Baptism

Baptism is a sacrament sovereignly instituted by God to be a sign and seal of the new covenant. Through a symbolic washing with water, the Lord signifies and seals the covenant promises to forgive, cleanse, and renew His covenant people. The meaning of baptism is rooted in the meaning of the covenant signs in the Old Testament. In the new covenant, baptism has replaced the old covenant sign of circumcision. Both sacraments signified membership in the visible church. Both point to the promise of redemption through the shed blood of Jesus. As a preparatory sign in redemptive history, circumcision was a bloody rite that pointed to the death of the Savior. After Christ shed His blood at Calvary, there was need for a new sign of initiation into the new Israel. Accordingly, Christ instituted the sign of baptism to be the unbloody sign of the new covenant. The proper recipients of baptism are all who profess faith in Christ, together with their children.

Jesus gave the covenant sign of baptism to be the mark of discipleship just before His ascension (Matt. 28:19). Christian baptism signifies that God had fulfilled the covenant promises in Christ and foreshadowed the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Christian baptism is the sign of the new covenant, marking the appearing of the Messiah for the redemption of His people.

Even before the institution of new covenant baptism, there was the baptism administered by John the Baptist. Jesus submitted to the baptism of John as the true Israel of God and the representative of God’s people. John’s baptism was a ceremonial act by which God was calling Israel back to Himself and identifying Himself with His people. By submitting to John’s baptism, Jesus was also signifying what would happen to Him on the cross when He would become the substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of His people.

Jesus associated His death with baptism when He said, “I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished” (Luke 12:50). In so doing, Jesus was relating His death to the water-judgments in the Old Testament whereby God brought destruction upon sin (see Gen. 5–6; Ex. 14; Matt. 3). In 1 Corinthians 10:1–2, the Apostle Paul explained that the Red Sea crossing was typological baptism for old covenant Israel. Additionally, the Apostle Peter identified the flood in the days of Noah with baptism in 1 Peter 3:20–21. These are the two typical water-judgment baptisms in the Old Testament. They both contain the principle of judgment and salvation. The filth of the world was washed away in the judgment that God sent in the flood, and the enemies of God’s church were washed away in the Red Sea judgment. Simultaneously, Noah and his family were saved in the water-judgment baptism of the flood. The Israelites were saved in the water-judgment baptism of the Red Sea.

Baptism signifies the promise of the new creation. By the washing away of the filth of the world in the baptism of the flood and the enemies of the church in the baptism of the Red Sea, the Lord was revealing how He would create a new people for Himself. When Noah stepped off the ark, he stepped out as the head of a new humanity. When the Israelites passed through the Red Sea, they came out as God’s son and new people called to be a light to the world (Ex. 4:22). The similarity in language between the waters being separated and the dry land appearing at creation (Gen. 1:9–10) and the Red Sea (Ex. 14:21) lends further support to these baptisms typifying salvation and new creation through judgment.

In His death on the cross, Jesus was baptized in the flood of God’s righteous wrath as the sin-bearer of God’s people. By His shed blood, Jesus washes away the filth of the souls of His people and destroys our bondage to sin. Christ became the object of God’s righteous judgment on the cross. In His resurrection, Jesus brings about the new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). The Apostle Paul identifies baptism with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ (Rom. 6:1–14). Everyone united to Christ has experienced the reality of what Christ accomplished on the cross—namely, death to sin and newness of life unto righteousness.

According to the Apostle Paul, baptism replaced circumcision as the sign of the covenant of grace in the new covenant era (Col. 2:11–12). In the old covenant, circumcision was the sign of initiation into the visible church and was administered only once. Likewise, in the new covenant, baptism serves as the initiatory sign of the covenant and admission to the visible church and is administered only once. As circumcision carried the dual symbolism of judgment and salvation, so too does baptism. Paul calls Jesus’ death circumcision (Col. 2:11) since, by a bloody judgment on the cross, the sins of His people were removed when Christ was “cut off out of the land of the living” (Isa. 53:8).

Over the past two hundred years, there has been significant debate over the mode of baptism and the recipients of baptism. Historically, Reformed churches are committed to sprinkling or pouring as the proper mode of baptism, since the sign reflects God’s promise to sprinkle His people with clean water and pour His Holy Spirit out on them. The Westminster Confession of Faith states, “Dipping of the person into the water is not necessary; but baptism is rightly administered by pouring or sprinkling water upon the person” (28.3). This act of sprinkling or pouring is also tied to the old covenant ceremonial baptisms in the tabernacle and temple. The writer of Hebrews refers to these as “various washings”––literally, “baptisms”––(Heb. 9:10). In the old covenant, the priests consecrated the holy things in the temple by pouring water over them. Additionally, the act of sprinkling points to our need to have our hearts sprinkled with the blood of Christ, and the act of pouring represents Christ’s promise to pour out the Spirit on the people of God.

Everyone who professes faith in Christ has a right to the sign of baptism. The children of professing believers also receive the sign based on the covenant promises that God gave to Abraham—namely, that He would be a God to believers and their children (Gen. 17:7). This promise is as much for professing believers in the new covenant as it was in the Abrahamic covenant. New covenant believers are part of the true Israel of God. The Apostle Paul associates the promises given to Abraham and the promises fulfilled in Christ in the new covenant: “If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise” (Gal. 3:29). At Pentecost, the Apostle Peter reiterated the covenant promise when he said, “The promise is for you and for your children” (Acts 2:39). In this way, he was indicating that the covenant promises God gave to Abraham are still in force in the new covenant era. Paul explains that the child of even one believing parent receives the covenant promises (1 Cor. 7:14). Because the children of professing believers have the promises, they should likewise be baptized as members of the covenant.

In reaction to the Roman Catholic Church’s insistence that water baptism takes away original sin, the members of the Westminster Assembly explained, “The efficacy of baptism is not tied to that moment of time wherein it is administered” (WCF 28.6). This also underscores the Westminster Assembly’s rejection of baptismal regeneration, the teaching that everyone who is properly baptized has been given a new heart. Scripture supports the idea that someone may have the sign but not the thing signified. For instance, Simon the sorcerer is said to have been baptized but then tried to purchase the Holy Spirit to give to others. Peter confronted him by stating, “You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God (Acts 8:9–24). In this way, it can be understood that baptism is not a sign of faith but a sign that points to the object of our faith, Jesus Christ and His gospel. Accordingly, baptism points to our need for faith and repentance, just as Jesus called His audiences to repent and believe the gospel (Mark 1:14–15).