Baptism and Covenant

A Personal Relationship with Jesus is a Covenant Relationship Entered into by Baptism

The personal relationship Jesus established with his disciples was a covenant relationship. Therefore, to enter into a relationship with Jesus is to enter into a covenant. As already described, we enter into a relationship with Jesus through baptism, and therefore, baptism brings one into the new covenant established by Christ. Jeremiah 31:31-34, Matthew 26:28, Mark 14:24, Luke 22:20, 1 Corinthians 11:25, Galatians 3:14-29, Hebrews 8-10, Colossians 2:9-17, Acts 2:14-47 and Acts 3:12-26.

Before investigating the passages just cited, let me introduce this section with an extended quotation by W.H. Griffith Thomas, taken from his discussion of Article 27 on baptism.

The doctrine of baptism is best understood when we remember that God has made with man a covenant. This is the starting point of everything, for it not only implies that God has established a definite relation with Christians, but also that there are pledges of that covenant, the latter giving the Divine assurance, since without them there would only be on God’s part an intention of goodwill and on ours an intention of trust. So that the Sacraments remain proofs and pledges of God’s goodwill, and as personal covenants they are living witnesses of the Divine action of God in Christ. There can be no doubt that Baptism is the initiatory part of the covenant.(1)

Jeremiah 31:31-34 is one of the most important prophetic passages in the Old Testament. It was written at a time when the covenant at Sinai had been broken, the temple destroyed, and the people of God had been carried away into exile. It affirms in the strongest possible language, the phrase “declares the Lord” being repeated four times in verses 31, 32, 33, and 34, that God will establish a new covenant. This passage gave rise to the custom of dividing Scripture into two sections, the Old and New Testaments (Covenants). Jesus was doubtless aware of this passage and understood himself as the one who would inaugurate the new covenant, writing his revelation upon the human heart by his life, death, and resurrection. How he did this has been discussed in the essay on Jeremiah Thirty-One.

The next four passages listed above from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and 1 Corinthians, describe how Jesus, at the decisive moment before his crucifixion, interpreted the blood of the Passover Lamb in terms of a new covenant. In his words,

And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom” (Matthew 26:27-29).

The death and resurrection of Jesus are the center of the biblical witness, the very core of our relationship with Christ, the means whereby we enter into fellowship with God and each other. That relationship is a covenant, and the weekly sign of that covenant is the bread and wine of the Holy Communion.

When one begins a personal relationship with Christ, one enters into a covenant relationship because that is the form that Christ has chosen to order our relationship with him. Since believers begin their relationship with Christ through baptism, they enter into the covenant through baptism as well. Several passages will make this clear, but first, a few comments on covenant itself.

As described in the essay, Worship and the Covenant, a covenant is composed of three parts -- a narrative of God’s saving acts, mutual promises and commitments on the part of God and his people, and finally, a solemn act of ratification. These three aspects of the covenant always belong together. In baptism, the saving acts of God set forth in the preaching of the gospel, mutual promises and commitments are given in baptism, and then finally, the washing of water is the solemn act of ratification. These cannot be separated just as they cannot be separated in Holy Eucharist. When baptism is not understood as a covenant, then it is easy to forget that the rite of baptism entails lifelong commitments to God as known in Christ. Or, having recognized these commitments, one can assume that they can be fulfilled without the Holy Spirit promised by God in baptism. All must go together, the saving acts, the commitments, and the rite itself, and for this reason, it is important to recognize that baptism is a covenant.

Of special importance for the new covenant of baptism was the covenant God established with Abraham. In this covenant God promised Abraham that he would have descendants, that they would be given the land, and that through him the nations would be blessed. These were the promises of the covenant with Abraham, and the sign of that covenant was circumcision which occurred on the eight day after birth for all males. For the New Testament writers, the promise of the blessing for the nations was especially important and it is worth quoting at this point.

And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed (Genesis 12:2-3).

As can be seen from the passage, the emphasis is on the blessing, although the passage carries a warning against dishonoring the Lord’s chosen one. This passage was especially significant to the New Testament writers who saw this passage fulfilled in Jesus.

Let us consider Colossians 2:9-17, noting the following points and their relevance to the covenant of baptism.

