What Is The Meaning and Significance of Baptism

In a sense the above question can only be understood as rhetorical. If theological savants throughout the ages have grappled with the subject, and produced many and lengthy treatises –often writing without total agreement with one another – then how can I hope to unwind its mysteries? It must be understood, then, that I cannot fully answer the question. Rather, I can only respond as the touch of the question probes me, and provide an explanation that falls within the boundaries of my limited and ever-evolving understanding.

An understanding of baptism might best begin with an appreciation of the human condition. The creation account depicted for us in the opening sequence of the book of Genesis1 describes an harmonic relationship that humankind had with God, with one another, with oneself, and with God’s created world. Rebellion toward God, and the entry of sin, described in Genesis 3, greatly changed all of this. The harmony once experienced in all areas of life was broken, and the “nature of every man”2 was corrupted. In addition to disharmony it brought death into our world: chiefly spiritual death, and ultimate physical death. It is this corrupted or “fallen” nature that every living person has been born into. We, as United Methodists, refer to this corrupted nature as original sin. 3

Original sin is woven into every person’s character. It cannot be removed by the surgeons’ scalpel, erased with intellectual or spiritual enlightenment, or overcome even by a sustained surge of our own goodness. Scripture, I believe, teaches that the only remedy for original sin is a decisive act of God. John Wesley, founder of Methodism, in his sermon, The Image of God, asked and answered himself, “Who shall recover us from the body of this death? Who shall restore our native immortality? We answer with the Apostle, ‘I thank God, Jesus Christ our Lord (emphasis mine)!’”4 If then Christ is our cure, the question might next be asked: How is that cure applied?

Traditionally the Church has understood that the works of Jesus Christ, and His crucifixion and resurrection have provided the atonement for our sin, and is alone sufficient for our salvation. According to the Apostle Paul this salvation from original sin can only be experienced by God’s grace, which is a gift from God5 extended to us even though we are undeserving of it. United Methodists define this initial move of God into our lives as prevenient grace. It is God acting in our lives to save us from original sin “before we are aware of it.”6 Prevenient grace can only be realized by faith, which is “both a gift from God and a human response to God.”7 The cure, then, for our corrupted nature is applied by God working in our lives, bringing about grace through faith, and saving us from our own fallen selves. Next, we might ask: How does God bring grace into our lives?

Throughout the pages of scripture we find how the people of God have often been led to interpret the events in and around their lives as God’s work among them. For example, a neighboring warring nation might be understood as an instrument of God’s judgment, or a windfall might be recognized as the blessing of God. Other examples of the voice of God being sounded in history were heard through the decrees of kings, the antics of the prophets, the courageous deeds of various women, and the canticles of shepherds and peasants. These people, things, and occasions have been interpreted as events by which God chose to intervene into the history of humankind, and into the lives of the people of God.

I believe that God still acts in the world much in the same manner: through events, things, and people. John Wesley referred to these occasions as the means by which God’s grace is made known to us. As we participate in prayer, worship, Christian fellowship, and Bible study, we have opportunity to experience God’s grace in our lives through these means given to the Church.

One very important occasion by which God’s grace can be made known to us is through baptism. Baptism is an event that we can participate in that allows us to be affected by God’s grace. Additionally, because Jesus Christ charged His disciples to baptize “all nations”8, many expressions of faith within the Church9 have seen baptism as not only a means of grace, but as a sacrament – a ceremonial rite ordained by Jesus Christ for the Church to honor until His return. For United Methodists the sacrament of baptism not only indicates that God is present in the world, but it directly “participates in10” the presence of God. Baptism, therefore, might first be defined by Methodists and many other Christians as a means by which God touches our lives, and secondly, as a sacrament ordained by Christ. But is it anything more than just a common means of grace? Is the sacrament simply another way for God to act in our lives?

In the opening pages of the New Testament we find a man (John the Baptist) looking and acting very much like the prophets of old, calling for Israel to repent and prepare themselves for the New Covenant, which was “at hand.”11 As a sign of Israel’s repentance they were called to undergo baptism. Although John’s baptism differed from the baptism of Christ12, we can clearly see by its usage that baptism was quickly interpreted as a sign of the New Covenant in Christ. Therefore, in addition to being a means by which God’s grace reaches us, and a sacrament, we can see that baptism is a sign given to the New Covenant community.

John Wesley believed that baptism belonged to the Church much in the same way that circumcision belonged to the Old Testament people of God. According to Wesley just as the Hebrew males carried in their flesh the mark of God’s promise in circumcision, the New Testament believer (male and female) carries in their spirit the mark of the New Covenant in baptism. This theology easily provides for pedobaptism since one can argue that if Hebrew infants could be welcomed into the Old Testament Covenant community, and enjoy all of its benefits under that sign, how much greater then should the baptized enjoy the benefits of the more glorious New Testament Covenant community.

Admittedly, there is no scriptural passage that clearly tells us that baptism has been given as a replacement for circumcision. And there is considerable disagreement over this point among respected theologians.13 However, whether or not baptism replaces circumcision as a sign seems secondary to the fact that there appears to be general agreement that baptism is the sign of the New Covenant.

