Foundations of the Christian Life. Chapter 16: - Baptism #2: - What Baptism Does for Us.

Foundations of the Christian Life.
Chapter 16: - Baptism #2: - What Baptism Does for Us.

Over the centuries of Church history much debate has raged over what baptism actually does for us, if anything at all. Consequently there is a range of views held in the Church.
* On one end of the spectrum is the Roman Catholic idea of Transubstantiation, which is almost magical in its understanding that "Baptism effects salvation", in the sense of justification. The logical implication of this is that one should baptise as many as possible and as soon as possible, i.e. as infants, so that they can be saved.
* On the other extreme is the view of Zwingli, that baptism is only a symbol and effects nothing.
* The logical outcome of the Zwingli position is the Salvation Army position, which says, “If baptism is only a symbol and we have the reality by faith then we can do away with the symbol.” And so they have dispensed with Baptism and Communion altogether.
* In between there is a range of views.

The problem, as I see it, is one the Church often falls into in trying to interpret the Bible.
1. Instead of allowing the Bible to speak for itself we read into the text our own ideas, in this case Western Greek) philosophy. Then we twist the Bible text to suit our already preconceived ideas. This, it seems to me, is the case with the Roman Catholic position.
2. Then comes a “back to the Bible” revival, such as the Protestant Reformation, and there is reaction against the accepted view by different people in varying degrees, so we end up with a range of views. But there is always an extreme view in reaction to the accepted view, and this, I feel, is the case with Zwingli. He just goes too far.

In reality the truth is somewhere in the middle. Baptism does actually do something for us; but it is not magical, it is in response to faith. When we obey Christ by getting baptised in faith there are blessings that are released to us that cannot be obtained any other way.

Rather than try to explain the range of positions and critique them I want to approach the subject from a different angle. The problem starts, I believe, with trying to explain what baptism does for us by using philosophical ideas that have no real place in scripture. If I try to counter that by arguing against it we will spend a lot of time talking about nothing important. So I would rather start with a Bible idea that will, I believe, give you the true picture of what Baptism does for us and how.

The idea I want to show you is that of the “prophetic action.”

THE PROPHETIC ACTION.

A prophetic action is an action that conveys a message, but it in some way the action causes the message to become true.

The best way to teach this is by way of illustration. Perhaps the best illustration of this principle is found in:

2 Kings 13:15-19.
“Elisha said (to the king), "Get a bow and some arrows," and he did so. "Take the bow in your hands," he said to the king of Israel. When he had taken it, Elisha put his hands on the king's hands. "Open the east window," he said, and he opened it. "Shoot!" Elisha said, and he shot. "The LORD's arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram!" Elisha declared. "You will Completely destroy the Arameans at Aphek."
Then he said, "Take the arrows," and the king took them. Elisha told him, "Strike the ground." He struck it three times and stopped. The man of God was angry with him and said, "You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times."

We see here the prophetic act is an act whereby the prophet, or the servant of God, invites God to come and do something up to a certain limit. That is why the prophet said to the king if he has hit the arrows on the ground several times God would have responded with several victories over the enemies. But now it was limited to three victories – not limited by God’s ability, but limited by the degree of the asking of the man responsible for asking.

In other words the prophetic action determined the actual events or outcomes.
That is the idea of a prophetic action.
We see this idea of the "prophetic action" in operation right through the Bible. This story is not just an isolated instance. It is seen through into the life and ministry of Jesus also – he spat on the ground and made clay and then putting the clay on a blind man’s eye-sockets created eyes in the socket and the man saw.

What is a prophetic action?
1. A prophetic action is an action performed by the servant of God that contains a message or symbolises a message or illustrates a message.
2. In some sense the action of the prophet ensures that the event being symbolized, the message, becomes real or is actualized. In some sense the activity of the prophet causes the event to happen.

This is all part of a particularly Jewish way of seeing things. The Jews do not separate the spiritual and the material in the way that we do, and they saw a clear causal connection between the prophetic word, the symbolic act and the event itself.

