Fr. Spencer+
 
Thank you for your analysis and exposition.
 
We have had several young adults write or come to Good Shepherd recently, and I have attempted to find simple ways to present the Good News and the teachings of the church.
 
Here is one that I'm working on in regard to baptism.  It is a work in progress, the final paragraphs will deal with the theme "if any man is in Christ, there is a new creation" and will show how the new person in Christ, empowered and enlightened by the Holy Spirit, participates with God in the recreation and redemption of our culture, our world.
 
Charles+
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A PRIMER ON BAPTISM

 

Baptism is a strange English word that comes from “baptizo”, a Greek word that means to immerse in water.

 

That bare definition gives not a clue as to what meanings is attached to the word by Christians or how it was understood by the first Christians.  Some Christian teachers have called baptism a “rite of initiation.”  That is true enough, but that sounds like one is joining a college fraternity or the Masons.  Baptism is a rite of initiation into the Christian Church, but again, that doesn’t tell us much.

 

There are very ancient teachings, traditions handed on by the Jews, about God’s dealings with the people of the world.  Water was an important part of the story.    In very ancient times, there was a flood so large that it became legendary.  Some American Indians had flood stories, but the one I refer to is in Genesis.  The world had become a very evil place.  Only one man and his family were living righteously.  As the old southern spiritual goes, “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.”  The ancient evil world was destroyed by a flood.  Noah, lived by faith, that is by trust in God.  He  followed God’s instructions and constructed the ark in which he and his family was saved.  (Heb 12)

 

In his epistle to the “Sojourners of the Diaspora” (I Peter chapter 1- written to the New Israel), Peter retells the story and notes that Noah was “saved by water.”  The violent storms that lashed the earth and destroyed an evil civilization, lifted Noah and his family to safety.  Peter says that in like manner, baptism saves the Christian.  Baptism lifts him out of the evil world toward God and safety.  From these writings of Peter, some Christians have referred to the Church as the “ark of salvation.” and to this day a part of the church building is called the “nave”.  (Nave and navy are two English words derived from a Latin word “navis”.)   The Church is a place of sanctuary, of safety, but lets not limit our thought to a building, for as you will soon see, the place of safety to which baptism brings us is not a building, but the Body of Christ.

 

Another ancient story, that of the Exodus of the Children of Israel from Egypt, involves water.  Moses led the Israelites to safety through the Red Sea, which overwhelmed the Egyptians, their horses and chariots.  Jesus Christ was Jewish.  So was Saint Paul and nearly all of the first generation of Christians.  Paul used the story of the Exodus as a symbol of baptism.  He refers to the flight from Egypt through the Red Seas as the baptism of the Israelites to Moses.  A flight from an evil world to holy ground  (I Corinthians 10:2).  The follower of Christ leaves the world and going through the water of baptism enters Christ.

 

Paul’s most common explanation of Baptism relates the symbol to the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  To Paul, the act of baptism recreates as in a play, the heart of the Gospel.  Romans the 6th chapter relates in detail how the person who follows Jesus, accepts him as the King (Messiah) is buried with Christ by baptism into his death, and rises from that watery grave to walk with Christ in a new life.  

 

Paul’s language is even stronger than that.  He says we have died, our old way of living is buried, we rise in Christ to live out his life.  Paul says that we are all “children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”  And, “as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female,: for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”  

 

Paul sees baptism as the first event in the new life of the Christian. Once he has believed Jesus is able to save, he relives the Gospel event.   He symbolically dies in baptism, he is reborn in Christ to participate with God in recreating the world.

 

In other places, as in the Acts of Apostles, baptism is identified with forgiveness of sins.  (Acts 2:38)

 

Jesus Christ himself instructed his followers to go to the whole world, preach the Gospel, inspire faith and baptize so that sins could be forgiven and men and women could find eternal life.  (Matthew 28:18-20 and Mark 16:16).  Jesus had promised his disciples, prior to His death, that though He had to go away, He would come to them.

 

The Church has traditionally taught 7 sacraments; meaning 7 signs of God's presence in the life of a person or a Church.  Two of these were explicitly commanded by Jesus Christ and hence are called by English Churchmen, "Sacraments of the Gospel."  These two signs of God's presence in our lives are baptism and The Lord's Supper (also called Eucharist or Communion).  Christians observe these signs "to proclaim the Lord's death until He comes again."  By baptism the Christian says I am one with Christ, the Spirit will inhabit this temple.  Christ has stood at this hearts door and knocked, and I said, "come in."  (Revelation)  By regularly celebrating Eucharist I am saying to the world, He lives, He is here, and I am fed the Bread of Life.

 

From the very first day of the Church, Baptism has been coupled with the remission of sins and the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of a follower of Christ.  After hearing Peter inform them that they had crucified the Messiah, some of the Jerusalem Jews “were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the apostles, “Friends, what are we to do?”   “Repent, said Peter, “and be baptized in the name of Jesus the Messiah; then your sins will be forgiven and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”  (Acts 2:38) "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles teaching, the breaking of bread, and in prayers."

 
 
Charles+
 
 


GMSpencer@... wrote:I have gone through the Baptismal service of the 1928 BCP and isolated 33 
statements that refer in some sense to the effect and benefit of Holy Baptism. I 
have grouped the statements into eight general categories <snip>

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