Baptism: The company it keeps
1.
It's too easy to dismiss baptism as something unimportant or optional--
something you can take or leave. We hear that kind of talk and see that
practice in some modern churches and from modern believers. But they
didn't learn this from reading the New Testament scriptures.
THE FREQUENT MENTION OF THE SUBJECT IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
2. Just see for yourself how often the word and the subject is raised in the NT and you may be astonished rather than surprised. Setting aside texts which deal with baptism in the Holy Spirit or with Jewish washings the word occurs about 90 times. It's used a number of times to stand for Christ's redemptive sufferings (Luke 12:50 is an example of this: “I have a baptism to be baptized with” the Master will say.) Most of the occurrences relate to baptism as practiced by John the Baptist. Thirty one of them relate to “Christian baptism”. There are numerous other texts where the subject is raised without the word being mentioned (see John 3:5 and Titus 3:5 as two examples of this).
SUBJECTS TO WHICH IT IS LINKED IN THE NT
3.
But the frequency with which the word occurs is less important than the
company it keeps. We need to note what the New Testament writers and
speakers link it with.
* Forgiveness of sins:Acts 2:38
* Washing away of sins:Acts 22:16
* Salvation: Mark 16:16;Mark 16:16; 1 Peter 3:21
* Entering Christ:Galatians 3:27; Romans 6:3
* Being born again:John 3:3-5
* Being clothed with Christ:Galatians 3:27
* Union with Christ's death:Romans 6:3
* Sharing his resurrection:Romans 4-5
* Receiving the Holy Spirit:Acts 2:38-39
* Entering Christ's Body:1 Corinthians 12:13
* An appeal for (or a pledge to keep) a good conscience before God:
1 Peter 3:21
1 Peter 3:21
* Entering into the security of the name of the Father, Son and Holy
Spirit: Matthew 28:19
Spirit: Matthew 28:19
4.
We'll say something more about a number of these texts but this much
must surely be clear: since baptism is linked with these foundational
blessings and truths, it cannot be unimportant and we won't lightly
dismiss it. (No matter what “we've always believed,” in our better
moments we want the Scriptures to shape our understanding.)
BAPTISM AND FAITH IN THE NT
5.
Central in our response to God is faith (trust). Since we can't depend
on our own goodness we must depend on his. It's that confession of need,
that sense of utter dependence on God that is at the heart of faith.
And faith is the heart of our response to God's gracious work in Jesus
Christ. The Bible teaches that trusting submission has always been the
right response of sinners to God.
6. When Israel marched around Jericho because God said so, faith wasn't absent, it was present-marching (Hebrews 11:30 ). When Noah built his ark as God had commanded, it was built by faith (Hebrews 11:7 ). When Abraham left his home in Ur and later in Haran the Bible says that was faith wandering (Hebrews 11:8-9 ). Modern people might distinguish between faith itself and faith in action, Bible writers wouldn't. In Genesis 15 Abraham simply believes God's promise and is 'justified by faith'. In Genesis 22 he offers his son and is 'justified by faith'. Both Paul and James quote the same scripture (Genesis 15:6 ) about two distinct events (see Romans 4:3 and James 2:21-23).
True faith and the 'obedience of faith' are not separable. The word
'faith' like the word 'love' includes the appropriate response called
for. It cannot and should not be confined to an internal attitude.
7.
Acceptable baptism is always linked to faith in the NT writings. (The
rise and history of 'infant baptism' is an interesting and challenging
subject but you can't find it in the New Testament writings.) Those who
did not trust would not be baptized (see Luke 7:29-30 with Matthew 3:7-8; 21:25). We are told repeatedly that those who believed were baptized; see Acts 8:12 , 38-41; 16:14-15 and 30-33; 18:8 as examples. Not only were these believers baptized, they were eager and joyful when they did so. See Acts 2:38-41; 8:8-12; 8:34-39; and 16:33-34.
8.
