(Nicene Creed): One Baptism For the Forgiveness of Sins

We believe in one baptism for the forgiveness of sins

My favorite seminary professor, the late Dr. Jack Cottrell, did his doctoral dissertation on The History of Baptism. His findings have been summarized and published in two books Baptism and the Remission of Sins (Hester Publications, edited by David Fletcher), and more recently, and also more accessibly, in Baptism: Zwingli or the Bible (published in 2022 by the Christian Restoration Association). This proved to be a landmark study as Cottrell asserted from his research that the consensus belief for the first 1500 years of the church, up to and including Martin Luther, was that baptism was for the remission of sins, and thus for salvation. 

However, in 1523, Swiss theologian and reformer Huldreich Zwingli, audaciously claimed that everyone before him had been incorrect: “In this matter of baptism, all the doctors have been in error from the time of the apostles.”* Thus, Zwingli became the first to divorce baptism from salvation. The Protestant Reformation adopted this belief as well and it has remained the majority view in Protestantism ever since. For most of Protestant Christianity, and especially in Reformed circles, baptism is a symbol only, nothing more. Thankfully, from what I can see, the tide is beginning to shift on this.

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The Nicene Creed reminds us that baptism is much more than a mere symbol. Baptism is for the remission of sins. For those who may not share this view, consider the following passages from the New Testament: 

Acts 2:38 – And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” 

This is perhaps the strongest and clearest evidence from the Bible that baptism is for the remission of sins, just as the Creed states. After Peter’s sermon at Pentecost, those in the crowd are cut to the heart by his message and they cry out to him asking what they should do. This is Peter’s response. Although many have tried, it takes some serious linguistic gymnastics to make Peter say something other than baptism is FOR the forgiveness of sins. The grammar is simple and clear. 

Acts 22:16 – “And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.” 

Here, in one of three places where Paul recounts his Damascus Road experience with Christ, he tells of how God sent Ananias to restore his sight. Ananias then said to Paul what we read above. “Calling on his name” harkens back to the Old Testament theme of calling on the name of the Lord, which began in Genesis 5, but is also synonymous with the appeal to the Lord spoken of in 1 Peter 3:21 (more on that below). But for our purpose in this article, note how Ananias makes clear Paul’s sins were not yet washed away. That would happen in the act of baptism. Once again the grammar is simple and clear. 

1 Peter 3:21 – Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ

One of the most common hang-ups for Protestant believers is what has come to be known as baptismal regeneration. This is the idea that the act of getting dunked under the water is what saves us. Most churches who teach that baptism is for the forgiveness of sins will readily admit that someone could indeed get baptized for the wrong reasons and thus would not be saved. It depends on the heart-condition of the one being baptized. This is why Peter mentions “an appeal to God for a good conscience.” Furthermore, there is no inherent power in the water. Valid baptisms can occur in a church baptismal, a lake, a river, or even a swimming pool. This is because, as Peter suggests here, washing dirt away from the body doesn’t wash away sins. Only God can do that. 

Why then would Peter say that baptism now saves you? Because God, in his sovereign and free choice, has ordained that in the New Covenant, he would forgive someone’s sins at the time of their baptism. It is important that we see this. Getting dunked under water is not what washes one’s sins away. Forgiveness of sins is a spiritual, supernatural act that only God can do. Yet God has freely chosen to connect that spiritual act to the physical act of water baptism. Thus, it is no surprise that the Creed states, “We believe in one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.”

Common Questions

A few common questions/objections always arise at this point, which I would like to address here. First, what about the thief on the cross? He was never baptized, but clearly Christ forgave his sins. First, we must say that God always reserves the right to make exceptions to his rules. Jesus hints at this when he teaches about David taking the bread of the Presence when he was on the run from Saul, and yet was guiltless in the matter even though it was not lawful for anyone but the priests to eat it. But second, and most importantly, Christian baptism had not yet been instituted at the time of Jesus’s death. That only came later at Pentecost. Acts 19:3-5 makes plain that John’s baptism ministry was categorically different from baptism into the name of Jesus. 

A second question is, if we are saved by grace through faith and not by works, how can baptism be required for salvation? Martin Luther himself dealt with this question extensively, noting that baptism is not a work of man but a work of God done to man. Furthermore, it is not consistent to say that anything we “do” must be considered a work and then excluded from salvation. Repentance is clearly something we do and yet nearly all Christians would agree it is required for salvation. Peter knew full well that we are not saved by our works, yet he clearly wrote that “baptism now saves you.” 

Third and finally, how can a physical act bring about a spiritual result? As noted above, it is not the physical act of getting dunked under water that causes salvation. Rather, it is when we come to God through faith in Christ, appealing to him in our hearts, calling on his name, and submitting to his command to be baptized, that God works salvation in us, forgiving our sins, regenerating our hearts, and granting us the gift of the indwelling Spirit. Again, God has freely chosen to connect his spiritual work of salvation to the physical act of water baptism. In much the same way, Elisha told leprous Naaman to go wash in the Jordan River seven times and he would be cured of his leprosy. Naaman initially refused because he thought Elisha would surely have healed him in another way. However, his servants convinced him to follow the directions of God’s prophet. So, Naaman dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, and his skin was healed. That healing was a supernatural miracle done by the power of God, yet brought on by obedience to a physical act. 

One Baptism

Finally, it is important we acknowledge the significance of the phrase “one baptism” in the Creed. No doubt this language is taken directly from Ephesians 4:  “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:4–6, ESV).

Paul tells us that our unity as believers is grounded in these truths. For us, there can only be ONE God, ONE Lord, ONE Spirit, and there is only ONE baptism. One massive implication of this, at least for the baptism debate in the church today, is that water baptism for the forgiveness of sins and the baptism of the Holy Spirit spoken of by Christ are not two separate baptisms, but are one. You might say these are two aspects or sides of a single act. But what we must not say is that there are two baptisms. No, Paul is quite clear on this. There is only ONE baptism. 

Whatever we conclude the “baptism of the Holy Spirit” to be (see Mark 1:8), it must not lead us to claim there are multiple baptisms. For Paul, and for us, there can be only ONE. One baptism for the forgiveness of sins. 

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Notes:

* Zwingli, “On Baptism,” in Zwingli & Bullinger, “Library of Christian Classics,” vol. 24, ed. and tr. G.W. Bromiley (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1953), p. 153. 

Photo Credit Unsplash.com

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