Introduction
At the beginning of this series, I noted that from time to time we will stop at a text and consider the particular that is brought up. Paul has raised the practice of baptism in his discussion on church unity. Baptism is not the primary issue, but we would do well to stop this morning and consider its place in the church. I do this because, though we are a Presbyterian church and our baptism tradition is well established, it nevertheless is not well understood. This is true, not only in regard to our Baptist brethren who have sneaked into the church, but even life-long Presbyterians. This is a traditional practice many of us accept as our heritage, but without really understanding why.
Text
Let’s start with our text and consider what Paul has to say about baptism. Two comments stress, first, its significance, and second, its limitation.
In disavowing his and other church leaders’ right to even be considered in the same breath as Jesus Christ, Paul points that baptism takes place in Christ’s name and no one else’s, i.e. no other creature. Paul is not discussing whether one is to be baptized only in Jesus’ name as opposed to the full Trinity. The contrast is between the divine Redeemer and his redeemed people. It is ludicrous and blasphemous to be baptized in the name of a fellow sinner.
This thought leads us to a significant feature of baptism. One of the benefits that baptism signifies is our “ingrafting into Christ,” as our Westminster Confession phrases it. The outer sign of baptism represents the inner grace of union with God the Son. Here are a couple of other scriptures denoting this union.
For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body…(1 Corinthians 12:13).
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ…for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26-28).
Note the phrases: “baptized by one Spirit into one body,” and “baptized into Christ.” Baptism signifies the inner baptism of the Holy Spirit that unites us with Christ, or ingrafts us into him.
How does baptism signify this reality? Through the word spoken: “John Smith, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” We get that formula, of course, from Jesus’ command: “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” (Matthew 28:19). The preposition “in” is the same Greek preposition, eis, which is translated “into” from the above verses. It is the same Greek preposition in our text for “baptized in the name of Paul.” When I baptize an individual, I do not simply do it on behalf of the Trinity, but into the Trinity, i.e., into communion with the triune God.
This is what it means to be named with the name of Christ. We belong to him. Edmund Clowney refers to baptism as a naming ceremony:
The baptized person is given a name, not the name on a baptismal certificate, but the name of the triune God…The name that he gives her is the name of the triune God. Baptism gives Christians their family name, the name they bear as those called the children of God.
He quotes Isaiah 43:6,7 to illustrate this point:
I will say to the north, Give up,
and to the south, Do not withhold;
bring wmy sons from afar
and my daughters from the end of the earth,
everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.
Baptism is a statement that the recipient is in the family. The disciple of Christ has been brought into Christ, and because he has been brought into Christ, he abides in the Father and Spirit as well. Regarding the Father, Jesus says, “If anyone loves me…My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23). Regarding the Holy Spirit he promises to send the Counselor who “lives with you and will be in you” (John 14:17).
This is the concept expressed by the term “christening.” Oftentimes we hear people speak of a child being “christened” instead of baptized. To be christened is simply another name for baptism, which stresses the idea of being dedicated to Christ, viz. being identified with his name. In the early centuries when pagans became Christians, they would often take a “Christian” name to demonstrate their change of identity from paganism to Christianity.
What then does identifying with Christ mean? There are three things: union with Christ, being under his protection, and committing allegiance to him. I already brought up the idea of union with Christ with the phrase, “ingrafted into Christ.” This union with him means that we share in the work he has done to redeem us. Thus the Bible speaks of our dying with him, being buried with him, and rising to life with him. In Christ we have died to sin and have risen to new life. There is mystery here, to be sure. But then, we are dealing with the almighty God whose ways are beyond us.
Next, there is the idea of being under Christ’s protection. This is where the concept of covenant comes in. Hebrews 9:15 says of Christ: Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
That first covenant the writer is speaking of is the one God made with his people through Moses. We do not have time to go into the details of covenant theology, but the main point is this: Since Adam, it has been made clear that whatever covenant God makes with us, we are going to fail to keep our end of the bargain. Adam failed, Abraham failed, the Israelites failed – whatever the terms and with whomever the covenant is made, man just will not satisfy the conditions. But in the covenant mediated by Jesus Christ, he did not merely negotiate with God on our behalf. “I think my client can agree to such and such terms.” Jesus himself fulfilled the conditions. The Father and the Son entered into a covenant with one another, so to speak, and we got included in the package.
The divine negotiations went this way. The Son says to the Father, “I delight to do your will. Let me fulfill the condition of obedience that your people fail to do. I will also take on the just punishment due them. Thus I will pay off the old contract and we can make a new one. I promise to fulfill all the conditions of the new one. What I ask for in return is the salvation of the people under the contract. Deal?” The Father and the Son shake hands.
We, then, are under Jesus’ protection. Our Lord has purchased our salvation by fulfilling the conditions of the covenant with God that no one else could keep. Romans 3:21-26 gives a succinct summary of man’s problem and God’s solution.
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
God demands righteousness. We keep sinning, and furthermore, are already guilty of sin that must be reckoned with. God, therefore, sends his Son to make the payment and fulfill the righteousness necessary for us to be justified.
That is the covenant made for us. It is that covenant displayed in baptism. God gives his sign to us that we are now in Christ and under the protection of his name. Thus, when our sins accuse us, we hold to the promise of the covenant that There is…no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). We are protected under the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are talking about what it means to be identified with Christ. It means that we are united with Christ; it means that we are under his protections. Thirdly, it means that we have committed allegiance to him. To take the name of Christian is to become a “Christ follower.” It is to acknowledge that not only is Christ my Savior, but my Lord.
