In this series, I am seeking to answer the question: What Does Baptism Accomplish? To begin with, I said: Baptism initiates a real covenant relationship with the Triune God and with each of the Persons in particular. This means that there are three different aspects to this relationship and each one corresponds to one of the Three Persons of the Trinity. As it pertains to the Father, the relationship is adoptive. As it pertains to the Son, the relationship is marital. And as it pertains to the Holy Spirit, the relationship is ministerial.
I covered the adoptive aspect and now I’ll be covering the marital aspect. First, I want to show that, in the Bible, the relationship we have with God in Christ is of a marital nature. Second, I’ll show the connection between marriage and baptism. Finally, I’ll provide some guidelines on how to think of this relationship in terms of objective and subjective realities.
Married to God in Christ
The Bible teaches that the relationship between a husband and his wife is a picture of the relationship between Christ and the church. Paul says in Ephesians 5:25, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it.” Because of this, one will often hear pastors and theologians describing the church as the bride of Christ. This corresponds to Revelation 19:7, which says: “Let us rejoice and exult and give Him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His Bride has made herself ready.”
It is important to know that this is not a new relationship that arose in the New Testament. We know this partly because the church is not a New Testament phenomenon. Rather, it has been in existence since the beginning of God’s redeeming activity. Adam, Eve, Seth, Abraham, Moses, and all the faithful believers in between were members of the church, even in its infancy. Thus Stephen could say that Moses was with the “church in the wilderness” (Acts 7:38). This means that there has always been a very intimate, and as we shall see, even marital relationship between Jesus Christ and his people.
This marital relationship, as a recurring theme of Scripture, is expressed in various ways—sometimes subtly, at other times overtly. Interestingly, we just read from Revelation 19:7 that the marriage of Christ is called the “marriage of the lamb”, which reminds us that Jesus is the lamb who was slain, not before, but “from (ἀπὸ) the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). This points us back to the garden where, after the Fall, Adam and Eve were clothed with the beautiful garments of Christ.
There are other places to see this marital relationship between God and His people. Perhaps the most vivid depiction in the Old Testament is found in Ezekiel 16. The entire chapter is dedicated to this marital theme as the Lord calls Jerusalem to turn from committing adultery, just like a man would call for the return of his own wife. The passage is too lengthy to cover in its entirety, but I’ll highlight some salient details.
First, the Lord calls His people to remember how their relationship began. In their father, Abram, they were living in an unclean state, immersed in false worship and pagan practices, described as “naked” and living in open shame. Yet the Lord had mercy on this “woman,” decided to set His love on her, and took her unto Himself. In verse 8, He says: “When I passed by you and looked upon you, indeed your time was the time of love; so I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine, says the Lord GOD.” Here, we see an engagement taking place.
Later, when He marries her, we see how the relationship unfolds. In verses 10-14, He clothes her in beautiful garments and decks her with gold, silver, and precious stones. In verse 19, He references bringing her into His own house and feeding her with bread at His table, saying: “…My food which I gave you—the pastry of fine flour, oil, and honey which I fed you.” In verse 20, He even mentions her children as being His own, referring to them as “Your sons and your daughters, whom you bore to Me.” In verse 21, when she sacrifices those children to pagan gods, He says, “You have slain My children.”
This clear and vivid picture shows that the relationship between the Lord and His people is, and always has been, of a marital nature. There’s a covenant made, she comes to live in His house, she eats bread at His table, and when she bears children, He receives them as His very own.
But the next question is: How does baptism relate to this?
Married Through Baptism
If we look closely at Ezekiel 16, the answer is found in verse 9. Right after the Lord swears to marry this woman, and just before He dresses her in her wedding garments, He says: “Then I washed you with water; yes, I thoroughly washed off your blood, and I anointed you with oil.”
Here, we have a clear reference to the baptism of God’s bride, as she is washed and prepared for the wedding celebration. Flying at thirty thousand feet, this chapter takes us from the time of Abram, when the Lord proposed, to the time of Moses, when the Lord married His people in the covenant on Mt. Sinai. The washing fits perfectly between the two and refers to the baptism of the people in their crossing of the Red Sea. In 1 Corinthians 10:1-4, Paul says: “Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. All ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.”
So Israel is the church and she is the bride of Christ. Before she walks down the aisle and arrives at the altar to take her marriage vows, she first submits to the ceremony of purification. This ceremony is a type and shadow of the sacrament of holy baptism.
To round off this second point, it is important to observe that the connection between baptism and marriage remains intact in the New Testament. First, however, we should note that by the time we reach the New Testament, a custom known as the “Mikveh” had developed in Israel. This custom refers to the ritual purification of the bride-to-be, which served as a preparatory washing for marriage. The origins of this practice are not entirely clear, but archaeological discoveries have identified a Mikveh location dating back to the 2nd century before Christ, and it appears that the practice may have emerged from theological reflections on God’s actions during the Exodus.
Regardless of its origins, the Mikveh was a common practice during the time of Jesus and John the Baptist, and, to some extent, contributes to the rich symbolic background that gives meaning to Christian baptism. At the very least, it reinforces the previous biblical pattern, showing further that baptism is part and parcel of the marriage ceremony. On this point, there are two passages to consider.
The first passage is found in Ephesians 5. Previously, we examined verse 25, where Paul discusses Christ’s sacrifice: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her.” This verse speaks of redemption accomplished. However, in verse 26, he transitions to redemption applied: Jesus purchased the church with His blood so that He might bring her to Himself. Altogether, it reads: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.”
