Baptism
Baptism today is viewed with many perspectives. The Layman’s Bible Encyclopedia sums up the views, as many understand them:
“(1) that baptism is for the remission of sins and therefore essential to salvation; (2) that it is a public avaowal of fealty to God; (3) that it is a sign and seal of the ingrafting into Christ and the accompanying spiritual benefits, that is, an outward sign of an inward spiritual grace; (4) that it is an ordinance for admitting men into discipleship, a sign of initiation, leading to final deliverance from all evil; (5) that it is a symbol of regeneration given only to those who exhibit signs of the new life in Christ; and (6) that it is a symbol of purification.”9
According to the same source, immersion was the earliest and original form of the ritual and, in most cases, baptism is a symbol of our sharing in Christ’s death, burial and resurrection.10 My question, then, is this. Is baptism only a symbol with which we make known our relationship with Jesus Christ and our commitment to Him; and why, in the great commission given by Christ, is baptism listed as a parallel to making disciples as we go?
More than a symbol (our duty to baptize)
According to Christ’s great commission, found in Mathew chapter twenty-eight and verses eighteen through twenty, we are to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I (Jesus) have commanded you…”11 Simply judging from the context of this portion of the passage, we can see that both baptism and teaching are essential aspects of making disciples. We make disciples by baptizing people in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and by teaching them all that Christ commanded. This means that baptism is not the beginning of discipleship or a symbol of our position as a disciple, as we most commonly view it, but an essential, everlasting component within personal discipleship.
Paul referred to the same idea regarding the circumcision of the Jew: calling it a circumcision of the heart by the Spirit, and not simply a circumcision of the flesh as a symbol. Since outward circumcision was a symbol of God’s covenant with the Jewish people, we can apply the same idea to the symbol of God’s covenant with all people: baptism.
For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.
Romans 2:25-29 ESV
True baptism is baptism of the heart by the Spirit of God. Traditionally, and according to the true meaning of the word, baptism requires a complete immersion. Only, as we are referring to it here, it requires a complete immersion in something other than water. Baptism, by the Spirit, is to submerge an individual unreservedly in the teachings of Christ. When we are discipling someone, we are to completely immerse them in what we know about Christ, sharing aspects of our relationship with Christ, experiencing Christ along side them, worshipping Christ along side them, approaching God along side them while also teaching them to obey everything that Christ commanded.
This makes baptism a constant, everlasting part of the Christian life. It requires that we constantly make disciples of others and allow ourselves to be discipled.
What of the unbeliever or the non-Christian? Is it possible for us to baptize those who do not have a relationship with Christ? According, once again, to the great commission, we are commanded to “…baptize all nations…” as a part of this ongoing discipleship, both of believers and nonbelievers. If it is not possible for us to baptize, or completely saturate every nation on the face of the planet in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, then it is also not possible to obey Christ in this respect. This emphasizes the great need we have to actually live in the secular world while also living according to the relationship we have with Christ. We baptize the nonbeliever as we share the love of Christ with them, as we teach them about God and who God is. In doing this, we are able to teach them about our faith, and about our God, before they actually choose to follow God by giving their lives to Him. Thus, we work to make disciples of all nations and all individuals: even those who do not believe. Just because we constantly baptize others, as a part of discipleship, in that name, does not mean that they receive the gift that we hope they will receive. They must still make a choice to receive that gift.
Consider the words of Paul once again, “For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision.”12
In the same way, baptism, either physical (outwardly) or imputed (received by means of discipleship), has no value if the individual rejects Christ: if the everlasting covenant with God is not signed.
As Paul writes to a Jewish community in Rome, he is writing to a community that was circumcised at a very young age. So, they were circumcised; but unless they received that circumcision within their hearts later in life, it was of no value to them. So then, we can baptize an individual, immersing them in the presence and in the nature of our God; but, unless they receive that baptism, it has no value to them.
More than a symbol (receiving baptism in the name)
The fact that we impart baptism to others through teaching them unreservedly about Christ and the nature of God and His relationship to men, means that every individual we disciple in this respect must choose to either receive or to reject that baptism. This idea, I believe, is referred to in the introduction of Paul’s second letter to Timothy, his student in the faith.
For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of god, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
2 Timothy 1:6-7 ESV
Paul poured his life and knowledge into Timothy as a disciple, and Timothy accepted that. Paul immersed Timothy, as he immersed everyone he met, in teaching about God and of salvation through Christ alone, and Timothy accepted those teachings and acted, toward God, according to those teachings. He received the baptism that Paul shared with Him. Thus, he received the baptism in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Through this baptism, he was not only exposed to the person of God but actually received the Holy Spirit of God. So, we share baptism by the power of the Holy Spirit, hoping that others will accept that baptism in the power of the Holy Spirit.
