Before Jesus ascended to heaven, he told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they had received the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-5). And so they waited, and on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit filled them all with God’s power. In the power of the Holy Spirit, Peter preached the gospel to the crowd in Jerusalem and the people were “cut to the heart” and asked the disciples what they should do in light of this truth.
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call” (Romans 2:38-39).
Baptism has been a part of the church since the beginning. Before Christ came into the world, it was a Jewish ritual. Christians today disagree about some aspects of baptism, but there is a core that every believer should hold to, and that core is what this article is about.
So what is baptism? The Greek word used in Acts 2:38 literally means “to dip.” According to Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, it “was used among the Greeks to signify the dyeing of a garment, or the drawing of water by dipping a vessel into another, etc.” The Christian practice of baptism comes originally from a Jewish ritual in which people would immerse themselves in water to become ceremonially clean and able to participate in worship at the temple. Pagan worship at that time had similar cleansing rituals.
Baptism in the Gospels
All four gospels record that Jesus was preceded in his ministry by a man called John the Baptist. (A more literal translation of his name would be “John the Baptizer,” but “Baptist” is much more common among American Christians today.) John called people to confess their sins and repent, then he baptized those who responded. This was different than the existing Jewish ritual, in that John himself was the one who baptized the people, as opposed to them immersing themselves. John prophesied that his baptism was preparing the way for the coming of Christ:
“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3:11-12).
The Bible does not say how long John was engaged in this ministry, but we know that at some point Jesus came to be baptized. We read in Matthew’s gospel:
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:13-17).
Jesus had not sinned, and John clearly recognized that he had no need to repent. Why, then, did he come to be baptized? Theologians have disagreed for centuries over what exactly Jesus meant when he said that it would “fulfill all righteousness,” but one thing that is clear is that Jesus identified himself with sinners, even though he himself was without sin. Although he had no need to repent, he was willing to associate himself with those who did. New Testament scholar Leon Morris wrote:
Jesus might well have been up there in front standing with John and calling on sinners to repent. Instead he was down there with the sinners, affirming his solidarity with them, making himself one with them in the process of the salvation that he would in due course accomplish (Wilkins 2004:140).
Jesus began his ministry by submitting to a baptism he did not need, and ended it by submitting to a death he did not deserve. And by so doing, he set the example for everyone who would follow him; he chose to lead, rather than command. After all, if Christ himself was baptized, then nobody has any grounds to claim that they don’t need to do it.
And this moment of baptism was also a moment of profound revelation. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit appear together here; the Son in the water, the Father speaking from heaven and the Spirit descending like a dove. This was a sign that God was doing something different than he had ever done before, occurring just at the moment that Jesus, God the Son, associated himself with sinful humanity.
When Jesus began his public ministry, he had his disciples continue the practice of baptizing the people who came to him (John 4:1-2). Later, after his resurrection, he told them:
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).
Just before he ascended into heaven he again told his disciples:
“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” (Mark 16:15-18).
This, then, was the background that Peter understood when he stood up at Pentecost and told the crowd:
“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38).
We should notice that there are two commands about baptism that work together. On the one hand, everyone who believes is commanded to be baptized. And on the other, those who follow Jesus, who are his disciples, are told to baptize everyone who believes. Scholars disagree about exactly what role baptism plays in the process of salvation, but there is no Christian viewpoint in which baptism is optional; it is a command from God. This does not mean that someone will go to hell if they’re hit by a car and killed on the way to being baptized: God does not play “gotcha” games. But it does mean that choosing not to be baptized is choosing disobedience.
The Meaning of Baptism
As we saw in the gospels, baptism is a sign of repentance; of turning away from sin and toward obedience to God. But there’s more to it than that. In Genesis chapters 6-9, we read the story of Noah and his family; how God took them out of a corrupt, wicked society, brought them safely through the waters of death into a new world, and then made a covenant with them. But according to the Scriptures, this story of the flood is also a picture of baptism. The Apostle Peter wrote:
…and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also – not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand – with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him (1 Peter 3:21-22).
In the time of Noah, the flood waters caused the death of everyone who was not under God’s protection. Noah and his family, however, passed safely through those waters. In the same way, in baptism we pass through death by being united with Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome:
Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 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 6:3-4).
And he told the church in Colossae:
In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead (Colossians 2:11-12).
Through baptism, we join with Christ, both in his death and in his resurrection. That means I can say with Paul that “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). This is not just a pious saying; it’s a reality that should radically affect the way we live our daily lives.
But when we join with Christ in baptism, at the same time we are also joined with each other:
For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body – whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free – and we were all given the one Spirit to drink (1 Corinthians 12:13).
Death, burial, and unity as a new creation all come together in this one act, as we enter the covenant community of God’s holy people.
Controversies
There are two main questions about baptism that, sadly, have frequently led to arguments and even division. The first is about the form of baptism: must it be by immersion only, or is it also acceptable to pour or sprinkle water on a person? I think there are good arguments on both sides, and neither side is as absolute as it may seem at first. Sprinkling advocates pretty much all recognize that immersion was the practice in the time of the apostles; baptism by sprinkling or pouring are methods that were adopted later. And even the most staunch full-immersion proponents will generally allow that other methods are acceptable in edge cases, such as when a person can not safely be immersed in water, or when that much water is simply not available.
The other big argument is whether baptism is only for those who personally choose it for themselves, or if parents can have their infant children baptized before they are old enough to understand the gospel. Again, valid arguments can be made on both sides. On both of these issues, the positions have remained fixed for centuries, and arguing about them now generates a lot of heat, but no new light.
This is not to say that these issues don’t matter. They are important, but they are not a legitimate reason to divide the church. Rather, whatever conclusion we come to, we should hold that conclusion in humility, not in pride, and “keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).
References Cited
Wilkins, Michael J.
2004 Matthew. The NIV Application Commentary. Zondervan, Grand Rapids.