This idea is fundamental to understanding the self-identity of the Jew. No orthodox Jew considers the events of Bible history—the bondage in Egypt, the Passover, the Red Sea, Mount Sinai, the events around the feast of Purim, etc., to be purely historical. In Jewish society every year these events are commemorated, they are "remembered". Every year they are acted out at annual celebrations – memorials – Passover, Pentecost, Atonement, Purim and so on. Each of these festivals contains a message.

In the festival the history is re-enacted in such a way so as to relive the story again. In this way every Jew since those events thousands of years ago has become part of the original events. The purpose of this acting out, this "remembering", is to bring the events of the past into the present in such a way that the past events become personal and real to the present generation. The story is told again in a prophetic way.

As a result these are no longer just memories, no indeed - every Jew was there. They were all in Egypt, they all went through the plagues and the Passover, they all crossed the Red Sea and came to Sinai, they all suffered under Haman in the days of Esther. And so on. And this “remembering” every year has served to make the events so real in their consciousness that their national identity will never die out.

So the idea of "remembrance" in Jewish thinking is not simply to have a memorial and to remember past events, but a "remembrance" is a recreation of the original events in such a way that the participants in the "remembrance" actually are participating in the original events. They were there. These are prophetic actions.

So when Jesus said about communion, "This do in remembrance of me" he was not just calling us to remember some historical event in the sense that I remember "2+2 = 4". He was inviting us to participate in the event of the Cross and resurrection in such a way as to become somebody who was "there". And in "being there" the meaning of it becomes true for us at an experiential level.

When we look at Baptism we see this idea is true for Baptism.

* It is an action that preaches a message.
* In some way doing the action makes the message come true for the participant.
* It brings the past events of Christ’s death and resurrection into present experiential reality.

When we understand this concept of the "prophetic action" we can clearly see that the NT teaching about Baptism indicates that something real happens in the act. We don't have to "symbolise it all away", there is a reality there that gives the necessity for following through with the action. “Faith without works is dead”.

Romans 6:3-7
“Do you not know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? 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 in newness of life.”

Notice that Paul does not say here that we are “symbolically baptised into Christ’s death.” The tendency for many Christians, particularly if they have been taught in a church where Zwingli’s interpretation holds sway, is to read it that way. But this is to insert words into the text that are not there to arrive at an interpretation to suit ourselves. And such is not allowable. It is a short road to deception.

When we understand the Jewish way of thinking we see that baptism is a prophetic action, a memorial, by which we make to historical acts symbolised in it (Christ’s death and resurrection) real and up to date for us. In a sense we are transported through time back to the original events and we are made part of them.

Hence baptism is an eternal act in that it transcends time. The historical acts of Jesus were eternal acts, in that they had ramifications that are true for all eternity. When we get baptised we link into those historical acts of Christ and are made part of them and in that way we perform an eternal act.

In that sense we can see that once you are baptised it is forever, for eternity. You can’t be "unbaptised". The act is eternal.

I.e. when you get baptised it is not just a symbol – something actually happens. The NT describes what happens as “being buried and rising with Christ”. We pass from this time-controlled life that ends with death and we rise with Christ into eternal life!

The word I use here is Incorporation.

Through baptism we are incorporated into the death, burial and resurrection on Christ – at an experiential level.

Baptism, then, is a real experience of deliverance, or salvation, from the bondage of the Old man corrupted by sin. Victory over sin is made possible through baptism because the old fleshly nature has been, in a real sense, buried with Christ in Baptism.

When we accept Christ as saviour our old man dies, but when we are baptised the body of the old man is buried. It is “put off” forever.

THE PROCESS OF SALVATION, OR DELIVERANCE.

Two words are important here:

(i) Justification - means my sin is forgiven and in Christ, before God, I have a new standing. I am declared righteous/justified - just-as-if-I'd never sinned. I am free from guilt, and declared righteous. This is purely a legal declaration.

