Baptism as a Means of Grace

Intro

Good morning, dear family in Christ. Last week, we delved into the understanding that the Eucharist is not merely a memorial service; rather, it's an active ministry where God administers grace through Christ to us. One of the points being, the Eucharist is God's work to and for us. This week, our focus shifts to Baptism, and I wish to propose a parallel thought—Baptism, too, is centered on what God does to and for us.

I am passionate about this morning's teaching. Remember that at Harbinger, we consider the teachings from the Apostles' Creed to be essential, and we have unity around them. All other doctrines are considered secondary and should not be reasons to break fellowship. Due to this approach, Harbinger's pastors will perform both believer's baptism and infant baptism, respecting the recipient's or parent's conscience and conviction. Unity is of supreme importance to me, even when we disagree on our conclusions.

Let me lead with a practical example: I have personally subscribed to infant baptism for many years, yet I attended a church that only administered believer's baptism. They held baby dedications, but not baptisms. Although I disagreed with their conclusions, I was able to understand their theology and empathize with their position. This understanding allowed me to attend child dedication services with a joyful heart, participating in worship with the family rather than sitting with crossed arms. Because I understood them, I could clearly see that they truly love Jesus and are passionate about worshipping Him with their whole hearts. This was beautiful.

This, my dear family, is at the heart of why I'm preaching today. I want this for all of you. In our pursuit of humility and unity, may we come together, even when disagreeing on secondary issues, assuming the best of each other, and worshipping Jesus with one voice.

Now, there are more nuanced and intricate ideas around baptism than what I can cover this morning. As with last week's message, for the sake of both wise pastoral ministry and time constraints, I must condense this discussion. Today, we will primarily consider the predominant Protestant understanding of baptism in comparison to the Orthodox and Roman Catholic views. Please note that while there are minor differences between the Orthodox and Roman Catholic perspectives, I will not be delving into these. Similarly, I will touch only on the more mainstream Baptist theology among the various Protestant interpretations, leaving out others for this discussion.

Protestant Baptism (Baptist Theology)

First, let's look at the form of baptism most of you are familiar with and likely subscribe to — believer's baptism or credobaptism. I won’t elaborate extensively on this because it’s quite familiar to many of you, and you understand both its methodologies and implications.

Consider Acts 2:38 where Peter says: “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

And consider Mark 1:4–5 which says: “John came baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.”

Believer’s baptism is said to be intertwined with repentance. It's an outward sign of an inward change, as John the Baptist preached, calling for a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

So then, believer’s baptism is a ceremony reserved for adults or mature youth who, after hearing about Christ, repent of their sins and express a desire to follow Jesus. This baptism offers the new believer an opportunity to publicly renounce sin and declare their intention to follow Jesus as their King, in line with scriptues like Matthew 10:32 ““Therefore, everyone who will acknowledge me before others, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.” and Romans 10:9 “If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

The act of baptism here is strictly symbolic; it does not imply or confer any spiritual, supernatural, or metaphysical transformation occurring at the moment of immersion. Instead, it symbolizes the inward grace that God has already bestowed upon the believer.

If there are any actual consequences of this baptism it would usually be limited to welcoming the individual into the membership of a local church community, similar to how Acts 2:41 is understood as it says: “So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added to them.”

Orthodox Baptism

In Orthodox theology, baptism holds a central place, transcending mere symbolism. It is viewed as the primary or normative channel through which God administers saving grace. I will attempt to succinctly expand on the background of Orthodox baptism to help you understand its significance. By the end of this discussion, you might not agree with or adopt Orthodox baptism, but ideally, you will at least comprehend its origins and rationale.

Creation and The Pre-Fall Human Condition

Genesis 2:7 states, 'Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.'

This act of God breathing life into Adam is often interpreted as symbolizing the initial endowment of the Holy Spirit into humanity. Before the fall, humanity existed in a state of grace, filled with the Holy Spirit, with the potential for immortality and unity with God. Central to this unity is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which acts as the unifying agent between God and man. Man was filled with the Holy Spirit, thereby establishing a union between man and God.

However, with humanity's fall and rejection of God, sin disrupts this unity. As part of 'the curse,' the Holy Spirit departs from humanity, leading to spiritual death and a disconnection from God.

This is how Ephesians 2:1 is understood- 'As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,' - dead in sins does not suggest the doctrine of total depravity. Instead, it refers to being spiritually dead, devoid of the Holy Spirit, and thus, separated from God.

Christological Foundation and the Purpose of Christ's Baptism

A good questions to ask might be: Why was Jesus baptised and what are the implications for us?

Matthew 3:13–15 says “Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. But John tried to stop him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?” Jesus answered him, “Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John allowed him to be baptized.”

Jesus, being sinless, did not undergo baptism by John the Baptist to purify Himself. Instead, He would bear human baptism as an act of identification with sinful humanity which is what is meant by ‘to fulfill all righteousness’, foreshadowing His crucifixion where He would bear human sin on the cross.

