Baptism: Its Function and Its Form
May 1987 (Revised August 1999)
Introduction
The issue of baptism has engaged the interest of church theologians for centuries. Differences over the reason for baptism and the particular way that baptism should be performed often serve, in part, to distinguish one denomination from another. Although there are other areas of baptism than its purpose and manner that may interest the Christian (e.g., the so-called "baptism in the Spirit"), a discussion of these two aspects is particularly important for understanding the Baptist position. As the SDB statement of belief reads, "baptism of believers by immersion is a witness to the acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, and is a symbol of death to sin, a pledge to a new life in Christ" (American Sabbath Tract Society 1981:3).
This statement contains two assertions and makes several important distinctions. First, the function of baptism is as part of an initiatory rite performed by believers. It is an ordinance as opposed to a sacrament in that it serves as an external sign of one's new relationship to God and conveys no divine grace to the recipient. Furthermore, it is intended for one who has decided to commit his life to the messiah. It is not, therefore, for infants, who can make no such decision. Second, the form of baptism is immersion in water. Sprinkling and pouring are both unacceptable methods (except, perhaps, in life-threatening circumstances). Support for these assertions rests on evidence from three sources.
The form and function of baptism according to the Jewish tradition
By far the most important source for understanding NT baptism is its place in Jewish tradition, which attests both baptism's form and function. According to one Church historian, "for the interpretation of early Christian belief and practice in regard to Baptism we need look no further than contemporary Rabbinic Judaism" (Gavin 1928:58). During the Second Temple Period, baptism held a dual function, especially for converts to Judaism and even for converts within Judaism (e.g., to the Essene sect; Simon 1967:75-76, 88; Cross 1961:95). The act symbolized purification from a sinful past and marked initiation into (and commitment to) the covenantal community (Bamberger 1939:44). Because conversion required deliberation (Hebrew, kavanah) , baptism was limited to adults (twelve or thirteen years and older). Moreover, the only acceptable method of proselyte baptism was immersion (Posner 1972 2:82-83). It is this same rite that the reader of the NT encounters.
The function of baptism according to the New Testament
John, Jesus, and the early church—the second source for understanding NT baptism—were all part of the Jewish community of their day,1 and there is no indication that they altered the traditional function or form of the Jewish practice. Those who came to John easily accepted his use of baptism to demonstrate repentance, even when they doubted his message.2 Jesus, by his baptism, identified with John's work and maintained the tradition with his disciples, instructing them to make the practice an integral part of their ministry.3 Accordingly, baptism for new converts in the early church continued to symbolize purification from a sinful past and to mark initiation into the believing community.4 As with John's baptism, the requirement of repentance and faith limited participation to adults.'
The form of baptism according to the Greek word
The third source for understanding NT baptism is the meaning of the Greek word translated, "baptize." The standard lexicons are in agreement that the definition of the verb, baptizo (as well as of the noun, baptismos, and its variations), is "to dip" or "to immerse" (Windisch 1964 1:529, 545; Arndt and Gingrich 1957:131), the same meaning also attested outside the NT (Moulton and Milligan 1930:102-103). This definition accords with the Jewish practice, and it agrees with NT accounts such as Acts 8:38-39, where Luke says that the Ethiopian eunuch "went into the water...and came out of it," implying that the mode of his baptism was immersion.6
The form and function of baptism according to the alternative views
Among those who do not subscribe to the position on baptism outlined above, there are two major alternative views. Some advocate infant (paedo) baptism, and others consider baptism a sacrament (imparting divine grace).7 Both groups reject, to some extent, the continuity of Jesus and his followers with the Jewish community. In an attempt to find something that will elevate Christian baptism above its Jewish antecedent, supporters of these views stress NT passages that the writers intended illustratively and neglect other passages that inform the issue. In so doing, they fail to account for the teaching of the Bible as a whole and make an unwarranted disjunction between the Jewish community of Jesus' day and the early church.
Proponents of infant baptism assert that NT baptism replaced circumcision (Berkhof 1941:633-634), basing this assumption primarily on Paul's discussion.
Col 2:11 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.
For them, baptism assumes the significance of circumcision in that it is applied to infants as a sign of the (new) covenant. Given the young age at which they initiate members into the believing community, they reject immersion as the proper mode of baptism in favor of pouring (effusion) or sprinkling (aspersion). In this letter to the Colossians, however, the apostle employs both circumcision and baptism in a figurative sense to illustrate the spiritual advantages of a believer's new position in Christ. (It should be noted that this figurative use of circumcision is not unique to Paul.8) Although Paul states that the rite is not required for salvation, he takes great pains to affirm the abiding validity of circumcision.9 To do otherwise would have violated the divinely ordained permanence of circumcision for the Jewish people (whether followers of Jesus or not)10 and would have negated its distinction from other rites.11 Without this substitution of baptism for circumcision, paedo-baptists cannot sustain their position, for there is neither an instance of nor any instruction for infant baptism in the NT.
