Baptism gone bad

Imagine standing before Peter at the pearly gates, waiting to find out if you will be let into Heaven or not.

After looking over your resume and commenting about how well you kept the Roman Catholic rules, he double-checks your baptism. You were 8 days old. Your parents took you right away like they were supposed to. The priest sprinkled / poured water on you just like he was taught to do. You thought you were purified from your original sin, but then come to find out the priest did something wrong!

Instead of saying “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” he said, “We baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

And just like that Peter informs you that your baptism was invalid and that you didn’t partake in an essential sacrament which is the only way that the Roman Catholic Church knows of by which a man can be saved!

You might be tempted to think of this as a farfetched idea, one that no one believes, but you would be wrong.

Andres Arango a priest in Phoenix Arizona, was informed that for 20 years he had been performing baptisms wrong. 

The diocese of Phoenix declared the thousands of baptisms performed by “Father Andres” over the last 20 years to be invalid. Now they are seeking to rectify the situation. Kind of like a recall for a faulty car manufacturing job, they are recalling human beings, now grown adults to be rebaptized. 

You might not realize this, but this is a huge deal. 

Without baptism according to Roman Catholicism a person cannot possibly go to heaven. Check out what the Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

ARTICLE 1

THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM

1213 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. – Catechism of the Catholic Church

Regeneration happens at the moment of baptism. Look at what they go on to say.

1215 This sacrament is also called “the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit,” for it signifies and actually brings about the birth of water and the Spirit without which no one “can enter the kingdom of God.” C of the CC

Without it, no one can enter the kingdom of God! And last but not least.

1257 The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation. He also commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them. Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament. The Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see that all who can be baptized are “reborn of water and the Spirit.” God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments. C of the CC

Baptism is necessary for salvation and the roman catholic church does not know of ANY means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude.

Imagine your eternity in heaven or hell hinges upon an I instead of we said when you were incapable of speaking!

John Macarthur has said that if you could lose your salvation, you would. I would add that if your salvation depended upon another sinful human then you would also for sure lose it. 

It is incredibly tragic that something so clearly wrong is taught. It is even more tragic that we Christians are so confused when it comes to the Roman Catholic Church. A church that admits that it has no idea how someone can enter heaven and thinks baptism is the only way, is a church that teaches damnable heresy. 

Roman Catholicism can only damn. It cannot possibly save. It doesn’t know how. It doesn’t know salvation and can only keep people entrapped in a system that distorts the Gospel. 

I actually appreciate the consistency of this diocese. They are being unswerving. In order to get this, you have to understand just how mystical and demonic the Roman Catholic system is. Like a witch’s spell, the words must be exact in order to receive the wanted effect of the “spell”. 

I also appreciate this story because it exposes the folly of believing that something done to you when you are a week old makes any difference in light of eternity. Every once in a while Roman Catholicism shows its true colors for all to see. I pray that many Christians will finally learn the need to evangelize Roman Catholics, and many Roman Catholics will come to their senses and be truly saved.

The Roman Catholic system is a system that steals glory from God. Meriting Heaven through works you do or that are done to you is the grandest larceny possible. On the day of judgment if you contributed in any way to your salvation God will be less glorified. And since that is impossible Roman Catholicism is a system that can only lead to Hell. 

When coming across stories like these, it is very tempting to use them to bash Roman Catholicism or to win an argument. It is imperative to resist these sinful temptations.

Instead, please think of and pray for those of us who are working full-time in Roman Catholic lands. Also, pray that stories like these will push you to share the gospel with your Roman Catholic friend. They are desperately lost if they depend on their merit at all for entry into Heaven. We must be gentle but firm in speaking the truth to them, and we cannot afford to be superficial in our understanding of the gospel.

Jordan Stanbridge