Search
The Lord’s salvation has many aspects, some of which we need to receive by believing, while others we need to partake of by being baptized. To believe is to exercise the inward faith to receive one aspect of the Lord’s salvation; to be baptized is to take an outward action to partake of another aspect of the Lord’s salvation. If we believe but are not baptized, we receive only one aspect of the Lord’s salvation and thus obtain only a partial salvation; we will not be able to partake of all the aspects of the Lord’s salvation and thus enjoy the complete salvation. Hence, we must believe and be baptized (Mark 16:16) that we may partake of all the aspects of the Lord’s salvation and receive the complete salvation.
The first thing God did in the beginning of the New Testament dispensation was to send John the Baptist to preach the baptism of repentance (Acts 10:37; Luke 3:3). Hence, John was the first servant sent by God in the beginning of the New Testament, and the baptism of repentance which he preached is the initial teaching of the New Testament. This indicates the importance of baptism in God’s New Testament plan and arrangement. We may say that baptism opens the New Testament dispensation. Just as the truth of baptism was God’s initiation of the New Testament dispensation, so the practice of baptism marks the beginning of our enjoyment of the New Testament blessings.
The importance of baptism is seen even more clearly in the need of the Lord Jesus to be baptized. Although He was the Son of God who came to be the Savior of mankind, because He became a man, He needed to keep God’s ordination for man in the New Testament dispensation. As a man, it was fitting for Him to act according to God’s procedure to fulfill all righteousness before God (Matt. 3:13-16). “Righteousness” is to be right by living, walking, and doing things in the way God has ordained. In the Old Testament, righteousness was a matter of keeping the law that God gave. Now, in the New Testament, God sent John the Baptist to baptize people. To be baptized was to fulfill righteousness before God, that is, to fulfill the requirement of God. Since it was fitting even for the Lord as a man to be baptized to fulfill such righteousness before God, we can see how important baptism is. Not only was He Himself baptized to fulfill all righteousness before God, but He also baptized people through His disciples (John 3:22; 4:2) that they might do God’s will in compliance with God’s procedure to fulfill righteousness before God. This also indicates the importance of baptism.
Baptism is the counsel of God in His New Testament economy; it is also a part of His plan. Anyone who would not be baptized nullifies God’s counsel and God’s plan for himself. In those days the Pharisees and the lawyers who rejected and opposed the Lord refused to be baptized with the baptism of John; hence, they rejected, nullified, the counsel of God for themselves (Luke 7:30). What a serious matter this is!
The Lord Jesus not only baptized people through His disciples when He was on the earth, but even after His resurrection, in His ultimate commission to His disciples to go to the whole earth to preach the gospel, He also charged them to baptize people (Matt. 28:19). This charge in His ultimate commission shows that to baptize people is an urgent matter which we must practice when we go to preach the gospel and disciple the nations. To baptize people is as important as to preach the gospel to them. Merely preaching the gospel to people without baptizing them is insufficient; it cannot completely carry out the Lord’s ultimate commission.
On the day of Pentecost, many heard Peter’s word and were pierced in the heart, and they asked him what they should do. Peter told them affirmatively that they should repent and be baptized upon the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins that they might receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:37-38). When they heard his word, they were baptized. This also shows the importance of baptism, since Peter stressed it in his instruction. He considered baptism to be as important as repentance and believing in the Lord’s name. Furthermore, as the conclusion of repentance and believing, baptism causes us to have our sins forgiven and to receive the Holy Spirit.
Baptism was practiced by the first group of believers who were added to the church after the Lord’s ascension and the Spirit’s descension. The first occurrence of any matter in the Scriptures becomes the standard for that matter. Based on this principle, the baptism of that first group of people was also a standard that should be kept by those after them.
In John 3:5 the Lord Jesus said, “Unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” “Of water” here refers to baptism. Baptism is a crucial and necessary step for man to be regenerated and enter into the kingdom of God.
