But if we were baptized as a child, then we continually, every month or six weeks put ourselves on a schedule for the Sacrament of Penance/Reconciliation. Some people call it Confession.
We know we are sinners and must always seek the forgiveness of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit that we received in Baptism through this sacrament.
Then baptism did not really save anyone.
Hebrews 7:25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
Hebrews 9:15 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
Hebrews 9:24-29 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
Hebrews 10:14-18 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, 16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” 17 then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” 18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
John 10:27-29 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.
John 3:16 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Note that Jesus says in John 3:16, that those who believe HAVE eternal life. Possess it at the present time. They HAVE it before the die and He promises in John 10 that we will never lose our salvation.
There's no need for continual working to keep it by baptism and *reconciliation*.
Believers have already been reconciled and are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.
**Then baptism did not really save anyone.**
Yes it did. What about the baby that dies at two months after it was baptized at one month?
What about the child that falls and is accidentally killed before he/she reaches the age of reason.
What about the person on their deathbed who is baptized by the priest visiting them? They also are saved.
What about someone like me who went in for a heart procedure this last week, but received the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sin which removes all sin. If I had died on the doctor’s table, all the sin would have been gone?
Think about the Sacraments, please. You’re a smart lady and I know you are familiar with these facts.
Or check out my FR homepage for more information on the Sacraments.
**Then baptism did not really save anyone.**
I forgot one.
What about the adult convert who is baptized at the Easter Vigil — all the sins washed away, and then is killed in an auto accident on the way home? Or even the next week?