“Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” (Matthew 28:19)
“Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” (Acts 2:38-39)
Along with the Lord’s Table, baptism is a Christian sacrament, instituted by Jesus himself for all his people to observe. As such, baptism is a “means of grace,” a means by which God communicates his grace to us in Christ for our faith. It is the gracious Word of his favor made visible and tangible as a help to our faith. It is a representative sign that depicts his grace, and an attesting seal that confirms his grace (see Romans 4:11 for this language applied to the Old Testament sacrament of circumcision). “Sacraments are truly named the testimonies of God’s grace and are like seals of the good will that he feels toward us, which by attesting that good will to us, sustain, nourish, confirm, and increase our faith” (John Calvin).
For long ages, God had promised to come to his people, to take his people to himself, to give himself to them, to fill them with himself. He has done this in Christ, the anointed one who anoints us with his own anointing. Jesus has anointed or baptized us, not just with water, but with the Holy Spirit—with all the fullness of God. Jesus is the one who baptizes his people; when pastors administer the sacrament they act on his behalf.
Baptism is the sacrament of belonging to God through union with Jesus Christ. Jesus, the Righteous One, was baptized as if he were a sinner, to pledge his solidarity with us, to repent and secure forgiveness on our behalf. The incarnate Son of God united himself to us in baptism, so that as it goes with him, so it goes with us. Our baptism is a sign and seal of this gracious union. So Paul says “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” (Romans 6:4-5) The benefits of his life, death, and resurrection belong to us through our union with him, which is represented in our baptism.
As the sacrament of belonging, baptism is best administered in the context of the church gathered for worship. We are united to Christ, and therefore to one another. “There is one body… one Lord… one baptism” (Ephesians 4:4-5). We belong to the community and family of God. “Christian baptism is a naming ceremony. The baptized is given a name: the name of the Triune God. Baptism gives Christians their family name, the name they bear as those called the children of God” (Ed Clowney). Together, we are baptized into the very Sonship of Jesus, into the Son’s own place in the Trinity.
Since God always made his promises to his people and to their children (Gen. 3:15; 9:9; 15:5; 17:7-9; 22:17-18; 26:3-4; 28:13; 2 Sam 7:12-16; Isa 44:3; 45:25; Acts 2:37-39), we baptize believers and their children. God relates graciously to us by relating graciously to our children. The God who is himself a Family (Father and Son) includes our families in his covenant of grace.
Baptism is something that happens to us—we are passive in it. Baptism is not spoken of in the Scriptures as our confession of faith or our profession of devotion to him. Baptism is God’s action, God’s declaration of love to us. So the apostles consistently refer to baptism as something God has done, as good news for the encouragement, comfort, and reassurance of God’s people. Disciples do most of their growing in faith and learning about the significance of baptism long after the baptism takes place.
Baptism with water pictures cleansing, purity. God’s forgiving love washes over us, through the blood of Jesus Christ. This is something pictured in the Old Testament as the blood of sacrifices was sprinkled on God’s people. (So we think sprinkling or pouring is a perfectly valid mode of baptism.) Water also pictures new birth, spiritual regeneration, a new creation. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Those baptized into union with Christ belong to the new world defined by God’s love, we belong in the new heavens and new earth.
Have you been baptized as a Christian? If so, do you ever reflect on your baptism and its meaning? What is most important to you about your baptism? Have you learned from the Scriptures why baptism is a blessing? Have you ever sought to encourage someone else by reminding them of the significance of their baptism? Have you considered the union of those in the church to Christ and to each other through baptism as the grounds for our continuing commitment to each other? Why is it good news that baptism is not portrayed in the Scriptures as a profession of the sincerity of our faith or devotion to God? What do you think about the baptism of infants? How should we think of those who were baptized, and have since walked away from God and his people? Why do you think Jesus instituted the sacraments that include such mundane, earthly, material elements as water, bread, and wine?
