JUNE 6: Baptism

Wiley Richards is a retired professor of theology and philosophy at The Baptist College of Florida in Graceville.

The Bible holds up the standard of one Lord, one faith, one baptism (Eph. 4:5). However, “baptize” is really a Greek word brought into English without being translated. It means to immerse. What makes up the biblical view of baptism?

• We Baptists believe the Bible teaches that the rite requires a proper candidate (Acts 2:36-41). The Bible affirms that “they that gladly received” the message “were baptized.” One of the central doctrines which we have set forth is the importance of a born-again membership. One might quote Acts 16:31 and assume infants were in the household of the Philippian jailer. However, verse 34 says the jailer and all in his house believed. Before a person can be admitted into the fellowship, he or she has to give a public profession of faith in Christ Jesus. The Bible does not set a minimum age limit, but infants would necessarily be excluded.

As a related issue, many theologians avoid using the term “original sin” in regard to the depravity which, as everyone acknowledges, plagues us. Some groups that baptize babies argue that Adam’s “original” sin is passed genetically to all his progeny with the result that infants are born guilty of sin. They believe sprinkling infants cancels the effects of original sin. To avoid this inference, Baptist theologians usually prefer a term such as “imputed depravity.” The guilt of sin thereby applies only when the child becomes aware of the enormity of sinning against God, commonly called the “age of accountability.”

• By studying this and related texts, we can infer that immersion was the mode (Rom. 6:1-3). Most scholars of the Greek New Testament accept the view of A. T. Robertson and others that the Greek word “baptidzo” meant to dip, immerse, or plunge. The phrase “baptized [immersed] into Jesus” does not mean that the water symbolizes Jesus. A parallel idea can be found in the expression “baptized unto Moses” in 1 Corinthians 10:2. The phrase affirms the confidence in Moses the Israelites showed when they walked across the Dead Sea as water was heaped up on both sides of them.
Those who sprinkle infants sometimes take the approach that Jesus and the apostles probably immersed, but that they were not providing a pattern to be followed. They prefer the word principle. Water, they say, symbolizes cleansing, so the amount used is not vital. Others see a parallel between baptism and the rite of circumcision. However, only boys could be sons of the covenant whereas baptism is available to both men and women. Further, the New Testament never speaks of children as participants in the rite.

• This leads us to consider the meaning of baptism (vv. 4-10). The language is very graphic: buried (v. 4), planted (v. 5), crucified (v. 6), and dead (v. 7). The words “like” (v. 4) and “likeness” (v. 5) let us know the language is not to be taken literally, that is, we died spiritually with Christ on the cross even though the event transpired nearly two thousand years ago. By trusting Him to be the substitute for our sins, our “old man,” the person under the control of sin, has been rendered a death blow. A new self comes into being. Even though this miracle occurs when one is born again (John 3:3), the emphasis in Romans 6:8 focuses on the resurrected life in Christ. Just as Christ died, yet lives, we also are dead and alive with Him. The power that resurrected Him now works in believers. As an act of faith, believers count to be true their death to the power of sin. Because Christ lives in obedience to the Father, believers claim the same victory over Satan and his dominion.