Often there is a need to get back to the basics.
In sports there are basic skills that comprise almost every game – throwing and catching, endurance, stretching and running.
In business there are basic ideas that contribute to growth and success – supply and demand, customer service, research and development.
In the church there are basic doctrines that are at the heart of what it means to be a Christian – creation ex nihilo, salvation by grace through faith – but especially the doctrine that there is one God who exists in three persons, the Trinity – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
In this blog series we’ve been exploring different aspects of the Trinity in order that this doctrine would be more than an idea, but that we would understand better how it is that one God in three persons impacts our daily existence.
This post is a basic look at how this basic doctrine impacts a basic Christian sacrament – baptism.
I’ve heard baptism described as “an outward sign of an inward change” which makes it sound fairly man-centered. There is much more going on than “a public decision for Jesus” on our part. It’s not that we mean to take the mystery out of this biblical doctrine, but in trying to describe it plainly we inadvertently downplay God’s work.
All three persons of the Godhead are active in the mystery of this sacrament that incorporates a person into the visible church. Here are three ways we see the Trinity at work in baptism.
1. The basis of baptism is Trinitarian.
The Trinity is present in baptism in all four gospel accounts. (Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22; John 1:29-34) The Father spoke at Jesus’ baptism saying that He was well pleased in Jesus. The Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove at His baptism.
The result is that in His baptism, Jesus identified with us as “glorious ruins” meaning that we are created in God’s image, but we are marred by sins we have committed and sins committed against us. Our salvation begins with this Trinitarian basis.
2. The invitation to baptism is Trinitarian.
Before His ascension to the Father, Jesus commissions the disciples to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We are baptized into the name of the Trinity. (Matthew 28:19)
The result is that we’re united to the Father who purposed our salvation before the foundation of the earth, the Son who accomplished our salvation in the fullness of time, and the Spirit who daily applies the good news of our salvation to us. Our God invites to be united to Him.
3. The power of baptism is Trinitarian.
We were buried therefore with Christ by our baptism into death. The Bible says in Romans 6:4-5 that Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so now likewise we too might walk in newness of life. That walk is described as walking according to the Spirit in Romans 8:4.
The result is that our union with Christ gives us power to live today because the Father is pleased with us and the Spirit dwells within us. Baptism, as the circumcision of Christ, removes the body of flesh from us and we are raised by the same power that raised Christ from the dead. Because the Spirit is at work in us, baptism powerfully effects our lives beyond the moment that water is applied.
When we get back to the basics of the activity of the Trinity in baptism, my hope is that we see clearly that we are loved more than we ever dared hope by God in three persons who is active for our good before, during, and after our own baptism. The basis, the invitation, and the power of baptism begin with Him and result in our complete salvation.
in Him,
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