Baptism: What Does This Mean?

Like any initiation, baptism changes our lives.  However, unlike your initiation into the National Junior High Honor Society (which didn't change my life for more than an hour or two), this initiation says something about your whole life from this point on.  It says something about how you see yourself and how you relate to God.

In the catechism, the Reformers pose this question about Holy Baptism: "What does such baptizing with water indicate?"  

And to that question they give this answer:  "It indicates that the Old Adam in us should, by daily contrition and repentance, be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever."

We can pick apart some of the words in this answer in the comments below if you want, but let me highlight one thing:  From the moment of baptism on, your life is a life shaped by dying and rising.  As a sinner, you deserve to die.  And as a baptized believer, you will die every day.  You will turn aside from your sinful self, leaving it to die.

Using baptismal language, you don't just leave that sinful person, (s)he is DROWNED.  It is the point when you were brought into a new life.  So you always take the part of yourself that is associated with the old life and "drown" it in the font.  When you "rise up" from the font, you rise up to live the life that Jesus calls you to live.  You leave behind the life of sin.

St. Paul used this kind of language to describe a life shaped by baptism in Romans chapter six:  "We were therefore buried with Him [Jesus] 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 6:4)

Baptism: The Christian Initiation Rite

The next thing we need to look at is Holy Baptism.  And if you are not baptized, now is the time.

If you believe what you have read so far - that God made the world and everything in it; that God's law is His will for His creation; that human beings have rebelled against God's will and fallen into sin; that you, too, are a sinner and will die unless you are saved from your separation from God; that the Father sent His Son Jesus to pay the price for your sins and to draw you back to Himself so that you can live forever; that Jesus will return on the last day to usher in eternity - if you believe these things, then it is time for you to be baptized.

Basically, believing these things is a miracle of the Holy Spirit.  He has "called you by the Gospel" and "enlightened and sanctified you."  And now He would give you an amazing gift:  Holy Baptism.

On the surface, baptism looks like an initiation rite.  Before you are baptized, Christians think you should be baptized.  After baptism, they clearly recognize you as one of their own.  That sure looks like an initiation rite!

And it is!  There's no sense denying it!  When foreign nationals desire American citizenship, they learn facts about America, as well as the duties and obligations, rights and privileges citizens enjoy.  But they are not citizens yet.  They cannot claim those rights and privileges, nor must they exercise the duties and obligations of citizenship.  Only after they are "sworn in" can they claim these things!  They can claim to be an American before then, but only after the ceremony will America recognize them as a citizen.

Baptism is a lot like that.  God has made great promises for those who trust Him and all He has done for us in Jesus.  But Jesus has also called us to be baptized.  Until you actually do what Jesus (the one you would claim as your Lord and Savior) says, what "right" do you have to call yourself His disciple.

However, as we will see in the next seven posts, baptism is so much more than JUST an initiation rite!

Trinity: One God

So there appear to be three persons involved in the work of salvation; however, there is still only one God.  This is also the clear testimony of the Bible.

First of all, that is how God is described in the Old Testament:  "Hear, O Israel:  The Lord our God, the Lord is one."  (Deut. 6:4; cited in a helpful way in Mark 12:28-34)

Second of all, that is how Jesus describes His relationship to the Father:  "I do not ask or these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.  The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one..." (John 17:20-23)

And, finally, remember that the Spirit was described in the same way:  "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.  He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.  All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you." (John 16:13-15)

These three persons are one God.  They are united: they never disagree; they never work at cross purposes.  They do different work, but the work of all three is necessary.

Together they are the only true God:  The triune God:  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Trinity: Three Persons

As you read through the Apostles' Creed and the Small Catechism's explanations, it becomes clear that there is more than one person carrying out the "plan of salvation."  In fact, it seems clear that there are three:  one in each article.  The first "person" is called the "Father"; the second is called "Son" and "Jesus Christ"; the third is the "Holy Spirit".

At first, you might be inclined to lump the third person (i.e., the Holy Spirit) with one of the other two (either the Father or the Son), since we tend to think of a spirit as part of a person.  But when you read what the Holy Spirit does, He clearly does different work than the other two persons.

