CHAPTER VI.
Purpose and Effects of Baptism.
For the Remission of Sins.—Baptism is the divinely instituted process by which sins, when truly repented of, are remitted; that is, forgiven and washed away. All men have sinned; and in order to bring them back into his pure presence, where nothing sinful can come, it is necessary that they first be cleansed from sin. Water baptism is the beginning of the cleansing process.
Means and Accessories.—Water, of itself, cannot, of course, wash away sin. It was not water that cleansed Naaman of his leprosy. It was his obedience to the prophet who directed him to go and dip seven times in the Jordan. Had he dipped but once, or but six times, his leprosy would still have clung to him. But he did as he was told—dipped seven times, and his faith, shown by his obedience, worked the cure, bringing down the power of God for that purpose. The water was the medium through which the power operated. Likewise, when Christ anointed the eyes of the blind man, causing him to see, it was faith—the power of God—that wrought the miracle; but the clay used was an accessory, as consecrated oil was (James 5:14,15) and is still, in the healing ordinance of the Church.
Water and Spirit.—Baptism cleanses and illumines the soul, and the water and the spirit are divinely appointed means by which the cleansing and the illumination come. And they are indispensable in the process. The sick may be healed without the use of oil, without even the laying on of hands; for it is faith that heals, not instrumentalities employed; but no sinner can be baptized, without the Water and the Spirit. By baptism we are as effectually freed from sin, and our moral status changed, as by death, burial and resurrection we are liberated from mortality and ushered into a new existence. Hence baptism is termed "the washing of regeneration." Regeneration means new birth.
Two fold Nature of Baptism.—Baptism, as already explained, is twofold, corresponding to the soul of man. The body or fleshly part is represented by the water, and the spirit by the Holy Ghost. The water and the spirit are both essential in baptism, because, as previously stated, it is not the body alone, nor the spirit alone, that is baptized, but the soul, body and spirit in one.
The body, I say, is represented by the water. Science tells us that most of the human body is water. Hamlet's plaintive wish that his "too, too, solid flesh would melt—thaw and resolve itself into a dew," was not so very extravagant, therefore, from a scientific viewpoint.
Spirit baptism illumines the soul, making manifest the things of God. "Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the great things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God" (1 Cor. 2:9,10). Thus Paul explains the office of the Holy Ghost, in one of its most important functions. The Savior had reference to the same subject when he promised to his disciples "the Spirit of Truth," to reveal things past, explain the present, and show things to come. The importance of this mighty Agent, and the part played by it in baptism, was plainly pointed out by Jesus, when he said: "Except a man be born again, he can not see the kingdom of God."
The Atoning Blood of Christ.—But there are three factors, not merely two, in the process of the soul's regeneration—the spirit, the water, and the blood. By these three man is born into the world, and by these three he is "born again" into the kingdom of God. Ordinarily but two of them are mentioned in connection with baptism, for only two are actually used in baptism; but without the third, the atoning blood of Christ, there would be no baptism for salvation. If his blood had not been shed, there would be no redemption from the fall; the banishment of Adam and Eve and their posterity would have been perpetual, and the grave's victory eternal. There would be no baptism, no remission of sins, no resurrection, but for the shedding of the blood of the Lamb of God. Hence John the apostle says: "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).
The Mediator.—The water and the spirit, representing, respectively, earth and heaven, are made effectual by the blood. Man and God are thus reconciled; Christ being the Mediator and Reconciler. There are three that bear record in heaven—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. There are three that bear witness on earth—the spirit, the water, and the blood. Each group corresponds to the other; each three agree in one. Hence, when a soul is baptized, it must be by water and by spirit, made effectual by blood, and in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
Three in One.—Spirit, water, and blood-the three elements of baptism—were combined in the person of Jesus when he was baptized by John in the Jordan. Standing upon the river's brink, his sacred form dripping with the waters from which he had just emerged, he was crowned with the Holy Ghost, descending upon him from above. Yet it was necessary that his blood should be shed, that the Spirit might come unto his disciples. Not until the Mediator had hung between heaven and earth, did the Holy Ghost, as the witness of his consummated sacrifice, appear upon the scene. Not till then were the apostles endued with power from on high. Not till then did the Spirit of God move upon the waters of this world, coming, as in the first instance, that there might be a creation, a new birth, a regeneration for the human race.
The Fathers Understood.—The Greek fathers of the Christian Church held correct ideas concerning baptism. This is shown in the terms used by them to describe it—"initiation," from its introductory character; "regeneration," from its being regarded as a new birth; "the great circumcision," because it was held to have superseded the circumcision of the Mosaic law; "illumination," and "the gift of the Lord," with reference to the Holy Ghost. Other synonyms for the sacred ceremonial were "consecration" and "consummation." Those baptized were understood to have consecrated their lives to God, and to have consummated or completed their preparation for communion with the Church of Christ. Only to such as had been baptized was the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper administered.
Early Greek Christians.—The Greek Christians of the early centuries, like the Saints of New Testament times, baptized for the remission of sins. They have been censured by modern critics for magnifying the importance of water baptism, and at the same time insisting on the purely ethical or spiritual nature of the rite; for confounding the sign with the thing signified, the action of the water with the action of the Spirit, in the process of regeneration. But they were not any more insistent upon these points than the apostles themselves.
Augustine's Theory.—St. Augustine is complimented by the same critics for formulating the first strict scientific theory of the nature and effects of baptism. He drew a sharp distinction between what he called "the outward sign"—water baptism—and the inward change of heart resulting from the operation of the Holy Ghost. Yet even he is charged with laying too much stress upon the value of "the outward sign," which he held to be essential to salvation.
Protestant theologians have been commended for keeping the "sign" in due subordination to "the thing signified," for justifying themselves by faith, and ignoring to a great extent outward ordinances.
But the Greek Christians, whatever their defects, were nearer right than St. Augustine; and the Catholic St. Augustine was nearer right than the Protestant theologians who followed him. Baptism, as taught in the New Testament, is not the mere "outward sign of an inward grace." The action of the water and the action of the Spirit are not to be separated in any analysis of the nature and effects of baptism. Both are essential in the soul-cleansing, soul-enlightening, process, modern critics to the contrary notwithstanding.