On Baptism

Contents

Reading pages: 1.1.0–1.2.5 · 1.2.6–1.2.16 · 1.2.17–1.2.27 · 1.3.0–2.4.3 · 2.5.0–2.8.9 · 2.9.0–2.13.2

1. 1.1.0Heading of the first chapter: discipleship comes before baptism.
2. 1.1.1Christ commanded first to make disciples and then to baptize, so Basil begins with what discipleship means before treating baptism.
3. 1.1.2A disciple is one who follows and obeys Christ, but no one held by sin can serve him, so freedom from sin must come first.
4. 1.1.3Forgiveness through Christ's blood frees a person from sin; then he must renounce possessions, family claims, and himself to follow Christ.
5. 1.1.4Christ's sayings on delay, the great supper, and hating one's family show that nothing may hold back a disciple, as baptism pledges.
6. 1.1.5After renouncing sin, the world, and even life, the disciple is taught the whole of Scripture's teaching on creation, Christ, and judgment.
7. 1.2.0Heading of the second chapter: how the baptism of the Gospel is received.
8. 1.2.1Basil accepts the request to write on baptism, restates that discipleship comes first, and stresses that even a small failure can exclude one from the kingdom.
9. 1.2.2The Gospels name the things that win the kingdom of heaven (the beatitudes, mercy, giving) and the things without which no one enters it.
10. 1.2.3Failing in one point excludes from the kingdom as surely as failing in many, so the baptized must keep every commandment.
11. 1.2.4All must be fulfilled for the kingdom; Basil turns to compare the baptisms of Moses, John, and Christ, whose baptism in the Spirit far surpasses John's in water.
12. 1.2.5Moses' washing distinguished sins and required sacrifices, John's forgave every confessed sin at once, and the Lord's baptism surpasses both beyond comparison.
13. 1.2.6Basil sets out Christ's sayings on new birth and the command to baptize all nations, and explains that each word of Scripture must be weighed carefully.
14. 1.2.7Birth “from above” repairs the birth in sin, restoring the image of God as a broken statue is remade or wax takes the shape of a seal.
15. 1.2.8Paul's teaching that baptism is burial with Christ into death explains birth of water, and this new birth depends on God's prior grace.
16. 1.2.9Grace comes first in baptism, but the baptized must contribute works of faith and love, since much is required of those given much.
17. 1.2.10Baptism in fire, the word of teaching, works like fire on iron: it exposes flaws, softens, purifies, and makes the baptized shine and give light to others.
18. 1.2.11The baptized show newness of life by shining with good works, giving up claims to property, doing good to enemies, and turning the other cheek.
19. 1.2.12One who gives up what is taken from him has died to the law and lives in Christ, as Paul teaches by renouncing his own righteousness under the law.
20. 1.2.13Through Christ's body the baptized die to the law, and their burial with him is like the sowing of seed that leads to the resurrection and being forever with the Lord.
21. 1.2.14Paul repeats the doctrine of baptism for safety: the baptized are crucified with Christ and cut off from the old man and from those who live by it.
22. 1.2.15Baptism, a likeness of the cross, death, burial and resurrection, crucifies the flesh and its desires and raises the baptized to live to God now and to reign with Christ hereafter.
23. 1.2.16As Christ died once and lives to God, the baptized die to sin once in the water and must never return to it, living to God's glory in Christ's love.
24. 1.2.17The baptized must prove their baptismal promise true by not letting sin reign in their bodies, since Christ's obedience won them every blessing.
25. 1.2.18Paul's image of the widow freed by her husband's death to marry again teaches that the baptized have died to the law to belong to Christ.
26. 1.2.19The law is the letter that kills and Christ's teaching the life-giving spirit; the baptized must set aside legal righteousness, human traditions, and their own wills.
27. 1.2.20Being baptized in the name of the Holy Spirit means being born of the Spirit and so becoming spirit, shown in the Spirit's gifts and fruit and in keeping Christ's commandments.
28. 1.2.21Those born of the Spirit change their dwelling, their manner of life, and their companions, keeping away from the wicked as David and Paul teach.
29. 1.2.22Christ has made Jew and Gentile one household of God, and those born of the Spirit become worthy to be baptized in the name of the Son and to put on Christ.
30. 1.2.23As a painted image of the king hides the difference of its material, so baptism clothes every kind of person alike in the new man, conformed to the image of the Son.
31. 1.2.24Having put on the Son, the baptized is baptized into the Father's name and must prove his love by keeping the commandments, for without love even great gifts are worthless.
32. 1.2.25Gifts and good works done for one's own ends become works of lawlessness, so the inner man must be kept pure and aimed at God's glory.
33. 1.2.26Discipleship and renunciation come before baptism; once Christ's fiery words expose sin, the believer seeks forgiveness through his blood and comes to the water to die and rise with him.
34. 1.2.27One born of the Spirit, having changed his life, is baptized into the Son, puts on Christ, and must keep himself pure for the glory to come.
35. 1.3.0Heading of the third chapter: the baptized must be fed with the Eucharist.
36. 1.3.1The baptized must be fed with the food of eternal life, Christ's word and his body and blood, eaten in remembrance of his death and resurrection.
37. 1.3.2Eating and drinking in remembrance of Christ profits nothing unless the communicant lives no longer for himself but for him who died and rose.
38. 1.3.3Whoever comes to the body and blood of Christ defiled, or idly without living the remembrance of his death, eats and drinks judgment.
39. 2.1.0First question: are all the baptized bound to die to sin and live to God?
