I actually have been baptized twice in my life. First, I used to be baptized as an infant in a Missouri Synod Lutheran Church. Second, as a believer in a church that required believers’ baptism to show and lead a small group. I freely admit that I didn’t see the purpose of the second baptism. For me, it was a practical decision somewhat than a theological conviction. I wanted to steer a small group and get more involved in my local church; the church required baptism, so I got baptized.
Though I wouldn’t commend my “pragmatic” selection to other Christians, it forced me to think more deeply about baptism. As I reflected on baptism, I started to see that baptism is each mandatory and significant. I’d wish to think that few Christians would disagree with that claim, though agreeing with it doesn’t necessarily mean we understand why baptism is mandatory and significant. Baptism is a posh topic, with each scholars and practitioners disagreeing on the way to interpret key biblical texts and the way to define its sacramental role. There are some facets of baptism which are quite clear.
Baptism and the Commitment to Live Differently
In Matthew 3:7, when John is looking Israel to repent and baptizing people “with water for repentance” (3:11), the Pharisees and Sadducees come to be baptized. Rather than welcoming them, John rebukes them. His rebuke shouldn’t suggest that repentance was being withheld from the Pharisees and Sadducees. Instead, the test seems to suggest that the Pharisees and Sadducees weren’t prepared to repent in a once-for-all manner—a commitment to give up one’s old lifestyle and to embrace one other.
John tells the Pharisees and Sadducees that they need to “bear fruit in step with repentance” (3:8). He reinforces this concept in 3:10, noting that in the event that they should not bearing “good fruit,” they will probably be “cut down and thrown into the hearth.” John’s baptism reflected a commitment that will be evident in a single’s lifestyle. The reference to heritage in John’s rebuke reinforces the emphasis on life change (3:9). One couldn’t simply assume that being Jewish was sufficient to avoid the “winnowing fork” (3:12) of the one who will “baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire” (3:11). The “vipers”—the Pharisees and Sadducees—were, in John’s judgment, not searching for true repentance and were unfit of escaping the approaching judgment (3:7).
In contrast to the Pharisees and Sadducees whose character—as evidenced by their behavior—made them unworthy of John’s baptism, Jesus, in John’s estimation, doesn’t need John’s baptism (3:14). John’s assessment is proven out by the Spirit of God’s descent and the words spoken by the voice from heaven: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I’m well pleased” (3:16-17). These words designate Jesus because the one who will establish God’s kingdom by remaining loyal to the Father’s will. Jesus’s baptism identifies him with the people whilst it separates him from them. He will not be baptized because he must repent. Instead, his baptism points the people to Jesus—following the beloved Son is now the brand new way of life to which the repentant turn.
While water baptism after Jesus’s resurrection takes on the fullness of a specifically Christian theology (cf. Rom 6:4-5), each John’s baptism and Christian baptism reflect public pledges of allegiance to the Triune God. The inclusion of baptism within the Great Commission underscores this concept, in addition to connecting baptism with teaching. In Matthew 28:18-20, we see that Jesus has been given “all authority in heaven and on earth” (28:18). Making disciples is the logical consequence of Jesus’s recent authority. Discipleship, then, is about drawing others under the authority of Christ. Making disciples, as Jesus articulates it here, involves two activities: baptism and teaching. Baptism was the initial pledge of loyalty to the Triune God—a commitment to represent God and his name well (28:19). Teaching involved learning to walk in the way in which of Jesus (28:20).
In the Great Commission, we see that baptism is once more tied to walking in a recent lifestyle. Learning to follow Christ is distinct from baptism, but can’t be isolated from it. To learn the way in which of Jesus requires greater than purchasing just a few books, attending a small group or Sunday school class, and even serving in an area congregation. While these activities might help a person understand what it means to live under the authority of Christ, a commitment continues to be required. That commitment is baptism.
Baptism as Pledge and Commitment
One of the tougher passages on baptism is present in 1 Peter. In addition to the somewhat enigmatic reference to the “spirits in prison” (1 Pet 3:18), Peter writes, “Baptism, which corresponds to this [the deliverance of Noah’s family through the waters of the flood], now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (3:21). At first glance, this text appears to be suggesting that baptism saves. That is a little bit of an issue, given the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Is Peter really suggesting that anyone who happens to be baptized will probably be saved? Is he saying that baptism confers salvation? Not in any respect.
The key to understanding the passage is to acknowledge the qualifiers Peter adds to his baptism that saves. First, it will not be an easy act of immersion. Peter is evident that external cleansing will not be in view (3:21). The water of baptism will not be efficacious in and of itself. Rather, the outward sign points to an inward reality in a way much like circumcision. External circumcision was an indication of the covenant between God and Israel, but that external circumcision was to point toward the necessity for a circumcision of 1’s heart—a consecration of 1’s whole self to the Lord (Jer 4:4).
Second, baptism saves “as an appeal to God for conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (3:21). This word translated “appeal” is probably going related to the making of a covenant or contract—our pledge to bind our lives to the Triune God and to live under the authority of Christ. To play off of James’s identification of the form of faith that saves (Jam 2:14-26), we would say that “saving baptism” must involve a sincere pledge on behalf of the one being baptized.
Baptism is mandatory since it commits us. Think of it when it comes to marriage. Christians don’t imagine that the activities of marriage (i.e., moving in together, getting joint bank accounts, having sex, raising children) constitute marriage aside from a covenantal ceremony—a commitment made before God and others to like each other as a logo of Christ and the church. The commitment is distinct from the activities, however it will not be separable from the activities. Baptism could also be understood in a similar way. It is the ceremonial commitment through which one’s allegiance to Christ is pronounced publicly.
This notion of commitment—a pledge to be loyal to Christ—can be underscored in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. The church in Corinth had begun to splinter resulting from preferences for one teacher or one other. As Paul asks, “What I mean is that every one among you says, ‘I follow Paul,’ or ‘I follow Apollos,’ or ‘I follow Cephas,’ or ‘I follow Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized within the name of Paul?” In this final query, we start to see the connection between baptism and the pledge of commitment one makes to follow Christ. Paul is reminding the Corinthians that they didn’t pledge their allegiance to some specific teacher at baptism, but to the Triune God. In doing so, they not only united themselves to Christ but to 1 one other. The quarreling in the neighborhood was incommensurate with the pledge they made in baptism.
Baptism provides a reference point for one’s ongoing behavior. We can either act in accordance with our commitment by obeying God or neglect our commitment by disobeying him (cf. Deut 30:19-20). Having pledged our allegiance to God, we repent—turn away from our old lifestyle and toward one other. Through baptism, we’re buried with Christ “into his death” (Rom 6:3). Baptism draws us into solidarity with Christ through his death—we share in his death not less than within the sense that, in baptism, we commit to surrendering our old lifestyle in slavery to sin (Rom 6:11-14; 16-17). We are baptized “so that” we may discover with Christ in one other way as well—death comes before resurrection. In the near term, we’re baptized “so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (6:4). Our pledge at baptism opens the way in which for a life reflective of Christ’s victory over death. In the long run, “we will definitely be united with him in a resurrection like his” (Rom 6:5).
This temporary treatment of baptism only scratches the surface of all the varied conversations that is likely to be had concerning baptism. The focus has been on the need and significance of baptism as a pledge of allegiance given to Christ before others, that’s to mark the start (though not necessarily the primary act) of 1’s commitment to Christ. While baptism can often look like a “second thought,” baptism is not any mere symbol. Instead, it’s a ceremonial commitment whereby we agree that (1) the Triune God has a claim on our lives and (2) we’ll live in light of that claim.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Design Pics/Don Hammond
