1. What does baptism represent? When we seek to describe the sacrament of baptism, it is God’s Word that provides our only rule. Calvin wisely taught that if we cannot show from Scripture why we believe some thing to be true, then we should abandon that belief as not resting on the sure foundation of the Word of God.
Christ commanded his disciples to baptize all nations in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Mat.28:19). So we baptize not on our authority, but on the authority of Jesus Christ.
Baptism in the Bible represents many truths about what God does in our salvation. It is not merely a public testimony of what we have done or what we believe.
Baptism portrays our dying to sin and new life in Christ. It pictures our entrance or adoption into God’s family. It portrays our washing from sin and the cleansing of forgiveness. It primarily is a picture of what God is doing for us in salvation. It is not tied to a specific time in our life, but tied to the reality of Christ’s work on the Cross.
2. What makes baptism effective? In fact, when baptism becomes just a testimony or expression of a person’s faith, then it only has meaning when the faith is real. It is true we must as evangelical believers be leery of empty rituals and religious observance where no true faith is required. God condemns such empty worship.
The church has experienced much damage by nominal Christians who have the false notion that they are true Christians because of some ritual they have had. Baptism without a serious commitment of faith and active obedience in a church family turns covenantal baptism into a lucky charm, ritualism or family tradition.
But, the danger of empty ritual, does not mean we correct the abuse by requiring something unbiblical – or extra-biblical.
When true faith is seen as a requirement to be a proper recipient of the blessings of baptism, then it is the experience of faith that becomes the foundation of Baptism, rather than God’s grace. What often happens then is a continual rebaptism – a person can have several baptisms, if they believe that they have a “true spiritual” experience that supersedes what they had before. This seems to me, to be a gross distortion of what Baptism represents.
There is nothing quite like the picture of infant Baptism that symbolizes the grace of God that chooses us and claims us, before we are able to acknowledge our need for God. In short, it is a picture of the Gospel, which is what defines the nature of a sacrament. They are visible pictures of God’s provision for us in Jesus Christ. Again, this is just as powerfully displayed in an adult believer’s baptism. An adult conversion from unbelief to accepting what Christ did and seeing a life transformed is a powerful testimony of God’s grace. May we see much of this in our church as well. But we believe God does not limit this sign to just adults. Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”
Marvin Rosenthal, writing in Israel, My Glory, tells about a mother who was asked by a census taker how many children she had. She responded, “We’ll there is Billy and Harry and Martha and…” “Never mind the names,” the man interrupted, “Just give me the number!” The mother became indignant and replied, “They haven’t got numbers, and they’ve all got names.”
That is the way God sees his covenant children. He knows each of us by name and he knows those who truly belong to him. Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:19, “the Lord knows those who are His.”
Baptism does not make us Christian, it is God’s grace that does that. We belong to God, because God in his mercy gives us what we could not do for ourselves. We come; no we are brought to Jesus like helpless infants, for we are – incapable of doing anything, apart from God’s sovereign power (John 6:44). Baptism is a sign of what God is doing. It is not a sign like we might see on the side of the road that reads, “Men at Work” rather it is a sign that declares “God is at Work”.
We Come to Christ like Children
“I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." 16 And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them”. Mark 10:15-16
The puritan writer Chadwick reflects on the weak condition of children as a model for approaching the Lord. He writes, “A child is not humble through affectation, it never professes nor thinks about humility. But it understands, however imperfectly, that it is beset by mysterious and perilous forces, which it neither comprehends nor can grapple with. And so are we”.
Matthew Henry, the esteemed Bible teacher notes the manner of our coming to Christ. “That there must be something of the temper and disposition of little children found in all that Christ will own and bless. We must receive the kingdom of God as little children (v. 15); that is, we must stand affected to Christ and his grace as little children do to their parents, nurses, and teachers.” (Commentary on Mark)
Covenant children are brought to Christ, because they cannot come on their own. It is a reflection of the Christian parent to trust in God’s covenantal promises for us in our salvation and our children. The theologian J.I. Packer asserted pointedly that, “The Gospel of God is not properly understood till it is viewed within a covenantal frame.” Like all redemptive covenants, which are by nature covenants of grace, the pledges and signs are given to God’s people not on the basis of rewards but in the sovereign mercy of a God whose grace precedes our faith.
My prayer, dear parent is that you would understand that at the heart of covenant baptism is the picture of the Gospel of Grace. And that this sacrament would lead you to greater faith and love for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and finally for your child as he or she grows up in the covenant community always hearing and receiving the means of grace. As Paul wrote, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” Romans 10:17 (ESV).
Dr. Todd Douglas Baucum
First Presbyterian Church
Enterprise, AL
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