Why are we called "Baptists"? Although Baptist theology and polity have several distinctive beliefs, the one element that stands out is our view of baptism. While this teaching and practice are not confined to Baptists alone, it was the Baptists who became particularly identified with it.
One of the reasons we hold to our beliefs and practices of baptism is the passage we are studying this week, Romans 6:1-4. Paul speaks of the imagery of baptism as a picture of the change that has occurred in our life. It is vital to recognize here that baptism itself does not effect a change in us; it serves as a symbol of a reality that has already taken place. Baptism does not save us, cleanse our sin, or regenerate us. If you enter the water still in sin and rebellion against God, you come out the same. Spurgeon puts it this way: "There have been instances of persons being buried alive, and I am afraid that the thing happens with sad frequency in baptism, but it is unnatural, and by no means the rule. I fear that many have been buried alive in baptism, and have therefore risen and walked out of the grave just as they were."* This is why we baptize those who profess faith in Jesus; only those who have already experienced a new birth are able to proclaim through the symbol of baptism the change that Christ has wrought in their life.
Paul states that baptism is a symbol of our dying with Christ. We die to sin through Jesus taking upon Himself the judgment due to us. The burial imagery speaks to the reality of that death. As Spurgeon said, we do not bury the living, but those truly dead. We have died to sin, and that should cause us to turn away from sin and toward obedience to Christ.
This is why Baptists immerse in baptism. It is the symbol of being buried, dead to sin. As we go under the water, we are proclaiming to the world that we have died with Christ, and our old person is now dead. We no longer place ourselves first, but accept Jesus as our Lord.
However, we do not leave the person being baptized under the water (at least, not for too long). We bring them back up to finish the symbolism Paul presents here. For baptism in not only a symbol of death, but of life as well. We die to our old sinful, self-centered self, but are raised to a new, eternal life through the power of Christ's resurrection. In the resurrection of Jesus we see the promise of life for those who believe in Him.
This is not just a different existence. Paul says we are risen to "walk in a new way of life" (v. 4, HCSB). Our new life is to be an active one, with a new purpose and a new sense of service to the One who gave us life. The person who thinks that being "born again" means you pray a set prayer but never see any change in your life has not yet experienced the transformation that faith in Jesus brings. The person who is baptized comes out of the water, and in so doing symbolizes that they are moving from a death to self into an active life of following Jesus.
Are you living out the reality of the new life in Christ that baptism represents? This is the time to walk away from sin and self and into eternal life through the grace of the Lord Jesus.
* Quote from "Baptism-a Burial," Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit vol. 27
Paul states that baptism is a symbol of our dying with Christ. We die to sin through Jesus taking upon Himself the judgment due to us. The burial imagery speaks to the reality of that death. As Spurgeon said, we do not bury the living, but those truly dead. We have died to sin, and that should cause us to turn away from sin and toward obedience to Christ.
This is why Baptists immerse in baptism. It is the symbol of being buried, dead to sin. As we go under the water, we are proclaiming to the world that we have died with Christ, and our old person is now dead. We no longer place ourselves first, but accept Jesus as our Lord.
However, we do not leave the person being baptized under the water (at least, not for too long). We bring them back up to finish the symbolism Paul presents here. For baptism in not only a symbol of death, but of life as well. We die to our old sinful, self-centered self, but are raised to a new, eternal life through the power of Christ's resurrection. In the resurrection of Jesus we see the promise of life for those who believe in Him.
This is not just a different existence. Paul says we are risen to "walk in a new way of life" (v. 4, HCSB). Our new life is to be an active one, with a new purpose and a new sense of service to the One who gave us life. The person who thinks that being "born again" means you pray a set prayer but never see any change in your life has not yet experienced the transformation that faith in Jesus brings. The person who is baptized comes out of the water, and in so doing symbolizes that they are moving from a death to self into an active life of following Jesus.
Are you living out the reality of the new life in Christ that baptism represents? This is the time to walk away from sin and self and into eternal life through the grace of the Lord Jesus.
* Quote from "Baptism-a Burial," Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit vol. 27
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