*Editor’s Note: The following series on Baptism was originally delivered sermonically by Pastor Ron Miller to Covenant Baptist Church in Clarksville, TN. As each of the four installments are released, they will eventually be linked together here.

The Meaning of Baptism, Part 1 | Ron Miller

I. Baptism as a New Covenant Church Rite

What is baptism? According to Scripture it is a new covenant church rite in which a believer is immersed in water in the Triune name. Now because all churches this side of heaven are imperfect, there is not unanimous agreement on every part of that general definition. In fact, every main word of that definition has been challenged or modified by some church. But most churches accept this starting point definition according to the New Testament, even if they add to or qualify parts of it. But as Baptists, this is what we believe baptism is as an act. It has an element and an action; water is the element and dipping is the action. Therefore, it is to be distinguished from Spirit baptism and other religious washings. So, that is one way of answering the question, “What is baptism?”. But there are other Biblical ways as well.

II. Baptism as an Ordinance of Jesus Christ

What is baptism? It is an ordinance of Jesus Christ. Our confession in chapter 28 claims that Christian baptism is an ordinance appointed by the Lord Jesus. An ordinance is an authoritative rule laid down by a rightful lawgiver. So, local governments pass laws often called ordinances that are meant to be obeyed. And Jesus Christ has the authority, the right, and the position to ordain rituals like baptism in his church. Ephesians 1:22 and 5:23 teach that Christ is the head of the church and the head of all things to the church. Matthew. 28:18 declares that he has all authority in heaven and earth, so he defines the church’s mission. Because of his resurrection, Jesus is the enthroned king of the church. And he has made known his will about baptism in several ways:

1. By approving of John’s baptism. John the Baptist’s ministry of repentance and baptism was fundamentally the same as Christian baptism. It was preparatory for it but from God the Father, John 1:33. John was not a self-appointed administrator of a strange new religious practice. And Jesus approved of his cleansing ritual in word and practice, John 3:23-24, Mt 11:11-12.
2. By accepting John’s baptism. Jesus Christ fulfilled all righteousness by accepting baptism from John. Luke 3:21-22. Mt 3:13-17. Note the presence of the Trinity at his baptism. His practice sets an example for believers. We know baptism is important to our King because he underwent it himself for us.
3. By baptizing through his disciples – John 3:22; 4:1-2. Jesus’ ministry included not only preaching but baptizing disciples. He did this through the 12. Occasionally, people seem surprised by the Great Commission’s inclusion of baptism. But Jesus’ public ministry had from the beginning included the baptism of repentant disciples.
4. By the Great Commission. Mt 28:18-20. All the prior reasons are sufficient to know our Lord’s mind about baptism. But in a wonderful word of clarity, before his ascension, Christ tasks the church with his marching orders. And this included baptizing his followers. This famous commission is a positive law, a mandatory point of obedience laid down by the church’s only lawgiver. Baptism is not our Lord’s suggestion or option for extra spiritual people. It is the Lord’s ordinance to be obeyed in a display of loving submission to his law. It is to be the first outward act of following for those who profess that as disciples they want to follow him.
5. By the apostle’s continued practice of baptism. The teaching and practice of the apostles were in accordance with Christ’s ordinance. Even a cursory look at the history in Acts and the epistles shows that baptism was continued. Jesus promised to be with his church to the end of the age to support them in their going, discipling, baptizing, and teaching, and so his will for baptism continues. It has not passed away in this age of the Spirit. Baptism wasn’t a temporary rule. It continues as the pattern set by Christ and his apostles until Christ returns. So, men and women disciples should submit to baptism as to the Lord. It is his ordinance.

III. Baptism as a Sacrament

What is baptism? It is a sacrament of the New Covenant. At its simplest level, a sacrament is a sacred thing. It is something God separates out with meaning to become special to his church. And at this level, plainly, baptism is a sacrament because it is not an ordinary dipping in water. It is not a typical bath. It is not as 1 Peter 3:21 says, “the removal of dirt from the body”. God has redefined this washing with special meaning. He has elevated it to be a sacred thing. So, baptism is a sacrament.

Now I have used the word sacrament for the almost three years I’ve been your pastor when I refer to the Lord’s Supper and Baptism. Some of you may have come from a background that didn’t use that word and even positively detested it. It’s not a word found in the Bible, but it is a word that accurately sums up some biblical teaching about the ordinances of Baptism and Lord’s Supper. So, although others corrupt the meaning and practices of the sacraments, that is no reason for us to throw the good word away. In fact, I hope you will see the rich Bible truths that are meant by this word.

