+ 4 of the 7 Sacraments are redemptive, meaning they are essential to attain eternal Salvation; all believers have to have them in order to continue with the Orthodox Faith. (Baptism, Confirmation, Repentance & Confession, Communion), the other 3 are non-redemptive; meaning if you don’t get them you still can attain eternal Salvation. (Unction of the sick, Matrimony, Priesthood) + Baptism is the first (1st) Sacrament we receive when we are babies. + Baptism is a redemptive Sacrament Boys are baptized when they complete 40 days old of age, while girls are baptized when they complete 80 days old of age. + We are baptized by immersion by a priest; this means Abouna submerges our whole body in the water. He does this 3 times, saying “In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit”. + Crossing the Red Sea was a symbol of baptism in the Old Testament, as St. Paul mentions in his 1st epistle to the Corinthians 10:2 “ALL WERE BAPTIZED INTO MOSES IN THE CLOUD AND IN THE SEA”How you were saved…?
Then Abouna wraps you with a thin red ribbon to remind you that Christ saved you when He shed His Blood on the Cross Even though our Lord Jesus Christ never sinned, He was baptized to show us how important baptism is for us to go to Heaven. The Efficacy of Baptism
Now that we are baptized we are children of our Lord Jesus Christ so we should be careful about doing something wrong. We should make good choices and follow our Lord Jesus Christ, being loving, kind and obedient because we are His children. Why do we baptize little children?Little children accept and believe everything; they do not have the reasoning of adults to question or reject faith. We cannot prevent them from being members of the church and deprive them of faith or means of grace If baptism is renewal of life, why do we sin after being baptized?In baptism, we receive new birth, new life and new graces in baptism, and we take a new nature. Nevertheless we are not infallible as long as we are still in the flesh. Here we are in a test; we still possess our freedom to do good or bad. How was the Right Thief saved without baptism?This thief received the best baptism; for what is baptism but dying with Christ? The right Thief actually died with Christ and his death became a baptism.
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