Covenant and Baptism

Heidelberg Catechism Lord's Day 26
Baptism

Q&A 69
Q. How does baptism remind you
and assure you that Christ's one
sacrifice on the cross is for
you personally?

A. In this way: Christ instituted
this outward washing^1 and with
it gave the promise that, as
surely as water washes away the
dirt from the body, so certainly
his blood and his Spirit wash
away my soul's impurity, in
other words, all my sins.^2

1-Acts 2:38
2-Matt. 3:11; Rom. 6:3-10; 1 Pet. 3:21

Q&A 70
Q. What does it mean to be washed
with Christ's blood and Spirit?

A. To be washed with Christ's blood
means that God, by grace, has
forgiven my sins because of
Christ's blood poured out for me
in his sacrifice on the cross.^1
To be washed with Christ's Spirit
means that the Holy Spirit has
renewed me and set me apart to be
a member of Christ so that more
and more I become dead to sin
and increasingly live a holy and
blameless life.^2

1-Zech. 13:1; Eph. 1:7-8; Heb. 12:24;
1 Pet. 1:2; Rev. 1:5
2-Ezek. 36:25-27; John 3:5-8;
Rom. 6:4; 1 Cor. 6:11; Col. 2:11-12

Q&A 71
Q. Where does Christ promise that
we are washed with his blood and Spirit as surely as we are washed
with the water of baptism?

A. In the institution of baptism
where he says: "Therefore go and
make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit."^1
"Whoever believes and is
baptized will be saved, but
whoever does not believe will
be condemned."^2
This promise is repeated when Scripture calls baptism the
washing of rebirth^3 and the
washing away of sins.^4

1-Matt. 28:19
2-Mark 16:16
3-Titus 3:5
4-Acts 22:16