The Water Of Baptism Does Not Work By Itself

"So Naaman went down to the Jordan where he washed himself seven times as Elisha had ordered.  His skin became soft like that of a child and he was cleansed.

Then Naaman returned to the man of GOD with all his men.  He entered and said to him, 'Now I know that there is no other GOD anywhere in the world but in Israel.  I ask you to accept these gifts from your servant.'

But Elisha answered, 'I swear by YAHWEH whom I serve, I will accept nothing.'  And however much Naaman insisted, Elisha would not accept his gifts.

So Naaman told him, 'Since you refuse, let me get some sacks of soil from your land--the amount that two mules can carry.  I shall use it to build an altar to YAHWEH, for I shall not offer sacrifices to any other god but HIM.'" - 2 Kings 5:14-17 

(Now Naaman knows there is no other god than the GOD of Israel.  But he cannot desert the world in which he lives and where other gods are honored.  Elisha's answer shows that GOD understands the situation.

The same understanding toward people of good will who follow other religions is expressed in some texts of Genesis and Exodus which were precisely written by prophets of the same groups around Elisha [see Genesis 20:1-7 and Exodus 18:1-20].

Naaman represents a man of good will afflicted with an incurable disease, which is sin, who comes to the Church from far away because he discovers that there is a hidden source of life in it.  The water of baptism does not work by itself; its effectiveness comes from the fact that it is through baptism that we join the people of CHRIST, the Church.)

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