From N. T. Wright’s Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense
That is why, from very early on, Christian baptism was seen as the mode of entry into the Christian family, and why it was associated with the idea of being “born again.” Of course, not everyone who has been through water-baptism has actually known and experienced for themselves the saving love of God in Christ sweeping through and transforming their lives. At various points Paul has to remind his readers that they have a responsibility to make real in their own lives the truth of what happened to them in baptism. But he doesn’t say that baptism doesn’t matter, or that it isn’t real. People who have been baptized can choose to reject the faith, just as the children of Israel could rebel against YHWH after having come through the Red Sea. Paul makes that point in 1 Corinthians 10 and elsewhere. But they can’t get unbaptized: God will regard them as disobedient family members rather than outsiders.
. . . The point is that the story which baptism tells is God’s own story, from creation and covenant to new covenant and new creation, with Jesus in the middle of it and the Spirit brooding over it. In baptism, you are brought into that story, to be an actor in the play which God is writing and producing. And once you’re onstage, you’re part of the action. You can get the lines wrong. You can do your best to spoil the play. But the story is moving forward, and it would be far better to understand where it’s going and how to learn your lines and join in the drama. Through the water to become part of God’s purpose for the the world.
That is really, really good.
Think about how different things might be if more “baptized people” began living fully into the God-centered story of creation? I mean really living into it. Where their baptism drives them toward their Creator and out into the world (because they can’t keep their mouth shut about the life they’ve found).
If that were the case with more of us, we’d spend less time qualifying the salvation of others and more time drawing closer — in community — to the center of the universe.
Simply Christian just moved up a few books on the “to read” list.
I want to be part of God’s purpose for the world. Daily. It’s also the story of man. Life - Death - Life. Home - Lost - Found.
I want a stronger commitment to the act that makes me an actor.
Thanks Mike.
I really appreciated that whole section on baptism in Simply Christian. I read it outloud to my family and talked about it with friends at church. Something in it really resonated with me - it felt like I was finally getting more of the story of what baptism means beyond “getting saved”.
I can’t wait to read Simply Christian and want to know more about N. T. Wright. Anne Rice’s (the former vampire writer) comments about his influence on her return to faith in her book, Christ the Lord Out of Egypt, remind me I haven’t done that.
Being a part of GOD’s story for this world is a great description of His plan and that baptism is the threshold into His production. A few years ago, Eldridge wrote a little book whose title escapes me right now that does a beautiful job of putting us into GOD’s story.
Nice read. Without having read the book, I’m not sure what point he is making in the “once your onstage, your part of the action” even if you get the lines wrong, etc. and people who reject the faith are “disobedient family members and not outsiders”. I’ve heard this from others and still don’t get what this means or what is being said. A person who is baptized and rejects the faith, are they saved? I know baptism is more than going from lost to saved, but my question is, a baptized person with no faith, who Wright claims is still in the family, what will God do with him on the last day?
I’ve been been trying to lead people away from baptismal regeneration for years, and my first impression after reading this snipit from N.T. Wright is that it’s a step back into that boat, believing baptism is the answer, whether you accept the faith or reject it.
Just curious
I’ve always found it helpful to remind myself that our spirit and our bodies aren’t separate, and so everything we do with our bodies has spiritual implications, no matter what our state of mind is while we do it. This includes baptism “without faith” if we think of faith only as the consent by the mind and heart. Faith isn’t a state of mind; it’s a state of being. I can consent all day with what I believe; if I don’t act it out, whatever is in my heart and mind is fairly irrelevant. And so the act of baptism IS an act of faith under EVERY circumstance — no matter how much “heartfelt” faith we have before, during or after baptism. The act makes faith a reality; the act IS accepting the faith.
I very much think it is a mistake to set up benchmarks for when a godly act becomes godly enough for God to accept it. There are realities with God that are anchored in human action and human will, but that — like everything humans do — cannot be undone simply because humans fail to live up to what the consequences of those actions ought to be. I might hate the poor while I feed them, and that is not what I ought to feel, but it is still better that I feed them than if I did not and let them starve, simply because I don’t feel like I’m feeding them for the right reasons. The act of charity is charitable even if I don’t have charity in my heart. Etc.
So what Wright says makes perfect sense to me. We are, to a large extent, what we do. If we are baptized, we are Christians. Christian behavior (and Christian states of mind) are what ought to follow, but it’s God’s grace that makes us His children, not our ability to live up to the plunge we took.
So yes, in my opinion a baptized person who doesn’t meet our personal standards of accepting the faith is still saved. It’s not our call to tell God otherwise.
Brad - Great question. I think what Wright is saying is that there are people who have gone through the motion of being immersed who have never entered the story — God’s story. Entering the story — joining in God’s work in the world, self-sacrifice, modeling the way of Christ — is the point, not baptism. Baptism is a public declaration of the desire to join the story (the “threshold,” as Carolyn said above).
I think we have to begin looking at salvation as “being saved into the way and mission of Christ” rather than just “getting to Heaven” (though Heaven is a WONDERFUL part of salvation!). I have to say, I’ve known a few people in my life who were baptized, went to church, yadayadayada, but who never joined the story. They never found the life that is in the way of Christ. They never listened to the Lord and joined in His work. These are the folks Wright is talking about.
Oh, and the book Carolyn was referencing above is Epic, by John Eldredge.
I think Jesus and Paul would passionately disagree, Jonathan. You said our acts have spiritual implications, and that the act of baptism makes a person’s faith a reality. Half the New Testament is written in opposition to that theology. Paul and Jesus would argue vehemently that you can act all day long and still have a heart that is closed to God, and therefore no more under the reign of God than a toaster.
“We are what we do” is not what Christ came to call us to.
Steve Jr
Thanks. I think you are right about entering the story of Jesus. But for some reason he seems to stick in these thoughts that sound like, “once you’re in, you’re always in” whether you’ve rejected the faith or not. That’s the part I’m curious about.
Jonathan,
One other thought. Baptism is not the “act” that puts us into the story. It is our faith, which expresses itself in the act. That’s Paul’s whole point in Romans 4 about Abraham and circumcision. Righteousness was credited to him based solely upon his faith, BEFORE his acts (cirucumcision) so as to put no trust whatsoever in the act itself. He would say in Galatians that the act of circumcision without faith in God was only self-mutilation, meaningless. Faith in the act of baptism is simply a bath, and that without soap.
Brad:
I’m afraid you miss my point. Reliance and necessity aren’t the same thing. But thanks for the insight.
I think I need to study my script more. I am tired of hearing - “cut.” So were the Gentiles at one point.
Jonathan,
That’s what I hate about blogging sometimes. Good dialogue is hard to accomplish one comment at a time.
I’ve been struggling recently with the nagging thought that salvation means living a life immersed in Christ. It begins with baptism, but doesn’t end with it. It has as much to do with this life as the next. It has to do with the outpouring of the Spirit; being drenched with the nature of Jesus; being part of His ongoing story by letting His blood flow through my veins.
And that somehow, I am missing it.
“In baptism, you are brought into that story, to be an actor in the play which God is writing and producing. And once you’re onstage, you’re part of the action.”
Those of you from Highland: remember our kids going up front last week…and the various rings of circusdom that always brings?
Ah, the thought that we, too, look just adorable to God up on that stage, screwed up lines and all! What patience our Producer has!
How He longs for us to shine in our roles!