Water baptism manifests by outward act and ______ the inward spiritual experience of ______.

• A. sign; redemption
• B. outward act; faith
• C. symbol; regeneration
• D. ritual; renewal

Answer: (C)

The core idea here is how outward rituals relate to inward grace. Water baptism is understood as an outward act that communicates a deeper, inner reality. It functions as a symbol of what God has done inwardly—the regeneration, or new birth, of the believer by the Holy Spirit. So the phrase fits best by saying baptism is a symbol of the inward spiritual experience of regeneration: the water points to the transformative work of God inside, rather than being the act that itself brings about that change.

This helps distinguish the inward change from the outward ceremony: the baptismal water does not perform regeneration; it visibly represents the new life God has already worked in the believer. Other options try to force different nuances, but they don’t align as neatly with this idea of outward sign pointing to the inner renewal.