We had a thought on baptism and its effects. We have heard many protestants comment that baptism is only a symbol. Or we have hear someone ask, "Are you born again?" and add their assertion that you need to "accept Jesus in your heart as your personal Lord and Savior" to be born again. Those assertions simply do not square with Scripture. A couple of passages to consider here: 1) in, 1 Peter 3:20 (NAB), St. Peter tells us Baptism "....now saves us" and 2) in, John 3:5 (NAB), Jesus answered, "Amen, Amen, I say to you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit." As we can see the Bible clearly teaches that Baptism does something and it is NOT a symbolic event. The Sacrament of Baptism "saves us" as the Bible clearly teaches. In John 3:5, Jesus is responding to Nicodemus who is asking Jesus about how a person can be "born again". You notice Jesus did not say accept me as "your personal Lord and Savior" That line of thinking is nowhere in the Bible. So again, the Bible teaches us Baptism is not symbolic and "saves us". And to be born again, as Jesus teaches in the Gospel of John, is to be baptized ("..of water and the Spirit").
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