40. 2.1.1All who seek the kingdom need baptism alike, so all the baptized, without distinction, are bound to live by the Gospel.
41. 2.1.2If Moses' partial circumcision bound a man to the whole law, Christ's circumcision of the whole body in baptism binds every Christian to live wholly for God.
42. 2.2.0Second question: may one act as priest with an unclean heart?
43. 2.2.1As Moses barred blemished priests from the altar, so whoever ministers the Lord's body must be free from every flaw in keeping the commandments.
44. 2.3.0Third question: may one receive the Eucharist while defiled?
45. 2.3.1If the law cut off the unclean who touched holy things, far worse is the judgment on one who receives Christ's body and blood in sin.
46. 2.4.0Fourth question: must every word of God be believed even where Scripture seems to contradict itself?
47. 2.4.1To doubt any word of God is unworthy of a Christian, for Christ's words, greater than the law of Moses, will never pass away.
48. 2.4.2Where Scripture seems to contradict a command, one must obey the command; where commands seem to clash, the whole passage must be read to see how both serve one goal.
49. 2.4.3Unclear commands are explained by other passages; dangerous ones must be kept at any cost; the rest must be believed like a child trusting a parent.
50. 2.5.0Fifth question: does disobeying any command deserve death even where no penalty is stated?
51. 2.5.1Christ attached penalties to some sins and not to others, but his general sentences show that every disobedience incurs wrath.
52. 2.5.2Paul and the Old Testament, like Christ, often name sins without penalties and then declare a general curse on every transgression.
53. 2.6.0Sixth question: is neglecting good as much disobedience as doing evil?
54. 2.6.1Christ's parables and the last judgment show that leaving good undone, or doing it negligently, is condemned as well as doing evil.
55. 2.6.2John's warning that fruitless trees are cut down shows that idleness in good, even after baptism, brings condemnation.
56. 2.7.0Seventh question: can a slave of sin do anything pleasing to God?
57. 2.7.1A slave of sin cannot please God, for the sinner's sacrifice is an abomination and no one can serve two masters; one must first be cleansed within.
58. 2.8.0Eighth question: is a commanded work acceptable if done otherwise than God commanded?
59. 2.8.1A commanded work done otherwise than God wills is not only unacceptable but sinful; such failures concern place, time, person, thing, measure, order, or disposition.
60. 2.8.2A command done in the wrong place fails, as the law confined some rites to Jerusalem and the temple; Christians must not celebrate the mysteries in profane places.
61. 2.8.3Praying “in every place” means everywhere in the world, not in unclean places; and the call to be priests does not let anyone seize a ministry given to another.
62. 2.8.4Holy places must be kept apart from profane ones; and the parable of the ten virgins shows that a work done at the wrong time fails.
63. 2.8.5Scripture repeatedly warns that the time for doing good is now, before the door is shut.
64. 2.8.6Works fail by the wrong person, as with Korah's usurped priesthood, or by the wrong thing, as with blemished offerings or a righteousness of one's own.
65. 2.8.7Works fail by falling short of Christ's measure of love or by reversing the order he set, as in following him before renouncing possessions.
66. 2.8.8A commandment done to please people or for gain loses its reward and incurs punishment; everything must be done from love and for God's glory.
67. 2.8.9The law and the prophets, summed up in love, curse whoever fails to keep them, so every commandment must be done rightly.
68. 2.9.0Ninth question: may one share with lawbreakers and their works if they are not in one's charge?
69. 2.9.1Whoever breaks even one commandment is a transgressor, and Paul forbids sharing even a table with any brother guilty of any one of the listed sins.
70. 2.9.2Scripture speaks of good and evil fruits alike; the unfruitful trees are those, even among the baptized, who leave good undone and are condemned for it.
71. 2.9.3Unfruitful works are good deeds done amiss, like the foolish virgins' lack of oil; the faithful must avoid them and not share in them but expose them.
72. 2.9.4One shares in another's sin by helping it, approving it, or knowingly keeping silent; care is owed only to one's own charges, but sharing in evil is forbidden with all.
73. 2.10.0Tenth question: is giving offense always dangerous?
74. 2.10.1A stumbling block is whatever turns people from godly obedience; one who says or does good is not guilty if others misuse it, as some were offended by Christ's own words.
75. 2.10.2Whoever does evil, or does something permitted that makes the weak stumble, is guilty of the stumbling block, as Paul shows by renouncing meat for his brother's sake.
76. 2.11.0Eleventh question: may one decline God's command or let others, even friends, hinder its doing?
77. 2.11.1Christ refused even well-meant hindrances from John and Peter, and Paul from his friends, so no one may decline or obstruct God's commands for any plausible reason.
78. 2.12.0Twelfth question: must each care for everyone, or only for those in his charge, according to his gift?
79. 2.12.1Christ and the apostles kept to the mission given them, so each Christian must care for those entrusted to him and wait for God's command.
80. 2.12.2When love for God or neighbor calls, one may go beyond one's charge and be rewarded; but one who neglects his own charge is guilty of the blood of those he did not teach.
81. 2.13.0Thirteenth question: must one face every trial, even death, to obey God, especially in caring for one's charges?
82. 2.13.1Christ went willingly to meet his captors, so his followers must gladly endure every trial, even death, as the apostles did.
83. 2.13.2Nothing can separate believers from Christ's love, which is shown by keeping his commandments to the death; looking to Christ and the saints, they will inherit the kingdom.