Friday, June 10, 2016

More Typological Evidence for Baptism being Salvific

In a previous post, "Baptism being salvific: Thetypological evidence,” I quoted from a Church of Christ author, John M. Hicks who discussed how baptism is the antitype of various aspects of Old Testament worship and practices, and how such is tied into baptism being salvific. I recently encountered another discussion on typology by a Catholic apologist, Jacob Michaels, who used to be associated with Robert Sungenis who authored Not by Faith Alone (Queenship, 1997), a wonderful book refuting sola fide. The article is entitled, "Baptism: the Laver of Regeneration"; the relevant section reads as follows:

Jesus Himself gave us the example of what baptism does, a living lesson in action:

"And Jesus being baptized, forthwith came out of the water: and lo, the heavens were opened to him: and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him. And behold a voice from heaven saying: This is my belovedSon, in whom I am well pleased." (Mt. 3:16-17)

In this passage, we see again those three connected elements of receiving baptism: there is water, there is the Holy Ghost, and there is sonship with God. Jesus passes through this rite both to sanctify the waters of baptism with His presence, as well as to show us what is truly happening at every baptism. As we come up out of the waters of baptism, we receive the Holy Ghost, and are declared to be "children of God." No better living picture-lesson could be expected than this one.
In fact, this event is foreshadowed twice in Genesis, once in the initial creation story, and once in Noah's flood (which St. Peter alluded to in the passage cited at the beginning of this essay). The parallels between the Genesis narratives and baptism are clear: a "new creation" rises up out of the water, and the Holy Ghost hovers over the whole event, present at the moment of regeneration. The Spirit of God hovered over the waters at creation. Noah sent out a dove (the symbol of the Holy Spirit) to fly over the waters after the flood. All shadows of the real thing.
It is here that we begin to get into the more allegorical passages. Baptism in the New Covenant was prophesied by the prophets, who spoke of the coming day when God would wash His people and cleanse them from their sin. Ezekiel is one of the those prophets:
"And I will pour upon you clean water, and you shall be cleansed from all your filthiness, and I will cleanse you from all your idols. And I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit in the midst of you: and I will cause you to walk in my commandments, and to keep my judgments, and do them." (Ezek. 36:25-27)
Although it is a prophecy, the meaning can hardly be misunderstood. The imagery of water and cleansing is prominent, and it comes hand-in-hand with a new heart and a new spirit. This corresponds perfectly to all that the apostles claimed about baptism, that in that pouring out of water, the sinner received a new heart, and a new spirit, the Spirit of God, came upon him. This type of imagery is also used in Isaiah:

"Behold my servant shall understand, he shall be exalted, and extolled, and shall be exceeding high. As many have been astonished at thee, so shall his visage be inglorious among men, and his form among the sons of men. He shall sprinklemany nations, kings shall shut their mouth at him: for they to whom it was not told of him, have seen: and they that heard not, have beheld." (Is. 52:13-15)

What would be the meaning of "he shall sprinkle many nations," if it is not a reference to the New Covenant baptism instituted by "my servant," Our Lord Himself?
We see another foreshadowing by way of typology in the story of Naaman, the man stricken with leprosy who went to Elisha for a cure. The prophet told him to dip in the Jordan river seven times, and Naaman stormed off, angry and feeling like the object of a joke. We read:
"His servants came to him, and said to him: Father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, surely thou shouldst have done it: how much rather what he now hath said to thee: Wash, and thou shalt be clean? Then he went down, and washed in the Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored, like the flesh of a little child: and he was made clean." (2 Kings 5:13-14)

There are several things to be drawn out of this story, things which can illuminate our understanding of baptism which has already been established by the plain words of the apostles and Our Lord. The fact that Naaman dips seven times is significant, for "seven" is a Hebrew word that also means "to swear an oath," or "to make a covenant." Seven is used as a symbol of covenant many times in Scripture (Gen. 2:2-3, Gen. 21:28-33, Gen. 29:18, etc.), and baptism is the doorway into the New Covenant, just as circumcision was for the Old (that is why St. Paul makes the comparison, among other reasons). Also, it should be noted that Naaman's skin after washing is described as being "like the flesh of a little child," which would correspond to the idea of being "born again," or "born anew" through baptism. There are also a few other similarities that could be further developed, such as Elijah as a type of John the Baptist (2 Kg. 1:8, Mal. 4:5, Mt. 11:14), whose successor (Elisha) would correspond to John the Baptist's successor (Jesus). Elijah is last seen at the Jordan river (2 Kg. 2:7-14), whereas John the Baptist first appears at the Jordan river, doing - what else? - baptizing repentant sinners. However, John's baptism cannot effect what only Jesus' baptism can, and so it is appropriate that it is Jesus' anti-type, Elisha, be the one to instruct Naaman to perform this typological action at the Jordan river.


Another relevant text would be 1 Pet 3:20-21 that is exegeted here. The biblical (as well as patristic) evidence for baptism being salvific, not a mere symbol, is overwhelming; Evangelical opponents of this doctrine are guilty of preaching a false gospel as this touches upon, not a “minor point of difference,” but salvation itself (cf. Gal 1:6-9).