What is baptism? What do the scriptures say about what baptism is – and what baptism does?
At the day of Pentecost, when asked by the people, “what shall we do?” When they see that the promised Holy Spirit had been given to the followers of Jesus (and not them!) – they realize that unless they, too, receive the Holy Spirit, they are doomed! And so Peter said, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
So baptism is all about two things: the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. And the rest of the New Testament fleshes out what this means. Ananias will say to Saul of Tarsus, “Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.” (Acts 22:16) Paul will speak of baptism as “the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). In Romans 6:3-4, Paul asks, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” In Galatians 3, Paul will add, “For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ….And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” (Gal. 3:26, 27, 29)
When you think about how all these passages speak of baptism, it is not surprising that Peter will go so far as to say in 1 Peter 3:21, that baptism saves us. He starts by saying that baptism corresponds to the flood – that just as God brought Noah and his family safely through water, so now, “Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Christ.”
Notice how Peter says this. Baptism now saves you. So we must also say that in some way, baptism saves us. But how does baptism save us? Notice that Peter says that it is not that getting wet saves us – but the “appeal to God for a good conscience” (or “pledge of a clear conscience toward God”).
In other words, baptism saves by faith – through the resurrection of Christ.
If we take the NT seriously, then we must say that baptism is the washing of regeneration, and also that baptism only regenerates by faith.
Think about Simon Magus – who was baptized, but did not have faith, and so Peter said to him, “You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right with God…For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” (Acts 8:21, 23) So obviously, just getting baptized does not result in a changed heart!
Think of it this way. What makes a car go? Gasoline. But gasoline can only make a car go, if you push on the accelerator. In the same way baptism saves. But baptism can only save, if you believe God’s promises. Like all the blessings of God, baptism must be received by faith.
As the Westminster Confession puts it:
“Baptism is a sacrament of the new testament, ordained by Jesus Christ, not only for the solemn admission of the party baptized into the visible church; but also, to be unto him a sign and seal of the covenant of grace, of his ingrafting into Christ, of regeneration, of remission of sins, and of his giving up unto God, through Jesus Christ, to walk in newness of life. Which sacrament is, by Christ’s own appointment, to be continued in his church until the end of the world.” (Confession 28.1)
Calvin’s Genevan order of baptism adds:
“All these graces are conferred upon us when God is pleased to incorporate us into his Church by baptism. For in this sacrament he testifies to us the remission of our sins. And for this cause, he has ordained the sign of water, to signify that as by this natural element the body is washed of its bodily odors so he wishes to wash and purify our souls. Here we have a sure witness that God wishes to be a loving Father, not counting all our faults and offenses. Secondly, that he will assist us by his Holy Spirit so that we can battle against the devil, sin, and the desires of our flesh, until we have victory in this, to live in the liberty of his kingdom. Those two things are accomplished in us, through the grace of Jesus Christ: it follows that the truth and substance of baptism is comprised in him. For we have no other washing than in his blood, and we have no other renewal than in his death and resurrection. But as he communicates to us his riches and blessings by his word, so he distributes them to us by his sacraments.” (Geneva, 1542)
But if baptism does not benefit us apart from faith, why do we baptize our children? Remember that in Acts 2:38, Peter said, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” What does he say next? “For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” (Acts 2:39)
Which promise? The promise of repentance and baptism for the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. When Peter says “the promise is for you and your children” to a group of Jews and proselytes in Jerusalem he is using Abrahamic language. Everyone present would assume that “for you and your children” would mean that their children were included in the promise, just like Isaac was included in the promise to Abraham.
God had said to Abraham, “I will establish my covenant between me and you and your seed after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your seed after you.” (Genesis 17:7) You find the same idea in Paul’s call to the Philippian jailer: “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts 16:31)
Or as the Heidelberg Catechism puts it:
“Infants as well as their parents, belong to the covenant and people of God, and through the blood of Christ both redemption from sin and the Holy Ghost, who works faith, are promised to them no less than to their parents. Therefore they are also by Baptism, as a sign of the covenant, to be ingrafted into the Christian Church, and distinguished from the children of unbelievers, as was done in the Old Testament by circumcision, in place of which in the New Testament Baptism is appointed.” (Heidelberg Catechism 74)
