Baptized . . . have you been? Romans 6.1-5

A familiar number showed on the screen of my cellphone; I smiled a greeting and heard--‘Hey, we never had Brian baptized – is it too late?  Can you do it?’  And then, ‘And do we need to get some god parents for this?’ 

Funny thing is, Brian, the son – well, he’s 16 years old.  My friend was combining two different kinds of baptism in his question—infant baptism and adult baptism or ‘believer’ baptism.  Our passage today provides a great platform to discuss both.

Before, Paul seems to be answering the question of a jeering personality:

“Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace?  Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?”  Or another version puts it, “Are we to persist in sin that grace may abound?  God forbid!” 

       Determining to set our course toward God,

       his grace gives us both the ability and desire

       to move away from sin.

Paul continues:  “Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death?  For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism.  And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.  Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was.”  Romans 6.1-5, NLT

Ah, the subject of baptism is a big one; it has been, and still is, a controversial issue among Christians.   In order to understand the above passage, we must consider that baptism in Paul’s day was different than is common today.  It was adult baptism.  (Infant baptism did not begin until around A.D. 200.)  In the early church, baptism was connected with confession of faith.  Baptism was usually total immersion, which symbolized being buried and when coming out of the water, rising from the grave.  So, baptism was symbolically like dying and rising again.  The man died to one kind of life and rose to another; he died to the old life of sin and rose to the new life of grace.  (Reread the verses above and this sheds new light, doesn’t it?)

Though these verbal expressions may not be commonly bandied about today, almost anyone of Paul’s day would have understood them.  A Gentile entered the Jewish faith by baptism.  When he came out of the water, he was said to be a completely new man.  Yet today, a Gentile wishing to become a Jew must also be totally immersed.  http://www.philosophy-religion.org/world/jud_5.htm  (An informative link part of the International Council of Christians and Jews)   So, the notion of baptism was understood, accepted and practiced in the early Christian church, and like many other elements of Christianity, actually flowed out of Jewish tradition.  (Interested in reading more? http://www.foundationsmin.org/studies/baptism.htm )

Let’s get back to my young friend, Brian.  Dad wanted to make sure he was baptized … what was his thinking?  As you know, many Christian churches practice infant baptism, and ascribe varying meanings to the ceremony—washing away of original sin, protection from death should the baby/child die before reaching an age of maturity, and a vow by the parents to raise the child ‘in the church’.

I was raised in the Baptist church, which teaches that a child ought be ‘dedicated’ to the Lord--mainly a commitment by the parents to raise their child to know the Lord.  Then, when a young person is old enough to make her own decision to place her faith in Christ, she chooses to be baptized—immersed in water, in obedience to Scripture.  (Many non-denominational Christian churches endorse baptism at the time of conversion.)  I was baptized when I was 15 years old, and it was a statement that I was identifying my life with Christ, really—nothing more.  It did not ‘save’ me, it didn’t ‘wash away my sin’—only God could do those things, not the rite of baptism.  However, it was a public testimony of a private commitment on my part.  When one makes such a statement I believe that it is both right and good. 

Which practice is right?  Which is better—infant baptism or believer baptism?  They are different from each other—different functions, different purposes.  Should Brian be baptized?  Well now, at 16, I guess that’s up to him!

In closing, I charge you once again:  Let us truly embody grace in such a way that we neither abuse it nor take it for granted, and in such a way that we freely dispense it to all.

Christine

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