Baptism and Creed
We believe in one God, the Father...
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten...
In one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
In one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We confess one Baptism for the remission of sins.
That's how we have confessed these things since Constantinople in 381. The unique, eternally-begotten Son is made flesh in One Lord Jesus—one Person. (without confusion, change, division, or separation) And the unity of these two natures constitutes the unity of both Church and Baptism.
"One Lord [Christ], one faith [Church], one Baptism, One God and Father of all" Ephesians 4:5-6.
The 10th chapter of Hebrews fleshes this out. "We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all... Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, ...namely His flesh,... Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water."
As Tertullian (ca. 190) put it: "The flesh is the hinge of salvation." And Baptism is our new birth into the flesh of Jesus.
Baptismal Types
Before the incarnation of God's Son, baptism had not been inaugurated, only prefigured.
1. At the first creative moment, we see the Spirit of God brooding over the waters and we hear God speaking His Word. (Genesis 1:3) This is the basic shape of Baptism: Water and Spirit and Word.
2. Later God baptized the world with a flood, cleansing it of corruption and violence and saving for Himself a new humanity in Noah and his family. Peter writes:"Eight souls were saved through water. There is also an antitype which now saves us—Baptism" (3:20-21).
3. When God freed his children from Pharaoh and made them a kingdom of priests, He drew them out of the Red Sea. (Just as Moses himself had been "drawn out of the water" to become royalty.)
"All were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea" (1 Cor. 10:2).
4. But Moses could not lead them into the Promised Land. Only Joshua could. Joshua put the Ark of God into the Jordan and made it a road (Joshua 3:17). 1480 years later, another Joshua stood in the same place to be baptized by John.
Baptism, John and Jesus
"When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son," (Gal 4:4) and exactly at that time John inaugurated a new and unique baptism. Now it is a "baptism of repentance for the remission of sin" (Mk 1:4; Lk 3:3).
John explained: "O brood of vipers! [begotten of serpents]...9 do not think to say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father: for I say unto you, that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones" (Matt 3:7-9).
Baptismal forgiveness has to do with fatherhood and children. The Serpent's seed are cut down and true seed of Abraham is begotten by the Father in their place. This is exactly how Jesus describes baptism when Nicodemus came to Him. "Unless a man be generated again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3)
Then, Jesus explained that it happens in Baptism. "Verily, verily, I say to You, Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3:5).
Baptism Today
That's why, "He who believes and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark 16:16). Not because Baptism is another washing in addition to the washing of Jesus. But because by it you are reborn into the pure and holy flesh of the Son of God.
As Paul puts it, "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ." Galatians 3:27 You have "received the adoption of sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, 'Abba, Father!'" Galatians 4:5-6
At Jesus' baptism, while He was standing in the water, the Father declares that this Man, born of the Virgin, is His own eternally-begotten Son. And Jesus still stands in the water.
Just as the Ark's presence in the Jordan made it a road into the Promised Land, so Jesus' continued presence in Baptism gives Baptism it's content.
-- This is the place were our bodies are sprinkled with pure water...
-- This is where the Father declares: "You are My son by adoption and grace."
-- This is where, the Spirit of Christ comes upon you.
And we respond by confessing: "One Lord [Christ], one faith [Church], one Baptism, One God Father of us all..." (Ephesians 4:6)
