Some Brief Thoughts on Baptism
A lot of people speak about baptism as a kind of self-expression. Baptism is us demonstrating our commitment to Jesus—like we’ve analyzed the claims of Jesus and understand what I’m getting into, and now I choose to believe, and baptism is the expression of that commitment. But I think to speak of baptism in that way is to confuse things a little bit. Why? Because baptism isn’t a sign that points back to us and our good intentions. We don’t need something that points back to us!
No. Baptism doesn’t point back to us, it points to God. It’s God who promises. It’s God who washes clean. It’s God who gives us his grace. God is the primary person at work. That’s why theologians throughout the centuries have spoken of baptism as a sign and seal of God’s covenant of grace. A sign that points us to him and a seal that confirms that we are not our own, but we belong to God.
We belong to God—a God that shows us in Jesus that he does not condemn us, but washes us clean. A God who renews us. A God who judges our sin justly by removing it from us, who gives us his new life—new life that begins in the resurrection of Jesus but does not end there. We are not our own but belong to the God who brings life to dead places. This is where the sign of baptism points.
We belong to God—And if we belong to God, it means that God belongs to us. Not as possession. Not as a genie in a bottle. But God, the transcendent and holy God, is for us. He is our God and we are His people. Our baptism becomes for us a seal of this glorious truth—a seal that confirms our share in this inheritance, even when we don’t feel it emotionally.
Jesus made it plain that the only way for us to truly come to him and receive his grace—the only way to come into the kingdom where he is King—is to be carried like a little child, with open hands that bring nothing to try and buy our way in, but with open hands prepared to receive the grace that He gives. We either come to Jesus like little babies or we don’t come at all.
That reality is what we recognize in every baptism that occurs—whether it be a baby, an elderly adult, or anyone in between. That no matter our age, we all come to Jesus like little children—with the open hands of faith. Not carrying our respectability, not carrying our so-called status, not carrying OUR good deeds. In baptism, the church in a sense carries us to Jesus and places us in his arms, entrusting every baptized person into his care.