IV. Des sacrements — Le 49e dimanche
The Sign of Washing and Death
Baptism uses water to signify the cleansing of our souls from sin and the mortification of our old nature.
The water of baptism. M: What likeness does water have with these things, so that it can represent them? E: Because the remission of sins is a kind of washing by which our souls are cleansed of their stains, just as the filth of the body is washed away by water.✦ Why the water is put on the head 326. Minister: What about the other part? Examiner: Because our regeneration begins with our nature being put to death, and the result is that we become new creatures through the Spirit of God.1 So the water is put on our heads as a sign of death—yet in such a way that the resurrection is likewise figured for us, in that this is done only for a moment and not to drown us in the water.
The Blood of Christ and the Promise
The water of baptism is a sign, but the true washing of the soul is accomplished by the blood of Christ, which is offered and received through the sacrament.
The blood of Christ is our washing, not the water 327. M: You don't mean that the water is the washing of our souls? E: No. That belongs to the blood of Jesus Christ alone, which was shed to wipe away all our stains and make us pure and unspotted before God (1 John 1:7; 1 Peter 1:19).2 This is accomplished in us when our consciences are sprinkled with it by the Holy Spirit.3 But by the sacrament this is certified to us. Truth joined with the sign. M: Do you mean that the water is for us only a figure of it?4 E: It is a sign in such a way that the truth is joined to it.5 After all, God doesn't promise us anything in vain. So it's certain that in baptism the forgiveness of sins is offered to us, and we receive it.
Faith and the Efficacy of Grace
While baptism offers grace, its efficacy depends on faith, as it draws its power from the death and resurrection of Christ to clothe the believer.
329. M: Is this grace accomplished without distinction in everyone? Elder: No. Many people nullify it through their own perversity. Even so, the Sacrament doesn't lose its nature, though only the faithful experience its effect.6 Regeneration: where its power comes from 330. M: Where does regeneration get its power? S: From the death and resurrection of Christ. For his death has this power: that by it our old Adam is crucified, and our corrupt nature is as it were buried, so that it no longer has the strength to reign.7 And the newness of life, by which we follow the righteousness of God, comes from the resurrection. 331. Minister: How is this grace applied to us in baptism? Elder: It’s because we are clothed there with Jesus Christ and receive his Spirit, provided we don't make ourselves unworthy of the promises given to us in it.
The Right Use of Baptism
The proper use of baptism is found in faith and repentance, manifesting as a life led by the Spirit to mortify sin and follow God's will.
On the use of baptism 332. Minister: For our part, what is the right way to use baptism? Student: It consists of faith and repentance. That is, that we should be certain of having our spiritual purity in Christ, and that we should sense within ourselves, and declare to our neighbors by our works, that His Spirit lives in us to mortify our own desires, so as to lead us to follow the will of God.8
Read the original Latin
L'eau du baptême 325. M : Quelle similitude a l'eau avec ces choses pour les représenter? E : Parce que la rémission des péchés est une espèce de lavement par lequel nos âmes sont purgées de leurs macules, ainsi que les ordures du corps sont nettoyées par l'eau.
L'eau, pourquoi est mise sur la tête 326. M : Touchant l'autre partie? E : Parce que le commencement de notre régénération est que notre nature soit mortifiée, l'issue [est] que nous soyons nouvelles créatures par l'Esprit de Dieu. L'eau donc nous est mise sur la tête en signe de mort, toutefois en telle sorte que la résurrection nous est semblablement figurée, en ce que cela se fait seulement pour une minute de temps et non pas pour nous noyer en l'eau.
Le sang de Christ est notre lavement, non l'eau 327. M : Tu n'entends pas que l'eau soit le lavement de nos âmes? E : Non pas. Car cela appartient au sang de Jésus-Christ seulement, qui a été répandu pour effacer toutes nos souillures et nous rendre purs et impollus devant Dieu (1 Jean 1:7 ; 1 Pierre 1:19). Ce qui est accompli en nous quand nos consciences en sont arrosées par le Saint-Esprit. Mais par le sacrement cela nous est certifié.
Vérité jointe avec la figure 328. M : Entends-tu que l'eau nous en soit seulement une figure? E : C'est tellement figure que la vérité est conjointe avec. Car Dieu ne nous promet rien en vain. Par quoi il est certain qu'au baptême la rémission des péchés nous est offerte, et nous la recevons.
329. M : Cette grâce est-elle accomplie indifféremment en tous? E : Non. Car plusieurs l'anéantissent par leur perversité. Néanmoins, si ne laisse pas le sacrement d'avoir telle nature, combien qu'il n'y ait que les fidèles qui en sentent l'efficace.
Régénération, d'où prend sa vertu 330. M : La régénération, d'où prend-elle sa vertu? E : De la mort et résurrection de Christ. Car sa mort a cette vertu que par icelle notre vieil Adam est crucifié et notre nature vicieuse est comme ensevelie pour n'avoir plus vigueur de régner. Et la nouveauté de vie, pour suivre la justice de Dieu, procède de la résurrection.
331. M : Comment cette grâce nous est-elle appliquée au baptême? E : En tant que nous sommes là vêtus de Jésus-Christ, et y recevons son Esprit, moyennant que nous ne nous rendions pas indignes des promesses qui nous y sont données.
De l'usage du baptême 332. M : De notre côté, quel est le droit usage du baptême? E : Il gît en foi et en repentance. C'est que nous soyons certains d'avoir notre pureté spirituelle en Christ, et sentions en nous et déclarions à nos prochains par oeuvres que l'Esprit d'icelui habite en nous pour mortifier nos propres désirs, afin de nous faire suivre la volonté de Dieu.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Eph.5.26-Eph.5.27 — in order that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, Eph.5.27 — so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, so that she might be holy and blameless.
Notes
- 1 ↩Source supplies editorial [est] before que nous soyons; translated with that restored copula as the intended reading.
- 2 ↩Source "impollus" is a Latinate form (cf. Latin impollutus, unpolluted/undefiled); rendered "unspotted" to keep the paired sense with "purs" and the 1 Peter 1:19 register.
- 3 ↩"en" points back to the blood of Christ; "arrosées" is kept as sprinkling (not mere watering) to preserve the sacrificial/ritual force.
- 4 ↩French figure is the sacramental sign (not a bare empty symbol). Kept as figure to match the dialogue's technical contrast with vérité (the reality).
- 5 ↩C'est tellement figure que is elliptical Middle French: not 'so much a figure that nothing more remains,' but 'a figure of such a kind that the reality (vérité) is conjoined with it'—Calvin's non-empty sacramental figure.
- 6 ↩Middle French «si ne laisse pas … d'avoir» is emphatic continuity (does not cease to have), not a conditional «if». «Efficace» rendered as «effect» for natural modern cadence; sacramental «efficacy» is the more technical alternative.
- 7 ↩Middle French 'icelle' = 'it' (his death); 'vertu' rendered as power/efficacy rather than moral virtue.
- 8 ↩French « gît » / « C'est que… » unpacks the right use as both assurance (certainty of purity in Christ) and lived response (interior sense and outward works). « l'Esprit d'icelui » = Christ's Spirit.
Catechism of the Church of Geneva (Le catéchisme de l'Église de Genève) companion
Rule yourself daily, not just on retreat
Chosen Portion turns the mirror into a daily practice — a short reading and examining question each morning before you lead anyone.
Chosen Portion makes the mirror daily: the ruler-formation questions this collection preserves become a two-minute morning examination in the app.
- A daily formation reading drawn from centuries of counsel to those in authority
- One pointed examination question a day — two minutes, before the meetings start
- Track your practice over weeks and watch the examined life become a habit