Wesley, however, did not consider baptism as being symbolic only. He clearly believed it changed something in the life of the recipient. Wesley stated that baptism washes “away the guilt of original sin.” 14 This is a difficult statement for it seems to suggest a concept commonly known as baptismal regeneration – that is, being born again by the ritual of baptism. Commenting on these words of Wesley, the late Albert C. Outler, a foremost Wesleyan scholar, recognized that Wesley’s teachings allowed for both baptismal regeneration and salvation by faith alone. Outler confirmed that Wesley “held to both ideas”15 (emphasis mine).

This student completely rejects baptismal regeneration as it appears utterly repugnant to the Holy Scriptures and the finished work of Christ. The Bible teaches that it is “the blood of Jesus”16 that cleanses us from all sin – with no mention of water baptism. It would seem that Wesley’s view of the work of baptism, in this instance, springs from his Anglican tradition and not from direct scriptural mandate. If we as United Methodists are to be true to our declared understanding of the Quadrilateral - that tradition is secondary to scripture – then we must be prepared to discard any traditionally-accepted concept when it conflicts with the explicit doctrines of scripture.

Commenting on Wesley’s views, Sarah H. Lancaster, Associate Professor of Theology at Methodist Theological School in Ohio, in an email exchange with this student’s instructor, countered that “removing guilt [of original sin] is a matter of justification, not regeneration.” Though this may well be the case, scripture makes it abundantly clear that justification comes by faith alone17. Since there is no scriptural passage that explicitly teaches that baptism is the means by which justification is made known to us, holding to such a doctrine simply becomes a matter of preference rather than a matter of direct scriptural alignment.

If Biblical data can be provided allowing for Wesley’s view of baptism, or if Albert C. Outler and I have misunderstood Wesley, then I most certainly would revisit the matter (as already stated my understanding is ever-evolving).

Wesley, and the United Methodist Church18, also holds that baptism “is the sacrament of initiation and incorporation into the Body of Christ” and that through baptism one is made a member of the universal Church, the United Methodist denomination, and the local assembly. At the risk of sounding irreverent, if we as United Methodist really believed that, there should be no ecclesiastical reason why we would not hold neighborhood Crusades wherein we could go to the “highways and hedges and compel them to come in” for baptism, thereby making them members of Christ’s body. Or, since we believe that the faith of the catechumen is not necessary – as in pedobaptism – why could I not sit in faith on the steps of the church with a garden hose and bring as many into the Body as who walked by, if in fact water baptism made people members of the Church?

It simply is incredulous to this student to think that water baptism does what the Bible emphatically teaches is achieved through faith and faith alone. Mayhap my capacity to understand the semantics of the matter is too greatly limited. Or, could it be that the United Methodist Church is willing to sacrifice truth in order to be “ecumenically correct?”

It would seem that the apostolic theology of baptism, as displayed in the book of Acts, was that baptism was a sign of the incorporation into the Body of Christ, which had already taken place in the believer’s life. I do not believe that infants and children cannot be baptized. They can, I believe, receive the sign of the covenant as we wait in hope for their incorporation into the faith, just as Christ waited in hope for our salvation – dying for us “while we were yet sinners.”19

In summary: What is the meaning and significance of baptism? First, we must understand what baptism cannot be. Baptism cannot justify a person before God, or save them. It is a means by which God works grace into the Church, and the world. It is also a sacrament given to us to perpetuate in our lives to the glory of God.

Baptism is also a sign. It is a sign of the New Covenant in Christ Jesus. It is a sign of our adoption into the family of God. It is a sign of our participation in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a sign of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It is a sign of our regeneration. And it is a sign of faith.

1 Here and elsewhere in this essay Biblical reference is made to any version of the Bible that is commonly used by most Protestants and Catholics. This author recognizes that there may be extant “versions” bearing similar names, but that differ in translation and understanding – these are not considered.

3 Ibid, page 61.

5 Ephesians 2:5-9.

7 Ibid, page 6

8 Matthew 28:19.

9 Many, but not all. Anabaptists, for example, view baptism as symbolic and not as a sacrament. Source: http://www.anabaptistchurch.org/anabaptist_theology.htm

11 Matthew 3:2.

12 Acts 19:1-5.

13 Example: Steven Gregg, an Arminian author and lecturer believes that baptism does not replace circumcision (Source: http://www.thenarrowpath.com/mp3s/fou/fou06.mp3). Meanwhile, Calvinist theologian R.C. Sproul takes the position that baptism indeed replaces circumcision (Source: https://ecom.ligonier.org/ecom/product.asp?idProduct=SAC01MI.02)

16 I John 1:7

17 Romans 3:28 4:5, 5:1 & Galatians 2:16.

18 This student’s instructor suggested the phrase, “Wesley and the United Methodist Church, and the Church throughout time and history…” However, after critical consideration this student has chosen to remain with the original statement as it appears. The reason is that some churches simply do not hold to the position that baptism initiates one into the church. Example: Landmark Baptists hold that “while members of other Protestant churches may be saved, they are not members” of the true institutional church. Source: Frank S. Mead, Handbook of Denominations In The United States, page 67, © 1985.

19 Romans 5:18.