The Meaning & Mode of Baptism
I. WHAT DOES THE WATER OF BAPTISM SYMBOLIZE?
A. Cleansing the Unclean
Cleansing rituals using water were not something that began with John the Baptist. They have Old Testament roots. For example:
The LORD said to Moses: “Take the Levites from among the other Israelites and make them ceremonially clean. To purify them, do this: Sprinkle the water of cleansing on them; then have them shave their whole bodies and wash their clothes, and so purify themselves (Numbers 8:5-7).
Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to take some hyssop, dip it in the water and sprinkle the tent and all the furnishings and the people who were there. He must also sprinkle anyone who has touched a human bone or a grave or someone who has been killed or someone who has died a natural death. The man who is clean is to sprinkle the unclean person on the third and seventh days, and on the seventh day he is to purify him. The person being cleaned must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and that evening he will be clean (Numbers 19:18-19).
The truth symbolized in these cleansing rituals is clear: cleansing from ritual defilement. People who broke the “clean laws” were unclean and unclean people could not come into God’s presence without being cleansed. The rituals included dipping [bapto in the Greek translation of the Old Testament] a branch in water and sprinkling the unclean person. Washing or cleansing from defilement is pictured visibly in the ritual, and it is a fitting symbol. We understand what it means to be dirty and in need of washing. From our everyday experience, we can grasp the truth that our hearts are unclean and need cleansing from the pollution and defilement of sin.
When John came on the scene before the coming of Christ, he called people to submit to baptism (The words for baptism in the New Testament is baptizo, which can mean to immerse in some contexts, but generally has a slightly different nuance. It’s a different word than bapto, which means dip or immerse, so translators did not translate it with the English word dip or immerse. This is pretty typical with Greek words. The simpler words have a straightforward meaning. The longer word adds a specialized meaning or sometimes a metaphorical meaning.
John’s baptism before the coming of Christ was a baptism of repentance. People were unclean, polluted, dirty before God. To make themselves ready to meet the coming Redeemer, they must be cleansed. The cleansing of John’s baptism was symbolic. It was their hearts that needed cleansing, not their bodies. Water is the most fitting symbol for washing and cleansing. But washing with water can’t actually cleanse the heart. That’s why John said, “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Matthew 3:11). I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1:8). “I baptize you” has a metaphorical meaning in the context. If “baptize” means “immerse,” then John was saying, “I immerse you with water, but the Christ will immerse you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Does that seem to catch the meaning of what the Holy Spirit did when He was poured out? What about the fire – when/how were believers immersed in fire? But if baptize is being used as a metaphor for the whole cleansing work of the Holy Spirit, then John was saying, “I cleanse you (symbolically) with water, but the Christ will cleanse you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Certainly to be baptized with fire is a metaphor! Fire, which burns away impurities, is a fitting symbol for the work of the Holy Spirit, who cleanses us from all the guilt of sin and from the dominating power of sin.
Consider these passages that promise the cleansing of people’s hearts as the New Covenant work of the Holy Spirit:
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And afterward, I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws (Ezekiel 36:25-27).
…till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest (Isaiah 32:15)
Jesus said, “For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:5). When the Spirit was poured out and people were baptized with the promised Holy Spirit, what was it like? In Acts 2, Peter explains what had just happened with these words: “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams……Exalted to the right hand of God, He [Jesus] has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear” (Act 2:17 and 33).
Again, if “baptize” means “immerse”, how were those people immersed in the Holy Spirit? Immerse doesn’t seem to be the main idea. It is a pouring out on people, not an immersion. Yet this pouring out is called the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 2, it was literally “with fire” as the tongues of fire came and settled on people. They were baptized with fire, as John said they would be – visibly – but even that visible fire was a symbol of an internal work God was doing in people’s lives by the Holy Spirit.
- Washing / Cleansing
To “baptize” in some passages clearly means “to wash” though the washing may not have been done by an immersion or dipping. Consider these examples:
The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with “unclean” – that is, ceremonially unwashed – hands. (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they first wash[some manuscripts of the NT use baptize for this word, others use pantizo – to sprinkle]. And they observe many other traditions, such as washing[baptizing] cups, pitchers, and kettles.) So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with `unclean’ hands?” (Mark 7:1-5).
When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him: so he went in and reclined at the table. But the Pharisee, noticing that he did not first wash [baptize himself] before the meal, was surprised (Luke 11:37-38). Here the word baptize is used with reference to the act of washing or cleansing, which, according to Mark 7, was performed not by taking a bath and immersing the whole body, but by pouring water on the hands.
