Christian Baptism: Question and Answer

What is Christian baptism? Baptism is a spiritual reality and a physical sign. The spiritual reality is based on God the Father’s election of His chosen people (Lk 12:32; Rom 11:5; Eph 1:4–5; Col 3:12; 2 Thess 2:13; 2 Tim 2:10; Titus 1:1; 1 Pet 1:1; 2:9; 5:13; 2 Jn 1:1, 13; Rev 17:14) and God the Son’s redemption of those same people from around the world and across history (Lk 1:68; 2:38; 21:28; Rom 3:24; 8:23; 1 Cor 1:30; Eph 1:7, 14; 4:30; Col 1:14; Heb 9:12, 15).

It is baptism of the Holy Spirit that is the true and real baptism (Mt 3:11; Mk 1:8; Lk 3:16; Jn 1:33; Acts 1:5; 2:38; 10:47; 11:16; 1 Cor 12:13). At God’s appointed time, the Spirit enters the soul of each elect redeemed person. That person is said to be sealed with the Holy Spirit (2 Cor 1:22; Eph 1:13; 4:30), who is God’s token or pledge of full redemption, both body and soul (2 Cor 1:22; 5:5; Eph 1:14).

Who has ordered the sacrament of Christian baptism? In His giving the Great Commission, Jesus instructed His disciples, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (Mt 28:19).”

A sacrament (there are two of them in the New Testament) is what Jesus commanded His followers do for outward signs, which help communicate the Gospel. Both baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Lord’s Table/Communion) point to the death of Jesus Christ. The term, “sacrament” is rooted in the Latin word for “holy” which indicates something set apart that is particularly special to Christ and His people.

What are the elements of baptism? The element present in real, spiritual baptism is the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinitarian Godhead. The element of the sign employed for baptism is water. The physical sign is applied with water, which is symbolic for both thirst satisfaction and cleansing.

What does the physical sign of baptism symbolize? Like its Old Testament predecessor, circumcision, the sign of water baptism symbolizes initiation into the covenant of grace. It recognizes a new member in the body of Christ’s covenant family/nation. One cannot be a member of Christ’s body without the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This implies an imperative for one to be baptized with the sign, out of obedience to Christ’s command and also to bear witness of the reality. Still, the application of the sign, whether as an infant or later, does not save anyone.

There is a second meaning to the symbolism of the sign. The water of baptism carries the meaning of cleansing. Like the ritual baths (mikvehs) located outside the Temple at Jerusalem (southern steps), water cleans and purifies, as did the blood of sacrifices in the Old Testament (ceremonial cleansing and acceptability). Those sacrifices for forgiveness of sin and reconciliation with God were temporary, but with the one time, once for all His people circumcision of Christ (crucifixion death), there is a permanent reality for the recipient of the Spirit. The reality is a one-time resolution to the plight of the sinner; thus, baptism is a one-time ordinance.

Who is to be baptized? Those who were appointed to life in election (Acts 13:48; Eph 1:4), that is, Christ’s sheep (Ps 23; Jn 10), who belong to Him (1 Cor 3:23), having been given to Him by the Father (Jn 6:37; 17:2, 6, 24) and for whom He laid down His life (Jn 10:11, 15), in His substitutionary death on the cross (Rom 5:8; 1 Pet 2:24), are the children of promise, that is, the people of God’s covenant of grace. These bear witness of Christ in testimony of faith, as depicted in the sacraments.

When should the beneficiaries of the covenant be baptized with water, as an application of the physical sign? Because of baptism’s relationship to circumcision, as a sign of the covenant, some Christians apply the sign shortly after the birth of a child. With at least one believing parent, who is a member of the covenant and Christ’s church, baptism is applied because of the promise of the covenant (to you and your children/him and his whole household).

