“If, therefore, there is any grace in the water, it is not from the nature of water but from the Spirit's presence there.” IfsSpiritWaterGraceBaptism Author:Saint Basil
“Just as a man cannot live in the flesh unless he is born in the flesh, even so a man cannot have the spiritual life of grace unless he is born again spiritually. This regeneration is effected by Baptism: "Unless a man is born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (Jn 3:5)” MenSpiritualSpiritWaterBornGraceHolySaintFleshKingdomsHoly SpiritSpiritual LifeKingdom Of GodBaptismBorn AgainRegeneration Author:Thomas Aquinas
“[Martin] Luther did not regard the water in baptism as common water, but as a water which had become, through the Word with its inherent divine power, a gracious water of life, a washing of regeneration. Through this divine efficacy of the Word the sacrament effects regeneration.” WaterCommonEffectsDivineRegardInherentSacramentsLutherGraciousWashingBaptismRegenerationEfficacyDivine PowerWater Of Life Author:Louis Berkhof
“In this matter of baptism - if I may be pardoned for saying it - I can only conclude that all the doctors have been in error from the time of the apostles. . . . All the doctors have ascribed to the water a power which it does not have and the holy apostles did not teach.” IfsMayDoeHas BeensI CanMatterWaterTeachHolyDoctorsErrorsApostlesBaptism Author:Huldrych Zwingli
“In all religions, the quickening spirit has been symbolically represented as a bird. At the baptism, when Jesus body was in the water, the Spirit of Christ descended into it as a dove.” Has BeensBodySpiritJesusChristWaterBirdDoveBaptismQuickening Book:Mysteries of the Great Operas Source: Mysteries of the Great Operas
“Jesus said, 'Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.' There are no exceptions. Baptism is a necessary ordinance.” MenSaidSpiritJesusWaterBornKingdomsExceptionKingdom Of GodBaptismOrdinancesBaptizedBaptized In Author:Gordon B. Hinckley