On Sunday, August 1, Core will have a baptism celebration shortly after our Sunday gathering. This might sound normal to someone who has been around church for a while. But for many others, baptism can be quite strange. Someone gets dunked under water after they talk about Jesus. What is that? And what does it mean?
What is baptism? It is the Christian practice of immersing a follower of Jesus under water and then bringing him/her forth out of the water. A Christian’s baptism is them going public with the Gospel conversion that has happened in him/her. Baptism is a strong personal statement against privatizing your faith, hoping that a secret trust in Jesus is safer than a public following of Jesus. Christians have practiced baptism for hundreds of years.
What is the biblical meaning of baptism?
- Baptism illustrates Jesus’ death and resurrection. It is a strong image of the Gospel! 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 reminds us of the central events that shape the Gospel: For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.
- Baptism also illustrates the Christian’s death and resurrection. The Bible says, “We were therefore buried with [Jesus] through baptism into death in order than, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life (Romans 6:4). Indeed, we have been made new creatures by Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17), and baptism is an outward practice that reminds us of this inward reality.
We want to make clear that a person’s public baptism does not make someone a Christian. Baptism does not save. It does not regenerate. It is not the Gospel. Christians are saved from their sin, the wrath of God, and eternal death by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). Some people find it helpful to think of a person’s baptism celebration like a wedding ring. When someone wears a wedding ring it does not make them married, but it clearly and proudly proclaims the reality of their marriage.