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| Oscar Dama |
Baptism is one of the most important concepts in Christian faith. It is a Biblical concept, especially in the New Testament it is talked about in many places Baptism is a holy sacrament: John the Baptist practiced it (Matthew 3:11; Luke 3), Jesus was baptized and he also commanded his disciples to baptize (Matthew 28:19); the church fathers practiced it. Baptism is one of the most important rituals in the church. It is also means of grace.
Actually, the topic “baptism” is so broad but I would like to concentrate on the understanding of John the Baptist about this topic. My key text is from the Book of Matthew which says: “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and Fire” (Matthew 3:11). I am going to deal with the key elements of this verse in great depth. First, it is my desire to define the term baptism; then, look at the significance of the baptism; followed by explaining the different baptisms mentioned in the verse, that is: baptism with water, baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Definition
The definition of baptism, according to Grider, is a sacrament that asserts outwardly that the recipient is in an inward state of grace. According to Migliore, sacraments are enactments of the gospel by means of which the Spirit of God communicates to us the forgiving, renewing, and promising love of God in Jesus Christ and enlivens us in faith, hope, and love.” The English Dictionary defines baptism as the application of water to a person as a sacrament or religious ceremony by which he is initiated into the church of Christ. Baptism also refers to an outpouring of the Holy Spirit – Jesus told his disciples that “In a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit ….You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth” It is also understood as an act, experience, or ordeal by which one is purified, sanctified, initiated, or named, such as a soldier’s first experience under enemy’s fire. Both Purkiser and Esselstyn write that baptism is a symbol. For Purkiser, “In practice baptism refers to the rite in which water is used as a symbol of person’s faith in Christ and his connection with the Church.”
Significance of the Baptism of John
The question might surely come asking about the importance of taking time to study the about the baptism of John the Baptist. First and far most, the significance of the baptism of John the Baptist lies on the fact that Jesus Christ our Lord received this baptism. The Bible records that, Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John (Matthew 3:13). Actually for John the Baptism, baptism was the sign of repentance and public testimony of the person’s candidacy for the kingdom of heaven. Jesus endorsed John’s use of baptism by His own submission to the rite and His public avowal of the practice, though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples (John 4:2). For Jesus baptism with water was not a need in actual spiritual sense, but it was a public acknowledgement of His identity with transgressors (Isaiah 53:12), and it was fitting or becoming that He should be an example for His followers. Jesus was baptized as a fulfillment of all righteousness (Matthew 3:15). So, baptism of John biblical and is also the most important practice in the Church.
According to Erickson, “almost all Christian Churches practice the rite of baptism.” They do so in a large part because Jesus Christ in his final commission commanded the apostles and the church to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing the in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). Baptism was widely practiced in the New Testament times by John the Baptist, by Jesus’ disciples, by Paul somewhat, and by various other persons according to the Book of Acts. Grider states it clearly that baptism is important not only biblically but also historically. “Through all the centuries, almost all Christian groups have believed in and practiced it. Baptism is emphasized in the Didache; the fathers including the reformers, John Wesley, and others, also emphasized it.”
The most important thing about John’s baptism is the ethical significance attached to it. Buttrick records that, John bade the Pharisees and the Sadducees to bear fruits that befit repentance. John’s baptism is thus a rite of moral purification designed to prepare those submitting to it to face the Day of the Lord, confident that those who repented would be forgiven and granted a place in the future Messianic Community. Calvin understood John’s baptism that it demanded a change in the life of the baptizand that is why John expected to see the fruits worthy of repentance of those who come to be baptized. In fact, the change of the heart will not be complete by the water baptism but the Lord Jesus Christ who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and with fire. That is the reason why Esselstyn speaks confidently that water baptism is just a symbol- it does not save anyone. A person who has been baptized will only go to heaven if he accepts Jesus as his Savior.
Baptism is the means of grace; it is also in keeping with our Christian faith, and also in keeping with the covenant emphasis of our Judeo-Christian faith. In trying to emphasize the significance of baptism, Dunning writes that the doctrine of the church is not complete until we examine (the sacraments) symbols by which the body of believers appropriates its history and the sources of its life.
