In his commentary on Eph 5:26, S. Kent Brown notes the following:
by the word: Again, most commentators agree that this term (ρημα, rhēma) points
to the words spoken in the baptismal ordinance. (Goppelt, TDNT, 8:330)
Those words cannot be recovered from the New Testament, but they appear in a
record that rests on Jesus’ words spoken and preserved in the New World (see
Moro. 2:1; 4:1, “according to the commandments of Christ”). This is certainly how
we must view the baptismal prayer among the Old world Christians: “It does back
to God and Christ, and thence derives its efficacy.” (Oeopke, TDNT
4:304). The noun rhema is not the same as logos and usually
directs us to something said orally. Elsewhere, it is equated to the gospel
preached orally: “The word [rhema] of the Lord endureth for ever. And
this is he word [rhema] which by the gospel is preached unto you” (1
Pet. 1:25 . . .) (S. Kent Brown, The Epistle to the Ephesians [Brigham
Young University New Testament Commentary; Provo, Utah: BYU Studies, 2023], 493)
The following are the relevant entries from TDNT
referenced above:
In Eph. 5:26 Christ gave Himself for the community, ἵνα αὐτὴν ἁγιάσῃ καθαρίσας τῷ λουτρῷ τοῦ ὕδατος ἐν π̔ήματι. He did this with a view to bridal unity with
it in unspotted sanctity (v. 27).
The part. does not supply something preceding the main verb but
the means of its fulfilment. ἐν ῥήματι is a closer definition of καθαρίσας. The cleansing
takes place through the specified bath (double art.) by means of the word. The
word is that spoken at baptism. This word brings the preceding word of
proclamation to its goal. It is neither to be perverted into magic nor
dissolved into mere symbolism. It goes back to God and Christ, and thence
derives its efficacy.
In Hb. 10:22: προσερχώμεθα μετὰ ἀληθινῆς
καρδίας ἐν πληροφορίᾳ πίστεως,
ῥεραντισμένοι τὰς καρδίας ἀπὸ συνειδήσεως πονηρᾶς καὶ λελουσμένοι τὸ σῶμα ὕδατι καθαρῷ,
the reference is not to an ultimately unrelated juxtaposition of outer and
inner cleansing (so Philo → 302; I, 534, and Joseph., → I, 535), but to an inseparable
relationship between the outer process and the sacramental operation, → I, 540.
Tt. 3:5: Not on the basis of our works, but according to His mercy God saved us
διὰ
λουτροῦ παλιγγενεσίας καὶ ἀνακαινώσεως πνεύματος ἁγίου.
Since reception of the Spirit is constantly connected with baptism
in the NT, there is no reason to combine ἀνακαινώσεως κτλ. directly with διά. λουτρόν is the master concept for both the
gen. which follow. The more individualistic view of regeneration and renovation
is probably Hellenistic rather than genuinely Pauline. The more significant,
then, is the close link with forgiveness indicated by λουτρόν. This is undoubtedly Pauline, → I,
540. (Albrecht
Oepke, “Λούω, Ἀπολούω, Λουτρόν,” Theological Dictionary of the New Testament,
ed. Gerhard Kittel, 10 vols [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1964–], 4:304)
Sanctifying of
the Water of Baptism.
From Ign. Eph., 18, 2 one finds in various forms the idea of a
sanctifying of the water of baptism: “He was born and baptised to cleanse (καθαρίσῃ) water by his
passion.” This statement describes the institution of baptism in such a way
that the common ancient idea of a power mediated to the water is associated
therewith. Water is cleansed or sanctified when set apart as a means of divine
grace. The NT says this only of the eucharistic elements (→ VI, 157, 1 ff.),
not of the water of baptism. But this founding of baptism is presupposed in the
NT, for already in Mk. 1:9 ff. the baptism of Jesus is the basis and model of
Chr. baptism. His entry into John’s baptism makes this Chr. baptism after He
has run His course. Jn. 19:34 and 1 Jn. 5:6–9 suggest this connection → 330, 3
ff.
Once the idea grew of an empowering of the water as well as an
institution of the act, a corresponding epiclesis developed in the baptismal
liturgy. Acc. to the NT the washing becomes baptism only with invocation of the
name of Jesus over the act → 330, 17 ff. But from the 2nd cent. a preceding
epiclesis over the water is gen.: oportet
… mundari et sanctificari aquam prius a sacerdote, ut possit baptismo … peccata
… abluere. Various ideas cluster around this consecration. Acc. to Tert.
Bapt., 4, cf. 8 the Spirit as a heavenly substance comes down on the water
through the invocation of God and mediates to the water the power to sanctify.
This very material explanation is an extreme view not shared by all. The
epiclesis of Const. Ap., VII, 43 prays essentially only that the act of baptism
which follows should have an effect corresponding to the promise. (Leonhard
Goppelt, “Ὕδωρ,” Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed.
Gerhard Kittel, 10 vols. [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1964–], 8:332–333)
