Baptism is Communication
What God and we communicate through Baptism.
The Lord, in His love and grace, has given us His Word. He knows our weakness. He knows that our memories are frail and that every part of our mind, body, and soul is marred by sin. He is infinite and far beyond our ability to comprehend or understand but He chooses to speaks to us through the lisp of human words. Yet, as I have learned from my non-verbal children, all behavior is communication. My sons don’t ask me for food but they can hand me their bottle or point to the fridge. This is true for kids with disabilities but also all of us. Our actions communicate, and God, who knows how He has made us, has never limited His communication to words alone.
Pictured here is a young lady who took her faith and made it public in Baptism this Sunday.
Throughout Scripture, God has given His people visible actions through which He communicates His promises to us and through which we communicate our faith to Him. In the New Covenant, Christ has given His church baptism. In baptism, the invisible realities of the gospel are made visible. The truths of the gospel pass not only before our ears but over our whole bodies. The spiritual reality that we have been united with Christ is portrayed as we are buried beneath the water. As Paul asks, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” (Romans 6:3). He continues, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead… we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). Just as we do not remain beneath the water, those who are united to Christ will not remain under the power of death. We will rise because He has risen. As Paul concludes, “If we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his” (Romans 6:5). This is God’s communication to us. He has promised us His faithfulness.
The Fear Before the Water
I often counsel people who are preparing to take this next step of faith. Almost every conversation eventually arrives at fear. The lies of the enemy abound in this season of life, often whispering reasons why obedience should wait just a little longer.
For some, there is the fear of the physical process. They fear the water or the vulnerability of trusting another person to lower them beneath it. For others, there is the fear of the judgment of family and friends. Standing before others and publicly identifying with Christ feels overwhelming. Still others fear something deeper. They fear that one day they will fail. They fear that they will not remain faithful and that their baptism will become a testimony against them.
Of all these fears, this last one is perhaps the most realistic. We are frail and faulty creatures. Left to ourselves, we know our own weakness. We know our wandering hearts. We know how often we have made promises only to break them. That fear is not imaginary. It is born from an honest understanding of who we are apart from the sustaining grace of God.
What Baptism Says
Yet this is precisely why baptism is such a beautiful gift.
When we step into the water, our actions communicate our faith. We are trusting that it is God who buries us and raises us. We willingly submit ourselves to another because salvation is not something we accomplish for ourselves; it is something we receive from Christ. Even the act of baptism reminds us that we do not save ourselves. We are acted upon by the grace of God before we ever accomplish anything for Him.
When we step into the water before the eyes of others, we declare that we fear Christ more than we fear the opinions of people. We publicly identify with the One who publicly gave His life for us and publicly rose again. Every baptism is a visible confession that Jesus Christ is worth following regardless of the opinions of the crowd.
And when we step into the water despite our fear of future failure, we are not declaring confidence in ourselves. We are declaring confidence in God’s promise. Romans 6 does not point us to the strength of our resolve but to the certainty of our union with Christ. We trust that what He has begun in us, He will bring to completion. Our hope is not in the strength of our grip on Christ but in the strength of His grip on us. Baptism is not ultimately a declaration that we will never fail; it is a declaration that Christ will never fail those who belong to Him. The God who united us to Christ in His death has also promised that we will share in His resurrection.
Faith That Speaks
The fears are not overcome because we suddenly become brave. They are overcome because faith moves us to obedient action. We step into the water while our knees still tremble because our confidence has shifted away from ourselves and onto the promises of God.
All behavior is communication.
In baptism, our obedience communicates our trust in Christ. In baptism, God’s appointed sign communicates His unfailing promise to all who are united to His Son. As we confess Him before the world, He reminds us of His covenant faithfulness. In the waters of baptism, both heaven and earth speak—our faith declaring our trust in Christ, and God declaring His unchanging promise to those who are united to His Son.