What Scriptural support does the Catholic Church offer for the teaching of baptismal regeneration? John 3:5 is a verse often quoted by our Catholic friends, so let’s start there. We will actually look at John 3:3-7 “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” In verse 3 Jesus clearly tells Nicodemus that he must be born again in order to see the kingdom of heaven. Nicodemus has no spiritual understanding and is obviously confused by the words of Jesus. He perceives that Jesus is somehow saying that a person must experience physical birth a second time. This is evidenced by his response in verse 4. John has however clearly told us in chapter 1 verses 12-13 how we are to be born again. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of God.” God by His unmerited favor (grace) gives man the ability to believe. Man believes unto salvation by grace through faith alone (Eph. 2:8-9). Salvation is in Christ an in Him alone (Acts 4:12). This now brings us to verse 5. Jesus states that “except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Many interpretations have been put forth about this verse. One thing is quite evident however; baptismal regeneration certainly is not implied hear. At this particular time, there was no Roman Catholic Church and there was no sacrament of Baptism. Why do we need to go out of the context of the passage for the answer? Jesus is speaking of a new birth, a spiritual birth. Nicodemus does not understand and thinks Jesus means to “enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born.” Jesus merely answers his question in verse 5. Two births are evident here. The first or natural birth is “born of water” and the second birth is “of the Spirit”; hence a spiritual birth. An unborn baby is carried in the mother’s womb in an embryonic sac. We are all familiar with the term “the mother’s water broke before she delivers her baby.” This is so clearly reaffirmed by Jesus in verses 6 and 7. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh;” This is the physical birth of a baby. “and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” This is the new birth that comes by believing. Jesus then repeats to Nicodemus in verse 7, “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” No infant baptism here and certainly no baptismal regeneration. Our Catholic friends will always quote Mark 16:16 as a basis for their belief in baptismal regeneration. “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” We must begin by looking at the preceding verse. “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” So what was to happen? The apostles were to preach the gospel to very creature. In verse 16 we clearly see that baptism is preceded by believing. Believing unto salvation always comes before baptism. This is quite evident in Acts 8 with the Ethiopian eunuch and in Acts 16 by the conversion of the Phillipian jailor. It is also quite interesting in the last part of verse 16 of Mark 16 that Jesus states, “but he that believeth not shall be damned.” The key is the word “believeth.” The implication in the wording is that even if a person is baptized but believeth not, he shall be damned. Another verse that is often quoted by our Catholic friends in an attempt to prove baptismal regeneration is Acts 2:38-“Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the Holy Ghost.” The Roman Catholic Church has gone to great lengths to attempt to fit the doctrine of baptismal regeneration into this verse. In fact, the Douay-Rheims version of the Bible which was the first Catholic English translation of the Latin Vulgate deliberately mistranslated this verse. In the Douay-Rheims version the middle part of the verse is translated, ‘do ye penance and be baptized.” The Greek word translated repent is Μετανοήσατε. This verb is in the aorist perfect tense. That means that the repentance was a one time event happening in the past with consequences continuing to the present and into the future. This Greek word can only be translated repent. The New American Bible, another Catholic Bible has corrected this blatant mistranslation. Also in the verse we read “for the remission of sins.” The Greek word translated for is εἰς. According to the Analytical Greek Lexicon, this Greek word can also be translated “in reference to, in accordance with or because of.” Therefore, no harm would be done to the text if we substituted any of these three other renderings. This is proven when we examine verse 38 in the context of the entire second chapter of Acts. Beginning in verse 14, Peter preaches the Gospel to the crowd. The Holy Spirit is so obviously at work because we read in verse 37 that “when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart.” Verses 41 and following are the key to properly understanding verse 38. Acts 2:41-“Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” Notice that they were baptized after they had gladly received the word. Acts 2:42-“And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Sounds to me like these people had truly been saved by grace through faith alone because there was a change in their lives. II Corinthians 5:17-“Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are past away; all things are become new.” Acts 2:47-“And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” The only possible conclusion that can be reached is: these 3,000 people after hearing the Gospel preached by Peter, were convicted by the Holy Spirit. They repented of their sins and were saved by grace through faith alone. After gladly receiving the good news and being saved, they then received believer’s baptism. - Robert J. Thomas
Posted on: Thu, 01 Jan 2015 21:45:28 +0000
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