This article is the thirty-fifth installment in our series "Christian, What Do You Believe: The Belgic Confession of Faith." Find the whole series here.
As Jesus was preparing to return to the Father, having received “all authority in heaven and on earth,” he gave this simple instruction to the eleven disciples: “make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:18–19). A disciple is a student, an apprentice, one who is learning to live like his master. Our Lord further defined the disciple-making process with these two directives: baptize them in the name of the triune God and teach them to observe all of Jesus’ commands.
Christian baptism is a disciple’s identification with the holy Trinity and a critical step in the process of walking with Jesus.
The Basis of Baptism
Baptism is a “sign of the covenant” (BC 34), that religious bond between God and his people by which they receive life and blessing through faith in Christ (see Gen. 17:7). In order that the faithful might be “separated from all other people and alien religions,” God has given tangible symbols of initiation into this covenant.
As we might expect, the Old Testament covenant sign of circumcision required shed blood (Heb. 9:22). Though that sign was given only to males, the symbol and message of circumcision identified an entire people set apart to God. Circumcision pointed ahead to the “one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ” (1 Tim. 2:5), who was circumcised for his people (Col. 2:11), experiencing the curse of the covenant. “By his shed blood [Christ] put an end to every other shedding of blood, which anyone might do or wish to do in order to atone or satisfy for sin.” Jesus’ sacrifice has made human circumcision obsolete as a covenant symbol.
But since God continues to relate to his people covenantally (Act 2:39; 1 Cor. 7:11), disciples today should be distinguished from the world. To identify his people Christ instituted the sacrament of baptism (Acts 2:41; Matt. 28:19), a circumcision made without hands (Col. 2:11). Just as a master marked out his servants by piercing their ears with an awl (Ex. 21:6), and a herd is set apart by the brand of the herdsman, so God marks out his servants by renaming us in baptism. Baptism is a “totally reliable witness that we have an eternal covenant with God.”
But baptism does more than distinguish covenant members from the world. It is also an instrument by which God gathers a believing people to himself.
The Power of Baptism
Grace is not conferred by the physical water of baptism. Still, sacraments are tangible symbols of what God works inwardly in our hearts.
Baptism Signifies Washing
Our bodies get dirty. So do our souls. And “Just as water washes away the dirt of the body … so too the blood of Christ does the same thing internally, in the soul, by the Holy Spirit.” Christ’s blood “washes and cleanses [the soul] from its sins and transforms us from being the children of wrath into the children of God.”
Baptism Seals the Promise of the Gospel
Baptism does not dispense grace simply by its administration. Yet, God does work through the sacrament. “In baptism we receive the Savior’s testimony that our life is complete in him.” And “Where the sacrament is received in faith, the grace of God accompanies it.” In this way, “The external sign becomes a means employed by the Holy Spirit in the communication of divine grace.”
Baptism Steers Our Faith to Christ
The sacraments help image our participation in Christ. Paul says that “all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death … in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:3–4). Baptism teaches us to find our life in Jesus’ death and resurrection.
By responding by faith to the message of baptism, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ, we come to know that the Lord “will be our God forever,” and we receive from him “true assurance of his fatherly goodness.”
The Recipients of Baptism
Jesus says that disciples must be baptized. Some people become disciples as adults. They experience a radical conversion. They trust in Christ and turn from their sins. To indicate that they are “dedicated entirely to him,” they should “receive God’s mark and sign.” Others become disciples when their believing parents vow to do all they can to teach their children the doctrine of salvation. Such children will learn to pray to God as their Father and worship God in the congregation (Matt. 6:9; 21:15–16). This does guarantee that covenant children have been or ever will be regenerated any more than an adult profession of faith does. Still, children of both testaments are sealed with the same promises of new life in Christ (1 Cor. 10:1–4). And “Christ has shed his blood no less for washing the little children of believers than he did for adults.” Withholding from children the covenant sign and seal in this age of grace is a step backward; instead of expanding the scope and breadth of the promises, it restricts them.
For similar reasons the confession also argues against rebaptism: disciples should be “baptized only once without ever repeating it.” If baptism is fundamentally an act of the baptized person, infant baptism would be unhelpful and even illegitimate. But sacraments are not primarily about what we are saying but what God is saying. In baptism God pledges “that he will be our God forever, since he is our gracious Father.” The sealing of that promise “is profitable not only when the water is on us … but throughout our entire lives.” We should see mature faith as a fruit of baptism, even in those who cannot remember the ceremony.
Some baptized people reject eternal life through unbelief and God graciously saves some sinners who were never baptized. Still, in the Bible, salvation and baptism are closely connected (Acts 22:16; 1 Peter 3:2). Baptism visibly preaches Christ and confirms his promise to save. Though you are stained with sin, God will wash you with the blood of his Son. Though your life often seems out of control, Jesus rules over your life for good. Though you feel lonely, Christ is always with you. Disciples learn these promises. And with the Spirit’s blessing, they dedicate their entire lives to following their precious Savior.
Footnotes
J.G. Vos, Genesis (Pittsburg: Crown & Covenant Publications, 2006), 161.
https://formsandprayers.com/liturgical-form/#1.
Peter Y. De Jong, The Church’s Testimony to the World (Pella, IA: Pella Publishing Inc., 1962), 356.
Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1939), 618.
