Dietrich Bonhoeffer famously said, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” The grace Christ has given us is free and yet the kind of life He invites us to live demands that we count all else as lost. We are presented with a choice: to live for this world or the next. If we say we live for Christ, then everything of this world–our families, possessions, freedoms, and lives–we will consider forfeit for the greater treasure of knowing Him (Phil. 3:8). This, Bonhoeffer says, is the “cost of discipleship.”
In light of this, it is perfectly fitting that the covenant sign given to believers at the beginning of their Christian journey is baptism. Water is one of the most prominent symbols used in scripture. It is often emblematic of death and destruction, as in the primordial waters covering the earth in Genesis 1, the great flood, or the parting of the sea. Elsewhere in scripture, water represents a spiritual cleansing (e.g. Jesus washing the disciples’ feet), quenching of thirst (e.g. The well of John 4), or a new beginning (e.g. Passing through the Jordan to the Promised Land). And every one of these images teaches us something about our baptism.
In the water of baptism, you were buried with Christ and raised with Him to a new life (Col. 2:12). The water is a sign of your death to the flesh, the cleansing of your sin, the quenching of your spiritual thirst, and a new beginning, as it is no longer you who live but Christ who lives in you (Gal. 2:20). And you are called to continue your walk just as it began, as one who continuously dies and rises, like a “living sacrifice” (Rom. 12:1-2). This is what the brilliant minds behind the Westminster Standards called “improving” your baptism. Take your time to read and unpack the following question and answer from The Westminster Larger Catechism.
1. Q. 167: How is our baptism to be improved by us?
Answer: The needful but much neglected duty of improving our Baptism, is to be performed by us all our life long, especially in the time of temptation, and when we are present at the administration of it to others1; by serious and thankful consideration of the nature of it, and of the ends for which Christ instituted it, the privileges and benefits conferred and sealed thereby, and our solemn vow made therein2; by being humbled for our sinful defilement, our falling short of, and walking contrary to, the grace of baptism, and our engagements3; by growing up to assurance of pardon of sin, and of all other blessings sealed to us in that sacrament4; by drawing strength from the death and resurrection of Christ, into whom we are baptized, for the mortifying of sin, and quickening of grace5; and by endeavoring to live by faith6, to have our conversation in holiness and righteousness7, as those that have therein given up their names to Christ7; and to walk in brotherly love, as being baptized by the same Spirit into one body8.
This weekend, spend some time reflecting on your baptism and the gospel it represented. Whether you actually remember the occasion or not is beside the point. Even if you were baptized as an infant, you can reflect on the fact that you have been baptized by water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Come to Church already having surrendered to Him in heart, and offer Him your highest gratitude, praise, and worship “as those that have therein given up their names to Christ.”
“Hold everything in your hands lightly, otherwise, it hurts when God pries your fingers open.” – Corrie Ten Boom
Your brother,
Ryan
* For my brother David S. and any others who are curious: Born in Germany, he changed his German surname to Oecolampadius–a Latinized form of the Greek Οἰκολαμπάδιος (“oyko-lam-PAH-dee-ohs”), which would translate to something like “God’s lighthouse.” It sounds pretty strange to me! But it was apparently a pretty common thing to do back then.
1 Old, Hughes Oliphant. Worship: Reformed According to the Scriptures (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002), 4.
2 Ibid., 3.
3 The Westminster Confession of Faith, I.6.
4 Old, Worship, 4.
5 Ibid., 5.
6 Ibid., 5.