XLII. HOLY BAPTISM
`Go ye therefore, and make disciples * of
all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded
you.' -- Matt. 28:19
`He that believeth and is baptized shall be
saved.' -- Mark. 26:16
In these words of the institution of baptism, we
find its meaning comprehended as in a summary. The word `teach' means: `make
disciples of all the nations, baptizing them.' The believing disciple, as he
is baptized in the water, is also to be baptized or introduced into the name of
the Three-One God. By the name of the Father, the new birth and life as a
child in the love of the Father are secured to him: (Gal. 3:26,27; 4:6,7) by
the name of the Son, participation in the forgiveness of sins and the life that
is in Christ: (Col. 2:12) by the name of the Holy Spirit, the indwelling and
progressive renewal of the Spirit. (Tit. 2:5,6) And every baptized believer
must always look upon baptism as his entrance into a covenant with the
Three-One God, and as a pledge that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit will in
course of time do for him all that they have promised. It requires a life-long
study to know and enjoy all the blessing that is presented in baptism.
In other passages of Scripture the thrice
two-fold blessing is again set forth separately: thus we find bound up with it
the new birth required to make a child of God. `Except a man be born of water
and the Sprit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.' The baptized disciple
has in God a Father, and he has to live as a child in the love of this Father.
(John 3:3,5)
Then, again, baptism is brought more directly
into connection with the redemption that is in Christ. Consequently, the first
and simplest representation of it is the forgiveness or washing away of sins.
Forgiveness is always the gateway or entrance into all blessing: hence baptism
is also the sacrament of the beginning of the Christian life; but of a
beginning that is maintained through the whole life. It is on this account
that in Rom. 6 baptism is represented as the secret of the whole of
sanctification, the entrance into a life in union with Jesus. `Or are ye
ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His
death?' And then follows in verse 4-11, the more precise explanation of what
it is to be baptized into the death of Jesus, and to arise out of this with Him
for a new life in Him. This is elsewhere very powerfully comprehended in this
one word: `As many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ.'
This alone is the right life of a baptized disciple: he has put on Christ.
(Rom. 6:3,4; Gal. 3:27; Col. 2:12) As one is plunged into water and passes
under it, so is the believing confessor baptized into the death of Christ, in
order then to live and walk clothed with the new life of Christ.
And there are other passages where again there
is connected with baptism the promise of the Spirit, not only as the Spirit of
regeneration, but as the gift bestowed from heaven upon believers for
indwelling and sealing, for progressive renewal. `He saved us through the
washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which He poured out
upon us richly.' Renewal is here the activity of the Spirit, whereby the new
life that is planted in the new birth penetrates our whole being, so that all
our thinking and doing is sanctified by Him. (Rom. 12:2; Eph. 4:23; Tit.
2:5,6)
And all this rich blessing which lies in baptism
is received by faith. `He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved.'
Baptism was not only a confession on man's part of the faith that he who would
be a disciple already had, but equally on God's part a seal for the
confirmation of faith, a covenant token in which the whole treasury of grace
lay open, to be enjoyed throughout life. As often as a baptized believer sees
a baptism administered, or reflects upon it, it is to be to him an
encouragement to press by an over-growing faith into the full life of salvation
that the Three-One desires to work in him. The Holy Spirit is given to
appropriate within us all the love of the Father and all the grace of the Son.
The believing candidate for baptism is baptized into the death of Christ, has
put on Christ: the Holy Spirit is in him to give him all this as his daily
experience. (Eph. 4:14,15; Col 2:16)
Lord God, make Thy holy baptism always operative in my soul as the
experience that I am baptized into the death of Christ. And let Thy people
everywhere understand by Thy Spirit what rich blessing lies thrown open in the
baptism of their children. Amen.
And what are we now to think of
Infant Baptism? With the assurance that those who cleave only to God's word,
namely, the Baptists, will say to us: You cannot adduce a single passage in
Scripture where the baptism of little children is spoken of.
Our answer is that this is thoroughly taught us
in Scripture, not indeed by separate texts, but by its whole tenor. The reason
why the Lord Jesus did not name children specially, was that this was
altogether unnecessary. From the time of Abraham onwards God had engrained it
in His people, that in His covenant He always reckoned parents and children
together. He deals, not with separate individuals alone, but with households:
the faith of a father held good for the child, so long as the child did not
violate the covenant.
a. In Abraham, Isaac obtained part; in every
father amongst the people of Israel his child obtained part in the covenant
between Me and thee, and thy seed after thee, to be a God unto thee, and thy
seed after thee.' (Gen. 17:7.)
b. Even so in connection with the
Passover, it was ordained that, when a stranger would join the people, all his
males should be circumcised. (Ex. 12:48)_ Up to the time of Christ it was
unquestionably the case that, when any one belonged to the people of God or
desired to become attached to them, his little children were received along
with him. If the Lord had desired to change this, a very express injunction
was needed for the purpose.
c. How expressly did the Lord Jesus declare of
children: `Of such is the kingdom of God.' And under the kingdom should he not
have as a Christian the privilege that he had as a Jew? Yes: the covenant of
Abraham is still confirmed from child to child.
d. The answer of Paul to the goal-keeper
confirms the continuance of what God had instituted: `Believe in the Lord Jesus
and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.' Although there were no children in
that house, this promise confirms the principle that God deals, not merely with
individuals, but with households.
e. `Therefore are your children holy.' Since
the child itself is holy, it has of itself a right to the holy token of the
covenant.
* The Dutch version, like our Authorized, has
`teach' here.