Baptism Means Baptism
When we talk about baptism, we need to change the stats. Instead of spending 90% of our time letting the world know we are not Roman Catholics, let's spend that 90% affirming what the Bible says.
We, evangelicals, love to talk about the Bible. We have our B-I-B-L-E memorization plans, AWANA clubs, life verses, Bible-verse bracelets, U2 Psalms, and trinkets to remind us that we are a Bible people. And by and large, there is good in all these things. I prefer a society with Bible verses to a society without the Bible, a culture shaped by biblical themes, than a culture shaped by pagan worship.
I want a biblical culture, whether fragments, 1/3rds, or 2/3rds. I will take any piece and as much pie as I can. In our country, the Bible is a large part of our world, especially here in the South. We tend to overlook its blessings in our society.
People ask me about the Bible belt when I travel to the Pacific Northwest. There are certain parts of Oregon where you can drive for miles and miles and not find one church. And when you finally do, it may be the First Unitarian Church; something that resembles the synagogue of Satan. It’s even more comical when I tell them that our coffee shops are usually filled with people praying, reading their Bible, or doing Bible studies. They are shocked.
A Biblical Culture
The things we witness here puzzle people in parts of our country. And, of course, we need to remember that there are countries in the world where mere possession of a Bible means you are a threat to the government. Now, I guarantee you that these people are not taking the Bible for granted.
In our part of the map, I don’t want to be content with a culture with biblical roots; I want a culture that the Bible shapes from Genesis to Revelation. And this is going to take time, but time is on our side. Time is on the side of truth. Time is on the side of hopefulness. And time is on the side of God’s covenant.
I argue that along the journey to biblicizing the world, possessing a Bible or carrying your John 3:16 sign to a football game is not enough. Now, you need to be an equal-opportunity offender. We have our version of these things as well. We have “Sola Scriptura” bumper stickers in our 15-passenger vans and Calvin-is-my-homeboy t-shirts. But this is not enough unless we are willing to believe the Bible and use its language without feeling ashamed.
Sacramental De-Ritualization
This is especially true when it comes to understanding the sacraments. We want to see fulfillment without types; trees without seeds; water without blood; Jesus without David. We can’t. The New Testament only makes sense because of the Old Testament. If you don’t listen to our history, you will try to fit a puzzle piece that doesn’t fit. And to make it fit, you’re going to cut the puzzle piece, manipulate it and shape it after the image of that empty space. But that’s unnatural, and it corrupts the image itself.
So, what do we do? We believe in the Scriptures and don’t try to change or alter the biblical language. In other words, the principle should be “Affirm and explain.” Affirm what the text says and then explain the text. This is probably most clear when we discuss the sacraments, and in particular, baptism. Modernity has told us that God can’t operate through means/stuff. And this reveals a non-Hebraic worldview that looks down on things like rites and rituals; or signs and symbols; or ceremonies and feasts. In exchange of these things, we have the theatrical, entertaining, and easy.
I don’t want to give specific examples, but most of you have experienced going to churches where baptisms of infants or adults take place. And then to hear a minister spend a significant amount of time telling us what baptism is not and then a few sentences dedicated to what baptism is. By the end, you are almost tempted to think this event is mere formalism. I have argued that we have a de-ritualized culture. We are allergic to rituals, and therefore, we lose the cultural and biblical battle because pagans have rituals, and they are strengthened through those rituals.
Paul Re-Ritualized World
But the Apostle Paul is skilled in the Hebraic culture, and he understands that the Bible is embedded in a culture where rites of entrance give people identities. Christians enter into new worlds when they pass through identity-making ceremonies.
And this is what Paul stresses greatly in the book of Romans. We become different people through these historical events and ritual narratives. Paul has spent chapter 5 in Romans talking about the old world in Adam. We have all sinned through him. We were condemned because of our trespasses, and in Adam, death reigned. But one act of righteousness, namely the death of Jesus, brought about our justification. We don’t live in Adam. Jesus has given us salvation. We are united to him.
So, chapter 6 begins by answering a question: “Paul, how new is this new covenant?” “Is the new boss the same as the old boss?” If sin is what it takes to reveal grace, why can’t we keep sinning so that grace may abound?” “Can we have the old world in the new world?”
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
Paul’s inquirers say, “If we receive salvation through free grace, it does give us the license to continue in sin, right?”
