Reflections on a Baptism

Today, I had the honour and privilege of obeying the command of our Lord Jesus Christ and baptizing a new believer. A reading of the Scriptures, and of church history, renders it impossible to do so without a degree of reverential thankfulness and reflective thoughtfulness. Here are some of my reflections.

First, on the Scriptures. I do not see how it is possible to objectively read the New Testament and reject the idea of baptism of believers by immersion. It is everywhere. In the New Testament, the only candidates for baptism are those who have repented of sin and believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, and the only mode of baptism is immersion. In fact to say ‘baptism by immersion’ is a bit odd – the Greek word for baptism, baptizo, is a word meaning ‘immerse’, ‘dip’, ‘cover with water’, and ‘drown’. Curiously, I once heard the word described by a well known Presbyterian theologian as ‘a cataclysmic event’ – not particularly well symbolized by sprinkling or pouring over the head of someone who has not yet experienced cataclysmic change. But enough of these preliminary issues. The text from which I preached on this occasion was Romans 6:1-14. Baptism is a picture of history, unity, and eternity.

History. God the Son became fully man, while remaining fully God. He was called Immanuel, meaning ‘God with us’ (Mt. 1:23) and named Jesus, ‘for he will save his people from their sins’ (Mt. 1:21). Tempted as we are but without sin, he was betrayed, tortured and finally put to death by crucifixion. Just as historically, death entered the world by one man who sinned, so also historically life entered the world by one man who perfectly sacrificed himself. The accomplished life belongs to all who believe (Rom. 5:12-21). This death would be empty of meaning though were it not for the resurrection of Christ. We have no assurance that Christ achieved anything at all if he simply died. If he is still dead we speak foolish lies about God and empty promises of salvation when we are actually still in our sins and without hope before God. He may provide us hope for this life, but we are doomed in the next. Such a terrifying prospect leads Paul to say ‘if in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied’ (1 Cor. 15:19). We can take joy in the historical truth of the resurrection though, for he writes in the next verse, ‘But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead…’ Baptism pictures the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and by being baptized the baptismal candidate professes belief in these things. Without recognition of these historical facts, there is no baptism, only a person getting wet.

Unity. The main point of Romans 6:1-14 is not to defend biblical baptism. It is a passage about unity with Christ. The apostle Paul uses baptism illustratively because it pictures like nothing else the believer’s unity with Christ, that he is now ‘in Christ’, a member of his body. Our unity with Christ in his death, burial and resurrection is wonderfully seen as a person is lowered into the water, portraying death and burial, and as they are raised up out of the water, portraying resurrection. Paul says (Rom. 6:3-4):

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 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.

The following verses continue to expound on this idea of baptism as a picture of unity with Christ. Overall to be united with Christ means five things. We share the walk of Christ, a walk characterized by death and resurrection. We share the mind of Christ as those who ‘know’ (vv. 6, 9) and ‘believe’ (v. 8) in Christ: who he is, why he came, what he has done, and what it means for us. We share the death of Christ, especially his death to sin, therefore we must consider ourselves ‘dead to sin’ (v. 11) and must obey the command of the apostle: ‘Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness…’ (v. 12-13a).  We share the life of Christ, as those who are no longer dead in trespasses and sins, but ‘alive to God in Christ Jesus’ (v. 11) and must obey again Paul’s God-breathed words: ‘present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness’ (13b). Finally we share the triumph of Christ, who when he said ‘It is finished’ was by no means conceding defeat, but was declaring the satisfaction of God’s wrath, the accomplishment of atonement, the defeat of the principalities and powers, Satan and the demons, the end of sin’s reign, and the death of death. ‘It is finished’ is therefore the battle cry of the Saviour who is about to triumphantly enter Paradise with the first fruits of his sacrifice, the thief on the cross, as the demonic world trembles and shakes, completely disarmed and in disgrace before all. In light of our unity in this triumph Paul writes that ‘sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace’ (14). So as I baptized Daniel today, I expressed this unity by saying ‘You are buried with Christ in baptism, raised to walk in newness of life.’

