The Heidelberg Catechism

Part II: The Sacraments: Baptism

Lord's Day 26 (Q & A 69 70 71)
Lord's Day 27 (Q & A 72 73 74)

Lord's Day 26

Baptism

Q & A 69

Q. How does baptism
   remind you and assure you
   that Christ's one sacrifice on the cross
   is for you personally?

A. In this way:
   Christ instituted this outward washing^1
   and with it gave the promise that,
      as surely as water washes away the dirt from the body,
      so certainly his blood and his Spirit
      wash away my soul's impurity,
      in other words, all my sins.^2

   ^1 Acts 2:38
   ^2 Matt. 3:11; Rom. 6:3-10; 1 Pet. 3:21

Q & A 70

Q. What does it mean
   to be washed with Christ's blood and Spirit?

A. To be washed with Christ's blood means
      that God, by grace, has forgiven my sins
      because of Christ's blood
      poured out for me in his sacrifice on the cross.^1

   To be washed with Christ's Spirit means
      that the Holy Spirit has renewed me
      and set me apart to be a member of Christ
      so that more and more I become dead to sin
      and increasingly live a holy and blameless life.^2

   ^1 Zech. 13:1; Eph. 1:7-8; Heb. 12:24; 1 Pet. 1:2; Rev. 1:5
   ^2 Ezek. 36:25-27; John 3:5-8; Rom. 6:4; 1 Cor. 6:11; Col. 2:11-12

Q & A 71

Q. Where does Christ promise
   that we are washed with his blood and Spirit
   as surely as we are washed
   with the water of baptism?

A. In the institution of baptism where he says:

      "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
      baptizing them in the name of the Father
      and of the Son
      and of the Holy Spirit."^1

      "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved,
      but whoever does not believe will be condemned."^2*

      This promise is repeated when Scripture calls baptism
      the washing of rebirth^3 and
      the washing away of sins.^4

   ^1 Matt. 28:19
   ^2 Mark 16:16
   ^3 Tit. 3:5
   ^4 Acts 22:16
   *Earlier and better manuscripts of Mark 16 omit the words "Whoever believes and is baptized . . . condemned."

Lord's Day 27

Q & A 72

Q. Does this outward washing with water
   itself wash away sins?

A. No, only Jesus Christ's blood and the Holy Spirit
   cleanse us from all sins.^1

   ^1 Matt. 3:11; 1 Pet. 3:21; 1 John 1:7

Q & A 73

Q. Why then does the Holy Spirit call baptism
   the washing of rebirth and
   the washing away of sins?

A. God has good reason for these words.
   He wants to teach us that
      the blood and Spirit of Christ wash away our sins
      just as water washes away dirt from our bodies.^1

   But more important,
   he wants to assure us, by this divine pledge and sign,
      that the washing away of our sins spiritually
      is as real as physical washing with water.^2

   ^1 1 Cor. 6:11; Rev. 1:5; 7:14
   ^2 Acts 2:38; Rom. 6:3-4; Gal. 3:27

Q & A 74

Q. Should infants, too, be baptized?

A. Yes.
   Infants as well as adults
      are in God's covenant and are his people.^1
   They, no less than adults, are promised
      the forgiveness of sin through Christ's blood
      and the Holy Spirit who produces faith.^2

   Therefore, by baptism, the mark of the covenant,
      infants should be received into the Christian church
      and should be distinguished from the children
      of unbelievers.^3
   This was done in the Old Testament by circumcision,^4
      which was replaced in the New Testament by baptism.^5

   ^1 Gen. 17:7; Matt. 19:14
   ^2 Isa. 44:1-3; Acts 2:38-39; 16:31
   ^3 Acts 10:47; 1 Cor. 7:14
   ^4 Gen. 17:9-14
   ^5 Col. 2:11-13