In the New Testament, the verb form of the word baptism in Greek is baptizo, meaning to immerse or dip in water, to cover with water, or to put into water. This definition is generally found in all the well-known Greek lexicons and is commonly acknowledged by the reputable Bible scholars throughout the generations, Martin Luther said, “I wish that whoever is to be baptized should be sunken entirely into the water, for this would be right according to the meaning of the word ‘baptism.’” John Calvin, a great Bible expositor of the Reformation, also said, “The word ‘baptize’ means to immerse, and it is clear that the rite of immersion was observed in the ancient church.” Therefore, there is no doubt that the meaning of the word baptism is immersion.
To be baptized is to be baptized into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19), that is, to be baptized into the Triune God to have an organic union with the processed Triune God. The Lord Jesus passed through incarnation, human living, and an all-inclusive death in which He dealt with sin, abolished death, destroyed Satan, and removed all negative things. Then, He uplifted humanity, entered into resurrection, and became the all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit. Following this, He came to His disciples in resurrection, charging them to baptize the repentant and believing ones into the name of the Triune God. The name denotes the person, and the person is the reality of the name. The name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is not an empty name but the person, the reality, of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The preposition “into” indicates that the baptized one is brought into an organic union with the Triune God. Hence, baptism is not a ceremony for one to join the church, nor is it a religious ritual. Rather, through baptism a person who was outside of God is put into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, into the very Triune God Himself, that is, into the reality of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, that he may have an organic union with the Triune God.
To be baptized is also to be baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus (Acts 8:16; 19:5). In the Gospel of Matthew the Lord Jesus charged the disciples to baptize the believers into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In the book of Acts, however, when the apostles went out to practice this, they baptized the believers into the name of the Lord Jesus. This indicates that to baptize people into the name of the Lord Jesus is to baptize them into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Because the Lord Jesus is the embodiment of the processed Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit (Col. 2:9)—to baptize people into Him is to baptize them into the Triune God.
Acts 10:48 says, “And he charged them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.” To be in the name of Jesus Christ is to be in the person of Jesus Christ, to be in Jesus Christ Himself. To be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ is to be baptized in the sphere of the person of Jesus Christ. When we baptize anyone, we do it with Jesus Christ as the sphere and element. Apparently, water is the sphere and element of our baptism; in reality, water signifies a person, an all-inclusive person— Jesus Christ. It is in Him as the sphere and element that we baptize people.
Acts 2:38 says, “Repent and be baptized, each one of you, upon the name of Jesus Christ.” To be baptized upon the name of Jesus Christ is to be baptized upon the ground of what the name of Jesus Christ stands for. It stands for all that the person of Jesus Christ is and all that He has accomplished, both of which constitute the faith (the contents) of God’s New Testament economy. The name of Jesus Christ is not only the sphere and element of baptism, but also the ground of baptism. It is on this ground, based upon this ground, that we baptize people. In other words, it is on the ground of the faith of God’s New Testament economy that we baptize the believers.
Just as to believe is to believe into Christ, so also to be baptized is to be baptized into Christ (Gal. 3:27; Rom. 6:3b). Both bring us into Christ. By believing and being baptized we have entered and have been immersed into Christ, we have put on Christ, and we have been brought into an organic union with Him. Through our believing we have been joined to Christ to partake of Him. In like manner, through our baptism we have also been identified with Christ to have a share in Him. Hence, faith and baptism bring us into Christ to become persons who are in Christ.
Therefore, to baptize anyone into the name of the Lord Jesus is to baptize him into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, that is, to baptize him into Christ.
Since to be baptized is to be baptized into Christ, it is also to be baptized into His death (Rom. 6:3b). Moreover, since we have been brought into an organic union with Christ through baptism, we have also been identified with His all-inclusive death, and we have been buried together with Him and raised together with Him (Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12). In His all-inclusive death all negative things in the universe were terminated once for all, including sin, sins (1 Pet. 2:24; Heb. 9:26, 28), and the flesh (i.e., the body of sin—Rom. 6:6b); the ancient serpent, which is the Devil (Heb. 2:14), and the world belonging to him (John 12:31); the old man and the old creation (Rom. 6:6a); and all separating ordinances and customs among men (Eph. 2:14-15). Furthermore, on the positive side, Christ’s divine life was released and imparted into us that we might become the many grains (John 12:24). In His burial we and our past were terminated, and in His resurrection we have received His life and have a new beginning in life. Hence, when we go into the water to be baptized, we walk into the death of Christ by faith, allowing ourselves and everything that belongs to and is related to us to be buried in the tomb of the water of baptism, in the burial of Christ. Then, by faith we walk out of the water, and in resurrection we allow the resurrected Christ to live in us that we may live by Him and with Him.
