Baptism is the sacrament in which the believer dies for the carnal, sinful life and is born for the holy life of the Spirit by immersing himself three times in water in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Baptism is performed only once, just as man is born only once. Therefore a repetition of this sacrament is not permitted, even if it was administered by non-Orthodox - but according to all essential rules. The Lord himself instituted the sacrament of baptism. Not a single Christian denomination, even if such a denomination rejects almost all Orthodox rules, rejects the necessity of baptism. Baptism is clearly mentioned in the Gospel as a necessary condition for entering the Church. "If someone is not born of water and the Spirit, he cannot come into the kingdom of God" (Jn 3:5).
Usually children are baptized by the Orthodox and they cannot remember the sacrament of baptism. In our time, however, it is not uncommon for adults to be baptized, for whom baptism is an important event that they always remember. On this day they become members of the Church of Christ, changing their lives with determination and promising to join Christ and believe in Him as King and God. Man emerges from the baptismal font, leaving behind his previous life with his sins
To receive baptism, faith in the Lord and His Holy Gospel first and foremost, but also in the Church which He founded on earth and which is His Body. That is why during the baptism the priest also lets the creed speak. But what about children? They still have no conscious faith, and who can guarantee that they will grow up believing? This task is assumed by the godparents, who are therefore absolutely necessary for the baptism of small children. The godparents have the obligation to look after their baptized children and to educate them in the spirit of Orthodoxy and piety. In order to be able to promise this, the godparents themselves must at least be baptized and have faith and a close relationship to the family of the baptized person, since they are actually to participate in his religious education.
Some will ask whether it is not better to postpone baptism to a time when the child itself can say that it believes in God. In the sacrament of Baptism, however, the child receives a special grace that helps him in life. It becomes a member of the Church and can thus participate in the sacraments, including the sacrament of the Eucharist, in order to receive the Holy Gifts of Christ. People with powers of observation know the great difference between baptized children, whose parents regularly bring them to communion, and children who are not baptized. As far as faith is concerned, it already exists in very young children. Faith is founded before we can express it in words, and childlike faith is stronger and more immediate than that of adults whose souls are burdened with sins. Every child has a faith, and the most important task of parents and godparents is to promote this faith and not allow it to expire under bad influence. Christ described the childlike faith as an example when he said: "If you do not become like children, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven". And He reminded those who forbade children to come to Him of the words of the Prophet: "From the mouth of children and babies you make yourself praise. Even babies glorify God, and God accepts their praise. How can we resist that?
In ancient times, the baptism of children was linked to the baptism of adults. The apostles already baptized whole families, including children (in Acts, the Lydia family is mentioned, but also that of the prison guard Krispus; the apostle Paul mentions the family and the house of Stephen). Since the Vth century, the baptism of children was confirmed by Council resolutions, until then it was practiced only as a custom emanating from the apostles.
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