Understanding Baptism
There are few things that bring me as much joy as watching someone get baptized. When we baptize an individual we are witnessing their public confession of faith while participating in a church tradition nearly 2000 years old. Baptism is something special we both need to understand and celebrate baptism.
In Matthew 28:19, as part of the great commission, Jesus commanded the 11 disciples, and really all who would come after, to make disciples of Jesus baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is worth noting that, of all the discipleship instructions Jesus could have included in the great commission, the two that he mentions are baptism and teaching. Healthy discipleship should result in not just teaching but baptizing!
Why is something so simple, baptism, so important? For starters, in baptism, the follower of Jesus identifies with Jesus. By the start of the first century, the Jewish people had developed an entire system of rules surrounding life that would supposedly garner some level of favor with God. These rules included such items as how much someone could carry on the Sabbath, how far one could walk on the Sabbath, rules for establishing a synagogue, and a multitude of other rules. Moreover, groups of people assumed that because they were descendants of Abraham they were right with God. Yet, in reality, the people were not right with God. Rules and genetics cannot save a person!
John the Baptist entered the scene in Matthew chapter three and called on the people to turn from their ways. In Matthew 3:13-17 Jesus himself was baptized, not because he needed to repent but rather as an example for all who would come after him to follow. Jesus set the example of publicly identifying with God’s word through baptism. Baptism is important because in baptism we follow the example of the Savior.
In fact, the books of Acts makes it clear that the normal practice for someone who comes to saving faith in Christ is that of baptism. If you carefully read through the book you will find that time and time again conversion is followed by baptism. There are a couple of examples that especially stand out. Peter called on the people to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ in Acts 2:38. In recounting his conversion in Acts 22:16 Paul notes that Ananias commanded him to be baptized after coming to faith in Christ. In fact, in Acts 19:1-6, Paul called for those baptized with John’s baptism to be rebaptized in the name of Jesus. Baptism was the normative practice for anyone who had come to a saving faith in Jesus.
In Matthew 28 baptism was commanded, but more than just commanded, baptism is the normal next step for someone who is following Christ. Given that Baptism is normative it is worth asking what exactly takes place in baptism. The key to understanding what takes place in Baptism is recognizing that baptism is symbolic.
Baptism is an outward physical symbol of an inward spiritual event. That event, salvation through belief in Jesus as Lord and Savior, has already taken place. Baptism symbolizes the death to one’s old way of life and the resurrection to a new way of life by being placed under the water and raised back out.
Romans 6 paints a beautiful picture of what life should look like after salvation. The post-salvation life under the protection of grace but pointed toward Christ-likeness. What do I mean by that? After salvation the Christian is called to strive toward Christ-like obedience and service to God while having the confidence that even when we fail we have the protective umbrella of grace. At the moment of salvation we die toward sin, that is we are no longer bound by sin and are alive toward God. Paul, in Romans 6:4 explicitly reminds us that baptism paints exactly this picture; “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”
In Colossians 2, addressing our need to live life in Christ, Paul again reminds his readers that in baptism we display the change that occurs in salvation; “ having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.” Again, the picture Paul paints is one of death to sin and a post-salvation life lived for God. That is, after the moment of salvation we begin a life where we are free to serve Christ and free to pursue Christ-likeness. In theological terms, we begin progressive sanctification.
As Paul states in 2 Corinthians 2:12, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” Baptism is symbolic of the radical change that occurs at the moment of salvation. The question that often follows such a discussion deserves attention, “is baptism merely symbolic, or does baptism in some way save a person?” In other words, is baptism saving?
The consistent teaching of the New Testament is that salvation is by grace through faith and not of works lest any man should boast (Galatians 2:8-9). Baptism might properly be labeled a work of righteousness. That is, baptism is an act performed by an individual who is already in a right relationship with God as an act of submission to God’s commands. This is consistent with what Jesus states in Matthew 3:15 regarding his own baptism, “Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.”Titus 3:5 reminds the believer that “he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” Baptism is a righteous work (an act of obedience) but righteous works cannot save an individual. In fact, when considering Matthew 3:15 together with Titus 3:5 we again see evidence that baptism follows salvation as a symbolic act of obedience intended to symbolize the regenerative washing of the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation.
The Apostle Paul makes an interesting contrast in 1 Corinthians 1:17. In defending his own ministry to the church in Corinth, Paul states “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel.” The implication is a strong implication, baptism itself cannot be a part of the gospel properly considered. Yes, baptism is important, but it is secondary to the message of salvation and Paul knew this fact.
The gospel or good news is that even though all have sinned (Romans 3:23) and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), Christ died for us in our sins (Romans 5:8), and any who confess faith believing in their heart are saved (Romans 10:9) and have no condemnation (Romans 8:1). The good news of salvation does not depend on baptism.
Already alluded to earlier is the fact that salvation precedes baptism but this fact deserves more attention.
When considering whether or not baptism precedes salvation, there are two key arguments that deserve attention. The first is based on the historical practices of the church recorded in the book of Acts, and the second is based on the logical order of events if baptism is symbolic.
Baptism as practiced in the book of Acts was for those who had already believed in Jesus as their Savior. There are several key examples that deserve attention. At the conclusion of Peter’s sermon in Acts 2 Peter called on the people to “repent and be baptized (verse 38).” In verse 41 we learn that “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.” In our post-cross examples of baptism, we see that the people accepted the message and were then baptized.
