Systematic Theology, by Louis Berkhof - New Leaven

in something that has no cleansing properties. They base their opinion on Mark
10:38,39; Luke 12:50; Rom. 6:3,4; Col. 2:12. But the first two passages merely express the
idea that Christ would be overwhelmed by His coming sufferings, and do not speak of
the sacrament of baptism at all. The last two are the only ones that really have any
bearing on the matter, and even these are not to the point, for they do not speak directly
of any baptism with water at all, but of the spiritual baptism thereby represented. They
represent regeneration under the figure of a dying and a rising again. It is certainly
perfectly obvious that they do not make mention of baptism as an emblem of Christ’s
death and resurrection. If baptism were represented here at all as an emblem, it would
be as an emblem of the believer’s dying and rising again. And since this is only a
figurative way of representing his regeneration, it would make baptism a figure of a
figure.
Reformed theology has an entirely different conception of the essential thing in the
symbolism of baptism. It finds this in the idea of purification. The Heidelberg
Catechism asks in Question 69: “How is it signified and sealed unto you in holy baptism
that you have a part in the one sacrifice of Christ on the cross?” And it answers: “Thus,
that Christ has appointed the outward washing with water and added the promise that
I am washed with His blood and Spirit from the pollution of my soul, that is, from all
my sins, as certainly as I am washed outwardly with water, by which the filthiness of
the body is commonly washed away.” This idea of purification was the pertinent thing
in all the washings of the Old Testament, and also in the baptism of John, Ps. 51:7; Ezek.
36:25; John 3:25,26. And we may assume that in this respect the baptism of Jesus was
entirely in line with previous baptisms. If He had intended the baptism which He
instituted as a symbol of something entirely different, He would have indicated this
very clearly, in order to obviate all possible misunderstanding. Moreover, Scripture
makes it abundantly clear that baptism symbolizes spiritual cleansing or purification,
Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:4 f.; I Cor. 6:11; Tit. 3:5; Heb. 10:22; I Pet. 3:21; Rev. 1:5. This is
exactly the point on which the Bible places all emphasis, while it never represents the
going down and coming up as something essential.
2. IS IMMERSION THE ONLY PROPER MODE OF BAPTISM? The generally prevailing opinion
outside of Baptist circles is that, as long as the fundamental idea, namely, that of
purification, finds expression in the rite, the mode of baptism is quite immaterial. It may
be administered by immersion, by pouring or effusion, or by sprinkling. The Bible
simply uses a generic word to denote an action designed to produce a certain effect,
namely, cleansing or purification, but nowhere determines the specific mode in which
the effect is to be produced. Jesus did not prescribe a certain mode of baptism. He
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