Baptismal meditation

Ephesians 4:4-6: There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

After Paul describes how Jesus unites Jew and Gentile as one new man, he exhorts the Ephesians to live in a worthy of the calling they have received. That exhortation continues on into Ephesians 4, and this expression of the unity of the church is part of that exhortation. When Paul says there is “one baptism,” he is not primarily – as Christians have often thought – forbidding rebaptism. Baptism is one because the church is one; it is one in the ways that the church is one.

What does it mean to receive this “one baptism,” the baptism into oneness?

It means, first, that the baptized become limbs of one body. We are all members of Christ, and as members of Christ we are members of one another. Through her one baptism, Savannah is being grafted like a new branch of a tree into this particular congregation, united with other believers in Moscow, other believers in the US, other believers around the world, all believers throughout history. By baptism, she receives a place in the body, and a calling to use her gifts to build up the body.

It means, second, that the baptized are united in the one Spirit who joins the many members into one body. The Spirit is the Lord and Giver of life, the Spirit who hovered over the waters of creation, and the Spirit who descended as a dove on Jesus. The Spirit is the Spirit of Pentecost, and the Spirit who conformed us to the life of the Son. By her one baptism, Savannah is receiving a share in the life of that one Spirit.

It means, third, that the baptized are united in one hope. It is a hope that the Gentiles will stream to Jerusalem to learn God’s law, a hope for resurrection, a hope for a new heaven and new earth, a hope for a final judgment when all injustice will be righted. It is a hope that the church which is one will become increasingly one. This is the hope Savannah has by virtue of her one baptism.

It means, fourth, that the baptized are claimed by and called to serve one Lord. The world is full of masters who want to lord it over us. By our one baptism, our ears are opened to hear the voice of only one, the Lord Jesus, the Christ. Our one Lord is the one Savior, a Savior from sin and death and also a Savior from all dangers and threats in this life. By her one baptism, this one Lord and Savior shows Himself to be Savannah’s Lord and Savior.

It means, fifth, that the baptized are called to confess one faith. There is one Lord and Savior, and Savannah’s faith should be in Him alone. The church confesses Jesus with one mouth, and all the baptized are to join their voices to that one confession.

It means, lastly, that the baptized have one God and Father. By baptism, our children are marked as God’s children, and are incorporated into God’s family, given a place in His family, invited to share in His table. As His children, the baptized can be confident that the Father knows they are dust, is kind and forgiving, provides for their every need.

I have been enumerating the various unities that Paul describes in Ephesians 4. When we add baptism, we have a list of seven unities: one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father. Seven is the number of creation, and Paul wants us to see that the church is the unified sevenfold new creation. Through her baptism, Savannah is given a share in this new creation.

All this is what Savannah is being given here in baptism, and she is being called to walk in grateful trust, receiving and using and responding to these gifts in heartfelt obedience. You are called as her parents to remind her of her privilege, to direct her to trust in the God who marked her at her baptism, to train her to walk worthy of the calling with which she has been called.