Baptism: Module 8
Theology of Baptism:
Images of Initiation from Scripture- Expanded
Images of Initiation from Scripture
A liberation into a new humanity
ENTRY INTO A NEW COMMUNITY:
One of the principal features of Baptism, as we have noted, is that the person baptised is brought into a new community.
That person's being is now lived in this new community.
It even claims to be a new humanity.
If we keep this communal aspect of Baptism clearly in view, then we shall neither think that children who have not yet reached the stage of conscious faith should be excluded nor shall we have to invoke any 'magical' sacramentality to justify their inclusion. We remember that 'reception' and 'community' are keywords in the understanding of infant baptism.
A WASHING AWAY OF SIN �
The Baptism, which makes Christians partakers of the mystery of Christ's death and resurrection implies confession of sin and conversion of heart.
The Baptism administered by John was itself a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Mark 1:4).
The New Testament underlines the ethical implications of Baptism by representing it as an ablution which washes the body with pure water, a cleansing of the heart of all sin, and an act of justification (Heb. 10:22; I Peter 3:21; Acts 22:16; I Cor. 6:11).
Thus, those baptised are pardoned, cleansed, and sanctified by Christ, and are given as part of their baptismal experience a new ethical orientation under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
PARTICIPATION IN CHRIST'S LIFE DEATH AND RESURRECTION
Baptism means participating in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Jesus went down into the river Jordan and was baptised in solidarity with sinners to fulfil all righteousness (Matt. 3:15).
This Baptism led Jesus along the way of the Suffering Servant, made manifest in his sufferings, death, and resurrection (Mark 10:38-40, 45).
PARTICIPATION IN CHRIST'S LIFE DEATH AND RESURRECTION Cont.
By Baptism, Christians are immersed in the liberating death of Christ where their sins are buried, where the "old Adam" is crucified with Christ, and where the power of sin is broken.
Thus, those baptised are no longer slaves to sin but free.
Fully identified with the death of Christ, they are buried with him and are raised here and now to a new life in the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, confident that they will also ultimately be one with him in a resurrection like his (Rom. 6: 3-11; Col. 2:13, 3:1; Eph. 2: 5-6).
PARTICIPATION IN CHRIST'S LIFE DEATH AND RESURRECTION Cont.
St Paul provides us with affirmations which point clearly to the union of the Christian with Christ by virtue of Baptism, through the utilization of images of dying and rising in reference to Baptism as a way of pointing to the sharing in the parallel reality of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
PARTICIPATION IN CHRIST'S LIFE DEATH AND RESURRECTION Cont.
In Romans 6:3-5, Paul writes:
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
PARTICIPATION IN CHRIST'S LIFE DEATH AND RESURRECTION Cont.
The same idea is present also in Colossians 2:12:
When you were buried with him in Baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.
That which is expressive of the salvific (salvation history) and climactic expression of history in the coming of the kingdom is now personalized and internalized in the life of those who are in union with Christ.
(See the Declaration in the Liturgy for Holy Baptism, BCP page 272)
A RENEWAL BY THE SPIRIT �
The Holy Spirit is at work in the lives of people before, in, and after their Baptism.
It is the same Spirit who revealed Jesus as the Son (Mark 1:10-11) and who empowered and united the disciples at Pentecost (Acts 2).
God bestows upon all baptised persons the anointing and the promise of the Holy Spirit, marks them with a seal and implants in their hearts the first instalment of their inheritance as sons and daughters of God.
The Holy Spirit nurtures the life of faith in their hearts until the final deliverance when they will enter into its full possession, to the praise of the glory of God (II Cor. 1:21-22; Eph. 1:13-14).
THE SIGN OF THE KINGDOM �
Baptism initiates the reality of the new life given amid the present world.
It provides participation in the community of the Holy Spirit.
It is a sign of the Kingdom of God and of the life of the world to come.
Through the gifts of faith, hope, and love, Baptism has a dynamic that embraces the whole of life, extends to all nations, and anticipates the day when every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Questions