Explain the meaning and significance of baptism for Christians today.

        During Baptism the child’s baptismal promises are made for them by their parents but this also gives the congregation the chance to renew theirs, giving them the chance to profess their faith and reject Satan.  The child also receives the gift of the Holy Spirit and through the Holy Spirit they receive many gifts such as courage, Right judgement and knowledge, among others.  All these gifts can be used in difficult life situations e.g. what career path to take? Who to marry? Or what to do about bad health? Or for young people when faced with situations such as smoking, drinking or to have sex, when a lot of pressure is put on do the ‘cool thing’, the Holy Spirit can give you strength and help you get through.  By being baptised as a Catholic you can then receive the other six Sacraments.  This can help modern Christians in many ways.  One way would be that you can receive God’s forgiveness through the Sacrament of reconciliation and therefore you feel better about yourself and perhaps you feel less stressed.  By being baptised you can also avail of getting married in the Church and can ask God to become part of the marriage making it more sacred and special.  Another example would be receiving the Last rites when you are seriously ill and dying.  This allows you to receive salvation and repent for their sins one last time so that they can obtain eternal life with God in heaven.

        Believer’s baptism affects Baptists in many of the same ways.  Those who receive Believers baptism are already active Christians before they receive it and so it is a significant part of their lives in that it is the sign that they are true Christians.  By being baptised as an adult they are publicly showing that they love God and have repented for their sins.  In the same way as before this helps them feel better and relieves the guilt for anything they may have done wrong in their ‘previous lives’. Believers baptism is the outward sign of their faith and as well as this they must continue on their good faith in their everyday lives. For Baptists this may take the form of working for a charity or perhaps just praying for those in need.

        In conclusion I feel that baptism is the most important of the sacraments and very important in our lives as Christians.  It helps us to develop a good set of morals through both our faith and through the example of other Christians.  Baptism supplies us with the basis of our faith and through our faith way may come to understand everything that is going wrong in the world today.