Key Concepts in John’s Baptism
In his preaching, John the Baptist set the distinction between water baptism which is understood by some theologians as preparatory, and the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and with fire. Looking at the way John placed the baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire, we can also see the significance of this baptism attached to it. John is trying to show the superiority of the one who sent him. Those who receives the awakening for their situation of lostness and repent their sins should long for the baptism with the Holy Spirit in order to be cleansed from their sins. According to Dunning, the baptism of John was an outward sign that repentance had occurred as a preparation of the new age that was at hand. However, looking carefully at these baptisms we will be able to see the significance of each one of them.
Baptism with Water
Grider records that John the Baptist attached great importance to water baptism. Those who repented, he gladly baptized. Christian water baptism is initiatory. Buttrick wrote that, the term baptism is employed in the New Testament mainly of the rite practiced by John the Baptist, and of the Christian rite which, from the day of Pentecost onward, was a regular means of initiation into the Christian community. He also defines baptism as a rite using water as a symbol of religious purification. Actually, we see in the Church today that when baptism is administered to infants and other small children,
“It initiates them into a prevenient-grace, and it advertises and asserts that they are members of the kingdom of God- the sphere where God reigns in frequent providential helps and in occasional miracles. When administered to believers, baptism asserts to the church and to the world that the recipient has received to Christ as Savior and Lord, having repented and believed the gospel.”
Grider shows that Christ emphasized on the significance of both water and Spirit baptisms in his statement: “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit” (John 3:5). According to Grider, the phrase “born of water” is surely a reference to water baptism, being practiced and emphasized by John the Baptist right at that early period of Jesus’ public ministry. Water baptism has theological significance attached to it: according to Grider, it affirms the importance of physicality and of the concrete act –in distinction from what is merely conceptual.
Baptism with the Holy Spirit and with Fire
Buttrick writes about Jon’s baptism, that he contrasts his own baptism with a future baptism to be administered by the mightier one, “the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He went on to say that the contrast in the Baptist’s teaching between his own baptism with water and the future baptism of the mightier one with the Holy Spirit and with fire would suggest that in the new dispensation water baptism would have been superseded. However, we need to understand that John would not have this kind of an idea anyway, knowing himself as not the Messiah but the forerunner to the Messiah he would probably want to humble himself and let the Christ be exalted. The water baptism is still remarkable in the Christian faith and it has remained to be the authority behind Christian baptism.
According to Calvin, John’s statement is that he presents Christ as the author of spiritual baptism, and himself as only the minister of outward baptism. John’s reply denotes that did not proceed to baptize without authority; but that his office as minister of an outward symbol, takes nothing away from the power and glory of Christ. Calvin continues to say that John did not intend to distinguish his baptism and that which Christ taught his disciples, and which intended should remain in perpetual obligation in his Church. He does not contrast one visible sign with another visible sign, but compares the characters the characters of the master and servant with each other, shows what is due to the master, and what is due to the servant. The teaching of John of baptism as in Matthew 3:11 helps us to understand what is done in baptism by men, and what is accomplished in it by the Son of God. To men has been committed nothing more than the administration of an outward and visible sign the reality dwells in Christ alone. In other words, the truth of baptism comes and proceeds from Christ alone. John’s baptism points people to Christ the one and only who washes souls with his blood through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Clerk tries to explain the meaning of John’s teaching of the baptism with the Holy Spirit that John wanted to show that Christ’s religion was to be a spiritual religion, and was to have its seat in the heart. Outward precepts, however, well they might describe, could not produce inward spirituality. This was the province of the Spirit of God, and of him alone; therefore He is represented here under the similitude of fire, because he was to illuminate and invigorate the soul, penetrate every part, and assimilate the