Eternity. When we die, it is not ‘curtains’, ‘the end’, ‘lights off’, a life all over and done with. The text reads: ‘Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him’ (vv. 8-9). The resurrection of Christ was not a puny spiritual resurrection, a ‘he is still alive in our hearts’ phenomenon. It was real and physical. And one day, we will share it. If he chooses to tarry his coming, we will die, but this must be. We must die if we are to fully and finally experience first hand the gift of God, eternal life in the new and glorified bodies of the resurrection. As it is written in 1 Corinthians 15:50-57,

 flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
    "Death is swallowed up in victory." "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

In light of this eternity then, we are commanded ‘be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labour is not in vain’ (1 Cor. 15:58). The person who is baptized proclaims eternity, the belief that one day he will die, but will be resurrected to live forever with his Lord and Saviour.

That brings to a close for now my reflections on Scripture. A quick word on history…

The baptismal pool at Grace Baptist Church in Wood Green where I minister is built into the ground, as are most baptisteries in the United Kingdom. This stems from the days when Baptists were persecuted by Roman Catholics and Protestants alike. There belief that only believers should be baptised was especially offensive, as the membership of the ‘Church’ was based not on how many were actively involved in the life of a congregation as followers of Christ, but on how many people had been christened into the membership as babies. While many baptized in rivers, lakes, and the like, some early baptisteries were carved into the ground and hidden by floorboards, a rug, and perhaps a table over that. While persecution requiring such a system has now ceased, the practice remains, at least in this country. Much has been written about the price people paid and the sacrifices they made to practice biblical baptism. I think though for now, a quote from one of the Anabaptist leaders, Menno Simons, will suffice.

For how many pious children of God have we not seen during the space of a few years deprived of their homes and possessions for the testimony of God and their conscience; their poverty and sustenance written off to the emperor’s insatiable coffers. How many have they betrayed, driven out of city and country, put to the stocks and torture? How many poor orphans and children have they turned out without a farthing? Some they have hanged, some they have punished with inhuman tyranny and afterwards garrotted them with cords, tied to a post. Some they have roasted and burned alive. Some, holding their own entrails in their hands, have powerfully confessed the Word of God still. Some they beheaded and gave as food to the fowls of the air. Some they have consigned to the fish. They have torn down the houses of some. Some have they thrust into muddy bogs. They have cut off the feet of some, one of whom I have seen and spoken to. Others wander aimlessly hither and yon, in want, misery, and discomfort, in the mountains, in deserts, holes, and clefts of the earth…They must take to their heels and flee away with their wives and little children, from one country to another – hated by all men, abused slandered, mocked, defamed, trampled upon, styled ‘heretics.’ Their names are read from pulpits and town halls; they are kept from their livelihood, driven out into the cold winter, bereft of bread [and] pointed at with fingers… 

In light of such a statement, we should approach baptism today with all the greater a spirit of thankfulness and gratitude, as well as prayerfulness for those who still face similar persecution today.

Biblical baptism is quite simply a glorious thing. It was therefore with great joy that the congregation closed the service this morning by singing the following words by Timothy Dudley-Smith:

TELL OUT, MY SOUL, THE GREATNESS OF THE LORD!

Unnumbered blessings, give my spirit voice;

tender to me the promise of his word;

in God my Saviour shall my heart rejoice.

Tell out, my soul, the greatness of his name!

Make known his might, the deeds his arm has done;

his mercy sure, from age to age the same;

his holy name, the Lord, the mighty One.

Tell out, my soul, the greatness of his might!

Powers and dominions lay their glory by.

Proud hearts and stubborn wills are put to flight,

the hungry fed, the humble lifted high.                                 

Tell out, my soul, the glories of his word!

Firm is his promise, and his mercy sure.

Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord               

to children’s children and for evermore!