Chapter 12

No one should be misled by the fact that the Apostle often mentions baptism without explicitly naming the Father and the Holy Spirit, as though this meant that the invocation of the names is not observed. He says, “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ,” and again that those baptized into Christ were baptized into his death. For to name Christ is to confess the whole mystery: the God who anoints, the Son who is anointed, and the Spirit who is the anointing.

We learn this from Peter in Acts concerning “Jesus of Nazareth, whom God anointed with the Holy Spirit”; from Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me”; and from the Psalm, “Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”

At other times Scripture, speaking of baptism, explicitly mentions the Spirit alone: “In one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.” In agreement with this are, “You will be baptized with the Holy Spirit,” and, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Yet no one would therefore call a baptism complete if only the name of the Spirit were invoked. The tradition delivered to us by the life-giving grace must remain forever inviolate.

The one who redeemed our life from destruction gave us the power of renewal. Its cause is ineffable and hidden in mystery, yet it brings great salvation to our souls. To add anything to it or take anything away is plainly to fall away from eternal life. If, then, in baptism it is dangerous for the baptizer to separate the Spirit from the Father and the Son, and such a baptism brings no benefit to the baptized, how can it be safe for us to tear the Spirit away from Father and Son?

Faith and baptism are two closely related and inseparable ways of salvation. Faith is brought to perfection through baptism, baptism is established through faith, and both are completed through the same names. As we believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, so we are baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Confession comes first and introduces us to salvation; baptism follows and seals our assent.