{"id":2877,"date":"2016-04-14T23:58:32","date_gmt":"2016-04-14T23:58:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/?p=2877"},"modified":"2023-08-29T11:19:23","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T17:19:23","slug":"baptism-through-the-bible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/baptism-through-the-bible\/","title":{"rendered":"Baptism Through the Bible"},"content":{"rendered":"

The word baptism<\/em> and its variants appear almost one hundred times in the New Testament, but never in the Old Testament. Something exceptional was happening on the sandy banks of the Jordan River in anticipation of the Messiah and His kingdom, something unique to the redemptive event of Jesus Christ, something that would remain a basic distinguishing mark of faith for millennia of disciples born from its living waters.<\/p>\n

But as we meander through the New Testament writing about baptism, we notice an unexpected feature. Although baptism is not mentioned in the Old Testament, when the New Testament speaks of baptism, it often finds it attendant with and prefigured in some of the Old Testament\u2019s most familiar stories. This pattern of use both recalls the long flow of salvation history and enriches our understanding of baptism itself.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a look.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

John meets Isaiah<\/h2>\n

When John the Baptist bursts onto the opening pages of all four Gospels, his ministry is said to be preparatory. \u201cRepent, God\u2019s kingdom is almost here!\u201d he cries. And so it begins. Multitudes hear and confess and are plunged beneath the waters of the Jordan.<\/p>\n

John is not a surprise for Israel, at least not for those familiar with Scripture. He was expected. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all tie the wilderness Baptist to a prophecy of Isaiah. The Gospel of Luke quotes the largest portion of it in reference to John:<\/p>\n

The voice of one crying in the wilderness:<\/p>\n

\u201cPrepare the way of the Lord;<\/p>\n

Make His paths straight.<\/p>\n

Every valley shall be filled<\/p>\n

And every mountain and hill brought low;<\/p>\n

The crooked places shall be made straight<\/p>\n

And the rough ways smooth;<\/p>\n

And all flesh shall see the salvation of God (Luke 3:4-6; Isaiah 40:3-5).<\/p>\n

Get ready! The Lord God is coming to reign. That\u2019s the good news Isaiah proclaims (40:9, 10). John fulfills that cry. There is water and Spirit aplenty in this \u201cwilderness\u201d to baptize the repentant in expectation of YHWH and His kingdom. Intriguingly, Isaiah specifically mentions these baptismal ingredients just a few sentences later. Looking both forward and back, he sees the \u201cwaters\u201d and \u201cSpirit\u201d of Creation \u2014 old and new:<\/p>\n

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand . . .<\/p>\n

Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord . . . ? (40:12, 13).<\/p>\n

The Bible begins with the Spirit hovering like a bird over the waters (Genesis 1:2) \u2014 Creation! This image is repeated at the beginning of the New Testament when the Spirit descends dove-like after Jesus\u2019 water baptism (Matthew 3:16) \u2014 new Creation!<\/p>\n

Old mingles in New. John the Baptist and Isaiah the prophet are joined as ministers of salvation in God\u2019s creative works, and in baptism we are united with them in that ongoing story of water and Spirit, the lived story of our Creator.<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

Peter and the Flood<\/h2>\n

When the apostle Peter discusses baptism, the analogous story of Noah and his ark springs to his mind. Peter\u2019s retrospective figuration of Flood with baptism is potent:<\/p>\n

They formerly did not obey, when God\u2019s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ . . . (1 Peter 3:20, 21, ESV).<\/p>\n

Peter is telling two stories \u2014 the days of Noah and Jesus Christ \u2014 and baptism narrates both. The Flood is God\u2019s judgment on the world, the drowning of wickedness, and the restoring of creation. For the few of faith, the ark lifts up and \u201cthrough water\u201d brings salvation (Genesis 6-8). In the wider context, Peter conflates both Flood and baptism with the story that defines both: Jesus crucified and resurrected for our atonement.<\/p>\n

The Passion is universal Flood in a man: the death-to-life story of Jesus. Peter writes, \u201cChrist also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit\u201d (1 Peter 3:18). Jesus condemns sin in His death and defeats death in His resurrection, bringing salvation to all.<\/p>\n

