Here is an article showing some Catholic beliefs regarding baptism. I was very suprised when I read this and noticed that the beliefs are very similar to the UPC's doctrine.
From chapter nine of Reasoning from the Scriptures with Catholics, by Ron Rhodes, (Eugene Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 2000), pp. 162-170
The Roman Catholic Teaching: In Acts 2:38 we read, "And Peter said to them, `Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit:" Roman Catholics argue that this verse supports the necessity of baptism for salvation. Indeed, Ludwig Ott, citing this verse, tells us that "baptism has the power both of eradicating sin and of effecting inner sanctification."25
Response: Admittedly, this is not an easy verse to interpret. But a basic principle of Bible interpretation is that difficult passages are to be interpreted in light of the easy, clear verses. We should never build a theology on difficult passages.
As a backdrop, the great majority of passages dealing with salvation in the New Testament affirm that salvation is by faith alone. A good example is
John 3:16,17 (NIV): "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." Even Peter, who is the one who uttered the words in
Acts 2:38, elsewhere acknowledges that a person is saved prior to baptism. For example, in
Acts 10:47 we read Peter's words, "Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?" Salvation came first for these people (as evidenced in their possession of the Holy Spirit), and baptism followed.
How, then, are we to understand
Acts 2:38? A single word in the verse gives us the answer. The verse reads, "Peter replied, `Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit"' (NIV, emphasis added).
Students of the Greek language have often pointed out that the Greek word for (eis) is a preposition that can indicate causality ("in order to attain") or a result ("because of"). An example of using for in a resultant sense is the sentence, "I'm taking an aspirin for my headache:' Obviously, this means I am taking an aspirin as a result of my headache. I am not taking an aspirin in order to attain a headache.
An example of using for in a causal sense is the sentence, "I’m going to the office for my paycheck." Obviously, this means I am going to the office in order to attain my paycheck.
In
Acts 2:38 the word for is used in a resultant sense. The verse might be paraphrased, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ because of (or as a result of) the remission of sins." The verse is not saying "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ in order to attain the remission of sins."
Properly interpreted, then, this verse indicates that water baptism follows the salvation experience, not causes the salvation experience.
The Roman Catholic Teaching: In John 3:5 we read the words of Jesus: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Roman Catholics interpret this as meaning that baptism is required for salvation. Indeed, baptism is said to confer the grace of justification?26 "The universal necessity of this `rebirth' through Baptism is emphasized by Our Lord: `Unless a man be born again of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God' (
John 3:5)."27 Indeed, "Baptism, the door to life and to the kingdom of God, is the first sacrament of the New Law offered by Christ to all men that they might have eternal life (
John 3:5)."28
Response: I begin with the observation that there are so many verses in John's Gospel that indicate belief in Christ as the sole condition for salvation that John would have to have been dishonest if in fact both belief in Christ and baptism were necessary for salvation (see
John 5:24; 6:35; 7:38; 8:24; 9:35; 10:38; 11:26; 12:44-48; 20:31). However
John 3:5 is interpreted, it must be in keeping with all these other verses.
Critical to a proper understanding of
John 3:1-5 is verse 6: "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit:' Flesh can only reproduce itself as flesh, and flesh cannot pass muster with God (see
Romans 8:8). The law of reproduction is "after its kind" (see
Genesis 1). So, likewise, the Spirit produces spirit.
In Nicodemus' case, we find a Pharisee who would have been trusting in his physical descent from Abraham for entrance into the Messiah's kingdom. The Jews believed that because they were physically related to Abraham, they were in a specially privileged position before God. Christ, however, denied such a possibility. Parents can transmit to their children only the nature that they themselves possess. Since each parent's nature, because of Adam's sin, is sinful, each parent transmits a sinful nature to the child. And what is sinful cannot enter the kingdom of God (verse 5). The only way someone can enter God's kingdom is to experience a spiritual rebirth, and this is precisely what Jesus is emphasizing to Nicodemus.
The problem is, Nicodemus did not initially comprehend Jesus' meaning. Nicodemus wrongly concluded that Jesus was speaking of something related to physical birth, but could not understand how a person could go through physical birth a second time (
John 3:4). Jesus picked up on Nicodemus' line of thought and sought to move the argument from physical birth to spiritual birth.
Notice how Jesus went about His explanation to Nicodemus. He first speaks about being "born of water and the Spirit" in
John 3:5, and then explains what He means by this in verse 6. It would seem that "born of water" in verse 5 is parallel to "born of the flesh" in verse 6, just as "born of...the Spirit" in verse 5 is parallel to "born of the Spirit" in verse 6. Jesus' message, then, is that just as each person has had a physical birth to live on earth, so he or she roust also have a spiritual birth in order to enter the spiritual kingdom of God. A person must be "born from above:' Seen in this light, this verse has nothing whatsoever to do with water baptism.
I should note that the fact that some of the early church fathers believed this verse referred to baptism is not decisive for us. Indeed, the fathers were finite and fallible human beings. Only the Bible is infallible. Further, the fathers often offered mistaken and conflicting interpretations of the same verse. Hence, there is no consensus among the fathers on many issues. This being the case, the fathers cannot be cited as some infallible indicator of what the correct interpretation must be.
The Roman Catholic Teaching: In Mark 16:16 we read, "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned." Roman Catholics teach that in this verse Jesus is saying that baptism is necessary for salvation. We are told that "through Baptism as through a door men enter the Church."29
Response: Notice the latter part of the verse: "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned" (
Mark 15:16, emphasis added). It is unbelief that brings ************ation not a lack of being baptized. When someone rejects the Gospel, refusing to believe it, that person is ************ed.
In regard to the question of whether baptism is necessary for salvation, consider the words of the apostle Paul: "For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power" (
1 Corinthians 1:17 NIV). Paul here draws a clear distinction between baptism aid the gospel. And since it is the gospel that saves (
1 Corinthians 15:1,2), baptism is clearly not necessary to attain salvation.
That is not to say that baptism is unimportant. Baptism should be the first act of obedience to God following a person's conversion to Christ. But even though we should obey God and get baptized, we must not forget flat our faith in Christ is what saves us (
Acts 16:31;
John 3:10, not baptism. Baptism is basically a public profession of faith. It says to the whole world, "I'm a believer in Christ Wd have identified my life with Him:'
really truly though, I think the church, all churches have been impacted by catholism to a certain extent. Breaking out of that mindset on some things is not easy to do.
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