What baptism does

One of the bloggers I read regularly is Jason Stellman, a PCA church planter in the Seattle area (you can find his blog De Regnis Duobus in my Top Ten section to the right). Recently he posted a series on baptism which was one of the best things I've ever read on the subject. Often we Protestants are so concerned to say what baptism doesn't do, that we neglect to talk about what it does do. Or we spend all of our time arguing about infant baptism vs. believer's baptism or sprinkling vs. immersion. Stellman breaks out the wide-angle lens to try and unpack the New Testament's strikingly broad language about what baptism does. I particularly liked this bit:

In addition to giving us a new past, baptism gives us a new family in the present. As Peter’s words in v. 39 [Acts 2:39] indicate, our earthly, familial ties are transcended—and in some cases trumped—by our baptismal union with “all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” Despite our modern and gnostic desire to maintain our personal relationship with Jesus apart from the awkward and inconvenient tie to the church (filled as it is with actual—and often annoying—people), the fact is that we can’t have the Head without the Body. Through baptism we are ushered into the middle of a tale quite long in the telling, a saga having been spun for thousands of years. This redemptive drama began with a married couple, then grew into a family of eight, then a tribe under the leadership of a chieftain, then twelve tribes that grew into a nation ruled by a king, until it eventually expanded into a truly worldwide and catholic Church with members from every kindred, tongue, people, and nation. Paul tells the Galatians that “As many of you as were baptized into Christ Jesus... are all one in Christ” (3:27, 28).

Here are links to the series:

From Eternity to Here: Baptism, Eschatologically Considered

The Sign and the Thing Signified: Can You Tell Them Apart?

Baptism as a Seal of Saving Blessings