What it is:
Under normal circumstances, water baptism is required for entrance into heaven, since it is the Sacrament that brings about the new birth (BAPTISMAL REGENERATION) and incorporates the baptized individual into the Church. What happens when a sincere person strives to live a good life, but is not baptized because no one shared with them the gospel of Jesus Christ? Can that person go to heaven? While baptism is the only sacrament that produces the grace of justification, two other de facto baptisms can produce the same result. They are termed the "Baptism of Desire" and the "Baptism of Blood." In cases where water baptism is a physical or moral impossibility, salvation is still possible.
The baptism of desire is defined in the Catholic Encyclopedia as "a perfect contrition of heart, and every act of perfect charity or pure love of God which contains, at least implicitly, a desire (votum) of baptism." The ministry of the Holy Spirit is evident in such a person, displayed in the fruit of the Spirit. According to the Catechism, "Every man who is ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of His Church, but seeks the truth and does the will of God in accordance with his understanding of it, can be saved. It may be supposed that such persons would have desired Baptism explicitly if they had known its necessity" (CCC1260, italics in original).
Thus, those who earnestly seek for God in other religions do not search in vain. Vatican II, in Lumen Gentium, states that the Catholic Church considers all goodness and truth found in these [non-Christian] religions as "a preparation for the Gospel and given by him who enlightens all men that they may at length have life."
The second irregular means of salvation is the Baptism of Blood. If a person somehow is martyred for the faith without being baptized, that person still receives the benefits of water baptism. In fact, the Catholic Church teaches that PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD must not be said on behalf of martyrs, since they are ushered directly into heaven, bypassing PURGATORY.
How it came about:
The Catholic Church teaches that Jesus requires water baptism for salvation, according to John 3:5, "...unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. However, after Jesus declared this necessity, He later promised justifying grace for acts of charity or perfect contrition. This is based on John 14:21 "he who loves Me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will disclose myself to him." And John 14:23: "If anyone loves Me, he will keep my word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him." These texts declare that justifying grace is bestowed on account of acts of perfect charity or contrition. In summary, the Council teaches that men cannot obtain original justice "except by the washing of regeneration or its desire." The Catechism states "God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments" (CCC 1257, italics in original). A person, therefore, can enter the kingdom of heaven either through water, through love, or through martyrdom.
Why it is a wrong:
1) ...because the baptism of desire eliminates the necessity of faith in Jesus Christ for salvation;
2) ...because of its circular reasoning that justifying grace (which is necessary in Catholic teaching for regeneration) is bestowed as a result of perfect love, which itself must be the result of justifying grace;
3) ...because it overrides the clear teachings of Scriptures that no one is righteous, and that all are deserving of eternal damnation;
Warnings from Scripture:
"And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." Hebrews 11:6 and "if you confess with your mouth Jesus, and believe in your heart that God rasied Him from the dead, you will be saved;" Rom. 10:9
"But as many as received Him [Jesus], to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." Jn. 1:12-13
"as it is written, 'there is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God;" Rom. 3:10, and "So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy." Rom. 9:16
