Jesus Christ spoke with one voice and taught His disciples the truth in all things. It was easy for Him, for God cannot lie. We, unfortunately, can lie, deceive, and distort the truth. Men and women have succumbed to this weakness from the moment Adam and Eve disobeyed God.

In today's world there are more than 26,000 Christian denominations that profess to live and teach the same truth that Jesus taught His disciples. A person doesn't need much intelligent to recognize that 26,000 plus denominations cannot be teaching identical Christian doctrine. Christians only need to compare their denomination's view of Baptism to how other denominations view it to recognize that man has distorted the truth.

Some denominations believe that Baptism sets us free from sin and is necessary for salvation; others do not. Some denominations believe that Baptism is merely symbolic and has no effect on the soul; others believe it does affect the soul. Some denominations baptize in the name of Jesus only; others baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There can only be one true view of Baptism; so who is right? Jesus established one Church. Find that Church and you'll find God's teaching on Baptism. If you're a baptized Christian, you're a member of Jesus' One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church that He built on the Rock: Saint Peter. Jesus' one, true Church teaches that Baptism is necessary for salvation and is regenerative: through Baptism every man, woman, and child is reborn as a child of God.

The Catechism says that Baptism makes us members of the Body of Christ and incorporates us into His Church. Saint Paul says in 1 Cor 12:13, "For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body." This one body is the Body of Christ. Baptism is the normative way that men, women, and children are cleansed of the stain of Original Sin and become members of the one body of Jesus Christ: His Church. When we are baptized with water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit we become members of the Church which is Christ's body.

There is an important point to be made here. The Church has always taught that the Sacrament of Baptism can only occur once. Every Christian, regardless of his or her denomination, became a member of Jesus' one Body, His one Church at the moment he or she was baptized with water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Baptism, done in the name of Jesus only, is not a true Baptism; it does not cleanse the soul of original sin and one is not reborn as a child of God.

Here's a beautiful, caring, and loving part of the Church's teaching on Baptism. A properly baptized, non-Catholic Christian who decides to become Catholic is not re-baptized into the Catholic Church. Why? Their Baptism in a non-Catholic environment made them a member of Jesus' body, the Church. Once you become a member of the Body of Christ, you remain forever a member of the Body of Christ---unless one freely chooses hell as his final destination.

The Catechism (790) says, "Believers who respond to God's word and become members of Christ's Body, become intimately united with Him." Baptism unites us to Jesus' death and resurrection. Much of the Church's teaching on Baptism and the Body of Christ come from the Biblical writings of Saint Paul. You need to find time to read all of chapter 12 of Paul's first Epistle to the Corinthians. In it he develops and explains his metaphor of Jesus, His Body, and its parts.

The Catechism (791), in quoting Lumen Gentium from Vatican II, points out that the body's unity does not do away with its member's diversity. "In the building up of Christ's Body there is engaged a diversity of members and functions. There is only one Spirit who, according to his own richness and the needs of the ministries, gives his different gifts for the welfare of the Church." This teaching comes directly from the Bible. Saint Paul says in 1 Cor 12:14, 17-19, 22-26, "Now the body is not a single part, but many...If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God placed the parts, each one of them, in the body as He intended...Indeed, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are all the more necessary, and those parts of the body that we consider less honorable we surround with greater honor, and our less presentable parts are treated with greater propriety, whereas our more presentable parts do not need this. But God has so constructed the body as to give greater honor to a part that is without it, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the parts may have the same concern for one another. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy."

Digest Saint Paul's comforting and insightful words. They should enlighten and strength every Christian's resolve to do God's will. He truly loves each and every one of us---irregardless of our size, color, intelligence, skills, or abilities.

For more insight read CCC paragraphs 694, 790-96, 798, 1213, 1227, 1267-74, 1279, 1282, 1396. Also, pull out your "Catholic" Bible and reference Jn 3:1-6; Acts 2:38; 1 Cor 12:1-31; Eph 4:25.