I want us to be careful in our understanding of what allegiance means. It does not mean that we are making yet another offer to keep up our end of the bargain in God’s covenant with us. Baptism is not the signing of papers in which God agrees to his part, Christ to his, and we ours. We then all shake hands. God the Father and God the Son shake hands in agreement; they then put their arms around us and say “Welcome in the family!”
Where then does our allegiance come in? To be honest, that is not even a proper question to ask. Allegiance just happens. How else would we, could we respond to the deal of an eternal lifetime. There is no bargaining. We simply bend our knees and offer ourselves with humble joy to our Lord. We joyfully come to be baptized that we might hear the covenant promise of our inheritance in the Lord, and can do nothing else but offer to him our allegiance, incredulous that he would call us by his name.
Let’s review. We have been discussing the significance of being baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. It means to be identified with Christ. What does it means to be baptized with Christ? It means that we are united with him, that we are protected by him, and that we give our allegiance to him. All this is baptism’s significance. But I also mentioned that baptism has its limitation as well.
Go back to our text. In these verses Paul expresses relief that he had baptized so few of the Corinthians, because of the way that they were twisting the meaning of baptism. He then makes a disavowal that goes beyond worry over practical problems. In verse 17 he states: For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel. I am not using this verse as a proof text, but it does strike me as being an unusual statement to make if Paul believed that water baptism was essential for salvation. It is difficult to overvalue baptism, and, indeed, though Christians debate the issue of whether baptism is essential for salvation, it does not occur to us to consider if one ought to be baptized. After all, Jesus’ “Great Commission” is to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them.” In the first evangelistic sermon preached at Pentecost, Peter told his listeners to “repent and be baptized…in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38). The pattern of conversion in Acts employs baptism as an immediate act that took place after repentance and profession of faith. There is no indication in Scripture that baptism is considered optional.
If baptism must accompany conversion, does it play a role in the actual conversion? In other words, if you have turned to Jesus Christ in faith, are you still not saved until you are baptized as some Baptists believe and the Church of Christ? Or, from another perspective, does baptism confer salvation on an infant who cannot exercise faith, as would be held by Catholics and some Episcopalians and Lutherans.
Consider the biblical texts that would seem to indicate that conversion and baptism are inextricably joined. We’ve already noted two: Matthew 28:19 and Acts 2:38. The most compelling verse is 1 Peter 3:21: Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Peter says, “baptism…saves you.” Even so, he makes clear that salvation does not come by water – “removal of dirt from the body” – “but as an appeal to God for a good conscience.” It is the appeal, i.e. faith, turning to Jesus, that results in salvation.
Having said this, there is a baptism that is so necessary, salvation is impossible without it. The Nicene Creed refers to it as a “baptism for the remission of sins.” That is the baptism of the Holy Spirit by which he sprinkles us with the blood of Jesus Christ (cf 1 Peter 1:2). Without the Spirit entering us, giving us new life, and baptizing our hearts so that we hear and respond to the gospel, we cannot be saved. As Paul will tell the Corinthians later, in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body (12:13). Our water baptism expresses this spiritual baptism, which must take place to be saved.
Application
What then can we take from these theological musings on baptism? (By the way, I will discuss infant baptism next Sunday.) How should identifying with Christ affect our lives?
That identifying with Christ involves giving our allegiance to him, the application should be obvious. In your daily prayers, are you taking orders from your Lord or are you giving him instruction as to what he needs to do to meet your agenda? Each day we should wake up asking our Lord for orders. If you are young and planning your future, you should be asking your Lord for his direction for you. Salvation is not about taking care of one aspect of our lives. Let’s see, I’ve got my career in good shape, my personal finances are fine, family relationships are okay, and I’ve got salvation taken care of also. Don’t want to neglect that! Baptism, the sign of salvation, is the sign that we belong to Christ. He owns us, because he purchased us with his blood. He is not merely our shepherd who watches over to make sure we are safe; nor is he the fix-it guy who hangs around to be helpful. He is our Lord, our King, and he demands our allegiance. By the way, here is a good measure for determining if your faith is real. If that demand for allegiance bothers you, you don’t know the Lord. For the true believer who understands who his king is and what he has done, counts allegiance a privilege, and is thankful to hear the call.
That identifying with Christ means we are united to him ought to impress upon us the inextricable bond we have with Christ. We, of course, are moving into great mystery, but we are to understand that Jesus is not beside us, but in us and we in him through the Holy Spirit who indwells in us. One very practical application Paul will make later on in chapter 6 is not be united physically with unbelievers. Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, and they are not to be united with those who do not belong to Christ. And if we are united to him, then we are united to one another in one body. That is the point of the first two verses I read:
For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body…(1 Corinthians 12:13).
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ…for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26-28).
That is why unity is so important in a church. Besides making church life easier, our outer unity is suppose to testify to the real spiritual unity that exists in Christ.
Finally, that identifying with Christ means we are under his protection should wipe away our fears of being rejected by God or being disqualified before our goal of glory. I cannot say it any better than the apostle Paul in Romans 8. Whenever you may doubt that you are accepted of God because of stumbling in your sins, remember your baptism and read this scripture.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? it is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died – more than that, who was raised – who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
That is the good news of baptism.