The promise of salvation through Jesus Christ is to believers and their children. Therefore, the application of the physical sign identifies the child with the body of Christ, as the family of God. Obviously, not all people who receive the sign of the covenant enjoy the benefits of the covenant. One thinks of Ishmael and Esau, as recipients of the sign (circumcision), without actually being chosen people of faith.

The Apostle Paul warned the church at Rome that, “Not all (ethnic) Israel is (spiritual) Israel (Rom 9:6).” One becomes a covenant believer by the grace of God (Eph 2:8–9; Titus 2:11; 1 Pet 1:10). In fact, this is at the heart of the matter. Only if the Holy Spirit is sent from the Father and the Son is one a recipient of the spiritual baptism by the Spirit of Christ (Jn 14:26; 15:26); and only if one receives the gift of the Holy Spirit is he or she granted the gift of repentance and faith (Acts 5:31; Rom 12:3; Gal 3:22; Phil 1:29).

The justified believer is one who has been transferred into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son (Col 1:13), which is in the Holy Spirit (Rom 14:17). His is an imputed righteousness, granted by reason of his new location/relationship…”in Christ.” Union has been achieved by the grace of God, who has had mercy on His chosen vessel of mercy (Rom 9:15, 23), through reconciliation (Rom 5:10–11; 2 Cor 5:18–20).

When regeneration and conversion actually occur in the elect redeemed, he may or may not have the sign. The baptized infant in the covenant household has the sign already. The new creature (2 Cor 5:17), not having the sign, but having received the Holy Spirit in real, spiritual baptism, is now encouraged to receive the sign, in order to point to the reality of what God has done. Thus, we see that infant baptism looks forward to the reality of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and believer’s baptism looks back to the same reality.

Believer’s (water) baptism follows the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This is not a second application of the physical sign, rather, it is a one-time application of the sign for those who did not have the sign applied by their believing parent(s) in infancy.

The application of the physical sign is ordered by Jesus, so it should be applied either by believing parent(s) or by the believer himself. The sign is the same in either case, before or after the reality, in infancy or later in life. The physical sign cannot save anyone by application, nor can it provoke God into regenerating anyone who is not elect, by His gracious choice (Rom 11:5).

In both paedo (child) and credo (adult) baptism, there are some who taste these good things of the Spirit but who later fall away from the faith (Heb 6:4–6). Despite having received the sign of the covenant, it becomes apparent that the one who falls away from faith in Christ did not belong to the covenant family/nation of Christ and His church.

Where is one baptized? God is a witness to every baptism, as should another covenant believer in Jesus be another witness. This was the case in Acts 8, when the Apostle Philip preached to and baptized one man, the Ethiopian eunuch. There was water in that place, and so it happened, as the man believed the Gospel of Jesus proclaimed to him, Philip baptized him (Acts 8:38).

There is no record in Scripture of anyone baptizing one’s own self. There are, however, multiple accounts of groups, some related as family and some unrelated people, being baptized by a believing member of Christ’s church, after they heard and believed the Word of God preached to them, in the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom 15:19; 1 Cor 2:4).

Thus, wherever the church is represented by at least one believing member and any number of people professing faith in Jesus Christ, along with water, there a baptism or baptisms may take place.

How is one to be baptized? This is a question of mode of baptism, always done with the element of water as the sacramental sign. Here there are three possibilities. First, those believing parents who wish for their infant child to receive the sign typically apply the physical sign by sprinkling the child. This reflects those who receive the sprinkling of blood in the Old Testament (type) and Christ in the New Testament (antitype) for the forgiveness of sins (Ex 24:8; Heb 9:13, 19, 21; 12:24). Sprinkling is attributed to the work of the Holy Spirit (1 Pet 1:2). Second, there is the pouring of water over the one being baptized. This is called, “effusion.” Third, there is immersion the whole body of the person in water. This depicts one being identified with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection (Rom 6:1–11). The mode does not change the meaning of baptism.

