In Baptism our sins are forgiven, and we receive the gift of grace.
The Church asks us to consider the spiritual regeneration that Christ performed in us: “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free ... for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
In Baptism we die to sin and are reborn to a new life. “Do you not know that, all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that, as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his." In his infinite goodness, God has wished to give us this sacrament, which is a ransom paid for prisoners, a remission of debt, death to sin, regeneration of the soul, a robe of light, an unbreakable seal, a vehicle conveying us to heaven.
In Baptism we are united in a mysterious manner to our Lord's Death and Resurrection, because His merits are applied to our soul. The body is submerged in water so that the soul may be cleansed of all its faults. This death to sin, symbolized in the baptismal washing, fills the soul with grace, makes it pure in God's sight, and brings about a true spiritual regeneration, a rebirth that frees man from the guilt of sin and the punishment that sin deserves.
“In the sacrament of Baptism, the Holy Spirit takes possession of our soul and begins to act through his grace. He gives us the infused virtues, the ones we call theological: faith, hope and charity. They are virtues we can't acquire through our own efforts, or our talents or our good will. Our Father God has to give them to us. And he grants them generously, freely, because he loves us. So, it's a very good idea to bring children to receive holy Baptism as soon as possible; because in this sacrament, the Holy Spirit enters the child's soul and begins to act, bestowing those gifts, those virtues and so many other graces." St. Josemaría
By means of grace we are born to the supernatural life, and through the virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, our actions acquire an almost divine value.
Through Baptism we are raised to the exalted dignity of God's children. “O happy sacrament of water, exclaims Tertullian, through which, having been washed clean of our sins, we are freed from our original blindness, and brought to eternal life."
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