*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 2 | Ron Miller
Review: In this short study of baptism, we have seen the importance of baptism, and we have begun to study its meaning. As a religious ritual, baptism is an act in which a believer is immersed in water in the Triune name. This practice was authorized by the head of the church, Jesus Christ and is called an ordinance. Christ ordained baptism as a part of New Testament religious worship in numerous ways: by his approval of John’s baptism of repentance; by being baptized himself; by baptizing his followers through the disciples for three plus years, and by his Great Commission command to baptize disciples.
But baptism is more than just a commanded ritual. It is act impregnated with meaning by God himself. He has chosen in his covenants with men to not only speak promises to them but to give them visible signs of those promises. These are called sacraments. They are dramatic representations to the senses of his verbal message. So, sacraments are often called the visible Word. Thus, in the New Covenant, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are pictures of the gospel of promised salvation in Jesus Christ
In part 1, we looked at the first thing baptism portrayed: salvation through the waters of judgment. Baptism is a vivid depiction of a believer’s spiritual experience. As they enter and go under the water, they portray the truth that they were under judgment. But God saved them as he did Noah in the flood, Israel at the Red Sea, and Jonah in the fish. These dramatic rescues from the waters of judgment are replayed in baptism.
But what else does baptism mean? In what other way does baptism portray the promises of the New Covenant? What else is God saying to us in this sacrament? The remaining summary answer is that baptism not only shows in a general picture God saving us from judgment, but baptism also shows how he saves us. That is through identification or union with Christ.
I. Baptism Pictures Identification and Union with Jesus Christ
Baptism means we are united to Christ. There are several ways we know this. First, baptism itself means to dip or submerge or immerse. When cloth was dyed, it was baptized into colored liquid. When ships sank, they were baptized. So, to be baptized is to be incorporated or united to Christ.
Secondly, the prepositions used with baptism teach this. In the Great Commission baptism is “in”, or more literally, “into” the name of the Triune God. It pictures the placing of a person into God. There is an identification or union between the person being baptized and the one they are naming. Baptism is a taking of the name of a leader to yourself. It is placing yourself “into” his service and allegiance. So, it is a way of obeying the 3rd commandment. Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Do not take it up and claim it as your own and wear it lightly. Baptism says, I deliberately and sincerely take the Lord as my God and identify with him. I am a disciple of Christ and so my name is Christian. My identity is in him. Galatians 3:27 says that as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Thirdly, two texts in 1 Corinthians illustrate this. The first is Israel’s baptism into Moses. In 1 Corinthians 10:3, Scripture says that Israel was baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They were united to their leader; they identified as followers of Moses; they were physically saved by their union with him through the Exodus. Baptism pictures identification and union. This is why Paul was concerned with the Corinthian church. They had divisions based on who they claimed to follow, who they identified with as Christians. Some followed Paul, and some Apollos. Paul understood that people should follow those they were baptized into. So, in 1 Corinthians 1:13 he asks – were you baptized into the name of Paul? And he is glad he did not baptize many of them himself because they were apparently getting confused between who baptized them and into whose name they were baptized. Who performed the ceremony of baptism wasn’t who you should identify with, Paul says. Who you were baptized into is who you follow, who you are united to, who you identify with.
The heart of salvation as it is applied to us is God joining a person to Jesus Christ through faith. Salvation is God putting a person into union with Christ. So, the drama of baptism pictures the salvation of God as union with Jesus Christ.
But we can get more specific about what baptism means. It is more than a picture of salvation through the waters of judgment; it tells us salvation comes by union not with Moses, but with Christ. And even more specifically by our union with him in his death, burial and resurrection.
II. Baptism Pictures Identification and Union with Christ in his Death, Burial, and Resurrection
The major text demonstrating this is Romans 6:1-5. Here baptism means union with Christ. If we have been baptized then our identification with Christ is not in a bare name only, but in the saving events of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. We are united with Christ in the blessings of his death and resurrection. Baptism or immersion is a plain picture of this. Christ died, was placed in a tomb, and then arose from that tomb. In baptism we are considered dead, going into judgment. We are placed into a watery tomb and then rise from it in newness of life. So, baptism portrays our union with Christ, not in his birth or at his miracles, but in his saving death, burial, and resurrection.
Colossians 2:12 reinforces this. It says, “having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God who raised him from the dead”. Baptism, according to these verses, pictures our union with Christ. We are buried with him. We are raised with him. Our connection with Christ by faith makes his work ours. He represented us when he lived, died, was buried, and raised. And baptism shows this.
III. Baptism Pictures Identification and Union with Christ in the Graces of Salvation
Baptism is a visible gospel sermon that displays many facets of our salvation. Our confession mentions several including the remission of sins and walking in newness of life. There are others. Here are several prominent ones in Scripture:
- Remission of sins. Water is a cleansing agent. So, baptism pictures forgiveness, the removal of our sins. Mark 1:4, John preached a baptism of repentance, the forgiveness of sins. Mt 3:6-8. Christian baptism is no different. Acts 22:16, “Be baptized and wash away your sins”. Only Christ’s blood removes sins. Not bulls and goats, not water. But it pictures and reminds us of our washing. Eph 5:26. Some of these may refer more directly to justification and others to our regeneration or internal moral renewal. It is hard to distinguish or know the specific reference. Perhaps some verses refer to both. But what is clear is that sins are removed and baptism portrays that work of Christ.
- Regeneration – Colossians 2:11,12. Baptism illustrates new life through union with Christ in his resurrection. Our old man is cut off and new life comes.
- Sanctification – Romans 6. Union with Christ in baptism shows death to sin and resurrection life to obedience. We walk in newness of life. We died with him; we live with him. We ought to count this true because it is! Baptism pictures this and should remind us as we reflect on our own and see others experience it.
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.
