Storms: What Does Baptism Mean?

What does baptism mean and why does it play such a prominent role in the life of the Christian and the Church? Baptism is a sign, which is to say it signifies something beyond itself. It is a pointer that directs our attention to several important truths.

First, baptism is designed to direct our attention to the source and cause of our salvation: the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. We are not saved because of or through baptism but because of and through Christ and what he did for us. When people witness a person being baptized they should immediately think about the way salvation has been obtained for us.

The living Christ was crucified for our sins. He was then buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. He was finally raised from the dead and entered into a new and glorious phase of life. In other words, baptism in water is a visual enactment of the gospel itself. The gospel is the good news of what God did in and through his Son, Jesus Christ, to obtain for us redemption and forgiveness of sins. The Jesus who lived a sinless and perfect life on our behalf, was crucified where he suffered the judgment and wrath of God we deserved. The sufficiency and adequacy of his atoning death was confirmed when God raised him from the dead unto a new life.

So, when you watch someone who is alive be immersed or buried beneath the waters of baptism, only then to be raised up out of the water, you are witnessing the gospel. You are seeing with your eyes and hearing with your ears what God did for sinners in Jesus.

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John Stott on the "old man" and the "body ruled by sin" in Rom 6 v 6

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