(ii) Salvation - means I am delivered in experience from the guilt and power of sin and of all its effects. It includes justification, but is more than justification.

Justification is by faith alone, and is true the moment we believe.

Salvation is a process that begins at new birth. It starts with justification, but will not be completed until we receive our resurrection bodies. The way of salvation includes confession, repentance, faith, baptism, sanctification, healing, deliverance, etc., up to glorification.

Justification deals with the problem of the GUILT of sins I have committed.
Salvation deals with the problem of the POWER of sin that drives me to commit acts of sin.

God has provided a way of deliverance (or salvation) from this power. Jesus has totally defeated all evil powers, but we need to apply that deliverance to our own lives by faith and obedience to the Word of God. Baptism is one small part of this process of obedience whereby we apply the deliverance to our lives.

(a) The General Principle.

Again the best way to teach this principle is by an Illustration:

Hebrews 7:4-10.
“Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder! Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people- that is, their brothers- even though their brothers are descended from Abraham. This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.
And without doubt the lesser person is blessed by the greater. In the one case, the tenth is collected by men who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living. One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor.”

This passage illustrates a truth that we can apply in the case of baptism also.

The writer says "Levi paid tithes in Abraham". How? He was not physically present.

The background idea is one of covenant headship or family solidarity: What the head of the family does brings lasting effects on the family. This is an application of the covenant / corporate headship idea.

Levi was a son of Jacob, who was a son of Isaac, who was Abraham's son. Isaac was, as yet, unborn; hence his seed was "still in the loins of Abraham". Hence he was present "in Abraham". Everything that Abraham did, Isaac did also by proxy, and so on for his descendants right down the chain to Levi and beyond.

(b) Application.

Romans 5:12-21.
“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned- for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.
But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgement followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.
For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.
For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Paul here contrasts two states, using the principle of covenant / family solidarity.

* Every person is born into the family of Adam.
* When Adam sinned we all sinned "in Adam", as Adam sinned before he had children.
* When Adam sinned his nature was debased, he became "fallen". This fallen nature, under the power of sin, was passed on to all of his descendants (i.e. us), as life only propagates "after his kind" (Genesis 1:11,21,25).

Our problem with sin, therefore, is one of parentage; we belong to the wrong family. Adam's family is under a curse of sin and death. We need to get out of that family and be born into a new family which has the nature of life (i.e. God's family).

The only way out of Adam's family is death, but we cannot die and yet live. Death consigns us to Hell. But God's Law demands that sin be punished by death. Our position appears hopeless.

To solve this problem, Christ came and was born a man, the "last Adam" (1 Corinthians 15:45). He came of Adam's line through Mary, thus a relative of man, but was the Son of God. In his coming Jesus summed up all that was Adam in himself and so became truly representative of all who are “in Adam”. Because he summed up all that was Adam and put it to death he is the “Last Adam”.

1 Corinthians 15:45.
“So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.”

This miracle of the Virgin Birth has two results with respect to sin:

(1) The Nature of Sin.
Through Mary Jesus took on (assumed) true fallen humanity so that he could redeem it. Though he assumed sinful flesh he did not succumb to it and thus redeemed it. We discussed this in Chapters 6-9.

Romans 8:3.
“For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man,...”

"Likeness" means "in the same nature".

(2) The Guilt of Sin.
Christ, however did not take on man's position with respect to guilt -the legal claim of sin. Christ lived as perfect man - a sinless life - so sin had no legal claim on him. However he still died. Thus there exists a death that is not a result of sin, a death that is voluntary and is offered on behalf of others who have sinned. Because he was also the Son of God this death is limitless in magnitude and effect. It applies for all time and for all eternity.

His death was vicarious/substitutionary (for us) and thus satisfied the demands of the law on our behalf. The law is satisfied and now we can be set free from its demands.

