What Baptism Doesn’t Mean
Baptism has often been controversial. Having biblically sound thinking on it isn’t easy, but as one of the sacraments, it is important. In this blog post, I want to focus on the negative side, what baptism doesn’t mean. There are a couple of common misunderstandings and when I say common, I mean they can also sometimes be found among Reformed believers.
But before I get into that, let me briefly affirm what I believe baptism does mean. First, baptism means a public announcement of our covenant membership. It means God has publically announced covenant promises towards us. Third, baptism means we’re called first to believe these gospel promises, and then bear the fruit of a growing sincere obedience to God’s law.
Let’s now learn about what baptism doesn’t mean.
Baptism is Our Work
First off, there is this idea that baptism is about what we’re doing. In our Reformed churches, that idea can develop because, when a baby is baptized, the parents are asked some questions and then they answer. So sometimes people get the impression that the essence of baptism is the vows the parents make. The baby is completely out of the picture, but even worse, God is almost completely out of the picture. At the very least, God becomes a spectator, listening to the parents making their vows. Now, the vows are important, but they’re not the main thing.
Elsewhere, in other churches, baptism often is meant to show how we really mean business. Someone has become a Christian and now they want to make a statement – so they get baptized. Baptism is the Christian announcing that he or she has become a Christian and is serious about it. Here too, the focus is not on God and what he is doing in this sacrament, but on human activity.
In its essence baptism isn’t a statement from us. It’s not about the vows parents make and it’s not about a new convert making an announcement. Rather, it’s something God does for us and to us. When the minister baptizes, he does so as a minister of God. He is representing God at that moment. God works through the hands of the minister to put water on the head of the one being baptized. God speaks through the mouth of the minister as he says, “I baptize you into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” When it comes to baptism, the focus always has to be on what God is doing.
But someone might raise an objection to this. In 1 Pet. 3:21, baptism appears to be “an appeal to God for a good conscience…” Doesn’t that make it sound as if baptism includes us doing something? No, what this passage is saying is that baptism must lead to a response. The one baptized must call on God with faith in the risen Christ in order to have a good conscience. The appeal for a good conscience in 1 Pet. 3:21 follows from baptism, but isn’t part of the essence of baptism.
Salvation is Ours Through Baptism
The second error is probably more common than the first. This error teaches that because God has promised it and signed and sealed it in baptism, salvation is automatically ours. Because God has promised us all the benefits of Christ, we’ve received all the benefits of Christ. We can lose them if we’re disobedient, but because we’re baptized covenant members, we automatically have these saving benefits in our possession.
I once encountered a related position. The church is the assembly of the elect redeemed, I have been baptized and incorporated into the church, therefore I am one of the elect redeemed. Salvation is all automatic and there’s zero personal responsibility to repent and believe the gospel. In fact, some who hold these types of positions would go so far as to say that calling baptized people in the church to believe the gospel is Arminian. I once heard someone say that even our Heidelberg Catechism is wrong for saying that we must accept the promise of the gospel as often as we hear it (in QA 84). Baptized church members are already saved by virtue of the covenant. God has already given them salvation, so you don’t call them to believe or accept the promise of the gospel. They just have to be taught how to be obedient in the covenant. This is a completely wrong and dangerous view of baptism and what it means.
A couple of places in Scripture will illustrate why it’s wrong. In Hebrews 4 and 5, God is said to have made promises, but those who didn’t believe didn’t receive what was promised. We could also think of 2 Pet. 3:9. This passage is addressed to Christians, baptized members of Christ’s church. It says, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” The call to repent has to be issued in the church for covenant members. They need to be called to a change of mind about sin, to turn away from sin, and turn to Christ. Or you could think of Heb. 12:2. Keep in mind that Hebrews was probably an early Christian sermon, delivered to covenant people in the church. In Heb. 12:2, the writer encourages these covenant people to look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. He calls them to fix their eyes in faith on Christ. So Scripture calls – God calls – covenant people to repentance and faith.
Faith is the way in which we receive what God has promised in the covenant, and therefore what has been signed and sealed in our baptism. We receive the benefits of Christ when we rest and trust in Christ alone. There’s a fairly good illustration for this. If I give you a gift card for $500, you can only receive the $500 worth of merchandise if you take it to a shop. Similarly, in the covenant God has promised us the benefits of Christ – these are rich benefits. But to receive what has been promised (the benefits), you have to take the card to the shop, so to speak. You’re called to believe what your God has said: repent and believe in Jesus Christ. As he says in John 14:6, he is the only way to the Father and you can only travel on his way through faith in him.
But then there’s 1 Pet. 3:21 again. It says that baptism saves us, doesn’t it? “Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you…” So there you have it – the Bible itself says that baptism saves you. But does it? We have all these other passages teaching us salvation is only by faith in Christ alone. But we have only one passage which speaks like 1 Pet. 3:21 does. That means we need to take a closer look at this passage. After all, it can’t be contradicting all those other passages. The solution is right there in the verse when it says, “not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience…” Peter is saying, “Don’t get me wrong: baptism doesn’t save through a physical pouring of water, like taking a shower that washes away dirt, but only as it leads to faith. Baptism saves as you respond to it or continue responding to it by turning to God in faith through the resurrected Jesus Christ.” You see, baptism has a place in the scheme of our salvation, but it cannot be said that baptism all by itself is a sacrament which results in automatic eternal life for anyone who receives it. The Bible doesn’t support that teaching, not here in 1 Pet. 3:21 and nowhere else.
Like I said, this is a wrong view, but it’s also a dangerous view. Why? For one thing, because it leads to presumption. It leads to people not looking to Christ, but instead trusting in their baptism or covenant membership/church membership. They’re sure they’re going to heaven, but for the wrong reason. If you’re not looking to Christ alone, you won’t be saved.
This teaching is also dangerous because it leads to cultural Christianity and nominalism. It leads to people who are Christians in name only, but don’t rest and trust in Christ in a genuine and meaningful way. Again, there’s no salvation for nominal Christians. People just along for the ride aren’t going to be saved, neither will those who are just part of “the club.” As baptized covenant people, all of us need to hear the call to repent and believe and all of us must respond to that call as often as we hear it.
So to review: baptism doesn’t mean we’re making a statement. It’s not about our vows or us saying that now we really mean business. It also doesn’t mean salvation is automatically ours and there’s no personal responsibility to repent and believe.
