What Does The Bible Say About Baptism?
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What does the Bible say about Baptism?
— Matt Edmundson
What does the Bible say about baptism? And, if we get straight to the point - why should I care? Should I get baptized if I haven't done so already? Why do Christians make such a big deal of baptism? What's the deal with the whole practice of infant baptism? A lot of questions, so let's dig into it, see what the Bible has to say and get some clarity on the whole topic because, really, baptism, for a Christian, is a majorly significant event in our lives.
What is baptism?
So what is baptism? Let's start there because, again, there are many different practices around the world. You may have seen images on the TV of baptism inside the Roman Catholic Church or other traditional churches like the Anglican Church. You may have seen people in white robes walk into a river to get baptized. Is that what baptism is?
The word simply means immersion or submersion, basically - to fully cover something.
What does Jesus say about baptism?
Was there baptism at the time of Jesus? Well, to dig into that, I want to jump straight into one of the most remarkable stories in the whole Bible.
And to give you a little backdrop, there is a character in the gospels called John the baptist. And John was the cousin of Jesus, and he would spend most of his days baptizing people in the River Jordan. What's interesting about John is that he was the first recognised prophet since Malachi, some 400 years earlier. His coming was foretold 700 years before he was born by Isaiah.
“Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.”
John also lived a simple life, with a diet that I would not particularly enjoy, I have to be honest. But we know that John was popular with the people, and many would come to hear his message and be baptized by him, including, it seems, Jesus himself.
“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptised, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.””
So, Jesus, Himself gets baptized - but why? Why would Jesus do this? It seems that John also has a tough time with this idea, "I need to be baptized by you," he tells Jesus, "It's not you that should be coming to me." To understand why this is such an issue for John, it helps to know that the Bible talks about different types of baptism.
Different types of baptism
That's right; not all baptisms are created equal, it seems. We have baptism in water, which is what we will talk about today predominantly. There is something called baptism in the Holy Spirit, which Mike talked about in week 9 of our Alpha course series. There is something called John's Baptism, which has to do with being cleansed. If we back up a few verses in Matthew, we also see this is true for John's baptism; he said,
“I baptize with water those who repent of their sins and turn to God...”
So John's baptism is called a baptism of repentance which, in this context, means to turn away from your sin. Remember that sin is simply missing God's standard. It's an old archery term used when an archer completely missed the target; the referee would hold up a flag with the word sin written on it. So sin is all about missing the standard or mark set by a Holy God, and it is something that affects us all. So John's baptism was all about people wanting to get right with God.
This is why John had a hard time baptizing Jesus. Jesus hadn't sinned. There was nothing to repent of. It didn't make sense to John as he was looking at this event through the lens of repentance, just like he had been doing with all the other baptisms.
“I baptize with water those who repent of their sins and turn to God. But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not worthy even to be his slave and carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”
John sees Jesus as more significant than Him. He didn't see Jesus as someone that needed to turn away from sin. So why did Jesus get baptized? There are a few schools of thought on this.
Maybe Jesus did think He had sinned and needed to repent? In which case, He would want to get baptized like everyone else. The problem with this, though, is that it goes against everything else that we know about Jesus, and it would make Christianity a shambles. So I don't think that's the reason.
A lot of theologians think that it is Jesus declaring to the world that it is He who will take on all sins; it is He who will ultimately cleanse us from all of our sins. To understand this, we need to understand the idea of substitution. I remember really clearly when I was about 18, my sister, Amy, who was only a few months old at the time, was pretty sick. I was in her room with my Dad, as we were changing her clothes, and my Dad said something I've never forgotten. He said, "I wish I could be sick for her." Now, if you've got kids, you'll know my Dad's heart. Being a father myself, I totally get it. My sister lay there, sapped by her illness and having no chance to understand why my Dad's heart broke for her. He wanted to take her sickness and give her his health. It's called substitution, or sometimes it is called The Divine Exchange. Where my Dad was powerless to do anything, God wasn't.
And that's the whole story of Jesus: He came and took upon Himself all of humanity's brokenness, sin, sickness, and fear, and He gave us His wholeness, righteousness, and peace. So Jesus, right at the start of His ministry on earth, gets baptized as a symbol - that He would be our substitute and that whilst He was fully righteous, He would take the world's brokenness in our place. It was His declaration of His purpose. Jesus, Himself even told John the reason for Him getting baptized: it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.
And this is why Jesus getting baptized is such a big deal, Jesus is here to fulfill a mission, and that mission will have remarkable consequences for the identity of humanity for the ages to come.
Wow. Just Wow. So this is all well and good for Jesus, but what about you and me - why do we get baptized? Is it the same for us as it is for those baptized by John?