Conclusion: “Baptize” certainly MAY mean immerse, but it does not necessarily or always mean immersion. When the New Testament is translated into English, if there is an English word that is equivalent to a Greek word, the translators use that word. When it came to the word “Baptizo,” there was no English equivalent – no one English word captures the meaning of the word baptize in every context. Therefore, they “anglicized” the Greek word and brought it straight into the English – baptizo – baptize! If it always meant immerse, they would have translated it immerse!
C. Baptism symbolizes the Blood of Christ Applied to Believers
Building on the Old Testament imagery of cleansing through ritual washings that involved sprinkling, the writer of Hebrews says:
10 They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings – external regulations applying until the time of the new order (Hebrews 9:10). The word for washings here is “baptizmois” – ceremonial baptisms! In the following verses, three examples of these ceremonial baptisms are described:
11 When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, He went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! 15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant – now that He has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
16 In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, 17 because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. 18 This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. 19 When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. 20 He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.” 21 In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. 22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
What did the sprinkling with blood symbolize? Cleansing through the death of a substitutionary sacrifice. When we sprinkle with water in baptism, this cleansing with the blood of Christ, our sacrifice, is represented!
…Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:22-24). The sprinkling with water symbolizes this inward cleansing work of the Holy Spirit, who washes us and cleanses us as the finished work of Christ is applied to us individually.
…who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by His blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance (I Peter 1:2). When were you sprinkled by the blood of Jesus Christ? When God poured out His Spirit into your life and joined you to Christ, making you a participant in Christ’s saving work. Your baptism is the outward sign of this inward work of God’s Spirit.
The water of baptism, therefore, symbolizes the cleansing work of God’s Spirit. He washes away my sin. He gives me a new heart. He applies the blood of Christ to me.
- WHAT ABOUT ROMANS 6 – DEATH, BURIAL, AND RESURRECTION?
Many people are convinced that baptism is primarily a symbol of their death, burial, and resurrection into Christ. Going under the water symbolizes their death. Pausing under the water symbolizes their burial. Coming up out of the water symbolizes their resurrection. For many people, this death, burial, and resurrection represents THEIR commitment to identify with Jesus: their choice to die to the old life and live for Christ. But is that what Romans 6 is about? Is Paul giving a baptismal formula or pattern in these verses? To answer that question you have to consider the context where these words are found.
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 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 (Romans 6:1-4).
What is Paul’s purpose in this passage? Is he giving instruction on how to perform the ritual of baptism? Or is he talking about the ethical implications of our union with Christ? What does the word baptize mean in this context? Cleansed? Washed? Christ’s saving work applied to us? Is water baptism even in Paul’s mind as he pens these words?
He uses the word baptize in a similar way in I Corinthians 10:
For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank form the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert (I Corinthians 10:1-5).
What does “baptized” mean in this passage? Immersed into Moses? Clearly “baptized” here does not mean cleansed or washed. The meaning is metaphorical. Up to this time, the Israelites could have turned back and returned to Egypt. But once they crossed through the Red Sea, there was no going back! They were united to Moses now. A change had taken place in that decisive event. They were baptized into Moses!
When scholars look at the way the word Baptizo (baptized) was used in non-biblical classical Greek, the idea is often that of a transformation or change taking place. For example, Josephus used the word to describe crowds of people who flooded the city of Jerusalem and wrecked the city. Other examples are the dying of cloth and the drinking of too much wine. In each of these cases there is a liquid (or something like liquid – a large crowd that floods a city) but the essential idea is a change. Dyed cloth changes color. One who drinks too much wine is changed.
With this meaning in mind, you can understand more clearly what Paul is saying in Romans 6 and in I Corinthians 10. He wasn’t talking about the sacrament of water baptism at all in either place. The only people immersed in the Red Sea during the time of Moses were the Egyptian soldiers. The Israelites didn’t even get their feet wet! But the people of Israel were changed along with Moses as a result of the Red Sea crossing. And that seems to be the idea in Romans 6 as well. You died. You can’t go back to your old life. There has been a very real, decisive change within you. Having been joined to Christ, you are not who you once were!
The decisive nature of this change is in view in Galatians 3:27 “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” Is he saying all of you who were immersed through water baptism into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ? It doesn’t seem he’s referring to the sacrament of baptism at all because being clothed with Christ doesn’t fit the picture of water baptism. He’s talking about a new identify! A soldier who puts on the uniform of the army changes identify from being a civilian to being an enlisted person. You who have been joined to Christ have been changed and have taken on a new uniform. You are no longer who you once were. Now you belong to Christ. You can’t go back to what you were.