New mingles with Old. Peter and Noah become companions in this message of God\u2019s judgment and restoration as Flood and Cross converge in our baptism, and the truth of both is reenacted and embraced in water and in faith toward our Savior.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Paul and the Red Sea<\/h2>\n

When the apostle Paul speaks of baptism in 1 Corinthians 10, he invites us to adopt the Exodus generation as \u201cour fathers\u201d and to reread their one-time crossing of the Red Sea and ongoing wilderness journey \u201cunder the cloud\u201d as symbolic illustration of the water\/Spirit baptism we have experienced:<\/p>\n

Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. . . . But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies<\/em> were scattered in the wilderness (vv. 1, 2, 5).<\/p>\n

Paul tells a cautionary story: \u201cNow these things became our examples . . . and they were written for our admonition . . .\u201d (vv. 6, 11). The Corinthian church is carnal, just as Israel was (3:1-4). The Israelites began their journey of discipleship with a \u201cbaptism\u201d after God\u2019s saving act but later fell in the wilderness. The Corinthians are also baptized disciples but risk falling away into lust and idolatry, so they must be rebuked (10:6-14).<\/p>\n

Israel prefigures the church. Israel followed Moses through the sea, but only after they encountered God\u2019s redemption in a sacrificed lamb (Exodus 12, 14). Their \u201cbaptism\u201d signified a trusting obedience to follow God in all things, even through the deep. But Israel\u2019s life beyond the sea did not live up to that sign, just as we, and the Corinthians \u2014 though baptized and following Jesus \u2014 can fall short of it and so too must be warned.<\/p>\n

Old mingles with New. Paul and Moses join forces to alert the people of God of what befalls those who stray from the testimony of baptism \u2014 a beginning, not end, which informs the whole stream of our discipleship in service to our Lord and God.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jesus to Abraham<\/h2>\n

Baptism is a drama typologically tied to key stories of Scripture. Each baptism is a small but special reenactment of the Bible\u2019s central story: Jesus died and raised. And each earlier story symbolically points toward, and mingles with, Him: Creation, Flood, and Exodus, with all the power, promise, and warning that attend them.<\/p>\n

Baptism is a leap of faith that publicly signifies our commitment to be immersed in God\u2019s story of salvation and walk of faith. Baptism tells this story and is our promise to live this story and make it our own as disciples (Matthew 28:19). The story is old and new, as wide as Genesis is from Revelation. We have heard it in John and Isaiah, in Peter and Noah, in Paul and Moses.<\/p>\n

But we hear it chiefly, and most clearly, in our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom we die and are raised again \u2014 by baptism (Romans 6:1-4; Colossians 2:12).<\/p>\n

In the water and Spirit of baptism, in Jesus, we span all these stories and more. As Paul writes, in baptism we are united with Christ and so reach, in faith, all the way back to the father of faith, Abraham himself: \u201cFor as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. . . . And if you are Christ\u2019s, then you are Abraham\u2019s seed, and heirs according to the promise\u201d (Galatians 3:27, 29).<\/p>\n

New mingles with Old again<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Crossing the River<\/h2>\n

Of father Abraham, God says, \u201cI took your father Abraham from the other side of the River, led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac\u201d (Joshua 24:3).<\/p>\n

Like Abraham, disciples of Jesus Christ once lived on the other side of the \u201criver\u201d \u2014 our former lives in sin and without God. But now passing through the water, we, like Abraham, are \u201cled\u201d of God in Christ as children of promise following on in faith.<\/p>\n

As we recall our own baptisms and call others to the waters, let\u2019s mingle the Old with the New, and demonstrate how our individual histories have become a part of the whole history of Creation and Salvation. One Word. One Baptism!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The word baptism and its variants appear almost one hundred times in the New Testament, but never in the Old Testament. Something exceptional was happening on the sandy banks of the Jordan River in anticipation of the Messiah and His kingdom, something unique to the redemptive event of Jesus Christ, something that would remain a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":2878,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37,44],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nBaptism Through the Bible - Bible Advocate<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/baptism-through-the-bible\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Baptism Through the Bible - Bible Advocate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The word baptism and its variants appear almost one hundred times in the New Testament, but never in the Old Testament. 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