Question 73

Why then doth the Holy Ghost call baptism “the washing of regeneration” and the washing away of sins?

God speaks not thus without great cause, namely, not only thereby to teach us, that, as the filth of the body is purged away by water, so our sins are removed by the blood and Spirit of Jesus Christ (Rev. 1;5): but especially that, by this divine pledge and sign, he may assure us that we are spiritually cleansed from our sins as really as we are externally washed with water (Gal. 3;27).

Scripture references for paragraph 1

Berean Standard Bible. Public domain text and source credits.

Revelation 1:5
5and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood,

Hebrews 9:14
14how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, purify our consciences from works of death, so that we may serve the living God!

Isaiah 4:4
4when the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains from the heart of Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire.

Titus 3:5
5He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 3:27
27For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

Acts 2:38
38Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Source and edition

Heidelberg Catechism. RCA English, E. R. Good & Bro., Tiffin, 1879. RCA English, E. R. Good & Bro., Tiffin, 1879

Public Domain (historic text); CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikisource transcription). Source transcription.

Transcription licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0.

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