grace does not just cover us, it transforms us, and Baptism, is all about grace.
The Miracle
Baptism changes us. We are born into a state of existence that is less than what God intended for us. Mankind was created with sanctifying grace that allows us to share in the divine life of God. But through the disobedience of our first parents, we lost this grace. It fell from us like an all-encompassing robe and we saw that we were naked.
Without this grace we could no longer live in God's presence. We were exiled from the Garden and have been working our way back to Him ever since.
As a consequence of the disobedience of our first parents, we are born as a fallen people. We have inherited the loss of grace as one might inherit a disease. We are born physically alive but without that sanctifying grace, we are born spiritually dead. Something else is needed.
Jesus told the pharisee Nicodemus that in order to see the Kingdom of God we must be born again and that rebirth must be of water and Spirit. That is Baptism. In Baptism we are born again; the sanctifying grace that God intended for us to have is restored to us. The old, sinful person is drowned in the waters of the baptismal font and a new creature, unstained by sin emerges.
But that is only part of the story. For us, the interim between the drowning of the sinful person and the rebirth to sinlessness, can take a lifetime. We emerge from baptism unstained by sin, with our grace restored to us, but we are creatures prone to sin and temptation, and it is a lifetime battle to become the new person, unstained by sin.
But we have help. The sacrament of Reconciliation is there for us when we fall into mortal sin. Mortal sin weakens our spiritual nature and threatens our participation in the divine life. The sacrament of Reconciliation, that is, Confession, removes that mortal sin and restores to us the grace we received at Baptism.
We are further helped by the working of the Holy Spirit.
At Baptism we receive the Holy Spirit. We are told that when Jesus emerged from the water the Spirit descended upon Him like a dove. So too at Baptism, the Holy Spirit descends upon each one of us, to abide and dwell within us for the rest of our lives. The Spirit comes to us in order to transform us into a new creature.
And the Spirit abides in us waiting to transform us into that person God always meant for us to be. Perhaps the most marvelous aspect of all this is that the Holy Spirit is always there, present in us, just waiting for us to be open to His working. It does not matter how long ago we were baptized, once we are open to the Spirit and His ability to transform our lives, He will get to work.
We are each given a unique combination of gifts and talents. God has given each of the tools to play out a specific part in His plan for our salvation. This is true of all gifts and of every person. The Holy Spirit works with those gifts to bring them to fulfillment in this world. How they will be fulfilled in the world to come, is more glorious than we can possibly imagine.
Pax Vobiscum
The Baptism of the Lord
The Lion of Judah © Lawrence Klimecki
Pontifex University is an online university offering a Master’s Degree in Sacred Arts. For more information visit the website at www.pontifex.university
Lawrence Klimecki, MSA, is a deacon in the Diocese of Sacramento. He is a public speaker, writer, and artist, reflecting on the intersection of art and faith and the spiritual “hero’s journey” that is part of every person’s life. He maintains a blog at www.DeaconLawrence.org and can be reached at Lawrence@deaconlawrence.com
Lawrence draws on ancient Christian tradition to create new contemporary visions of sacred art. For more information on original art, prints and commissions, Please visit www.DeaconLawrence.org
Purchase fine art prints of Deacon Lawrence’s work here.