Colossians 2:9-17

1. The full deity of God lives bodily in Christ.

2. Prior to becoming Christians, the Colossians were dead in “their trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh” (2:13).

3. They, however, were circumcised by Christ by baptism. “In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead” (2:11-12).

4. This circumcision, effected in baptism, enabled the Colossians to enter into the full life of Christ, so that they were “filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority” (2:10).

5. Because this new resurrected life is found in Christ, the Colossians need not obey useless regulations which do not bring life, such things as “questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath (2: 16). These were but a shadow of the new life that was to come.

For Paul, baptism was a new form of circumcision. Since, as a Jew, he understood circumcision in terms of covenant, to be circumcised by baptism was to enter into covenant.

Galatians 3:1-29

In Galatians 3:1-29, Paul makes the following points among others:

1. The Galatians believed they received the Spirit and the power to work miracles by keeping the Jewish law. Paul insists they received the Spirit by faith, believing the gospel message (3:1-5).

2. In truth, however, the Galatians are sons of Abraham because Abraham was a man of faith. Abraham had the gospel preached to him and he responded in faith by believing the promise given to him, "In you shall all the nations be blessed.” This promise, received in faith, was given because it was foreseen that Gentiles would be saved by faith and not by keeping of the law. Those who have faith are blessed with this promise (3:6-9).

3. Those who rely on keeping the law are under a curse for no one keeps all the law. But Christ bore the curse of the law, and those who believe by faith in Christ are freed from the curse and given the Spirit and the blessing promised to Abraham (3: 10-14).

5. The covenant God made with Abraham referred to Christ, for he was the Seed by whom all the nations would be blessed. The law given at Sinai 430 years later does not annul this original covenant since the covenant of Christ depends upon a promise and not on keeping the law (3: 15-20).

6. The law, however, was not opposed to the promises of God given in the covenant with Abraham. Rather, the law held all as prisoners of sin. It was a guardian leading us to Christ in whom we live by faith and not by the law (3: 15-25).

6. Paul then says, summarizing his argument,

But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise (3:25-29).

In this passage, the verb translated “have put on” is ?νεδ?σασθε, which literally means “to clothe oneself.” By baptism, believers are Clothed in Christ and accounted righteous before God as they respond to the gospel in faith and are baptized. This event of putting on Christ in baptism brings one into the covenant made with Abraham, a covenant whose decisive reference was Christ, and therefore, the baptized are Abraham’s offspring and recipients of the promise. In short, baptism is a response to the gospel by which one enters the covenant of promise made to Abraham, a covenant whose future reference was Jesus Christ the Seed of Abraham. It could be said there are two covenants, old and new, and it could equally be said that there is one covenant in two forms since the new was already implicit in the old.

Hebrews, Chapters 8-10

The writer to the Hebrews, chapters 8-10, describes how Jesus is the high priest of a new covenant. In the old covenant, the priest entered into the Most Holy Place year after year after being purified. The writer to the Hebrews is thinking of the bronze altar and the basin of water which were in the outer court. Before entering into the Holy Place where God lived, the priest had to be ritually washed by water and purified by animal sacrifice. This sacrifice of blood and ritual washings (9:9-10), however, were not able to clear the conscience of the worshipper.

Christ, however, fulfilled Jeremiah 31:31-34 and became the mediator of a better covenant (8:6-12). As the high priest of the new covenant, he entered a sanctuary not made with hands, an eternal sanctuary in the heavens, and he did so by means of his own blood which did away with sin once and for all. Through him, that is, through his flesh, believers come before God, entering the Most Holy Place where God lives. This new reality is the new covenant. Just as the priest had to be ceremonially washed with water and cleansed by animal sacrifice under the old covenant, believers are sprinkled clean by the blood of Christ and their bodies washed in the waters of baptism under the new covenant.

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. (10:19-23).

In regard to the phrase, “our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water,” New Testament scholar William Manson notes that the phrase is an “unmistakable reference here to Christian baptism as the rite which from the first days of the Church signified destination for, and proleptic entrance into the eternal Kingdom of God, the sphere of salvation.”(2)

Just as Paul worked out entrance into the Kingdom in terms of circumcision and being clothed in Christ, the writer to the Hebrews works out the same reality, entrance into the Kingdom where God reigns, in terms of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross with the washing of baptism being the rite of entrance and purification. Both understand baptism as the way in which one enters into the new covenant of grace.