Therefore, through baptism we have been identified with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. His death and burial, on the negative side, terminated us and everything that is of us, that we may be delivered from the self, sin, the world, and everything that is of the old creation, everything that is of Satan, and everything that is outside of God. His resurrection, on the positive side, has made us a new creation to partake of God’s life and all its riches in Christ, and has brought us into a new realm of resurrection. In this new realm old things have passed away and have become new.
We were not only baptized into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, into the name of the Lord Jesus, into Christ, and into the death of Christ; we were also baptized into the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13), into one organic entity, with Christ as its life and constituent, to express Christ. All the believers in Christ, regardless of our races, nationalities, and social ranks, have been baptized in one Spirit into one Body. Christ is the life and constituent of this Body, and the Spirit is the reality of Christ. It is in this one living Body that we express Christ.
Baptism has two aspects: the visible aspect is the baptism in water; the invisible aspect, the baptism in the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5; 10:47; 9:17-18; John 3:5). Water is the symbol of baptism, and the Holy Spirit is the reality of baptism. The visible aspect is the expression, the testimony, of the invisible aspect, whereas the invisible aspect is the reality of the visible aspect. Without the invisible aspect by the Spirit, the visible aspect by the water is vain; and without the visible aspect by water, the invisible aspect by the Spirit is abstract and impractical, without an expression. Both are needed.
The water and the Holy Spirit in which we were baptized are typified by the sea and the cloud in which the children of Israel were baptized (1 Cor. 10:2). Their crossing of the Red Sea in the cloud and in the sea signifies that our baptism should be in the Holy Spirit and in water. Their passing through the Red Sea, on the negative side, delivered them from Pharaoh and Egypt, and on the positive side, brought them unto Moses. This signifies that, on the one hand, baptism delivers us from Satan and the world under him, and on the other hand, it brings us into Christ. Furthermore, Pharaoh and his army could only pursue them to the midst of the Red Sea, but not beyond it. Moreover, once the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea, they were delivered out of Egypt and could no longer go back to live the Egyptian life. This indicates that Satan and the power of his world can only pursue us to the midst of the water of baptism, but not beyond it. Furthermore, once we are baptized and have been delivered from the world, we can no longer go back to live a worldly life. The water of the Red Sea, on the one hand, destroyed Pharaoh and his army for the children of Israel, and on the other hand, it saved the children of Israel from Egypt that they might follow Moses to serve God. Similarly, on the one hand, the water of baptism destroys Satan and his worldly power for us, and on the other hand, it saves us from the world that we may follow Christ to serve God.
Although the children of Israel applied the blood of the lamb that God’s smiting in His wrath might pass over them, it was not until they walked into the Red Sea that Pharaoh’s power over them was destroyed. Although they had kept the Passover and were saved from God’s judgment, they were not delivered from Pharaoh and Egypt’s tyranny until they crossed the Red Sea. This indicates that although we have received the Lord’s redemption through His shed blood and God’s wrath has thus departed from us, it is not until we walk into the water of baptism that Satan and his worldly power can be destroyed. We have believed in the Lord and have thus been saved from God’s judgment, but we must be baptized that we may be delivered from the usurpation of Satan and the world. Therefore, baptism delivers us from Satan and the world, just as the crossing of the Red Sea delivered the children of Israel from Pharaoh and Egypt. Just as Pharaoh and his army followed the children of Israel into the Red Sea and were drowned in it, so Satan and his worldly power were also brought into the water of our baptism and destroyed there. Although Pharaoh and his army were destroyed in the Red Sea, the children of Israel were able to come out of its midst and follow Moses to serve God. In like manner, although Satan and his worldly power were buried in the water of baptism, we were able to rise up from the water together with Christ that we may follow Him to serve God. Therefore, what the Red Sea did for the children of Israel, baptism does for us. It delivers us from the world and its power, and it brings us into another realm in resurrection.
