One Body, One Baptism

What keeps the faithful united is the hope in the promise of an eternal existence in Christ’s New Creation. Jesus said, "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” - John 10:9. I want to argue that the door one passes through is the sacrament of baptism.

Coming to the question about Baptism, Paul wrote in Colossians 2:12-14, “buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” That may sound a bit complicated, but the moot point is that we are already redeemed by Christ’s sacrificial death on the Cross. Baptism, therefore, is a symbol of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection; Our entrance into the water during baptism identifies us with Christ’s death on the cross, His burial in the tomb, and His resurrection from the dead.

If we take a Christological view on baptism, we find that every Christian understands the basis of salvation is found in Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross. He rises on our behalf to redeem us. In the cross of Jesus, we also should die and be raised with Him. We then would appropriate His Grace through the instrument of faith. This is the very essence of Christian belief. This theology has driven us to recognize the essential need for personal conversion. It is a great work of God’s power changing the human heart and infuse life into our dead spirits. That explains what Paul wrote to the believers in Ephesus about "one baptism," he was reminding them that, regardless of their background or nationality, they all served the same Lord, shared the same faith, and had experienced the same baptism. This sacrament is available to the entire humanity, the Jews and the Gentiles alike, as the Bible tells us. We have no right to choose who should receive the Baptism of the Spirit.

God has chosen us to be Christ’s representatives on earth in the light of this truth, and Paul challenges us to live lives worthy of the calling we have received—the awesome privilege of being called Christ's very own. This includes being humble, loving, gentle, patient, understanding, and peaceful. People are watching your life; and the question before us is can they see Christ in us? How well are we doing as His representatives?

Let us Pray: God of new life, you seek to recreate people with holiness, justice, peace and equality. We thank you for the institution of Baptism through which we could be touched by you and be transformed by you. Grant us grace that we who are baptized in Christ may realize that we are clothed with newness through the merits of Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with you and Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.