Acts 2:14-47, 3:12-26

Acts 2:14-47 does not mention the word “covenant,” but the section as a whole has the structure of a covenant. The first section, vv. 14-36, corresponds to the first section of a covenant, a narrative of God’s saving acts. In this section Peter sets forth the new saving acts of God in Christ Jesus. The second section, vv. 37-47, describe aspects of the mutual promises and commitments made under the new covenant, the promise of forgiveness and the gift of the Spirit, as well as the commitments made by those who responded in faith. “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42). The solemn ceremony of the new covenant was baptism.

In Acts 3:12-26, Peter preaches a similar sermon, calling for the people to repent. He does not mention baptism, but it is understood that baptism will be the consequence of repentance. In this sermon he reminds his Jewish listeners that they “are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, 'And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.' God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness" (Act 3:25-26). Jesus is the offspring by whom all the families of the earth are blessed, and those who believe in him are sons of the covenant.

Within Scripture there are both Conditional and Unconditional Covenants

Within Scripture, there are conditional and unconditional covenants. In an unconditional covenant, God makes promises and keeps them whether or not the people obey God. Examples of unconditional covenants are the covenant with Noah (Genesis 9:8-17), the covenant with Abraham with the promise of the land and an heir (Genesis 15:9-21), and the covenant with David (2 Samuel 7:15-16). The covenant God made with Noah and all living creatures was unconditional in the sense that God promised to never again destroy the earth with a flood (9:11), regardless of whether or not humanity was righteous or unrighteous. Similarly, the covenant of Genesis 15:9-21 was unconditional in the sense God promised Abraham that his descendants would inherit the land, 15:18-19, without any stipulation that Abraham’s descendants had to keep covenant in order to inherent the land. The covenant with David, 2 Samuel 7:15-16, is simply a promise to David that his throne would last forever. The word covenant is not mentioned, nor is there any sign of the covenant. Nevertheless, there are many other passages of Scripture that mention this covenant promise such as 2 Samuel 23:5, 2 Chronicles 13:5 and 21:7, Psalms 89 and 132, Isaiah 55:3, and Jeremiah 33:20-22. This everlasting covenant was fulfilled in Jesus, a descendant of David whose Kingdom will have no end.

In a conditional covenant, God’s promises are given, but to receive them, the people of God must keep their promises as well. Examples of conditional covenants in Scripture are the covenant of circumcision (Genesis 17:1-14), the covenant at Sinai (Exodus 19-24, note 19:5), and the new covenant entered into by baptism. The covenant of Genesis 17:1-14 was an everlasting covenant, but God ordered Abraham to circumcise his male children, and those that were not circumcised were cut off from the people, and consequently, cut off from the promise of the covenant (Genesis 17:14). The great covenant of Sinai, the fundamental covenant of the Old Testament begins with a conditional promise,

The LORD called to him [Moses] out of the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel" (Exodus 19:3-6).

In this passage, the first part of the covenant, the narrative of God’s saving acts, is seen in God’s statements that he delivered them from Egypt. His promises, the second section of the covenant, are given, that they would be his “treasured possession,” “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” The ratification of this conditional covenant is described in Exodus 24. The words “if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, …” shows that this is a conditional covenant. As the subsequent history of Israel showed, Israel did not keep covenant and thereby lost the promises. The promises, the treasured possession, the kingdom of priests, the holy nation, were fulfilled in the new covenant through the sinless life of Christ given to believers as a gift. “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Peter 2:9-10).

The Covenant of Baptism is a Conditional Covenant

When one is baptized one enters into a covenant, and this covenant entails mutual promises and commitments between God, the person, and the Christian community. These commitments can be abandoned, and therefore, the covenant of baptism can be broken just as Israel broke her covenant with God. For that reason, the baptismal covenant is a conditional covenant. Having said this, however, it must be said that the promises God makes in baptism are certain because God is faithful. God keeps covenant, his covenant promises do not fail. We human beings are prone to breaking our side of the baptismal covenant, and therefore, we need a God who is faithful to his side of the covenant. More will be said on this shortly, but for the moment, we must recognize that the salvation given in baptism can be rejected by those being baptized. This, as I understand it, was the Anglican position at the time of the Reformation. Article 27 of the Articles of Religion reads as follows,

It [baptism] is also a sign of regeneration or new birth, through which, as through an instrument those who receive baptism in the right manner are grafted into the church, the promises of the forgiveness of sin and of our adoption as sons of God by the Holy Spirit are visibly signed and sealed, faith is confirmed and grace is increased by virtue of prayer to God.