Why Get Baptized?
Well, for the Christian, there is a lot more to it, and again - it connects with this idea of substitution or the Divine Exchange that I mentioned. When we get baptized, we identify with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Baptism is not about cleansing us from our sins because that is something that Jesus did already. But it is identifying with what He did. Here's what St Paul had to say about the topic when writing to the Roman church:
“So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? I should hope not! If we’ve left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house? Or didn’t you realize we packed up and left there for good? That is what happened in baptism. When we went under the water, we left the old country of sin behind; when we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country of grace—a new life in a new land!”
That's what baptism into the life of Jesus means. When we are lowered into the water, it is like the burial of Jesus; when we are raised up out of the water, it is like the resurrection of Jesus. Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father so that we can see where we're going in our new grace-sovereign country.
The significance of baptism
So here, we see the significance of baptism. When we go down in the water, we identify with the death of Jesus, knowing that Jesus died not just for my sin but for all sin. He is taking my place and your place. Death is the consequence of sin, so I am acknowledging that Jesus took my place, that He died where I should have died. As we are fully immersed in the water, we are identifying with the burial of Jesus, that Jesus was dead for three days and was buried in a tomb in the rocks of Jerusalem. He was the one man who should never have died and never have needed to be buried. But He was. It was the ultimate injustice - that a holy God would die the death of a sinner, but it is also the greatest act of heroism because Jesus chose to do this for you and me.
But Jesus didn't just stay in the tomb. The whole point of the Christian faith, the whole crux on which it functions, the entire truth of it boils down to one key point: that Jesus rose from the dead, that resurrection happened on that glorious Easter Sunday, and as we are lifted out of the baptism waters, we are identifying with that resurrection, that it wasn't just Jesus who was raised from the dead - but that it is also me that has been raised into newness of life. It's like my old nature, my old identity, my past, my sin, and my shame have all gone. They are all in that tomb where Christ lay, at the bottom of the waters where I got baptized. Paul carries on in his letter to the Roman church about this, he said:
“Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the Cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer at sin’s every beck and call! What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ’s sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection.”
Wow. Just Wow. That's the beauty of all of this. That's why I got baptized. It was a celebration for me, an announcement to the whole world that I belong to Christ, that I understood that I was included in Christ's sin-conquering death and that I was also included in his life-saving resurrection. It's good stuff, eh?! It's why Christians get excited about baptism; it's why we tell everyone about it; we are just so overwhelmed at the meaning of it.
Does getting baptized make me a Christian?
In a simple word, no. Have you ever seen the TV show married at first sight? Apart from the real oddness of that show - it goes to show you that marriage is more than just a ceremony. It's about a decision you take seriously for the rest of your life. The ceremony is just an outward display of that decision and commitment.
Baptism is also an outward display of a decision that you have made. Baptism without that commitment, that change of heart and mind, is nothing more than a quick bath, which is why in baptism, most of the time, the person doing the baptism will say, "upon the profession of your faith..." So baptism is something you do after becoming a Christian.
But I was Baptized as a baby
I, like many others, was christened or baptized as a baby. It is something many parents do for their kids for many different reasons depending on the church they are a member of. I grew up in a predominantly Church of England or Anglican culture. For others, it may be something else, like the Catholic church. Each church has its own ideas and culture around baptising your baby. These are traditions in the church, but I can tell you that I don't see infant baptism in the Bible. Every story I read of someone getting baptized, especially after Jesus' resurrection, was all adults who had decided to journey with Christ. That's why I chose to get baptized as an adult, despite being christened as a baby.
Summary
Remember, when you get baptized, you are identifying with the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Paul wrote this,
“When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature. For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.”
Sounds great, eh? That's some of what the Bible says about baptism, but stick around for conversation street for questions like How long should I wait before getting baptized? What happens when you get baptized? What should you wear? Who should baptize you?
CONVERSATION STREET
With: Matt Edmundson & Anna Kettle
What is Conversation Street?
Conversation Street is part of our live stream, where the hosts (in this case, Matt & Anna) chat through Matt's talk and answer questions that were sent in through the live stream. You can watch the conversation in the video, it starts at 39 min 51 seconds into the live stream, or you can go straight there by clicking here. This week’s questions and topics of conversation are:
When did you get baptized?
How long should you wait before getting baptized?
Should all Christians get baptized?
What should you wear to your baptism?
Who should baptize you?
More Bible Verses About Baptism
Romans 6:3 - Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
Galatians 3:26,27 - So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
1 Peter 3:21 - 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,
Acts 16:31 - They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”
Luke 3:21,22 - When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
Matthew 28:19,20 - Go therefore and 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 have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 3:16 - 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.
John 3:36 - Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
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