If we accept Christ three things happen:
1. He pays our sin debt, Sin then no longer has any claims on us in the courtroom of the universe.
2. His death, the death of the "Last Adam" is credited to us and we die, we exit Adam's family.
3. God takes us and puts "into Christ". Christ is the Son of God, so we become, "in Him" members of a new family, the family of God. We now have a new family inheritance, one of life, not of death.

Where Adam's history and sin and nature were ours, now we receive Christ's nature and history:

Christ lived a perfect life of victory over sin 2000 years ago - therefore I have a perfect life of victory.
Christ died 2000 years ago - therefore I died (Romans 6:6; 2 Corinthians 5:14).
Christ was buried - so was I.
Christ rose - so did I (Romans 6:3,4).
Christ ascended to heaven - so did I (Ephesians 2:6).
Christ now rules - so do I.

To exit from Adam I needed to die - I have died. I am now "born again" into the family of God (John 3:3-8).

This is what we confess in baptism, that Christ's death and resurrection have become ours.

(3) How Do We Experience this Deliverance Now?

Romans 6:1-12.
“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death?
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. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.
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- because anyone who has died has been freed from sin Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot
die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.”

(a) The Process.

(i) 6:3 "know" - to know by assurance from God that this is true. To be convinced in your heart by faith. This comes by revelation.

If you do not "know" the rest of the process will not work.

(ii) 6:11 "consider" - Greek = "reckon". This is a bookkeeping world meaning "to credit it as being so". You can stake your life on it.

There are two stages to this:

(a) 6:3 Baptism.
(b) Sanctification.
6:12,13 - "Do not yield... yield"
C/f Colossians 3:5,8 - "Put off ... Put on."

The Place of Baptism.

Christ has died; the Last Adam. He put to death the whole Adamic race. In God's eyes the whole of Adamic mankind and its sin is dead. It has been condemned and crucified.

Romans 8:3 - the flesh, the old Adamic man, is dead.

PROBLEM:

As Christians we know that this is LEGALLY true, but in our experience we find that the old nature of the flesh is still hanging around. A conflict results (Romans 7:14-8:8). Even though the flesh is dead, it is like a body that will not lie down. It trips us up as we try to move in God. Also it decays, it creates a stench, putting off the non-Christians we come in contact with.

The flesh is DEAD, but we need to "put off the flesh with all of its desires". This is where baptism comes in.

Colossians 2:11,12.
“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,
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.”

Baptism is a burial - ours'. It is the burial of the old man, the flesh, now dead in Christ.

Colossians 3:9,10 "Put off... put on"
“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry…Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”

This is Baptismal language. In Baptism we take off our old man, like a set of dirty clothes, and we put on the new man, like a new suit of clothes.

In the Early Church this was often symbolised very dramatically. Candidates for baptism took off their old clothes, were baptised in the nude, then were given a new set of white robes to wear, symbolising the righteousness of Christ. This is the origin of the Baptismal robe.

Through baptism we put off the old man. It is illegal to bury a man when he is still alive, but it is equally illegal to leave a dead body lying around unburied. Burial is only for the dead, but if the dead "in Christ" do not get buried then the stench of their old man will be a hindrance to their growth and witness.

Something actually happens, therefore, at Baptism. It is not just a symbol, but it is a prophetic drama through which we enter into the reality of what we symbolise.

Baptism, when coupled with faith, is the burial of the flesh, hence it delivers us (i.e. saves us) from the power of the flesh, sin, death, the law, the world and the devil.

Baptism SAVES us:

Mark 16:16.
“Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

Romans 10:9,10.
“That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”

1 Peter 3:20-22.
“…and this water symbolises 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,”

Baptism is therefore necessary for your subjective experience of salvation while here on earth, but we must insist that it is not necessary for justification, nor does it affect your eternal destiny.

Baptism as a burial is an exit from spiritual bondage, but it is also a resurrection, and so is the doorway to the Christian life.
Baptism is the doorway to full Christian experience. One cannot experience the full power of God without being baptised.

