Baptism is an act that puts a person in a new position before God on earth. It separates them from their previous position and introduces them into a new one. Because it is done by man for man — one cannot baptize himself — it is not a vital work before God. It relates to God’s government of the earth and never to the eternal destiny of the soul. God never committed the destiny of a soul into the hands of what one man could do for another. Of course, the Son of Man is an exception, who as man is the one and only Saviour of men.
The children of Israel were slaves in Egypt under Pharaoh, a picture of man as slave in the world under Satan. God delivered them from that position by baptizing them unto Moses when they passed with him through the Red Sea. The Jews, when Jesus came, were not in a fit state to receive Him as king. John was sent ahead to call the people to repent and to baptize those who would then be in a new position before God in separation from those who would not repent. After Jesus was crucified, the nation of Israel stood before God as guilty of His murder. Peter preached to them and charged them with their guilt. Those who accepted the message and were convicted of their guilt asked, What should we do? Peter told them, Repent and be baptized. Through baptism, they were separated before God from the guilty nation and their sins were remitted (Acts 2:2828Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. (Acts 2:28)).
God had made the Lord Jesus, whom they had crucified, “both Lord and Christ.” This at once opened up a new position in relation to God and to Jesus Christ as Lord. It was the only way that those Jews could save themselves “from this untoward generation” (Acts 2:4040And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. (Acts 2:40)).
The Gentiles
In the case of Cornelius and his company in Acts 10, we find baptism used with the same thought and for the same purpose, namely, receiving onto new ground those who were outside of it. The Gentile stood before God without hope and without any relationship with Him. In addition, he, like the Jew, stood guilty before God of the death of His Son. Like the Jew he needed to be separated from that guilty position. Cornelius and his friends by faith in God had received the Holy Spirit, and it is because Peter sees this that he says, “Can any man forbid water that these should not be baptized?” (Acts 10:4747Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? (Acts 10:47)). Clearly baptism was connected with privilege in Peter’s mind, and he recognized that, since God had owned those Gentile believers by giving them the Holy Spirit, they, too, should be brought onto right ground before God by baptism.
Unto His Death
Baptism is “unto His death” (Rom. 6:33Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? (Romans 6:3) JND). Not into His death, but unto it. It is unto a Christ that has died that we are baptized, for it is only by His death that we can have what is presented and enjoyed in Christianity. Therefore, the Apostle goes on in Romans 6 to say, “We are buried with Him by baptism unto death.” Thus baptism is burial to death, not a figure that I have been buried, but “buried by baptism.” Colossians says the same and adds, because here the believer is viewed as risen with Christ, “Also ye are risen with Him ... who ... raised Him from the dead” (Col. 2:1212Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. (Colossians 2:12)). We have been buried with Him by baptism, and we are also viewed through faith in Him as raised with Him.
The Christ unto whom we are baptized is a Christ who died — died to sin, to the world, to the law — and our baptism declares that we have died with Him. We are dead with Him and buried with Him, for death is the object or end of our baptism. As baptized, we hold ourselves, as to the life of the old man, the man we once were in the flesh, to be dead. That man is placed in death, so that we should not walk as alive in the flesh, but in “newness of life.” We are now in a position where we no longer draw upon our former empty resources in the flesh, but upon a risen Christ. This is newness of life.
Putting on Christ
Baptism is also “putting on Christ” (Gal. 3:2727For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. (Galatians 3:27)). It is not by faith, but by baptism that Christ is put on. The previous verse puts faith in its proper connection: “Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:2626For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:26)). These two verses must not be confused, for they do not convey the same idea. Faith has to do with the state of the soul before God, while baptism is connected with an outward place on earth. The Galatians were going back to law, which was bringing them into bondage. The Holy Spirit therefore presses on them that they are sons, not servants. He then goes on to their baptism and says, as it were, “You have put on Christ by your baptism, and what do you want to put on Moses for?” They were identified with Christ by baptism — had put Him on. They could not go back and be identified with a dispensation of law.
Forgiveness of Sins
According to Acts 22:1616And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. (Acts 22:16), baptism is also connected with the forgiveness of sins. It is not absolute or judicial forgiveness, as through the blood of Christ, but rather the outward or governmental phase of it. Those baptized were outwardly severed from the scene on which God’s judgment is resting and are thus released governmentally from the sins that belong to it. Saul of Tarsus had been a bitter enemy and opponent of Christ, but God had worked repentance in him. Ananias was sent that he might receive his sight and the Holy Spirit, but not as a Jew. He must be brought off that ground and onto the ground where forgiveness was known. He must clear himself of the guilt that was his as a Jew and a persecutor of Christ. He must be brought onto new ground, and this is by baptism.
Until baptized, he was still connected with his sinful past, and in that sense, he was still unwashed and unforgiven. Hence, baptism is that which washes in a governmental way. Judaism and the world are both under judgment, and Paul, in being baptized, was placed in a position outside of both.
Salvation
There is a similar thought in 1 Peter 3:21, only in Peter it is the general thought of salvation, rather than forgiveness. These, however, cannot be separated. The waters of the flood in Noah’s day were a figure of what saves. Baptism is a “like figure.” By the waters of the flood eight persons passed out of the old world into a new world. In the ark, by means of the waters, they were saved from the old world which perished and were landed in a new world. It is a figure of God’s judgment at the cross. The cross leaves man in the flesh, the old creation, under judgment, but it is the salvation of the believer, who has passed through the judgment in Christ, the true Ark. Baptism connects us, as to our outward Christian position, with Christ, who by His death has brought us through death and judgment and landed us in a new world, a new creation, by His “resurrection from the dead.”
Circumcision
We may add that baptism is in a way analogous to circumcision. Circumcision connected its subjects with the name of Jehovah, the covenant name by which God was in relationship with Israel. Baptism connects us with the name of the Lord Jesus, or more definitely, with the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit — the triune name by which He has made Himself known through Jesus — the name by which He is known in Christianity. A circumcised Jew was placed under the government of Jehovah and enjoyed the privileges connected with that position. So also a baptized person is connected with the name of the Lord Jesus and enjoys the privileges connected with His government.
God’s Government
Baptism relates to our position on earth under God’s government. Peter, when speaking of that government, says to those to whom he wrote, “Baptism doth also now save us ... by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” In the same connection, baptism is the washing away of sins on earth, for whatever a person may be by faith in Christ and according to the purpose of God in grace, yet as to God’s government on earth he is neither washed nor saved until baptized. As to his place on earth, he is not in a right position before God or Christ at all. There are two kingdoms, or spheres of government, here on earth — the one connected with Satan and the other connected with the Lord Jesus. Baptism outwardly severs us from the realm where Satan rules and connects us with the rule of Christ.
Adapted from various sources