Baptism is the Sacrament which cleanses us from Original Sin, which is the absence of sanctifying grace. Baptism takes away Original sin, and, in adults, it takes away any actual sins which have been committed.
Sin entered the world through one man. "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world and with sin death, death thus coming to all men inasmuch as all sinned" (Romans 5:12).
Grace and Life came through Jesus Christ. "But the gift is not like the offense. For if by the offense of the one man all died, much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound for all. The gift is entirely different from the sin committed by the one man. In the first case, the sentence followed on the offense and brought condemnation, but in the second, the gift came after many offenses and brought acquittal" Rom.5:15:16
The new life that Christ came to give us, and the new powers which that life confers on us, require a new birth. In the natural order when we are born of a mother and a father, we are born into human society. In the supernatural order, when we are born of water and the Holy Spirit, in Baptism, we enter a supernatural society, the Catholic Church. Our birth into the Church and into the life we receive as members of this Church is every bit as real as our human birth and human life. We are sharers in human nature. Baptism makes us sharers in the divine nature.
Through Baptism we are enriched with many gifts and virtues which help us to live this new life of the soul. The theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Love have as their aim to unite us to God through Jesus Christ. We are infused with the moral or cardinal virtues of Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance, so called because all the other virtues are regarded as centering upon them. The gifts of Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety and the Fear of the Lord are part of the riches we receive.
The priest is the usual minister of Baptism, but, if there is a danger of death, anyone, even a non-Christian, can baptize, so long as they intend to do what Christ had intended. To Baptize, pour water on the forehead of the person to be baptized, saying while doing so: "I baptize you in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." In this manner, we do what Jesus commanded, that we must must be baptized "of water and the Holy Spirit."
Sanctifying grace,which we receive at Baptism, raises human beings above the natural level because it is a new principle of life. Sanctifying grace raises us to the divine level, the level of God, so that in Heaven we become capable of seeing God face to face. We thus know as God knows, and love as God loves, and we can be happy with God for all eternity.
We are descended from our first parents Adam and Eve.
Our first parents having lost the life of grace through sin, became subject to ignorance, uncontrolled passions, pain, death, and were put out of paradise. They lost the life of sanctifying grace not only for themselves but for all of us, their descendants. Baptism restores that life. However, we are not exactly in the original state of our first parents who were free from suffering and death. After Baptism, we still carry the effects of original sin. But the struggle to deal with life's adversities, with all the help of grace that Jesus has left us, through the sacraments, helps us to grow and gain merit for Heaven. These challenges are for us occasions to grow in virtue. Mary is the only one besides Jesus who came into the world free of original sin. This is known as the Immaculate Conception
Scripture tells us that God has predestined us for adoption.
Our adoption as children of God through sanctifying grace is more perfect than human adoption. In human adoption, the new parents give the child their love. In our adoption by God, He also gives us his love in a special way as a share in His own divine life. To repeat, sanctifying grace is the new life of the soul, which through the Sacrament of Baptism enables us to be more like God and to be united with him. By means of sanctifying grace received at Baptism we are spiritually reborn. We become members of the family of God, who becomes our Father in the supernatural order. As St. Paul noted, "In love He destined us for adoption to Himself through Christ Jesus, in accord with the favor of his will" (Eph.1:5). "As proof that you are children, God, sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, 'Abba, Father!' So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God" (Gal.4:6-7). Saint Peter speaks of the new birth to this divine relationship as "being born anew, not from perishable but from imperishable seed" (1Peter 1:23).
The very reason Jesus came to earth was to confer this divine relationship upon men and women. "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption (Gal. 4:4-5).