First Peter 3:20-21 says, “...while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were brought safely through by water: which figure also now saves you, baptism,...through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” The words “brought safely through by water” here indicate that water was the means of salvation. In Noah’s age, it was by the ark that God saved Noah and his family from His judgment, that is, the destruction of the world by the flood. But it was by the water as a separating power that God saved them from the corrupted generation and brought them into a new age. Thus, water is not only the symbol of baptism; it is also the means of salvation.
Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Peter told us that Noah’s household of eight passing through the flood in the ark was a type of baptism. The waters of the flood separated those who were in the ark from the world in which they once were, that they might be delivered from that corrupted age. This signifies that the water of baptism separates those of us who are in Christ from the world in which we formerly lived, that we may be delivered from this crooked and perverted generation. Therefore, just as Noah and his family were saved through the flood and delivered from that corrupted generation, so we also are saved through the water of baptism and delivered from this crooked generation. On the one hand, they entered the ark by faith and were saved through the ark, thus escaping God’s judgment by the flood. On the other hand, they passed through the flood in the ark and were saved through the flood; that is, they were saved out of the former world and were brought into a renewed world. Likewise, on the one hand, we have entered into Christ by faith and have been saved through Christ, thus escaping the judgment of God’s wrath. On the other hand, we have been baptized into Christ and have been saved through the water of baptism; that is, we have been delivered from the old world and brought into a new realm in resurrection. Therefore, what the flood did for Noah’s household of eight, baptism does for us. It saves us through water and delivers us from the world that we may enter into the new realm of resurrection.
Baptism is the appeal to God of the baptized ones for a good conscience unto God (1 Pet. 3:21). When we were baptized, we were baptized into Christ to be identified with His death, burial, and resurrection; hence, through baptism we were able to obtain a good conscience. Our conscience no longer condemns us, but rather we are full of peace and confidence that our sins have been forgiven, that all the problems we have with God have been solved, and that we have been baptized into the Triune God (Matt. 28:19) and organically united with Him through the resurrection of Christ, that is, by Christ in resurrection as the Spirit of life.
Baptism is the counterpart of our faith. We need not only to believe in all that Christ has accomplished, but also to be baptized to match our believing. Our baptism and our believing are two aspects of one thing, and the two are inseparable. Our believing is an inward reflection of Christ’s accomplishments. This inward believing, however, needs an outward expression. This expression is baptism. Baptism complements our believing. We, the believers, can have a good conscience unto God through believing and baptism. With such a good conscience we can testify before God, the world, the angels, Satan, and all creation that we have been identified with Christ, that we have died and been raised together with Him, that we are in Him, that our sins have been forgiven by God, that we have been justified by God, and that we are unto God and belong to God forever.
Some aspects of God’s salvation we need to receive by believing, while others we need to partake of by being baptized. Only by both believing and being baptized can we obtain God’s complete salvation. Baptism is as important as repentance and believing. This is because baptism is the initiation of the New Testament dispensation, the fulfillment of righteousness before God, the Lord’s charge before His ascension, the teaching of the apostles, and a step for the entrance into the kingdom of God. Moreover, if anyone refuses to be baptized, he nullifies the counsel of God. According to the revelation of the Scriptures, to be baptized is to be baptized into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, into the name of the Lord Jesus, into the name of Jesus Christ, upon the name of Jesus Christ, into Christ, into His death, and into His Body. Such baptism has two aspects: water baptism and Spirit baptism. Water, as the symbol of baptism, and the Holy Spirit, as the reality of baptism, are typified by the sea and the cloud in which the children of Israel were baptized. Water is also the means of salvation, as typified by the water through which Noah and his family passed. Such baptism is an appeal to God that we, the baptized ones, may have a good conscience before God and testify to the whole universe that we have been identified with Christ, that our sins have been forgiven by God, that we have been justified by God, and that we are unto God and belong to God forever.
