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Lewis Use Of Baptism Essay

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Lewis Use Of Baptism Essay
Baptism: The Foundation of the Christian Faith
There are three things that spread the Christ-life to us; baptism, belief, and the Lord’s Supper (Lewis 61). This statement, by C.S. Lewis, is his example of three ordinary methods in which one can “find new life after we have died and in it become perfect” (Lewis 60). It was the belief of Lewis that because Jesus sacrificed himself, yet he was perfect, humans can be saved from death. Two of Lewis’s three methods, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, are sacraments in Christianity. The act of baptizing is known as the Sacrament of Baptism. The Lord’s Supper is also known as Holy Communion and Eucharist. There are several different sacraments which are practiced within the many denominations of Christianity.
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Baptism is one example of how God wants his children to live by his example. It is apparent, as written by Frank C. Quinn, that we must “fully incorporate into the body of Christ through water and Spirit (Quinn 2). If further evidence is required to represent the importance of baptism, the entire New Testament can be used as a tool for research. Not more than three chapters into Matthew, the first book of the New Testament, John the Baptist baptizes Jesus in the Jordan. “Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him” (Matt. 3.13). One does not need to search hard to find any of the examples Jesus lays out for his foundation. The New Testament itself is a representation of the foundation Christ lays. Thus it is plain that in the New Testament the grace of the Spirit is fundamentally linked with the identity of Jesus Christ (Dragas 150). Questions arise in this matter as they do in any matter. Dragas addresses this issue saying, “but why is He Christ?” (150). He answers this question with scripture: “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit” (John

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