What is being communicated by the church when it baptizes an individual? By baptizing either an infant or an adult, the church is being obedient to post the sign of God’s salvation of His chosen people. By displaying the sign, the reality is communicated, which is the purpose of the sign. God has an eternal covenant that He has made, which binds Him to save His people from their sins and sin’s consequences of eternal punishment in the hell of the lake of fire (Mt 25:41, 46; Jude 7; Rev 20:14–15). He did this by sending Jesus Christ, the righteous, for redemption of His elect. He also did this by sending for His Spirit to apply redemption to His elect through baptism of the Holy Spirit.

What is being communicated by the one being baptized? The receipt of the sign by an infant or adult is a testimony of faith in the reality of what the sign points to. God has told us what He is doing, and receipt of the sacraments acknowledge faith in what God is doing in reality. According to His Word, He is saving His covenant people, by sending the Holy Spirit to them. Water baptism declares corporate faith in God’s Word by the members of Christ’s church. One church, filled with one Spirit, proclaims one baptism, that is, the true baptism of the Holy Spirit, as seen in the symbolism of the sign of water baptism.

A Note to My Reader

Baptism is one of the most divisive issues in church history. Since the Protestant Reformation, the Anabaptists departing from Roman Catholicism, commenced a legacy of credo baptism, which now has a long history (500 years). Roman Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Presbyterians, Reformed, Lutherans, and Anglicans all practice paedo (infant) baptism. In the baptistic tradition are the Pentecostals, Dispensationalists, Mennonites, Brethren, and Baptists.

My objective in writing this was not to be polemic; therefore, I have tried to faithfully demonstrate that all traditions of Christian baptism have something to say that is worth listening to. In other words, we can learn something from one another that will add to our understanding of the meaning of Christian baptism.

Glossary of Terms

Baptism of the Holy Spirit — the sovereign act of the third Person of the Godhead, who enters the soul of the elect, redeemed person, at the appointed time and under the appointed circumstances, for a permanent indwelling that includes: regeneration; teaching; guidance; comfort; help; etc.

Believer’s Baptism/Credo Baptism — a profession of faith in Christ by a conscious child or adult, followed by an obedient act of participation in water baptism by immersion (baptidzo), which the person carries as a sign of the reality they claim has happened to them

Christian Baptism — an act of God the Spirit (reality), depicted in an act of the church (sign)

Church — God’s elect, redeemed people who are baptized by the Spirit and added to the membership of Christ’s body of people throughout history and around the world

Circumcision — the Old Testament sign of the covenant of grace, whereby a male child would have the foreskin of his genital removed as a symbolic picture of the coming seed of Abraham, who would be the revealed King, obedient to the Law, and keeper of the covenant

Circumcision of Christ — term used by the Apostle Paul in his epistle to the Colossians (Col 2:11–12), meaning the crucifixion of Jesus, as the one-time, bloody act of revealing the fulfillment of the Law for forgiveness of sins and opening of permanent access to the Holy God (Temple curtain cut away for access)

Covenant of Grace — God assures His chosen people that their salvation is secured through binding Himself to do what He has promised to do for them

Faith — the gift granted by the Holy Spirit to the one He has baptized with His permanent presence (Note: the difference between a believer in Jesus and an unbeliever is the Spirit; thus, faith is not self-generated by just anyone, as if an unelect, unredeemed soul could actually produce faith!)

Holy Spirit/Spirit of Christ/Spirit of God — the third Person of the Trinitarian Godhead, as revealed in both the Old and New Testaments of the Holy Bible

Infant Baptism/Paedo Baptism — believing parent(s), according to the covenant promise of blessing to them and their offspring, present their infant to the church for receipt of the sign of covenant union, which is carried by the child until the reality manifests

Sacrament — an ordinance of Jesus which proclaims His death and cleansing/forgiveness for sin

Sign — something that points to the real thing

Symbolism — a picture of something depicted, which communicates the meaning of the thing depicted, when the symbol is observed

David Norczyk

Coeur d’Alene, Idaho

June 6, 2021