And that is the way the Bible talks about the Holy Spirit, too.  Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit as a third person in John 14:16-17:  "I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him.  You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you."

Later in verses 25-26, Jesus goes on: "These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you.  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you."

Also very strong is John 17:7ff: "It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you.  But if I go, I will send him to you.  ...  He will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.  He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you."

So there appear to be three persons involved in the work of salvation.

"On the Last Day"

There are two things that need to be highlighted in this post:  resurrection on the last day and the day we receive eternal life.

Let's start with the day of resurrection.  Most talk in the Christian church these days is about "heaven."  And most people have clouds, angels and harps in mind when they talk about "heaven."  In the popular Christian imagination, "heaven" is "where you go when you die."  And facile interpretations of John's Apocalypse (aka the book of Revelation) have contributed to this understanding.

However, the images of the beasts, elders, angels and martyrs "in heaven" are all situated during the time between the victory of Christ and the last day.  If you want to know what's coming "in the end," you need to read from Revelation 21 on:  It'll be a new heaven and a new earth.  

And where do you think creatures like humans belong?  That's right!  The new earth.  But the REALLY cool thing is that God makes His eternal dwelling with man.  (Revelation 21:3)  Thus, heaven comes to earth on the last day!  No more separation between God and man!

Now remember:  Separation from God is death.  So what do you think it means if God is no longer separated from man?  That's right!  Eternal life!  Just like it was supposed to be in the beginning before man turned away from God in the fall!

So what happens to your believing family members and friends when they die? Their spirits and their bodies are separated. (And that is NOT a good thing.) Their spirits rest in the presence of Christ, waiting for the events of the last day and eternity. Their bodies rest in the ground, waiting for the life-giving presence of God to cross the divide from heaven to earth on the last day, an action which will raise them from the dead.

"He daily and richly forgives"

Blessed redundancies abound in the Christian faith and life!  Why say that God daily and richly forgives "in this Christian church"?  Especially if God's forgiveness is the good news that He already announced through the Gospel that called us into the Church in the first place?

Because we need to hear it again!  And again after that!  The Holy Spirit works through the proclamation of the Gospel in the Church to "call, gather, enlighten and sanctify the whole Christian church on earth, and keep it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith"!

In other words, the Church keeps preaching the Gospel (daily; 24x7) and through that Gospel forgives sinners who believe it.

"called, enlightened, sanctified, and kept"

This post really just builds off the last as far as the Holy Spirit's work is concerned.  We've already acknowledged that God had a hand in calling us (i.e., we couldn't come "by our own reason and strength" alone) and convincing us and keeping us.  This phrase only adds one thing we didn't mention before:  "sanctifying" us.  The Holy Spirit does this for each and every Christian.

"Sanctifying" is simply leading us to live in a God-pleasing or "holy" way consistent with our calling.  In fact, a better non-word to replace "sanctify" would be "holi-fy" or "make us holy."  But this is widely misunderstood.  You don't "live a certain way" to BECOME holy; you are made holy and that's why you live a certain way.  In the end, "sanctifying" us has more to do with keeping us alive in the faith we've ALREADY BEEN GIVEN than anything else.  By calling us into the faith, the Holy Spirit has already made us "holy."  Now He leads us to live life in a manner consistent with our call to be "holy."  That is "sanctification."

"But the meaning also says, 'In the same way, He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth.' Why the redundancy? Why say the same thing twice?"

Because it's not the same thing! The Holy Spirit calls individuals, and as He calls individuals, He builds up the church as well. But the Church is more than just a "collection of like-minded individuals," right? There are relationships involved in the church! And mutual understanding!

For example: As a Christian in society, you are called to forgive those who sin against you. And that is what the Church does, as well. But apart from the Church, society doesn't do that. (Or if it does, it certainly isn't the "norm.") Society is governed by the Law; the foundation of the Church is the Gospel. And there is nothing "natural" about the Gospel. So the Church must be formed by the Spirit's power, too; not just the individuals in it.