The Place of Water Baptism

by Ken Green

Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6: 4).

Many consider baptism an empty symbol. Let us briefly reflect upon the significance of water baptism according to the word of God.

A Symbol

First, it is indeed a symbol. It is a sign. It signifies something. It reveals and proclaims that the mercy and grace of God are facts. It publicizes the covenant that God still offers to sinful mankind. It is related and connected to the covenant that God made with Abraham 430 years before the Mosaic Law was given.

Paul says that covenant was confirmed and renewed in Jesus: “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 seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3: 27,29). Baptism tells the world that God receives sinners through Jesus Christ.

When I gaze at the rainbow in the cloud, I behold a sign; an advertisement sent from another world by which the Creator speaks to humanity. He made a pledge to our father, Noah, and instituted the rainbow as a continual reminder of it.

When we partake of the bread and cup in the Lord’s Supper, we are to understand that God has ratified what Jesus did at Calvary. It is an advertisement and reminder from another world that Jesus is the sacrifice to absorb all other sacrifices.

Baptism is also a symbol and by no means an empty one. It is a proclamation of cleansing. We are rendered filthy by sin and we need washing. Otherwise, we perish in the accumulation of filth and stench. We surely know it is not the water that cleanses us but the blood of Christ (Revelation 1:5). And yet, the violent and murderous Saul of Tarsus was told, “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). And so it is in this symbolic act that we are washed in the blood.

An Endorsement

Second, the response and submission to such a command is our endorsement of God’s new covenant. God’s offer of forgiveness, justification, and blessing is Heaven’s check. It is God’s bank draft of his unsearchable riches. It awaits our signature. Until we endorse it by a faith that obeys (Romans 1:5) those riches are not ours. “He who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16: 16).
Don’t let anyone tell you it isn’t important. It is important even as our endorsement of a check we hold in our hand is important. The funds are released as we sign for them. There are two parties in the transfer of funds — the giver and the receiver. A check is a covenant; a contract. God’s promise is a covenant; a testament.

There’s sufficient grace to cover every sin we’ve ever committed. “I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more” (Hebrews 8:12). I appropriate or sign for it by obedient faith. No one can sign for me. I must endorse it. You must endorse it.

When I endorse this provision, I do three things:

  1. I renounce all other supreme authority. I acknowledge and confess Jesus Christ as Lord. I renounce the authority of the world, the flesh, and the devil. I declare my allegiance to God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.
  2.  I exercise faith. Baptism is an expression of faith. It is not just getting wet. It is not taking a bath (I Peter 3:21). It is not simply a ritual or performance. It is an exercise of faith. It says, “I believe.” It is indeed an outward demonstration of inward faith. It is not a work of law or a work of one’s own righteousness. It is the hand of faith receiving the gift of grace.
  3. It is obedience. Surely there can be no valid rebuttal to water baptism being a divine command. “Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38); “Then Peter answered, ‘Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?’ And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord” (Acts 10:47-48).

A Transformation

Baptism is the initial act of turning from disobedience to obedience. It is a pledge to live a new life of obedience going forward. As our text puts it: “... even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).

Baptism, according to the Scriptures we have cited, is into Christ and into His death. It identifies us with His death, resurrection, and victory. We enter into a new life. Our affections are to be set “on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:2). We are to love His appearing and look for a city whose Builder and Maker is God. We are to think with a resurrected mind: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). We are to be “transformed by the renewing of our mind" (Romans 12:2). We need not think as the world thinks.

In true faith and baptism, we take title to it all. “For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection" (Romans 6:5).

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