The Beauty of Baptism

Confession time: I do not like new things. I am a creature of habit and find myself very comfortable in a normal and regular schedule. However, there are necessary evils (as I view them) that rear their ugly heads from time to time. Beginning a new job, undergoing a new medical procedure, or for goodness sake, trying something new at a restaurant! This “newness” really spreads to all of life, and for a Christian there are plenty of new things to understand and experience. 

One of the (can I say) “weirdest” things for a young Christian has to be the process of baptism. It is truly unlike anything else in the world. You have a religious experience and the first step of obedience is that a random man dunks you underwater, says a few words, and everyone gets emotional. Let’s just be honest, it’s a little weird. 

More than that, the young convert quickly learns that there are very strong opinions regarding the proper mode, means, and meaning of baptism which only adds to the strangeness of the entire situation. 

My goal in this post is to briefly share the beauty of baptism as it is presented and explained from the New Testament. It is a very good thing and one that should inspire unity and hope! 

As we begin let me share some examples of people getting baptized, then we will look at some divinely inspired explanation for it. 

John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of     

Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. (Mark 1:4-5)

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. (Mark 1:10)

And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being 

baptized?” And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 

And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away... (Acts 8:36-39)

These were early NT examples of individuals being baptized. John’s baptism was one of confession and preparation for the coming Messiah. Jesus’ obedient baptism was an act of consecration before the Father, which was accepted and visually affirmed by the Father’s voice and the Spirit’s descending presence. The Ethiopian Eunuch’s baptism was a sign of submission following his understanding the gospel of Jesus Christ and his confession of those truths.  

Baptism is the pattern of the Ethiopian Eunuch is the model and understanding for ongoing New Testament believers. The apostle Paul shares the theological reality behind the symbol of baptism in Romans 6 and Colossians 2.

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him 

by baptism into 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. (Romans 6:2-3)

...having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised

him from the dead. (Colossians 2:12)

The uniqueness of the baptism process should not take away from the beauty of the entire process. The justified sinner has passed from death to life because of Jesus Christ. In the same way Jesus was raised from the grave, believers have been raised from eternal judgment to a position of mercy, grace, and reconciliation. 

Baptism is a proclamation to the entire world, in a very intentional way, that a believer no longer lives for himself, but as he passes through the water, so too, his old self has passed. Christians now live for another, a greater one, the king of kings. Baptism brings glory to God because it symbolizes the justification of another soul and ever more loosens sin’s grip on Creation.  

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