One Baptism
There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all.
Ephesians 4:4-6
People are often confused about what baptism actually does for a person. Is it the actual moment of salvation? Is it purely symbolic? Does baptism give you God’s Spirit right then and there? While these may be valid questions, Paul tells us much about the importance and significance of baptism. In the above quote, he is telling us there is only one baptism for a believer in Christ not many. Today, we will consider this idea of one baptism.
In Paul’s day (like our own), people wanted to “own” God. Now before you say that’s impossible, think about what is happening. Some think that they understand God so well that their perceptions are the only truth and those who disagree with them are either misinformed or evil. In Paul’s day, the Judaizers (who were Christians, by the way) decided they spoke for God and demanded the Gentiles conform to Jewish law. There were those that told people to be baptized again because their first baptism was not good enough. We are familiar with the Acts 19 story of the difference between John and Jesus’s baptisms, but the point of Paul’s statement about one baptism to the Ephesians is that baptism into Christ is the only baptism God desires. So those telling us to be baptized again because our first one was not good enough are simply trying to “own” God if we were baptized into Christ.
Christianity is designed to be a faith of unity in diversity. We see that plainly in the New Testament writings as Paul emphasizes unity in the “ones” above and still goes to the temple as a Jew and sacrifices (see Acts 21). He then writes a scathing letter to the Galatians telling them they must rely on Jesus and not the Old Testament law for their salvation. My point is simply we all tend to worship God in different ways. Many will say Paul is simply trying to not offend the Jews in his temple worship and help the Gentiles in the Galatian letter. I would agree with this statement, but also emphasize that our faith is one of unity in Christ, but diversity in our service to God. People are different. Christ is our unifier.
So, God sees one baptism. It is obviously a baptism into Jesus which signifies obedience and results in God’s seal of salvation, the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:14). This one baptism helps us put on Christ (Galatians 3:27) and live our new life in Christ (Colossians 2:12). Paul is very emphatic that this one baptism turns our life around. We experience unity with Jesus through God’s Spirit. We are changed from mortal earthly beings into new spiritual creations who will live forever with God here on earth and in heaven. This is a wonderous promise that comes with God’s one baptism.
Scripture: Colossians 2:11-15
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