Pope St. Gregory The Great On John 3:5 & The Necessity Of Baptism

Mar 17, 2026

In his work called Moralia (or Morals on the Book of Job), Pope St. Gregory the Great repeatedly teaches that no one is saved without the Sacrament of Baptism.

Pope St. Gregory the Great, Morals on the Book of Job (Moralia), Book 4, #3: “For every man that is not absolved by the water of regeneration, is tied and bound by the guilt of the original bond… And that he who is not washed in the water of salvation, does not lose the punishment of original sin, the Truth plainly declares by Itself in these words: Unless a man is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God [John 3:5].”

In the passage below he cites Our Lord’s words in John 3:5 specifically to affirm that no infant whatsoever can be saved without the Sacrament.

Pope St. Gregory the Great, Morals on the Book of Job (Moralia), Book 9, #32: “For there be some that are withdrawn from the present light, before they attain to shew forth the good or evil deserts of an active life. And whereas the Sacraments of salvation do not free them from the sin of their birth, at the same time that here they never did aright by their own act; there they are brought to torment. And these have one wound, viz. to be born in corruption, and another, to die in the flesh. But forasmuch as after death there also follows, death eternal, by a secret and righteous judgment ‘wounds are multiplied to them without cause.’ For they even receive everlasting torments, who never sinned by their own will. And hence it is written, Even the infant of a single day is not pure in His sight upon earth. Hence ‘Truth’ says by His own lips, Unless a man is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God [John 3, 5]. Hence Paul says, We were by nature the children of wrath even as others. [Eph. 2, 3] He then that adding nothing of his own is mined by the guilt of birth alone, how stands it with such an one at the last account, as far as the calculation of human sense goes, but that he is ‘wounded without cause?’ And yet in the strict account of God it is but just that the stock of mortality, like an unfruitful tree, should preserve in the branches that bitterness which it drew from the root. Therefore he says, For He shall break me with a tempest, and multiply my wounds without cause. As if reviewing the woes of mankind he said in plain words; ‘With what sort of visitation does the strict Judge mercilessly slay those, whom the guilt of their own deeds condemns, if He smites for all eternity even those, whom the guilt of deliberate choice does not impeach?’”

Note that Gregory the Great’s work Moralia was not promulgated as an official papal teaching with the full authority of his office. It was, rather, his personal work and commentary that reflected his views on many topics. Some might interpret the second passage cited above to mean that infants who die without baptism are tormented by the fires of Hell. That was a common belief in the West at the time. However, we know from subsequent papal teaching that while infants who die without baptism are barred from Heaven, they are not punished by the fires of Hell. Since they die with original sin only, without having committed actual mortal sin, they go to a part of Hell where there is no fire. Nevertheless, Gregory’s statements manifest his belief (and the faith of the Church) that no one at all is saved without the Sacrament of Baptism based on John 3:5.

For another passage from the same work in which Pope St. Gregory the Great teaches that no one can be saved without the Sacrament of Baptism, see this post: St. Gregory The Great: All Unbelievers & People Outside The Sacraments Are Lost.