In Acts 16 Paul and Silas are thrown into prison and use the opportunity to lead the jailer to Christ. When the jailer asks “What must I do to be saved?” Paul and Silas tell him, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” After believing and caring for Paul and Silas the jailer, together with his household, are baptized.
Since Baptism is Symbolic of an inward change (Rom 6:4) belief must precede baptism.
There is one aspect here that deserves attention. In the case of the Philippian jailer, “he and all his household were baptized (16:33).” The question that must be answered is does this mean that infants were baptized before they were capable of belief? In fact, this is not the case as verse 34 tells us that the jailer and his whole household had come to believe. It seems likely that the phrase household is a more generic umbrella term that is not to be taken as a statement about every living soul but rather broadly as every one of the appropriate maturity.
Another example of this sort of usage for household comes from the discussion of conversion in Corinth found in Acts 18. In Acts 18:8 one of the leaders of the synagogue, Crispus, comes to faith in Christ. The text states that “Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his entire household believed in the Lord.” Hence, in the case of Crispus the phrase “his entire household” cannot include infants who are incapable of belief. Again, household appears to be a more generic term that may or may not include infants.
In fact, other extra-biblical writings offer further support for this way of understanding the term household. In a letter written in approximately 110 AD Ignatius of Antioch, in his concluding remarks writes “I greet the households of my brothers, with their wives and children (The Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans, Author’s translation).” It seems that for Ignatius, simply writing the household was not enough and instead, he takes care to acknowledge that he is also greeting children.
In summary, the argument that whole households were baptized and so these baptisms involved infant baptism lacks strong support. Historically it is not until sometime between AD 200 and AD 206 that infant baptism is explicitly mentioned in ancient writing, and even then, the writer Tertullian argues that it would be more profitable not to baptize infants delaying until they had come to know Christ as Savior (Tertullian, De baptismo, 18:4-9). Tertullian writes as one would if the topic of infant baptism was being disputed not the regular practice of the Church for over 100 years.
The earliest extra-biblical reference to baptism (Didache, 50-70 AD) teaches that a candidate for baptism should fast for one or two days before being baptized suggesting that the practice of the early Church was to baptize only those old enough to have some measure of self-control (Didache, ch. 7). Historically, drawing on the account of Acts and extra-biblical writings there seems to be strong evidence that infants were not baptized.
The argument that the ideal mode of baptism is by immersion stems from the word baptism itself, the practice of baptism recorded in scripture, the symbolism of baptism, and extra-biblical evidence of early Church practices.
The word translated as “baptism,” is from the Greek word “baptizo” (βαπτιζω) meaning “to plunge, wash, dip, or immerse.” As an example, in Mark 7, Jesus, speaking of the traditions of the Pharisees notes that the Pharisees, when returning from the market place do not eat unless they first wash (Mark 7:3-4). What is striking in the verse is that Jesus uses two different words for wash
3 The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing (νίπτω), holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash (βαπτιζω). And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing (βαπτισμός) of cups, pitchers and kettles (NIV).
The Greek word νίπτω refers to a ceremonial washing whereby an individual would use a handful of water as a formality before eating a meal. However, when coming from the marketplace, a more thorough washing was needed, βαπτιζω, a dipping or immersion in water. It is perhaps a little unfortunate that translators even created the English word baptize. So much confusion on the mode of baptism would be eliminated if we simply translated baptize consistently as immerse.
The practice of baptism as recorded in Scripture supports immersion as the preferred mode of baptism. Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, and Matthew 3:16 states that Jesus “went up out of the water.” John 3:23 states that John was baptizing specifically in a location where there was much water. The descriptions of the baptisms performed by John and the baptism of Jesus suggest that immersion was the mode.
Later, in the Book of Acts Philip, one of the first deacons, was able to share the Gospel with an Ethiopian eunuch. Upon passing some water the eunuch asks if he can be baptized and Philip agrees to perform the baptism. The text describes both Philip and the Eunuch as going down into the water and coming up out of the water.
Since baptism is symbolic the symbolism of baptism should be reflected in the practice. Romans 6:4 and Colossians 2:12 teach that baptism is symbolic of the burial and resurrection of Jesus. Immersion provides a powerful picture of burial and resurrection. In immersion, the individual paints a picture of being buried with Christ as they die to their old self. As the individual is brought up out of the water the picture of being resurrected unto a new life is completed.
Finally, it is worth noting that archeology and ancient Church history support baptism by immersion. Archeologists have uncovered baptismal tanks in early churches (Geisler, Systematic Theology in One Volume). Furthermore, in the Didache written between 50 and 70 AD the mode for baptism is explicitly given “And concerning baptism, baptize in this way; having said all this, baptize in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit in living water. But if not having living water, baptize in another water, and if you are not able in cold, then in warm. And if you have not either, pour on the head three times in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (Didache 7:1-3, Author’s translation)” Didache is not authoritative Scripture but it does lend some insights into practices. The early church held that the ideal method of baptizing was in flowing water like a stream or river, but if that was not an option then a warm water source was an option. If neither option was available then pouring was a last resort. What is clear is that the early church practiced immersion as the ideal mode of baptism.
Baptism matters! Jesus commanded baptism and the early church practiced baptism. As a Baptist church, baptism is literally in our name. May we obediently follow Christ making disciples baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
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