Paul’s answer is, “Absolutely not!” The law leads us to someone or something. It leads us to Christ and his grace. Grace makes you a new people. Now, this is where my introduction to de-ritualization comes in. It’s not that we don’t like rituals, we don’t like them in the church. But ask your kids if they’d be ok not having Christmas gifts under the Christmas tree on December 25th? Or tell them that you think rituals are too bizarre, so you have decided not to have any birthday parties? Or that you think celebrating great events through the gathering of people on a specific day is too archaic? Or that for July 4th, you’re going to forego the tradition of hamburgers and hotdogs for brussels sprouts. You may have yourself a little rebellion in the kingdom if you take that approach.
Everyone Has Rituals
Paul answers the question by saying, “Don’t you know that you accepted Jesus in your heart at a Billy Graham crusade and walked down the aisle three times, and now you don’t need any crazy rituals.” That’s precisely what he didn’t say. What did he say?
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 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.
Paul connects our in-Christness with our baptism. Through water baptism, we know someone is connected to Jesus. It’s the kind of rite everyone can see and take a picture of. The way we know that we are not in the old world where Adam was the boss is by looking at our baptismal certificates or something that confirms the event took place. It’s the same way we know we are married to someone—by looking at a marriage license or looking at wedding pictures, or having the word of the officiant that this thing happened. It’s not that complicated.
We don’t want our kids to hang out with stupid kids who get themselves into various acts of foolishness because one day, some minister poured water on your head as a baby, or a preacher immersed you in water at some later time. You are baptized into Christ, and you are to act like it in word and deed.
Paul means this when he says, “Put on the helmet of salvation,” in Ephesians 6. Remember your baptism. You are not on the Adam team; you’re in the Jesus-is-Lord-of-all team. Now, act like it! This is what Paul means in Galatians 3:27 when he says, “For as many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”
We Ain’t Romanists!
We need to believe the Bible and use its language. If we are not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we must not fear how the Bible speaks. Even if some naïve person comes to you and says, “Hey, that sounds like Roman Catholicism.” Look, you won’t change the minds of the ignorant by changing the biblical language to amuse them.
In baptism, we enter into Jesus's death and resurrection. The late Gregg Strawbridge once said, “We tend toward denying that any observable event has anything more than symbolic value.” He was right. Our reaction is to say, “It’s all right, kids, nothing happened here.” But Paul is saying that when someone is baptized, something is happening. A transition occurs from the old world to the new one.
Your identity is in Jesus because you have been christened, or baptized. That’s why we confess in Ephesians 4 that we believe in one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. We are baptized because it is how resurrection is given to us. This is what we confess each Sunday when we say, “We believe in one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.” That is, we believe baptism places us in a forgiven community.
Now, if you are unfamiliar with the Reformed faith, you’re probably thinking, “This is too strange. This doesn’t fit into my evangelical framework.” But remember, we are quoting the Bible that you say you believe. Providence is a Protestant church; presbyterian; predestinarian. We sing great Protestant hymns; we uphold a Calvinistic theology, and we affirm God is sovereign over all. We couldn’t be more non-Roman Catholic if we tried. It’s not the pope that said: “By the right use of this ordinance the grace promised is not only offered, but really exhibited and conferred by the Holy Ghost....” No, that’s the Westminster Confession 28:6. It’s not an Eastern Orthodox priest saying, “How do you know yourself to be a son of God in fact as well as in name? The answer is Because I am baptized...” That is John Calvin.
Come On In, The Water is Fine
Paul says that we don’t belong to the world of Adam. Why? Because we are baptized into Christ. Some want to say, “But that is a spiritual baptism, not a water baptism.” If that is the case, then I submit that Paul has drunk the gnostic Kool-Aid. Now, we are trained to say 90% of what baptism doesn’t do, and only 10% of baptism does do. I have endeavored to change that. I want to spend 90% of the time telling you the benefits of baptism and 10% of the time cautioning you against a bad view of baptism that we find in Roman Catholicism and other places.
So, here's the 10% where baptism theology goes astray. It goes astray when we believe that if we are baptized, then there is nothing else to do except show up to church on Easter and Christmas and confess our sins. No, there is no magic in the water. The water has no power. But God works through the water to make your baptism efficacious and mean something. We are not trusting in our baptisms for our salvation; we are trusting in the God of our salvation who used water to make us like him.
In fact, if we trust in baptism, we are continuing to sin. We are doing the exact opposite of what Paul condemned. We are trusting in the object of our baptism, namely Jesus.
Do not fear what God is doing through baptism. Affirm what God has done, and remind one another that the table belongs to you and your children because you have been baptized into Christ.
Baptism makes us co-heirs of grace.
Why should you not continue to sin? Because God has brought you to Jesus in the waters of baptism. Now, live like you believe he is risen from the dead because it is true: Christ is risen!
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Super helpful! Is that Calvin quote from his catechism?