What is accomplished by the act of Water Baptism?

Bridge Church isn’t much for denominations. But we most closely resemble and most often partner together with other Baptist Churches for the sake of the Gospel. The practice of Baptism by immersion is something that we believe very strongly is entirely commanded by Christ through His Word. I’ve been blogging on Baptism for several months now, and today I’d like to elaborate on the significance of Baptism and what is actually accomplished.  

If an individual believes in Jesus, repents of their sins, and is willing to commit themselves to the fellowship of the church for the sake of keeping watch over their soul and on-going discipleship, they can and should be immediately baptized. However, the question remains, “Why?” What is the purpose of baptism at this point if the church has already found the individual to be a repentant believer? What is accomplished by submitting to this ceremony? Obviously, a first and most important reason for following through with Baptism is to be obedient to Christ, which we’ve already agreed is the first step to salvation. But, practically speaking, why did Christ command this?

As baptism is properly observed through immersion, it is obvious that there is profound imagery in the act. A visual display of death and resurrection is embodied in baptism. When done properly it contains a graphic and vivid portrayal of going into the grave as a dead man (or woman) and being raised back from the grave into new life, dead no longer. Since water baptism by immersion does not actually save and is merely an act performed upon a saved believer, then the imagery of the event must be significant. God’s desire for baptism as an initial act of discipleship must be rooted in the meaning of the visual display and the significance that this display carries. It is reasonable to conclude that baptism is a snap-shot picture of the doctrine of justification by faith in Christ. However, baptism is not intended to instruct the baptismal candidate in the truth of the doctrine of justification since the baptismal candidate has already understood the meaning of justification, repented from their sins, and agreed to the doctrine of justification by accepting salvation by faith in Christ.

Nor can the practice of water baptism offer any instruction to the church conducting the baptism. Since the church has already properly understood baptism and since the members of the church are presumably baptized and thus duly instructed themselves in the doctrine of justification, the act of water baptism has little to offer to the church in terms of instruction and edification. In fact, it is this confusion over the significance of baptism to the new believer and the church that has probably contributed to the demise of the practice of Baptism by immersion in many of our evangelical churches. The question remains: why does God command baptism?

Baptism, simply understood, is a symbol that demonstrates the doctrine of Justification before God by faith alone in the atoning work of Christ resulting in resurrection from death. This symbol of resurrection from death is pictorially illustrated in a way that cuts across all language and cultural barriers. As a symbol that is easily understood it may elicit the question from the uninformed, “Why are you [this community of people, i.e. the church] doing that?” Since the act of baptism does not itself infuse the recipient with grace, nor does it offer much by way of instruction to the church, it is reasonable to conclude that baptism is a sign not for believers, but for unbelievers. In this capacity, the true nature of baptism is confession in a very public venue. Recipients of water baptism are given occasion to publicly profess and confess their faith in Christ.  Therein lays one aspect of the significance of water baptism. Cullman comments that baptism, “…as a rule, gives occasion for affirmation of faith on the part of [those] being baptized.” [1] He elaborates, “…one must say that adult baptism in primitive Christianity is indeed an important occasion for confessing the faith.” [2]

This aspect of Christianity draws its significance from Christ. Indeed Paul exhorts young Timothy to, “fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of eternal life to which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses,” using Christ as his foundational example for this exhortation: “Jesus Christ, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession…”[3] Public confession of trust in Jesus is central to the Christian faith. Christians are instructed to profess to the world that they are in Christ or potentially run the risk of offending the Savior himself. Indeed, public profession is even a critical component of the salvation process.[4] In light of this, baptism played the central role in the initiation of believers into the New Testament church, as a means of public confession and profession.

Additionally, baptism “marked-out” the believer from the world. It is not uncommon for children who are baptized at an early age to question the legitimacy of their salvation experience in later life. This has been the topic of innumerable conversations in many churches across the country, and it is an issue that, for many, may continue to haunt in later life. Should the believer who has difficulty recalling their salvation experience from early childhood consider their baptism invalid because they cannot recall accurately the moment they first believed?

The answer to this question is, “Maybe…” The act of baptism, when done properly, is not exclusively an act of the individual being baptized. Baptism is an act whereby the church is acknowledging the legitimate salvation of the baptismal recipient, making a public testimony to the recipient as well as to the world together with the recipient that this individual is now accepted by God. It is a community practice. The Apostle Paul agrees saying that, “…as many of you were baptized into Christ have put on Christ… you are all one in Christ Jesus.”[5] The church, as it correctly practices baptism, baptizes and thus incorporates individuals into its membership which is a membership of the head, Jesus Christ. Noted evangelical scholar F.F. Bruce contributes, “…the baptism of Christians constituted the frontier between their old unregenerate existence and their new life in Christ: it marked their death to the old order and their rising again to a new order…” (italics added).[6]

Sadly, nearly every single church this writer has been apart of has not taken seriously the significance of Baptism, and has exercised the right in a haphazard manner. For individuals baptized in these types of churches, it is fitting that they should examine carefully the significance of their baptism and whether they have beeen obedient to Christ in this part of their life or not.

However, when baptism is done properly, adults who were baptized in early life need not worry about the legitimacy of their baptism. The church should have taken care to baptize only authentic professing believers in Jesus Christ, which can result in confidence for the believer in later life when their memory fails them. Russell Moore agrees, “It is not just that you are announcing something to us; we are also announcing something to you, and we are announcing something to the world that we understand this [individual] to be what a brother in Christ really is.”[7] In agreement with Bruce, Moore goes on to write, “The early Christian community was marking itself out [through baptism]. It is showing ‘these are the boundaries of the church.’”[8]

The physical act of baptism by immersion doesn’t actually accomplish anything in the salvation of the believer. However, it spoke volumes as an act of confession to the first century observers. It also gave confidence to the early church, and it would have reassured the heart of the recipient of water baptism that they were affirmed by the early church. Charged with the commission from Christ to “make disciples,” the early church was given the boundary of baptism by Christ as an initiation practice into the discipleship program of teaching followers to “observe all things.” At the heart of Christian initiation is an understanding of the doctrine of justification, or salvation by faith alone in Christ alone and the public confession or profession of that faith. Baptism gave sufficient opportunity for this doctrine of salvation in Christ to be professed and confessed to the world.

In conclusion, baptism is a ceremony of great symbolism that makes two statements:

1. The church makes a statement to the new believer that they [the church] believe that he or she [the new believer] is genuinely saved.
2. The church makes a statement together with the believer  to the world that this new believer is no longer a part of the world and is now accepted by God and has been granted salvation.

If you have not yet been baptized then you are missing out on a key moment and definite obligation in the Christian life! I encourage you to speak to one of the elders at Bridge Church about getting baptized if you have not yet been baptized. To refuse to be baptized is to refuse to be identified with Christ. This is the ultimate act of betrayal and disloyalty and throws into question the legitimacy of an individual’s salvation since that individual is not willing to follow through in obedience to the commands of Christ.

[2] Ibid.

[3] 1 Timothy 6:12-13.

 [4] See Romans 10:9; Romans 14:11; Hebrews 10:23; Matthew 10:32, “Everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven.” See also Luke 12:8.

 [5] Galatians 3:27

 [6] Bruce, F.F. Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free.(Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1977), 282.

 [7] Moore, Rusell D. “Will the Last Baptist Please Turn Off the Water Heater on the Way Out? Baptism, the Church, and the Glory of Christ.” (Fort Worth, TX: Center for Theological Research, 2006). Available online at www.BaptistTheology.org. Accessed November 20, 2008.

 [8] Ibid.