BAPTISM OF WATER

FOUNDATION SERIES ON THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST (IV)

BAPTISM OF WATER

SCRIPTURE:

Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I will be with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

For surely you know that when we were baptized into union with Christ Jesus, we were baptized into union with his death. By our baptism, then, we were buried with him and shared his death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from death by the glorious power of the Father, so also we might live a new life. For since we have become one with him in dying as he did, in the same way we shall be one with him by being raised to life as he was. And we know that our old being has been put to death with Christ on his cross, in order that the power of the sinful self might be destroyed, so that we should no longer be the slaves of sin. For when we die, we are set free from the power of sin. Since we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that Christ has been raised from death and will never die again—death will no longer rule over him.  And so, because he died, sin has no power over him; and now he lives his life in fellowship with God. In the same way you are to think of yourselves as dead, so far as sin is concerned, but living in fellowship with God through Christ Jesus. Romans 6:3-11

OBSERVATION:

In our key verse on the foundations of our faith from Hebrews, the next major doctrine is that of baptisms, of which the New Testament focuses on two, baptism of water, and baptism of the Holy Spirit.

What does baptism actually mean? It comes from the Greek word baptizo and means “to dip” or “to immerse”. Hence, it actually means to be covered fully with water from head to toe. One can be fully immersed in this sense, by being dunked completely into a body of water which is what is done in the normal act of baptism by water, or he can be fully immersed by standing under a waterfall, which is more of like what happened in the baptism of the Holy Spirit when the Holy Spirit comes down and fills us, immersing the spirit man within us.

For this article, we will look first at baptism of water. Firstly, we must note that it is a command of our Lord Jesus for all His disciples, who are to be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Now, we must be clear that the act of baptism does not save us. If we have no true faith in God, and go through baptism, it is meaningless and does nothing. At the same time, if we say we have faith in Jesus, but refuse to follow such a direct and important commandment from Him, we must ask ourselves if our faith is really genuine. As Watchman Nee once said “Baptism is faith in action”. Also, we must take note that baptism does not guarantee the salvation of a Christian once and for all forever. As said before, we are to continue in our salvation in Christ Jesus, pressing on till the end and overcome to be saved.

What does the baptism of water mean to a Christian? Paul in his letter to the Romans beautifully expounds this. Firstly, we are baptized into union with Christ Jesus and into His death. When a person goes underwater, he figuratively dies a watery death. This is our old man being crucified with Jesus Christ on the cross. Once our old self has died, we are set free from the power of sin. This does not mean that we will never sin again, but that sin no longer rules over us. It means that all of us have the power and potential at any moment not to sin.

When we come back out of the water, we are figuratively rising from the dead with Christ, to new life. This is what it means to be born again - to have a new nature in Christ Jesus, free not to sin, and to live in fellowship with God.  

APPLICATION:

Once we turn to God and believe Jesus Christ died for our sins and accept Him as Lord and Savior, we are born again. The Holy Spirit comes into us, and we find that our nature has changed. We no longer feel comfortable doing sinful things, and there is a desire in us that wants to do good, to do things God’s way. We have actually become a new person, with different priorities, turning more and more towards God and the things that are important to Him.

The act of baptism of water symbolizes this process for us in a physical act. The death symbolizes our dying to our old life, and the resurrection symbolizes the new life that we have started to live. It is an outward act showing the truth of what has happened in our hearts.

What is the significance of water baptism for those of us who have already gone through it? Has the relevance gone and passed for us? No! Paul said “in the same way think of yourselves as dead, so far as sin is concerned, and living in fellowship with God through Christ Jesus!”  Every time we think of baptism of water, we are reminded that we died to sin, and are spiritually alive to fellowship with God, with our Lord Jesus!

Now Paul asked us to reckon ourselves or think ourselves dead to sin, because though that is the fact, in practice, there is still a struggle against sin for every Christian. There are times when we still fall into sin, when we lose faith for a moment, and fall back into old habits and old practices. If left unchecked, we can actually be entangled back in old sins and be overcome. Peter warned of this in 2 Peter 2:20 “If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning”.  Therefore, to persevere and overcome in our Christian life, we need to keep the principle of water baptism constantly before us, to think ourselves dead to sin, and alive to God, for His glory, for His righteousness, for His service.

Also, we must not just remain in the negative - that is to only die to our old sinful selves and stop at that. Then we really would be dead, and life would be dead, and our church services would be gloomy and boring. Instead, we must remember the second stage, coming back out of the water, alive! We are now alive to God, vibrant, full of energy, able to manifest love, joy, peace and every good fruit for His glory. Every time we see a baptism, remember, death to old self, life to Jesus, with Jesus, for Jesus!

PRAYER  

We praise You and love You, Heavenly Father, precious Lord Jesus, for the beauty of water baptism. We thank You for this image You gave us, of dying to our old sinful selves, and coming alive again, to live for You and with You! We thank You for the fresh energy and life and vibrancy that comes with the life You live in us! Help us live life with that truth in our hearts, even starting to act out that truth in faith! We bless You and worship You, Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.