In His baptism, Jesus was not himself sanctified; rather, Christ sanctified the waters of baptism. This action transformed baptism into a conduit of grace, enabling it to cleanse believers of sin and facilitate their spiritual rebirth.

St. Gregory of Nazianzus wrote: "For since the Author of our salvation was not Himself subject to our passions, He took upon Himself to be baptized, that having communicated with us, He might cleanse the waters; and having clothed Himself in the passions, He might bestow upon us the gain of His own purity."

The Holy Spirit in Baptism

Since Jesus, even while on earth, was both fully God and fully man, He did not need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. So, why did the Holy Spirit descend on Him like a dove? Notice, the text says the Spirit descended onto him, not into him.

The Holy Spirit’s descension was not a ministry to Jesus but was a co-laboring or a partnership with Jesus where He marked the beginning of a new era. In this new era, the Spirit would be made available in a permanent, universal way to all believers, not just to specific prophets or leaders as seen in the Old Testament.

Jesus sanctifies the waters, empowering them for the cleansing of sin. The Holy Spirit, in turn, sanctifies these waters, making them a medium through which believers can receive Chrismation—or to be filled with the Spirit, and experience rebirth. This process raises the baptized into a new spiritual life, restoring their union with God.

In other words, through the combined sanctification by Jesus and empowerment by the Holy Spirit, baptism becomes the means by which:

The stain of both original sin and personal sins is removed or forgiven.

Adoption as children of God occurs, where the Christian begins to share in Christ's sonship.

Grace is conferred, initiating the believer into a life of holiness and communion with God.

Apostolic and Ecclesiastical Development

In John 20:22–23 it says: “After saying this, [Jesus] breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.””

Post-resurrection, Jesus imparts the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, granting them the authority to forgive sins as part of His commission to build His church. The understanding here is that the Apostles were commissioned to steward the administration of forgiveness of sins, particularly through confession, penance, and through the administration of baptism and sealing with the Holy Spirit. The implication is that rebirth and the washing away of sins occur through baptism, with the proper administration of this sacrament being stewarded by the church. As Pastor Derek Hazelett has stated, "Salvation is found in the Church. Baptism is the entry point to the Church."

In John 3:5 it says: "Jesus answered, 'Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.'", which speaks to baptism (water) and the Holy Spirit being essential for entering God's kingdom, aligning with the concept of salvation through the church via baptism.

Or Titus 3:5-6 which states: "he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior." This is again linking salvation with the "washing of rebirth" (baptism) and the renewal by the Holy Spirit, emphasizing baptism's role in salvation.

This is Orthodox baptism in a nutshell.

Summary of the Differences

Perhaps the simplest way to distinguish between Protestant and Orthodox baptism is this: Protestants approach baptism to remember and celebrate what God has already done; the Orthodox attend baptism to receive grace from God.

Infant baptism or pedobaptism

I don't have time for an in-depth exploration of pedobaptism, but I do want to address it briefly. Within the practice of pedobaptism, there are generally two schools of thought:

1. In the Orthodox View, as I've outlined above, baptism is considered an act performed upon the individual by God. Thus, everything stated about baptism for adults also applies to infants: the infant is baptized into both the Church and into Christ, the stain of original sin is removed, regeneration happens restoring their nature, adoption into God's family takes place, grace is conferred, initiating the baby into a life of holiness and communion with God. If you adhere to the Protestant view, where baptism is seen as a response to faith in Christ, your primary objection to pedobaptism would likely be that infants cannot express faith, which is a valid point within this perspective. However, this objection does not exist in the Orthodox view since baptism is regarded as entirely God's work.

Another question or possible objection might be: "Not every baptized infant remains a Christian for life, so doesn't this invalidate the baptism?" Here's my brief, two-fold response:

Firstly, I would suggest to you that the doctrine of apostasy—which is coming to Christ but then turning away—is clearly presented in the scriptures.

Secondly, I would remind you of the points about our nature I highlighted earlier. When baptism regenerates, it restores us to our original, pre-fall nature. However, even in this original state, humans had free will and the possibility of turning away from God, as evidenced by Adam and Eve's fall, who fell even while being filled with the Holy Spirit. Therefore, regeneration does not confer sinlessness or perfection but rather integrates the individual into the Church, beginning the process of sanctification or theosis, depending on one's theological perspective.

2. The second perspective on pedobaptism is the Reformed Protestant View. Here, New Testament baptism is linked to Old Testament circumcision. In the Old Testament, circumcision was an external act performed on infants at eight days old, marking their inclusion into God's family. In the New Testament, baptism has taken the place of circumcision as the rite of entry into God’s family or the Church. Circumcision was the sign of the old covenant, while baptism serves as the sign of the new covenant. It's worth noting that the Orthodox also connect baptism with circumcision in this way. However, Reformed pedobaptists do not ascribe supernatural effects to the act of pedobaptism; for them, it's primarily a symbol or sign of the covenant rather than an efficacious sacrament.