In this context, Jesus died for the church in order to call, cleanse, and present her to Himself as a pure and spotless bride. This imagery serves as a graphic representation of what occurs in the sacrament of Holy Baptism.
The second passage is located in John 3:22-29, where the followers of John the Baptist express their concern about Jesus baptizing more disciples than John. Following a dispute with the Pharisees regarding the meaning of purification, John’s disciples approach him saying, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, about whom you have testified—behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!” In response, John employs the marriage analogy to elucidate the situation: “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from above… He who has the bride is the bridegroom” (v. 29).
According to John, his role in baptizing was to prepare the people for Jesus, the true bridegroom. He was but the bridegroom’s friend. Now, with the arrival of the bridegroom, it was fitting that the people should turn to Him, the One who will initiate the wedding ceremony by washing His own bride.
These connections are significant. Paul and John, while approaching the topic from different directions, convey the same message. John speaks from the context of baptism and moves to the theme of marriage, while Paul speaks from the context of marriage and moves to the theme of baptism. In both cases, the message is clear: Jesus is the Bridegroom, and the church is His bride. As He takes her to Himself, He begins, with the sacrament of baptism, to sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water with the word.
Objective and Subjective Realities
As we arrive at the third point, it is essential to discuss objective and subjective realities, as this is an area where many Christians stumble in their understanding. Just as I stated in the previous installment regarding adoption (with your baptism being your adoption ceremony), here, as we examine marriage, I assert that your baptism is your marriage ceremony. Just as you were adopted into God’s family and became His son, so, too, you were united to Jesus Christ and became part of His bride.
It’s crucial to remember that, although adoption and marriage are two distinct covenant relationships, they share many similarities. Like adoption, marriage has the power to change one’s identity. Yet, similar to adoption, marriage promotes, but does not guarantee, a change of heart. This distinction is what I mean when I refer to objective and subjective realities. Take a moment to consider each of these propositions in turn.
1. Marriage has the power to change your identity. When a man and his fiancée arrive at the church on their wedding day, they come as two single individuals, belonging to separate families, residing in different homes, and bearing different names. By the time those two individuals leave the church, they are united in what we call the holy estate of marriage. The question arises: How did this transformation occur?
The answer lies in the marriage ceremony. By virtue of this ceremony, their identities have been changed in real and significant ways. They each now possess a new set of concrete relationships—not only with one another, but also with countless others. Together, they acquire new privileges and responsibilities, and they can engage in actions that, prior to their marriage, would have been sinful and morally unacceptable.
While marriage is not a sacrament, it provides a powerful analogy for understanding baptism and its effects. Baptism is a divine ceremony, a God-ordained ritual that alters the objective status and identity of the person baptized. Just as the newlyweds have been integrated into a new set of relationships and circumstances, those who have been baptized have been united to Jesus Christ and incorporated into His body. As the bride of Christ, we are brought into His household, where we all partake of the same bread and drink from the same cup at the Lord’s Table. Furthermore, as we continue to grow as the people of God, Jesus receives our covenant children as His very own.
2. Baptism does not guarantee our final possession of eternal life. The second aspect to consider, then, is that, while baptism (like marriage and adoption) changes one’s identity, it does not promise to change one’s heart. As we discussed previously, a boy may be adopted, receive a new father, and be given all he needs to thrive—love, provision, instruction, and discipline—yet may still grow up without loving his father in return. Similarly, a woman may marry and receive a husband who provides her with everything she needs—love, care, security, and protection—yet it remains possible for her to turn away and fail to love her husband in return. She may reject his affection, disregard his words, and refuse to honor him as her covenant head and lord.
Understanding these dynamics is critical. Marriage offers various possibilities regarding the subjective workings of a person’s heart. In the case of the woman, it is possible that true love is present from the moment the wedding ceremony begins. It is also possible that true love is absent initially, but develops over time. Regrettably, it is also possible that the love necessary for a strong and fruitful marriage is absent and never develops within her heart.
Eventually, perhaps after many years, the woman’s true feelings may manifest, and she begins to live outwardly as she truly is within. However, there is an all-important point to consider: when that occurs, her husband cannot say, “I thought we were married all this time, but now, based on your actions, I realize we were never truly married.”
Such reasoning is invalid. The man and the woman are indeed married, as a real covenant transaction took place on their wedding day. The issue is not that they were not married. Rather, the issue is that the woman has become an unloving and unfaithful wife. Though she may be an adulterous wife, she is his wife nonetheless.
This unfortunate situation aligns perfectly with the sacrament of Holy Baptism. The fact that your baptism unites you to Jesus Christ does not automatically ensure that you will faithfully fulfill your Christian calling. This is why, when individuals in the church stray, the first step we take is to call them back to their baptism. We remind them that it was at that moment that they were washed, clothed, and embraced by Jesus Christ, who said to them, “I love you, I receive you, and you belong to Me.” The good news is that, for some, this reminder serves as a wake-up call. It compels them to recognize their need to repent of their sins and redirect their hearts to Christ. It serves as an effectual calling to love God because He first loved them.
When this realization occurs, repentance, forgiveness, cleansing, and true reconciliation follow. There is joy in heaven over every sinner that repents. And just as there is never a need to be married again, so there is never a need to be baptized again. The Bible affirms that there is “one Lord, one faith, and one baptism” (Eph. 4:5). And that one baptism is sufficient for the entirety of the Christian life. Thus, to return to one’s baptism is akin to calling a woman to reaffirm her wedding vows.
In the same way, you, too, can return to your baptism to receive a renewal of your covenant relationship with God, and a fresh application of the cleansing of your sins.