This strong link between faith and baptism in the Christian faith makes
perfect sense since baptism proclaims the central events of the
Christian faith: the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (see piece
1). It is the truth about God's gracious work in Christ that convicts us
of our own helplessness and compels us to trust in God. Faith's
confession is made visible in baptism; faith's content is shown in
baptism. While baptism is a distinct act the New Testament doesn't treat
it apart from faith. When believers are baptized they are trusting God
(see this especially clearly in Colossians 2:12
). Baptism points away from the person being baptized to the one who
died and rose to save the world-Jesus Christ. The very act of baptism is
a confession of trust in someone other than ourselves. It doesn't point
to us—it points to him! It denies self-trust and proclaims trust in the
God who raised Christ from the dead. To separate baptism from trusting
submission is to violate its character and the New Testament teaching.
9.
Look at this from another angle. In the New Testament writings, the
blessings that are offered to faith are offered in baptism. Paul insists
that union with Christ is by grace through faith apart from human
merit. But what is offered to faith is received in baptism for he says
in Galatians 3:26-27:
"You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you
who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ." In being
baptized into Christ these people became sons of God "through faith,"
says the text.
10. Paul insists that receiving the Spirit is by faith (Galatians 3:2,14
). No one merits this precious gift; there is no 'work' we can do that
puts God in our debt so that he must give the Spirit to us as a seal, an
anointing and a guarantee (see 2 Cor 1:22; Galatians 4:6 ). But what God promises to faith is received in baptism (Acts 2:38-39; Gal 3:26-27 with 4:6 ). See Acts 5:32; Titus 3:5 and compare Acts 19:1-7 with Ephesians 1:13-14.
11. Every New Testament writer insists that salvation is by faith apart from human merit. We hear that from Peter (Acts 15:10-11) and we read it throughout Paul's writings (Ephesians 2:6-8 and Romans 11:6 are especially clear). So it's clear that our goodness or our good works have no saving power but listen to what 1 Peter 3:21:
"And this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the
removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward
God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ."
12.
Peter preached salvation by pure grace and insisted that salvation by
our own goodness was a yoke none of us could bear (compare Acts 15:10-11 ). Just the same, here he tells us at least three things:
1. What baptism does.
2. What baptism is and is not.
3. How baptism saves us.
13.
Peter simply says 'baptism saves you'. He will just as bluntly say
'faith saves you'. Salvation is given to faith in baptism as a free gift
of God. There is no conflict between Christ's place as the only Saviour
and our humbly submitting to him on his terms. Trusting sinners don't
instruct the Lord or tell him what he can or cannot say, they joyfully
and humbly submit to him (Acts 2:37-41 ). They
will bring their creed into line with his Word when that Word is
understood. His Word will shape their creed, not the reverse.
14.
Baptism, according to Peter, is not a Jewish rite of purification of
the body; it is not a removal of some physical defilement. No, baptism
saves us as an 'appeal' for or a 'pledge' of a good conscience. It isn't
clear how the Greek word eperotema
should be translated. If 'pledge' as many scholars think, baptism is a
formal pledge to keep a good conscience before God. If 'appeal' as other
scholars insist, baptism is an appeal to God for a good conscience.
Baptism, says Peter, saves you—not as a physical or national
purification but as an appeal for a good conscience before God. (See Hebrews 9:13-14.)
15.
And where lies its saving power? Not in baptism or the faith which acts
in baptism but in the redemptive deeds of God in Christ. "Through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ," says Peter. Because faith-baptism links
us with the resurrection of Jesus Christ it is said to save us. Being
baptized "into his death" and being "united with him in his
resurrection" (Romans 6:3-5 ) is how salvation comes to us in baptism (see Colossians 2:11-12 ).
16.
The blessings which come from union with God in Christ are offered to
faith in baptism. It is in baptism that faith expresses its helpless
trust in God. Baptism is faith's confession of the Messiah who died and
rose to save us because we couldn't save ourselves. It is in baptism our
trusting hearts appeal to God for a good conscience. It is neither
right nor wise to deny to God's ordinance of baptism the place his grace
and wisdom have given it. Separating baptism from faith or dismissing
it as optional—that we don't learn from God's Word.