WHAT DOES BAPTISM MEAN?
So far we have seen that baptism was consistently connected with people's response to the gospel. But the New Testament does more than record that people were baptized. It tells us what baptism means.
Paul and Peter use several different pictures, and each one adds something important.
Buried and Raised With Christ
Paul writes: “Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?”(Romans 6:3). He continues: “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death...” (Romans 6:4).
Paul's picture follows the gospel itself: Christ died. Christ was buried. Christ was raised. Baptism is connected with that same pattern—death to the old life, burial, and resurrection to a new life.
Raised Through Faith in God's Working
Paul uses similar language in Colossians: “Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.” (Colossians 2:12)
Notice who is doing the saving work. God is. Baptism is not presented as a human achievement that earns salvation. Paul connects baptism with faith in the working of God.
Clothed With Christ
Paul gives us another picture: “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”(Galatians 3:27)
Those who are baptized into Christ are described as putting on Christ.
Baptized Into One Body
Writing to the Corinthians, Paul says: “For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body...” (1 Corinthians 12:13)
Baptism therefore has a corporate dimension as well as an individual one. We do not merely come to Christ as isolated individuals. We become part of His people—His body.
“Baptism Now Saves You”
Then Peter makes perhaps the most striking statement: “Baptism...now saves you also.” (1 Peter 3:21)
But Peter immediately explains what he means. He is not talking about washing dirt from the body. The saving power is not ordinary water. Peter says baptism saves “by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
Once again, the focus returns to Christ. Without His death, burial, and resurrection, baptism has no saving meaning at all.
Put the Pictures Together
Taken together, the apostles describe baptism as being baptized into Christ, being baptized into His death, being buried and raised with Him, being clothed with Christ, being baptized into one body, and an appeal to God connected with salvation through Christ's resurrection.
Each writer emphasizes something different. But none treats baptism as an unimportant ceremony. And none presents the water itself as having magical power.
Baptism has meaning because of Christ.
GOING DEEPER
Is Baptism a Work?
This question deserves careful attention because the New Testament clearly teaches salvation by grace through faith.
Paul writes: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith...” (Ephesians 2:8)
Does baptism contradict that? Only if baptism is understood as something a person does to earn God's favor. But that is not how Paul describes it.
Colossians 2:12 says believers are “raised with him through your faith in the working of God.” That expression is important: the working of God.
The believer trusts. The believer submits. God works.
Nobody earns Christ's death. Nobody earns His resurrection. Nobody earns forgiveness. Salvation remains God's gift.
So perhaps the better question is not, “Did the person do something?” The better question is, “Is this something God asks the believer to do in receiving what God freely provides?”
Repentance requires a response. Confession requires a response. Calling upon the Lord requires a response. Faith itself requires a response. None of these earns salvation.
The issue is not whether faith responds. The issue is whom faith trusts. And in baptism, according to Paul, faith trusts in the working of God.
Faith and Baptism Are Not Rivals
Paul can say, “In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith...” (Galatians 3:26), and immediately continue, “for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” (Galatians 3:27).
Likewise, he can speak of being “buried with him in baptism” and in the same sentence say believers are raised “through your faith in the working of God.” (Colossians 2:12)
Paul does not place faith on one side and baptism on the other. He joins them. Faith and baptism are not presented as competing ways of being saved.
Don't Make Baptism Bigger Than Christ
There is also a danger on the other side. We can become so concerned with defending baptism that baptism itself becomes the center of the gospel.
It isn't. Jesus is.
Without His death, baptism has no death into which we can be baptized. Without His resurrection, there is no new life. Without His blood, there is no forgiveness. Without faith, getting wet accomplishes nothing.
Baptism has meaning because of Christ. That is why New Testament baptism should never be separated from faith in Him.
Don't Make Baptism Say More—or Less—Than Scripture Says
We don't need to exaggerate the biblical language about baptism. But neither should we reduce it.
If Paul says “baptized into Christ,” let him say it. If Paul says “buried with Him through baptism,” let him say it. If Paul says “clothed yourselves with Christ,” let him say it. If Peter says “baptism now saves you,” let Peter say it—and then let Peter explain that its saving power comes through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Our job is not to strengthen those statements. And it is not to weaken them.
Our job is to understand them.
NOW LET'S EXAMINE EACH PICTURE MORE CLOSELY
Rather than trying to answer every question on one page, the next studies will examine these passages individually.
Buried and Raised With Christ
Romans 6:1–7 and Colossians 2:11–13
What does Paul mean when he says we are baptized into Christ's death, buried with Him, and raised with Him through faith in God's working?
Clothed With Christ
Galatians 3:26–29
How can Paul say we are children of God through faith and then immediately connect that faith with being baptized into Christ and clothed with Him?
Baptized Into One Body
1 Corinthians 12:12–27
What does baptism have to do with becoming part of Christ's body?
Born of Water and Spirit
John 3:1–8
When Jesus told Nicodemus that a person must be born of water and Spirit, what did He mean?
The Washing of Regeneration
Titus 3:3–7
What does Paul mean by “the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit”?
“Baptism Now Saves You”
1 Peter 3:18–22
Why does Peter connect Noah's flood with baptism, and what does he mean when he says baptism now saves?
Is Baptism Just an Outward Sign?
Does baptism symbolize what Christ has done? Certainly. But is symbol everything Paul and Peter say baptism is? We'll let their own words answer.
CONTINUE YOUR STUDY
Next Bible Study
Paul's fullest explanation of baptism begins with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. What does it mean to be “baptized into His death” and then raised to “walk in newness of life”?
Related Bible Studies
Did the Apostles Preach the Same Message Everywhere?
The First Gospel Sermon
Why Baptism?
Companion Video
What Does Baptism Mean?
Read First. Conclude Later.