Take a look and see if any of this helps:
http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith7105"There are special experiences in our corporate life as Orthodox Christians when the perception of God's presence and actions is heightened and celebrated. We call these events of the Church Sacraments. Traditionally, the Sacraments have been known as Mysteries in the Orthodox Church. This description emphasizes that in these special events of the Church, God discloses Himself through the prayers and actions of His people.
Not only do the Sacraments disclose and reveal God to us, but also they serve to make us receptive to God. All the Sacraments affect our personal relationship to God and to one another. The Holy Spirit works through the Sacraments. He leads us to Christ who unites us with the Father. By participating in the Sacraments, we grow closer to God and to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This process of deification, or theosis, as it is known by Orthodoxy, takes place not in isolation from others, but within the context of a believing community. Although the Sacraments are addressed to each of us by name, they are experiences which involve the entire Church.
…The Sacrament of Baptism incorporates us into the Church, the Body of Christ, and is our introduction to the life of the Holy Trinity. Water is a natural symbol of cleansing and newness of life. Through the three-fold immersion in the waters of Baptism in the Name of the Holy Trinity, one dies to the old ways of sin and is born to a new life in Christ. Baptism is one's public identification with Christ Death and victorious Resurrection.”
"One does not become a Christian automatically. Fr Schmemann, a respected Orthodox theologian, said, “It is not mere belonging to the Church that saves, for there is no magic in Christianity, but the acceptance of the Spirit of Christ.” St. Peter said, “Repent, and every one of you must be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). To become truly a Christian, one must agree freely to be converted, to repent, to turn to Christ, and accept His Holy Spirit. In baptism there is something that is done by God and something that is done by man. Man responds to God’s initiative. He accepts the gift and turns with faith to follow Christ as Lord.
The new life, initiated by baptism and sustained by the Eucharist, becomes the way to follow as one walks through this world. This means that salvation is not instant. It begins on the day of our baptism and chrismation when we renounce the devil, receive Christ, and accept the gift of the Holy Spirit. From that moment we begin a process of slow spiritual growth. The sacraments of the Church provide us with the grace we need to become gods by grace, deified, “partakers of divine nature” as St. Peter says. Our salvation (deification) begins at baptism and continues throughout life. It is a process of unending spiritual growth. “Keep working with fear and trembling to complete your salvation,” writes St. Paul (Phil. 2:12).
Simon Tugwell, a patristic scholar, expressed it succinctly when he wrote, There can be no brisk “On with the new man, off with the old!”A long process of growth is required to bring us to perfection. Baptism gives us an “image of perfection” but this has to mature slowly, just as a baby is, in one sense, fully formed, but still has to grow. The immediate result of baptism is that there are now two “personae” at work in us. Sin and grace coexist in us. The important thing is that we should side with grace There is no end to baptism; it is ongoing, a lifelong journey. The sins committed following baptism also need to be washed away by water, but this time it is the water of our tears, the tears of repentance. As we renounced the evil one in baptism and united ourselves to Christ, so we need to keep saying “yes” to Jesus and “no” to Satan many times each day as we go through life."
http://www.goarch.org/archdiocese/departments/outreach/resources/brochures/renewal/Baptism.pdf
