Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua), and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: “Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word.
Baptism incorporates us into Christ and forms us into God’s people. This first sacrament pardons all our sins, rescues us from the power of darkness, and brings us to the dignity of adopted children, a new creation through water and the Holy Spirit. Hence we are called and are indeed the children of God.
When a person is baptized he or she is:
Made in new creation, an adopted son or daughter of God, who has become partaker of the divine nature.
A member of the Body of Christ, the Church.
Freed from the power of darkness and is brought into the realm of the freedom of the children of God.
Able to believe in God, to hope in him, an to love him through the theological virtues;
Given the power to love and act under the prompting of the Holy Spirit though the gifts of the Holy Spirit;
Helped to grow in the goodness through the moral virtues.
The first of the seven sacraments, and the “door” which gives access to the other sacraments. Baptism is the first and chief sacrament of forgiveness of sins because it unites us with Christ, who died for our sins and rose for our justification. Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist constitute the “sacraments of initiation” by which a believer receives the remission of original and personal sin, begins a new life in Christ and the Holy Spirit, and is incorporated into the Church, the Body of Christ.