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Essay on The Significance of Baptism
Baptism is assumed as the way of entry into the Christian Church. It is taken as a matter of course in (to cite only some of the passages) Acts 2: 38, 41; 8: 13, 16, 36; 9: 18; 10: 47; 19: 3; Rom. 6: 3; 1 Cor. 6: 11 (apparently), 12: 13; Gal. 3: 27; Eph. 4: 5; Col. 2: 12; Tit. 3: 5; Heb. 6: 2 (perhaps), 4 (probably); 1 Pet. 3: 21. And although Matt. 28: 19 is the only New Testament reference to an actual command by Christ to perform it, and although the context of this passage and its Trinitarian formula raise serious doubts about its authenticity as a literal verbum Domini, yet, even without it, there is little doubt as to the universality of the practice in the Christian Church. In some of the passages just adduced, it is simply assumed that Christians, as such, must have been baptized; and the same is at least implied in others.
Moreover, the whole context of thought attaching to Baptism in the New Testament is clearly enough a reflection of Christ's own ministry: His own baptism, His special endowment by the Spirit, His life of service, His death, His resurrection--this, which is the "pattern" of the Gospel-story, is the "pattern" also of Christian Baptism.
It is an epitome of the "Abba! Father!” the cry of obedient sonship, which is the key to the understanding both of Christ's relationship with God and with the Holy Spirit, and of believers' adoption as sons of God through Christ in the power of the Spirit. If this is so, it becomes of less moment to determine the remoter antecedents of Christian Baptism. This, which is undeniably a fascinating subject, must not be pursued here. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls has given a new impetus to this inquiry, and readers are referred to the vast literature which it has evoke......