The phrase, “in the right manner” signifies that the promises of God made in baptism must be rightly received before they are effective in the baptized. For this reason, it cannot be said that salvation is guaranteed in baptism. According to Anglican theologian W. H. Griffith Thomas, regeneration or new birth is given in baptism since baptism introduces the baptized into a new sphere, a new condition, the new circumstance of entering into the church and the life of Christ. It is like birth which takes one from the womb and introduces one to a new and different world. If this new status, this transition from the old world of sin and death into a new life, leads to growth in Christ, the blessings of the new condition must be received by repentance and faith.(3)

Further, the question of baptism and salvation is connected with such doctrines as those of election, the divine and human will and their interactions, limited or unlimited atonement, and many other doctrinal issues. I cannot speak to these issues at this point.(4) My goal is to call believers to fully lead the Christian life. What I can say, however, and Scripture seems clear on the matter, is that there are many, many warnings in the New Testament about rejecting the Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. In baptism, God gives his Word, promises and claims upon us, and given that God is the sovereign Lord, his promises and claims are absolute and binding. They cannot be rejected, and if they are rejected, there can be terrible consequences. Restricting myself only to Matthew’s gospel, one could notice the following warnings against denying the saving Word of God: 7:13-14, 7:21-23, 7:24-27, 10:32-33, 10:37-39, 11:20-24, 12:36-37, 12:41-42, 13:1-23, 13:24-30, 13:40-43, 13:47-50, 16:24-28, 18:7-9, 18:32-35, 21:33-46, 22:1-14, 23:1-39, 24:45-51, 25:1-13, 25:14-30, 25:31-46, and 26:23-24.

It is possible to read these passages and sink into abject fear, and in truth, the Lord is to be feared. On the other hand, we must recognize that God is gracious, and our commitment to the baptismal covenant is first and foremost a commitment of faith since baptism is a response of faith to the gospel of salvation. This faith will result in works, but the works do not save. Jesus Christ by his atoning death and mighty resurrection saves, and we receive that salvation by faith in the good news. This faith is trust, trust in the promises that God has made in Christ Jesus, promises that come to us in baptism. To that end, I will in my next essay, God’s Baptismal Promises, consider the second aspect of the baptismal covenant, the promises made in baptism between God, the person being baptized, and the Christian community.

Endnotes

1. Griffith W.H. Thomas, Principles of Theology (London: Church Book Room Press, 1951), pp. 375-76.
2. William Manson, The Epistle to the Hebrews (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1951), p. 67. The NIV Study Bible, in its comment on Hebrews 10:22, claims that the washing referred to here is “not an external ceremony such as baptism but a figure for inner cleansing, of which the washing of the priests under the old covenant was a symbol …” This observation is not consistent with the general tenor of Scripture which understands spiritual realities as reflected in material forms, the Incarnation being the chief example. Further, the text itself emphasizes the physical reality of Christ’s death, the animal sacrifices of the old covenant, and the literal washings and sprinklings of purification. It would be logical that the washing of water would refer to a literal washing and that would be baptism since no other literal New Testament washing brings a person into the Kingdom and before God.
3. W.H. Griffith Thomas, Principles of Theology (London: Church Book Room Press, 1951), pp. 371-76, gives a thorough and concise presentation of this matter.
4. In my view, the way to begin thinking about these issues is to consider the Third Council of Constantinople (680-81) which condemned the heresy of monothelitism, the belief that Christ had only one will. Rather, Christ had two wills, the divine and human. Being obedient to the Father, the human will followed the divine will. Corresponding to Christ, the human will is not denied by the divine will, except in regard to sin and disobedience. Rather, the human will is freed by grace which enables obedience to the Father. The divine will is first. The human will is second and by grace freely follows the divine will.

The Rev. Robert J. Sanders, Ph.D.
August, 2012