The Church has always acknowledged this by making baptism the INITIATION RITE into the Church. The Church is that sphere of the activity of the Holy Spirit in his fullness. That fullness is only available to the Church. We enter the Church by Baptism. This is because the Church is Christ's body, and the only way we can enter his body is by death and resurrection.

In Acts Baptism is clearly an initiation rite. Baptism was always at conversion.

Baptism, therefore, is a way out of bondage, and the doorway to full Christian experience. It is not just a ritual or symbol, but something happens in the spiritual realm when we are baptised on which we can take a stand and find deliverance.

It follows, therefore, that we can and should thereafter live in victory:

Romans 6:12-14.
Colossians 3:5-7.

ILLUSTRATION OF THESE TRUTHS.

That Baptism is an exit and a doorway is clearly seen in two OT pictures of Baptism.

(1) The Red Sea.

1 Corinthians 10:1,2.
“For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptised into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.”

Exodus 15:10-15,21.
“But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. "Who among the gods is like you, O LORD? Who is like you- majestic
in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? You stretched out your right hand and the earth swallowed them. "In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.
The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will grip the people of Philistia.
The chiefs of Edom will be terrified, the leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling, the people of Canaan will melt away;…
Miriam sang to them: "Sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted.
The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea."

(a) They were delivered from the hand of Pharaoh = Satan.
removed from Egypt = World.
delivered from horses = flesh.
delivered from riders = demons.

(b) Put them in the wilderness = the place of spiritual growth and experience.

There is a change - one cannot go back.

(2) The Flood.

1 Peter 3:20-22.
“…who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolises 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, who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand- with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.”

The flood destroyed the old world and its way of life, and brought Noah into a new world of experience. He could not go back.

You know, when one really understands what Baptism by immersion can do for you why would anyone want to argue about it? Why not just get it done and get the blessing? Why hang on to a church ritual of sprinkling that has no scriptural blessing or validity when one could have a real deliverance from the power of sin through Christian immersion?

Four Words that sum up Baptism:
1. Immersion.
2. Initiation.
3. Identification.
4. Incorporation.

Note:
Worth reading on this subject is:
Derek Prince: Burial by Baptism.
Originally it came out as a booklet, but it may now be part of the Foundations book. I'm not sure.

Watchman Nee: The Normal Christian Life.
(a great exposition of Romans!)

I have to admit that the whole idea of the prophetic action and its application to baptism and the other sacraments is not something I have read anywhere, or heard anywhere. I believe it is a revelation God has given me. I also believe that it is the way to reconciling the differing opinions in the church on Baptism. It is a new way of looking at it, and as far as I know, no one else has approached it from this angle. In my view, the boxes people have been thinking in about baptism, and the other sacraments, have been unprofitable. All this means is that you may need to do some quite deep thinking on the subject to decide if what I have said is right or not.

HOMEWORK.
Homework for this week is a series of confessions. These are real transformer verses.
1. Read the following out every day – do it for as many weeks as you have to until it becomes true for you in experience.
2. Pray around each one as the Holy Spirit leads.
3. After reading each confession and the attending verses pray a prayer of thanksgiving and acceptance of that truth in your life.

I am united with Christ in his death:
Galatians 2:20
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
Colossians 3:3
"For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God."
Romans 6:3
"Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?"

I am united with Christ in his Burial:
Romans 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."

I am united with Christ in his resurrection:
Colossians 2:12
“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.”
Romans 6:5
"If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection."

I am united with Christ in his ascension:
Ephesians 2:6
"And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,"
Colossians 3:1,2
"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things."

I am united with Christ in his life:
Romans 6:8
"Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him."
Romans 6:11
"In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus."
Romans 8:10.
"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 body through his Spirit, who lives in you."

I am united with Christ in his power:
Ephesians 1:19,20.
"(I pray that you may know)… his incomparably great power for/in us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,"

I am united with Christ in his inheritance:
Romans 8:16,17
"The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. 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."
Galatians 4:4-7.
"But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, <"Abba>, Father." So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir."