On Baptism: Being Drawn Up Into the Trinity

We thank you, Father, for the water of Baptism.  In it we are buried with Christ in His death.  By it we share in his resurrection.  Through it we are reborn by the Holy Spirit.  (Book of Common Prayer, page 306)

Baptism is something that happens so often that we can easily look past its significance.  Apart from welcoming new babies into the Body of Christ, there is some deep Biblical theology that demonstrates how, through baptism, we are drawn up into the life of the Trinity.

In an earlier post I spoke of how the Trinity is perfect love itself, and how Jesus Christ, in His dual nature, bridges the gap between the perfect love of the Trinity and the imperfect love of our world.  What remains is the connection to Christ.  E.L. Mascall, in “Christ, The Christian, and The Church,” describes the three major unities in this theology.  There is the unity within the Trinity.  There is the unity of Christ’s human and divine nature.  And there is the unity of the Christian to Christ through baptism.

 In both Romans 6 and Colossians 2 St. Paul uses the image of being baptized into Christ’s death.  Somehow, what happens when a person is baptized he or she is united to Christ in His crucifixion and death.  We die, so to speak, with Christ through the waters of baptism.  But it doesn’t end there.  In both passages if we die with Christ, we also rise with Him in His resurrection.  St. Paul uses this imagery to exhort Christians to grow in their moral lives, since having died sin no longer has any power over them.  But might something else be going on as well?

Looking at each of the Synoptic Gospels, John the Baptist always describes a baptism that exceeds the one he is offering.  He claims that he baptizes with water for repentance, but one (Jesus) coming after him will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with Fire (Matthew 3:11).  This brings to mind the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles in what appeared to be tongues of fire.    From these passages we can understand baptism as filling Christians with the Holy Spirit.

So which is it?  Are we united to Christ or the Holy Spirit?  It turns out it doesn’t matter – because both are true.  Because of the unity of the Trinity, to be united one is to be united to all three persons.  The Trinity functions as a unit – as it is One God.  So to be united to Christ is to be united to the Holy Spirit, and consequently to be united to The Father.  This is why in the Lord’s Prayer we are able to address The Father in the same terms that Jesus did – Our Father.  There is a definite sense of intimacy and connection there.

So for an exercise, bring to mind an image of the Trinity, with love and affection being passed back and forth between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  If it’s helpful think of the phrase, “This is my Son, my  beloved, with whom I am well pleased (Matthew 3:17). ”Now imagine yourself as part of that great exchange.  You are united to Christ through your baptism so you are on the receiving end of The Father’s patristic love.  You have been united to the Holy Spirit and thus become a part of that great exchange of affection.  There is nothing in this world that can separate you from that love.  Remember this.  Amen.

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