Baptism and Justification

Does baptism justify? Justification is, of course, an act of God . But that puts the question differently without deflecting it: Does baptism declare a justification for the person baptized? Assuming the Augustinian (and Reformed) view that baptism is an act of God not of man, we may ask, is baptism the declaration of justification?

At least twice, Paul makes a direction connection between baptism and justification. Having reminded the Corinthians that they had been the kind of people who do not inherit the kingdom, he goes on to remind them that they are no longer such people: “but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of God” (6:11). Is Paul taking about water baptism when he refers to “washing” or to some spiritual and invisible washing? I believe the former; the phrase “in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ” echoes the baptismal formulae of Matthew 28 and Acts, and the reference to the Spirit also links with baptismal passages (Acts 2; 1 Cor 12:12-13). This whole passage is in fact embedded in a baptismal formula: “you were washed . . . in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Note too that Paul marks the shift from what the Corinthians “were” to what they “are” by a reference to their baptism. They have become different folk by being baptized. What, though, is the relationship between the baptism and sanctification and justification? The connection here is not absolutely clear, but I suggest that sanctification and justification are two implications of the event of baptism. The pagan Corinthians have been washed-sanctified-justified by their baptism into the name of Jesus and the concommitant action of the Spirit.

Romans 6:7 is another passage where Paul links baptism and justification. He who has died, Paul writes, is “justified from sin.” And when, in context, does one die? “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” (vv. 3-4). Baptism into Christ means baptism into death; those who have been baptized have been crucified with Jesus; and those who are dead in and with Jesus have been justified from sin. Here, “justify” carries the connotation of deliverance from the power of sin. Through baptism, we die to our natural solidarity and society with Adam and brought into solidarity with and the society of Jesus.

Romans 4 might also be brought into play here, though only indirectly. Paul says that Abraham was justified by faith prior to receiving circumcision, which was a “seal of the righteousness which he had while uncircumcised” (v. 11). Isaac, however, received the seal of righteousness as an infant, as did hundreds of generations of Jews. That is, their history is not identical to the history of the founding Abraham: They received a seal of righteousness before they had any opportunity to express faith. They were marked out as the righteous on the 8th day. If we can transfer the description “seal of the righteousness of faith” to baptism, the same applied: Those who are baptized have received the seal, the tattoo and brand, of righteousness. They have been designated as the righteous by baptism.

Thus, Paul teaches that those who have been baptized have been justified. But how are we to understand this? And how does this fit with justification by grace through faith? The answer, I believe, turns on seeing baptism, as mentioned above, as an act of God. Baptism is analogous to the Word of God; it declares the forgiveness of sins and the justification of the ungodly. And both baptism and the gospel demand a response of faith. Faith in Romans 6 involves believing what baptism says about you: Those who are baptized into Christ Jesus are dead with him; therefore, “consider [reckon] yourselves to be dead to sin” (v. 11). This, of course, does not mean that I can go and live a life of unbelief and disobedience. Such a life would belie the declaration made in my baptism (which is of course Paul’s whole point in Romans 6). Yet, baptism marks me as one who has “died to sin” through Christ and therefore one who has been “justified from sin.”

This seems to me inherent in the Reformed defense of infant baptism. This defense often rests considerable weight on Peter’s declaration that the “promise is to you and to your children,” as well as on the pervasive biblical promise that God is a God to us and to our children. We talk about our children as “covenant children.” That kind of argument, and that kind of language, are biblically sound. But surely that means that our children are objects of God’s favor. And surely that means too that God considers our children to be among the righteous, for can God favor the unrighteous? It is possible, of course, for a baptized person to prove unrighteous in his conduct, but that, again, belies the status into which he entered by baptism.

There is a key difference between the Word declared in the gospel, and the declaration effected by baptism. The Word offers the favor of God generally; baptism declares that God favors me in particular. If baptism is not the public declaration of justification, where does that public declaration take place? Is it ever heard on earth, about me in particular? Is it heard anywhere but in my heart? As I have said before on this site, it appears to me that justification by faith and forensic justification are difficult to maintain apart from a strong view of baptismal efficacy, without saying that in baptism God Himself says something about me in particular. Newman argued (quite unfairly and inaccurately) that Luther delivered men from the tyranny of works but placed them under the tyranny of their feelings. If we say that justification is a legal declaration, but immediately say that this legal declaration is inaudible, then we are, it seems, very much in danger of falling under Newman’s critique.