whole to the image of God of glory. As Calvin says, Christ alone bestows all that grace which is figuratively represented by outward baptism, because it is he who sprinkles the conscience with his blood. It is he also who mortifies the old man and bestows the Spirit of regeneration. The word fire is added as an epithet, and is applied to the Spirit, because he takes away our pollutions, as fire purifies gold. Earle mentions that the most significant statement in the preaching of John the Baptist while he baptizes with water is that he wanted to put a distinction between the religion of Christ so to say, and other religions that have baptized with water. The distinctive Christian baptism is that with the Holy Spirit. Earl refers to the fire of the Holy Spirit consuming the canal nature. According to Macklen the addition “and fire” points to the cleansing as the essence of Messiah’s baptism. John calls attention to the description of Christ’s coming in Malachi 3:2- “He is like a refiner’s fire”. Brown rejects the view held by other theologians that baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire refers to baptism of the impenitent with hell-fire…instead it is the fiery character of Spirit’s operations upon the soul- searching, consuming, refining, sublimating- as nearly all good interpreters understands the words. The fire of the Holy Spirit burns our sins out of us, and remakes us. Campbell writes that, “He shall whelm you the fire- whelming of the Holy Ghost that burns your sins out of you, and remakes you”
Conclusion
The most important part of studying about John’s baptism is that we come to know that this baptism is not forgotten in the Christian Church. The baptism John is still being practiced in the Church – believers are being baptized with water as a symbol, a public act which witnesses to what God has done in a believer’s life, a testimony to an already existing faith from which it is separated in time, an act of obedience and following of Christ. Water baptism can not save someone – there some people who by being baptized they start claiming that they are on their way to heaven yet their lives do not show the fruits of repentance. So John’s teaching of baptism plays an important role in discouraging such a dangerous claim from among people in the church. People should be longing to have a good relationship with the Lord, then baptism will come as a symbol of what the Lord is doing in their hearts.
John preaching helps people to be aware of their lostness and at the same time John also points people to Christ- giving comfort and showing how they may get rid of their sins. That is the same thing every preacher of the gospel is supposed to do. The Church is supposed to direct people to Christ who is to redeem them from their sins, if they accept him in true faith. According to Luther, there are two important offices for church that are revealed in John teaching of baptism. The first office says: “You are all sinners, and are wanting in the way of the Lord.” When we believe this, the other office follows and says; “Listen, accept Christ, believe in him, he will free you of your sins. In fact, John makes it clear that, each one is to know himself and his need of becoming a better man; yet he is not to look for this in himself, but in Jesus Christ alone.
Reference
Brown, David. Matthew – John: A Commentary on the Old and New Testament. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmanns Publishing Co, 1948.
Buttrick, George Arthur. The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible V1. New York: Nashville, Abingdon Press, 1962.
Calvin, John. Commentary on Harmony of the Evangelists: Matthew, Mark, & Luke. Michigan: Grand Rapids, Baker Book House, 1610. (1993).
Clerk, Adam. Adam Clerk’s Commentary (One-Volume Edition). Missouri: Kansas City, Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 1967.
Cross, Anthony R. The Evangelical Sacrament Article. Retrieved on 17/03/2010 from http://web.ebscohost.com
Dunning, Ray. Grace, Faith, and Holiness. .Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 1988.
Earl, Ralph. Beacon Bible Commentary, V.6. Missouri: Kansas City, Beacon Hill Press, 1964
Erickson, Millard J. Christian Theology. Michigan: Baker Book House, 1985.
Esselstyn, Theodore. Following Jesus Together. Florida: Nazarene Publishing House, 1996.
Grider, Kenneth J. A Wesleyan-Holiness Theology. Missouri: Kansas City, Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 1994.
Holy Bible, New International Version
Lenker, John Nicholas. Sermons of Martin Luther, V1. Michigan: Grand Rapids, Baker Book House, 1905.
Macklen, Philip A. St Matthew (Westminster Commentaries). London: Methuen & Co. 1917.
Morgan, Campbell. Gospel According to Matthew. New York: Fleming H. Revell Co. 1929.
Purkiser, W.T. Exploring Our Christian Faith. Missouri: Kansas City, Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 1978.
The Complete Christian Dictionary for Home, School, and Office. Geneva: David Foundation, 2002.
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