Posts: Baptism

Symbolism of Immersion

By my count, baptism illustrates eleven different promises. By choosing to participate, we are asserting before God that we are buying into all eleven. Over the centuries, baptism has been recast as magic by which we obligate God to do what we want (be forgiven, join the church, go to heaven, and such like). The reverse is the case. We obligate ourselves; God evaluates our true intentions and responds appropriately. How many of those promises can you name?

How many of the promises contained in baptism do I need to know to be acceptable? That is what a legalist would ask. The real question concerns the quality of the building materials with which my spiritual house was constructed (1 Corinthians 3:10 – 16). When teaching is shorted, the house may not survive the fires of life. God promises to be the power behind each of the promises. We need to know what they are to claim them.

Perhaps the most discussed of the eleven promises of baptism is the washing away of sin (Acts 22:16, Hebrews 10:22). God is not manipulated into forgiving us because we chose to be immersed. Rather, we are asserting that we accept that Jesus paid up and cancelled the right-and-wrong economy so that we could enter the faith economy. Therefore, we leave guilt and self-loathing and fear behind. Those who live in the past have no future.

Second on my list of the eleven promises of baptism is receiving the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38) who plays a big part in my subsequent character development. My immersion is my declaration that I understand and confidently expect to benefit from that raft of promises, that I will grow my faith so the Spirit has unfettered access for my transformation.

Third on my list of the eleven promises of baptism is that in choosing to be immersed, I am declaring that I am reserved for godly purposes exclusively (sanctified, 1 Corinthians 6:11, Ephesians 5:26). The corresponding promise from God is that He wants such people in His family and will set about, by the work of the Spirit, to clean up our accumulated bad habits which we kept alive by clever excuses.

Fourth on my list of eleven promises of baptism is that in choosing to be immersed, I am declaring that I will be a sacrifice like Jesus (Romans 12:1, 6:3), so God is promising that my life will have purpose. Being a living sacrifice will result in others doing the same, which gives meaning to earthly existence. Many have been taught that to sacrifice is to give something up. That is the definition of pagan sacrifice. Godly sacrifice is a celebration of forgiveness.

Fifth on my list of eleven promises of baptism is that in choosing to be immersed, I am declaring that I have been, because of faith, regenerated and renewed by the Spirit to permit walking a new life. The promise of God is that we will be able to do it. Regeneration means that our spirits are resurrected (from death to life, as the metaphor goes) and reconnected to God. The damage we have done to our characters is being repaired. Walking this new life is not a matter of superior effort but of faith in the promises of God.

Sixth on my list of eleven promises of baptism is that in choosing to be immersed I am declaring that I trust that I will be raised to eternal life on the Last Day (Romans 6:5). If God had given no other promises, what should this one change in my life on earth? My conclusions include confidence that physical death is not the end, but the beginning, so physical death is no longer frightening (aside from the potential discomfort). Also, the meaning of earthly existence is tied up with an eternal purpose which gives direction and meaning to this temporary chapter.

Seventh on my list of eleven promises of baptism is that in choosing to be immersed I am declaring that I trust that I have been freed from slavery to sin (Romans 6:6). I suppose this is a good-news-bad-news promise. If, by the Spirit, I am putting to death the deeds of the body, I will live (Romans 8:13). But I have lost all my favorite excuses.

Eighth on my list of eleven promises of baptism is that in choosing to be immersed I am declaring that I trust that I will achieve miraculous unity with all other faithful people (1 Corinthians 12:13). Unity among believers is to be a continuing evidence that Jesus is who He said He is (John 17:21). If I am divisive, I am signaling that I do not have the Spirit (Jude 19). Unity is achieved through liberty, not authority, through building up, not tearing down.

Ninth on my list of eleven promises of baptism is that in choosing to be immersed I am declaring that I trust that, through the work of the Spirit, I have put on Christ (Galatians 3:27). The metaphor, put on, illustrates that we become like Him, that we are being transformed into His character or His image. (2 Corinthians 3:18, Romans 8:29). We are not just forgiven; we are repaired.

Tenth on my list of eleven promises of baptism is that in choosing to be immersed I am declaring that I trust that, as illustrated by the Israelites through physical circumcision, I am counted a part of the people of God who shall inherit the Promised Rest thorough circumcision of the heart. A small part is removed, called “the body of the flesh” (Colossians 2:11). The spirit is huge by comparison.

Last but not least on my list of eleven promises of baptism is that in choosing to be immersed I am declaring that I trust that, as illustrated by Noah, I am being rescued from a broken world. Noah was greatly oppressed by the world around him. The water rescued him; he did not get wet, although his effort was arduous and long. The world can no longer control me.