An Introduction to the Seven Sacred Mysteries of Orthodoxy

My whole life, I have attended the same Baptist Church. Since I was raised very firmly in Baptist doctrine, I have been taught to honor the commandments as a yielding of my life to Christ. When we accept Christ as our savior, we then make a choice to live a relatively pure lifestyle. Specifically, in a Baptist Church, there are instructions for us to follow after surrendering our lives to Christ. Over centuries, there are traditions that Christians have practiced as acts of faith unto Christ. The practice of baptism is meant to represent a cleansing; a practice such as Communion is purposed for remembering Christ.
Sacraments, in the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Churches, are religious ceremonies: Communion, baptism, matrimony, confirmation, penance, and other ceremonies of like-sort. The Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Churches believe sacraments are a means of grace to the participant. In the Baptist Church, we have ordinances rather than sacraments. Baptist Churches believe ordinances are acts of obedience to a command that Christ has given. Communions and baptisms are the two ordinances of the Baptist Church. We, as Baptists, believe that saving grace is not conveyed by either of the ordinances, and sin cannot be washed away by baptism. Sacraments are viewed by the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Churches as activities God uses to impart salvation.
The act of baptism is executed in different ways depending on the religion. The forms of baptism are sprinkling, pouring, or immersion. Methodist Churches practice sprinkling as a form of baptism; in the traditional Baptist Church, immersion is the only form of baptism practiced. Sprinkling and pouring are executed by the honorable leader taking the object containing the water and either sprinkling or pouring the water over one’s head. A body of water of some sort is needed to execute immersion. Most churches, of various religions, have a baptismal pool which is called a baptistry, in which immersion baptisms are carried out. Immersion is conducted by the honorable leader and baptismal candidates standing in a body of water. The appointed leader lays the candidates backward into the water until they are completely submerged. Finally, he then pulls them back up to their original position. To us of the traditional Baptist Church, it is important to practice immersion because along with the representation of cleansing, it also represents a new life; immersion is an outward illustration of what has taken place inside of us. When accepting Christ as our savior, we often say that, “The old man is dead.”, and we have been, “born again”. The practice of immersion is meant to be a picture of laying an old sinful man down, and when coming out of the water, the new man is pure and clean. The illustration of the new man coming to life makes immersion quite different from the other practices of baptism.
Every religion has its own idea or belief of when a baptism should be conducted. Many religions, such as Catholicism and Methodism, have a baptism as an initiation into the church or a welcoming into the spiritual family. Most religions perform baptisms when one is still an infant, as do some Baptist Churches. Members of the Roman Catholic Church believe that a baptism can only be executed once, and there is neither reason nor condition for a second baptism to ever take place. Other religions, such as Baptist do not require a second baptism, but it is an option if one requests to be baptized again. An individual may request a second baptism as a rededication of oneself. In the traditional Baptist Church, we often refer to baptism as, “believer’s baptism” because we believe that a baptism should take place after a person professes Christ as his or her savior.
Communion allows Christians to engage in a closer relationship with Christ. This particular practice is purposed for remembrance of Christ himself. History tells of Christ conducting Communion at what is known as, “the last supper”; the last supper took place the night before Christ was crucified, and he commanded his disciples, “This do in remembrance of me.” Communion is executed by taking bread and wine, which represent the body and blood of Christ, as an honorable leader conducts the practice by reading corresponding scriptures. Before taking Communion, candidates should make mental preparations for this practice. Various religions have different approaches to Communions and circumstances that vary as to when one can take part in this practice.
Communion in the Roman Catholic Church is viewed as the most important of the seven sacraments. In Catholicism, the circumstances for which Communion can be practiced are dependent on a series of acts which include: an individual’s last confession, whether he or she believes in transubstantiation, whether he or she is in a state of grace, and more. In a Baptist Church, neither the ordinances of baptism nor Communion have an importance over the other. However, in the traditional Baptist Church, a baptism must take place before Communion can be received. Baptism is viewed as a cleansing, and in order to receive Communion one must be clean and have no known sin in his or her life.
Throughout history, the ordinances and sacraments of Communions and baptisms have been identified with Christianity. An individual of every religion has his or her own belief of what he or she calls, “Christianity”. One thing that people of most all religions have in common is that they associate Christianity with faith, pureness, holiness, and separation. An important part of being Christians is setting ourselves apart from the world: the way we dress, the way we speak, and the way we present ourselves in general is commonly known as, “different”. Many people think that simply being different will make them a Christian; however, it is just the opposite. As Christians, we make sacrifices every day in our lives. These sacrifices are not a detriment to our lives, but they help our lives have meaning.