The answer
We describe Baptism as being one in order to convey that it cannot be repeated. Baptism is a spiritual birth from above, and just as man cannot physically be born except once, spiritual birth also cannot be repeated. Baptism also is the likeness of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. Christ too died once (Rom. 6:4-10). It is done by immersion in water, because that is what is understood from the act of burial, and because this was how the Master Christ was baptised (Matt. 3:16).
This is why we proclaim in the Creed, “[W]e confess One Baptism, for the remission of sins” (cf. Eph. 4:5).
His Holiness Pope Tawadros II
Pope Tawadros II, My Faith: A Series of Dialogues on the Creed (Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate, 2014), 145–146.
The pages in the book (145–146)