Or consider Mark 16:16 – “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved…” Lots of people have taken that to mean that unless a person first believes and then is immersed in water, he cannot be saved. But that denies the gospel of salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone. If baptism is necessary for salvation, then the thief on the cross who believed wasn’t really saved. He didn’t have a chance to be baptized.
If you can see that “baptized” in the New Testament does not always refer to the sacrament of water baptism, then passages like this will make sense. Jesus is saying in Mark 16 that a person needs to be identified with him, joined to him, united to Christ to be saved. It’s the same idea as when He called His followers to deny themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow Him.
“Baptized” in Romans 6 means that a true follower of Christ is joined to Christ so truly that his old life is gone. He died to it, like a person who has been executed. That death is so real that it’s like he’s been buried already. You have been taken out of one state and brought into another by God’s grace – you are a new creature in Christ, raised to new life just as Jesus was raised from the dead by the power of God’s Spirit. The sacrament of water baptism is not in view at all. So to take this as a formula for baptism – that immersion represents this death, burial and resurrection – is to read into the passage a meaning that isn’t there.
Your baptism DOES symbolize this radical union with Christ. As God’s Spirit is poured out on you, you are cleansed from the penalty of your sin by the blood of Jesus Christ, which has been sprinkled on the altar as a sacrifice of atonement for you. You have been given a new heart, a clean heart as God’s Spirit sets you free from the controlling power of sin. Being joined to Christ, your old state is gone. You’ve been brought into a new state, a new condition with a new power for obeying God and changing. But the WAY baptism is done – whether you are immersed in water or water is poured our sprinkled on you – is not clearly defined. It seems fitting, in view of the long history of sprinkling in the whole Bible, to stay with that pattern for baptism.
II. HOW IS BAPTISM A MEANS OF GRACE?
- Seeing Someone Else Baptized
The Westminster Larger Catechism, Question 167: How is our baptism to be improved by us?
Answer: The needful but much neglected duty of improving our baptism, is to be performed by us all our life long, especially in the time of temptation, and when we are present at the administration of it to others; by serious and thankful consideration of the nature of it, and of the ends for which Christ instituted it, the privileges and benefits conferred and sealed thereby, and our solemn vow made therein; by being humbled for our sinful defilement, our falling short of, and walking contrary to, the grace of baptism, and our engagements; by growing up to assurance of pardon of sin, and of all other blessings sealed to us in that sacrament; by drawing strength from the death and resurrection of Christ, into whom we are baptized, for the mortifying of sin, and quickening of grace; and by endeavoring to live by faith, to have our conversation in holiness and righteousness, as those that have therein given up their names to Christ; and to walk in brotherly love, as being baptized by the same Spirit into one body.
- Remembering the Meaning of Your Baptism
When I look back to my baptism, what makes it a means of grace? Am I reminded primarily of MY COMMITMENT made to Christ, or to God’s promises given to me in Christ? Certainly, for those who were baptized after coming to faith in Christ, a commitment to identify publicly with Jesus is part of baptism. But baptism is much more than a sign of a believer’s commitment. It is rich in meaning. The gospel is portrayed in the outward sign – the washing with water symbolizing the work of God in Jesus Christ. It is through His shed blood (his suffering as a sacrifice of atonement on my behalf) that I, a sinner, am made clean and reconciled to a holy God. I may be reminded of the commitment I made to follow Christ when I see someone else baptized. But more than that, I should see again the promises of God that were applied to me and find joy, and amazement as God’s love overwhelms me again. I belong to Him, and He belongs to me!
By God’s grace, you have been changed! That’s why a believer can’t say, “Hey, I’ll just keep sinning so God’s grace can abound to me” (the issue Paul was addressing in Romans 6). God has changed your nature. He has joined you to Christ with a purpose: “that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:4). Or, as Paul puts it in Titus 2:11-12: “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.” You have been radically changed! You are a baptized person! And it’s not just that you were baptized with water at some point. You have been baptized by God’s Spirit into Christ Jesus! The outward baptism is only an external sign – a symbol to help you grasp the wonder of true baptism that God has worked in you by His Spirit. Understanding and believing this would revolutionize the way you deal with your struggles with sin. You need a deeper grasp of what it means to be a baptized person!
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