CHAPTER 12. Against those who maintain that baptism in the
ST. BASIL THE GREAT
to label those who deny the Spirit? They must be described in the same way, for they have broken their covenant with God. Professing faith in Him wins the blessings of true religion, but damnation will be the wages of the godless who have denied Him. To forsake the profession of faith is a fearful thing, and they have abandoned it not through fear of fire, or sword, or cross, or flogging, or the wheel, or the rack, but only because they have been led astray by the deceitful sophistries of the Spirit-deniers (pneumatomachoi). I swear to every man who confesses Christ but denies the Father: Christ will profit him nothing. If a man calls upon God, but rejects the Son, his faith is empty.
If someone rejects the Spirit, his faith in the Father and the Son is made useless; it is impossible to believe in the Father and the Son without the presence of the Spirit. He who rejects the Spirit rejects the Son, and he who rejects the Son rejects the Father. "No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except in the Holy Spirit," **° and "no one has ever seen
God; the only-begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has make Him known." ** Such a person has no part in true worship. It is impossible to worship the Son except in the Holy Spirit; it is impossible to call upon the Father except in the Spirit of adoption.
CHAPTER 12. Against those who maintain that baptism in the Lord's name alone is sufficient.
28.
Do not be misled because the Apostle frequently omits the names of the Father and the Holy Spirit when he speaks of baptism. Do not imagine because of this that 490'T Cor12:37
181 Jn, 1:18.
ON THE HOLY SPIRIT
the invocation of their names has been omitted. St. Paul says, "As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ" *"' and "...all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death."
To address Christ in this way is a complete profession of faith, because it clearly reveals that God anoints the Son
(the Anointed One) with the unction of the Spirit. We can learn this from Peter's words in Acts: "God anointed
Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit," ** or from Isaiah:
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me." *" or from the Psalms: "Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows." *° But Scripture also clearly speaks of baptism in the context of the Spirit alone, e.g.,
"For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body." **"
There are other passages which agree with this: "You shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit," ** and "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." *° No one would claim that on the basis of these passages the invocation of the Spirit's name alone makes baptism complete and perfect; the tradition we have received through life-giving grace must remain unchanged forever. He who redeemed our life from corruption gave us the power to be renewed, and the source of this power is hidden in an indescribable mystery. It brings great salvation to our souls, but to add or to take anything away from it is to forfeit eternal life.
The position of the baptizer who separates the Spirit from the Father and the Son is precarious indeed, since the baptism received from him is useless. How can we be safe if we tear the Spirit away from the Father and the Son?
Faith and baptism are two inseparably united means of salvation. Faith is perfected through baptism; the founda182: Gal. 3:27.
185 Ts, 61:1.
138 Acts 1:5.
183 Rom. 6:3.
186 Ps, 45:7.
499 Lk-3216:
184 Acts 10:38.
1377 Cor. 12:13: