The New Birth and Sin
Question:
If we receive the new birth in baptism, why do we sin after baptism?
Answer:
God, who grants us the grace of the new birth in baptism, cannot at the same time take away from us the grace of freedom.
For freedom is undoubtedly a grace. It is part of the nobility of human nature. And through freedom, we can choose between good and evil.
From here comes the possibility of sin, or falling after baptism.
The new birth in baptism is a grace through which we receive a new, holy nature in the image of God, but it is not infallibility…
Meaning that we do not come out of baptism immune from sin, but we remain free, yet equipped with a spiritual strength that corresponds to the new nature.
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – in El-Keraza Magazine – Year Eight (Issue Forty-Three) 27-10-1977
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