So, this notion of baptism, at least how it is received, actually has little to do with physical water, but has everything to do with being washed in the blood of Jesus Christ, and therefore being cleansed of all unrighteousness. Even Jesus, in His conversation with Nicodemus, states, “…unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”13 We can only be cleansed by receiving the Holy Spirit. This is how we are baptized in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. We could say that true, spiritual baptism takes place at the moment of conversion, or the moment at which someone chooses to live completely for Christ, and is essential in the constant transformation that is demanded by the Christian lifestyle.
What of being completely immersed in physical water? Of what importance does it consist if baptism is a core value in discipleship? Is it important at all?
Baptism as a symbol
Just as circumcision was an outward symbol from the Jews as to the covenant with God they had signed within their hearts to obey the law, there is a need for every Christian to portray outwardly what God has done within his or her heart by the power of the Holy Spirit. For if we do not signify outwardly what has happened inwardly, it is questionable as to whether or not we have actually been impacted inwardly. If we have truly signed the covenant with God that God desires, we should want to show the world what God has done. Once we have accepted baptism by the Holy Spirit in our lives, we should want to show the world that we have been baptized in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit by following Christ in the act of outward baptism: baptism by physical water.
“Now an angel of the Lord said to Phillip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” Then Philip opened his mouth and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized? And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.
Acts 8:26-39 ESV
Philip received teaching about Christ from Philip. Philip took the one opportunity that he had with the Ethiopian to not only witness to him, but to actually teach him: baptizing him in the truth of God. The Ethiopian accepted his teaching and accepted the Lordship of Christ, and was therefore baptized by the Holy Spirit. He was so excited, about his baptism into the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that he had his chariot stop so that he could also be baptized with water.
Continuity of baptism
If we are to continually be baptizing others, by immersing them in the teachings about who Christ is and the nature of our God, would it not also be required that we commit to continue to receive teachings about who Christ is and the nature of God. Not only is there an urgency on our making disciples of others, but also on our becoming greater disciples in the faith. If I was to, at the moment of my conversion, be completely submerged in the presence of the Holy Spirit, should I not also want to be completely submerged in the presence of the Holy Spirit throughout the remainder of my life on the earth and in my existence afterward? If the answer is yes, then my baptism lasts from the moment I accept the free gift of God on to eternity. I am forever being baptized, or forever completely immersed in the presence of the Holy Spirit: either through the teachings of other believers or in personal study and prayer, but always by the power and presence of God.
My favorite part of the above portion of scripture, that relates to the already existing Christian life, is the description of the Ethiopian’s response to the baptism that he received. He “went on his way rejoicing”.14
It was my very first year going with my youth pastor to a leadership camp in Shawnee, Oklahoma to serve as a sponsor. I remember being introduced to what is now my favorite Mexican restaurant. On our way from Lawton, Oklahoma to Shawnee, my youth pastor turned to me and asked, “Have you ever been to Ted’s?” I had not. When I revealed to him that information, he responded in disbelief, “You have not lived until you have eaten at Ted’s.” Naturally, we stopped at this supposedly amazing Mexican restaurant before proceeding to camp. My youth pastor talked about it so much on the way there that we all thought it might bring us as close to Heaven as we would ever get here on this earth.
We arrived, went in and sat down. The first impression was even greater than I had expected. Everyone got his or her own bowl of cheese and salsa. There were tortilla chips as well as soft, warm homemade flower tortillas. After setting all of this in front of us, the waiter asked, “Can I get you any of our other complementary items?” My youth pastor asked for the habanero sauce, of which I gladly partook. This was not all. After learning that I was a Ted’s first timer, the waiter brought me one Mexican taco from the restaurant’s kitchen. It won me over.
Not only was a saturated in someone else’s first hand experience with the Mexican restaurant, and not only did I accept that experience and experience it for myself, but I left wanting more. I wanted to stay saturated in the experience.
The only problem was that I couldn’t be infinitely hungry. Still, I went away rejoicing.
In the same way, we are saturated in the presence of God, through others and through God revealing Himself: whether through His creation or in any other way. In the same way, we accept that and are baptized into the Holy Spirit of God: experiencing God firsthand. Then, we go throughout the rest of our lives excited about what God is doing in our lives and about the fact that we get to continually be saturated by the presence of the Holy Spirit, forever. This is baptism: an essential part of all discipleship along with teachings about what God has commanded. They are both essential and continual aspects of discipleship.