I would have thought that you could have extrapolated that by accepting I mean receiving Gods grace via his Son as it says in John 14:6 (KJV), Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. It also says one must receive the Lord to receive everlasting life in many other places.
I believe that mandates an acceptance of some sort, correct?
"Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for your and your children." (Acts 2:38-39)
St. Mark wrote: "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved" (Mark 16:16)
St. Luke wrote, "And now why do you delay? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name." (Acts 22:16)
St. Peter wrote, "... when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. And corresponding to that, baptism now saves you – not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience – through the resurrection of Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 3:20-21)
St. John wrote, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." (St. John 3:5)
The fathers testify that baptism is what Jesus means in saying we must be "born again" (John 3:3) and being of water and the Spirit in John 3:5. Just as the Holy Spirit came down on Jesus as His baptism, so likewise, as we imitate Christ in baptism, the Holy Spirit comes down on each of us when we are baptized.
The fathers all understand the following verse in Titus to be referring to baptism. St. Paul writes: "He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit." (Titus 3:5)
St. Paul also writes the following to the Ephesians:
"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself up for her; that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the Church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless." (Eph 5:25-27)
The washing of water with the word refers to baptism, since baptism is the combination of matter and form, i.e. washing with water [matter] accompanied by the invocation of the Holy Trinity [form], (i.e. the sacrament of regeneration through water and the word).
All these passages are very clear that in baptism our sins are washed away. They fit perfectly with what is said in the Nicene Creed: "We acknowledge one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins".
Baptism signifies and actually brings about our union with Christ in His death and resurrection. The Apostle Paul writes,
"Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection." (Romans 6:3-5)
St. Paul tells us that we are "baptized into Christ Jesus". We are baptized "into His death", "buried with Him through baptism". In Romans chapter 6 we see that in baptism we are united to Christ in His death and resurrection. This is not merely figurative language; in baptism we are ontologically united to Christ's death and resurrection in such a way that the character effected in our soul by our baptism is indelible. In 1 Corinthians 15 we see that Christ is the second Adam. In baptism we are immersed into the water that flowed from Christ's side, so that we may be made into His bride (just as Eve was made from Adam's side). And thus we are buried with Him and then reborn in His resurrection; this is why the baptism of catechumens has historically taken place on Easter, for in baptism we are joined to Him in His death and resurrection.
-A8