Proponents of the sacramental efficacy of baptism (Mueller 1955:488-496) also appeal to passages that highlight the spiritual benefits to which the act points.12 Their opinion on the mode of baptism varies, but their understanding of its import is singular: Baptism is not merely an initiatory rite that depicts a person's separation from a sinful past and his identification with Jesus, it is the medium through which God works to regenerate the individual.13 The problem with this position is that it takes literally what the NT writers intended figuratively. Baptism itself no more cleanses the believer from sin than it inters him in the tomb with Jesus.14 Moreover, the passages that allegedly support most strongly the sacramental position on water baptism actually have another baptism in view. In Titus 3:5, Paul specifies the washing he has in mind as that done "by the Holy Spirit" rather than by water. As if to preclude any misunderstanding, Peter states that "the baptism that now saves you" is not water baptism ("the removal of dirt from the body"), "but the pledge of a good conscience toward God" (1 Pet 3:21); again, the baptism of the Holy Spirit." Sacramentalists thus attach to water baptism a mystical element foreign (except in an illustrative sense) both to Judaism and to the early church. Therefore, the references they cite should be considered in the same light as similar expressions found elsewhere in the NT (e.g., Rom 6) and in other Jewish literature (Kotlar 1972 11:1535), as figurative of what baptism signifies and not as literal of what baptism accomplishes.
Conclusion
Considered together, the practice of the rite within Judaism, the continuation of that tradition by Jesus and the NT church, and the meaning of the Greek word all support an understanding of Christian baptism that accords with the position traditionally held by most Baptists and, in particular, by Seventh-Day Baptists. The function of baptism is to demonstrate (not to actualize) the believer's separation from a sinful past and his devotion to a new Lord. It is intended for those who have already experienced the regeneration of the Holy Spirit and, therefore, is limited to disciples.16 Moreover, the form of baptism is immersion, which symbolizes the thoroughness of this commitment.
Bibliography
- American Sabbath Tract Society, 1981, "Statement of Belief of Seventh Day Baptists." Janesville, WI.
- Arndt, William F., and Gingrich, F. Wilbur, 1957, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 4th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- Bamberger, Bernard J., 1939, Proselytism in the Talmudic Period. Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press.
- Berkhof, Louis, 1941, Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
- Cross, Frank Moore Jr., 1961, The Ancient Library of Qumran & Modern Biblical Studies. Rev. ed., Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.
- Gavin, F., 1928 The Jewish Antecedents of the Christian Sacraments. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
- Kotlar, David, 1972, "Mikvah." Encyclopaedia Judaica. 11:1534-1544. Edited by Cecil Roth. Jerusalem: Keter Publishing House.
- Moulton, James Hope, and Milligan, George., 1930, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Non-Literary Sources. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
- Mueller, John Theodore, 1955, Christian Dogmatics. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House.
- Posner, Raphael, 1972, "Ablution." Encyclopaedia Judaica. 2:81-86. Edited by Cecil Roth., Jerusalem: Keter Publishing House.
- Simon, Marcel, 1967, Jewish Sects in the Time of Jesus. Philadelphia: Fortress Press.
- Windisch, Hans, 1964, "bapto, baptizo, baptismos, baptisma, baptistes." Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. 1:529-546. Edited by Gerhard Kittel. Translated by Geoffrey W. Bromiley. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
Endnotes
(1) Relevant passages include:
Matt 15:24 He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."
Acts 21:17 When we arrived at Jerusalem, the brothers received us warmly. 18 The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the elders were present. 19 Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20 When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: "You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law. 21 They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs. 22 What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come, 23 so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow. 24 Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everybody will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law. 25 As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality." 26 The next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he went to the temple to give notice of the date when the days of purification would end and the offering would be made for each of them.
(2) Relevant passages include:
Mark 1:4 And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
Matt 3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
(3) Relevant passages include:
John 3:22 After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. 23 Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized. John 4:1 The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples.
Matt 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
(4) Relevant passages include:
Acts 22:16 And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.'
Rom 6:4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
Matt
28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Acts 2:41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
(5) Relevant passages include:
Acts 8:12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
Acts 18:8 Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized.
(6) Other passages include:
Mark 1:10 As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.
John 3:23 Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized.
'Some also argue for a combination of the two.
(8) Relevant passages include:
Deut 10:16 Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer.
Dept 30:6 The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.
Jer 4:4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, circumcise your hearts, you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done - burn with no one to quench it.
Jer 9:25 "The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh-26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the desert in distant places. For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israelis uncircumcised in heart."
(9) Relevant passages include:
Gal 2:3 Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek.
Gal 2:15 "We who are Jews by birth and not 'Gentile sinners' 16 know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.
Acts 15:5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, "The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses." 6 The apostles and elders met to consider this question. 7 After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: "Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9 He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. 10 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? 11 No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are."
Acts 21:20 When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: "You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law. 21 They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs. 22 What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come, 23 so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow. 24 Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everybody will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law.
Rom 2:25 Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised.
Rom 3:1 What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? 2 Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.
(10) Relevant passages include:
Gen 17:13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant.
Acts 21:21 They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs.
(11) In Judaism, circumcision—as well as the redemption of the first born—was always a separate rite from ablution; they were never confused.
Luke 2:21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived.
Gen 17:9 Then God said to Abraham, "As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner - those who are not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."
Luke 2:22 When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord"), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: "a pair of doves or two young pigeons."
Exod 13:11 "After the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as he promised on oath to you and your forefathers, 12 you are to give over to the LORD the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the LORD. 13 Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem every firstborn among your sons. 14 "In days to come, when your son asks you, 'What does this mean?' say to him, 'With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed every firstborn in Egypt, both man and animal. This is why I sacrifice to the LORD the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.' 16 And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the LORD brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand."
Luke 3:21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened
(12) Relevant passages include:
Acts 2:38 Peter replied, "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.
Acts 22:16 And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.'
Eph 5:26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,
(13) Relevant passages include:
Titus 3:5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
1 Pet 3:21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also - not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
(14) Relevant passages include:
Rom 6:4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-
(15) Relevant passages include:
Rom 8:9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. 12 Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
(16) Relevant passages include:
Matt 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
