Each of the ordinances has a distinct purpose and a distinct role in the life of the Christian. Baptism is an initiatory rite, a means by which a person publicly identifies with Christ Jesus—an occasion of joy and blessing not only for the person being baptized but for the entire church. This act pictures something, but it also accomplishes something.
In the washing with water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we see a picture of being cleansed from sin, of being raised from death to life, and of passing safely through the waters of judgment. And that same washing with water in the name of the Triune God is spiritually significant in that it seals our adoption and our entrance into the family of God. Through this sign and seal we come to be identified with Christ and with his people. Through it we are initiated into his family, into his church.
After we are baptized, it is right and good for other Christians to acknowledge what it has signified and sealed—we are brothers and sisters of a common Father. Jonathan Leeman says it well: “If you want to identify yourself with Christ’s people and expect them to identify with you, you need to first identify yourself with Christ, which is the purpose of baptism.”