But let’s return to the word sacrament. Notice from my definition – something God separates out with meaning to become special to his church – that it is God who ordains the sacraments. The new covenant sacraments are ordained by Jesus Christ. So, there is no conflict between ordinances and sacraments. Baptists and others have used both words for centuries in order to show the breadth of meaning of these gifts from God. They are two words that describe the same thing from two different perspectives. That God ordains sacraments also means that we are not free to make them, change them, or remove them. We cannot add 5 more to the 2 to get 7. We cannot deny these physical reminders of the grace of God, spiritualizing them out of existence. Sacraments are the positive law of God and as Christians, we must accept them as from the Lord.

Now have you ever asked yourself, why would God add a ceremony for his disciples that plunged them under water? It’s kind of inconvenient. He could have invented any ceremony. Why this one? Remember our definition again. God “separates out with meaning” something ordinary to make it sacred. God takes something we understand and heightens what it portrays into the spiritual realm. Before I explain what some of those things are in Baptism, let’s look quickly at the Lord’s Supper since it is more familiar to us.

Why would God choose bread and wine as the elements of the table? In part, because we already understand them at the ordinary level of feeding our bodies. So, God takes something we know from day-to-day life and elevates it with spiritual meaning. God says this bread and wine represent Christ’s body and blood which give us spiritual life. John 6:22-59 and I Cor 10:16 explain this. Ordinary food and drink strengthen our bodies. Christ received by faith through the elements of the Lord’s Supper strengthens our souls. That is one example of God giving spiritual meaning to an ordinary act that gives it a spiritual use in the church, what we call a sacrament.

So why would God ordain baptism as a sacrament? What meaning does he want to invest in it to glorify himself and benefit us? There are several answers and this first one (and the only one we will study today) may not be what you are expecting. Why would God ordain plunging in and out of water? The bible tells us one reason is that it pictures salvation through the waters of judgment. All sacraments are visible pictures, even dramas, that portray God’s promises. The sacraments are God’s visible word. What our ears hear in the new covenant gospel promises, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper portray for our other senses, especially our eyes. We see God’s promises in a symbol form in the sacraments. We are led to believe not just with our ears but our eyes. So, when we see baptism we should think this pictures life through death, indeed, salvation through Jesus.

Let me show you that from Scripture in two Old Testament types and then in the New Testament. In Genesis 7, the story of Noah and the flood, water comes as judgment over the whole earth. Water is associated with Jesus. Water is not here, a life-sustaining drink but has a frightening connotation. Noah and his family in the ark come through the waters to new life. The earth itself is replenished with new life as the floods recede. This is both true history and a typical picture of salvation thru the waters of judgment.

In Exodus 14, the waters of the Red Sea come as God’s judgment mechanism on Egypt. But Israel is saved through the waters. Again, this is true history and the greatest Old Testament picture of salvation. God’s glory is manifest in his people’s salvation through the waters of judgment. To pass through the waters is to experience the salvation of God. Other Old Testament examples and the death of Christ as a baptism could be given but I trust these two obvious ones will show the point that sometimes God’s salvation is pictured as surviving water.

1 Peter 3 tells us that baptism corresponds to this. That is, it fulfills these types or prophetic pictures of salvation. Baptism brings us visibly and bodily to the symbolic waters of judgment. Not literally but symbolically and sacramentally. Scripture identifies water with judgment; many of us have a healthy fear of water and are afraid to be baptized. This is a part of nature and should help us to appreciate what is happening in our baptism. We go down into the waters and then are saved through them as we are brought out. This dramatically portrays God’s glorious salvation of us through deserved judgment. Now this symbolism isn’t the real thing. The real thing is, according to Peter, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. His coming up to resurrection life is the effecting reality. It was his death (his entering judgment) and his life (his resurrecting victory over judgment) that when applied to us by faith, saved us from judgment.

Ron Miller

Ron has been pastor of Covenant Baptist Church since July of 2017. Pastor Ron is thankful for being raised in a Christian home where God called him to salvation at an early age. He loves his wife, public worship, and pastoring this local church. He has a special interest in aiding theological education in North and South America and in teaching Baptist history. Ron is the host of the weekly podcast Particular Pilgrims.