Dimensions of Baptism Biblical and Theological Studies

300 Dimensions of Baptism

focus for the coming of the Spirit; however, the Spirit actually comes to

persons before and after the rite, at whatever age it is performed. The proc-

ess of Christian growth is that of being drawn more deeply into the triune

life of God, and the metaphor of 'coming' is one way of pointing to this

increasing participation.

Baptists will be inclined to argue that the metaphor of 'sealing' makes

full sense in the context of believer's baptism; but just as grace and faith

have a particular nature within the two kinds of baptism, we might say the

same of 'sealing with the Spirit'. With infant baptism it is bound to have

more a sense of a 'stamp of ownership' and 'foretaste', while with

believer's baptism it will be more strongly associated with the giving of

spiritual gifts {charismata) for ministry in the Church and world. It is

difficult to conceive of infants receiving charismata, since according to the

New Testament understanding these are not gifts in the sense of permanent

possessions, but dynamic acts of the Spirit here and now through a

believer. As James Dunn puts it: 'charisma is always an event, the gra-

cious activity...of God through a man [sic]. It is the actual healing, the

miracle itself... [it is] the particular act of service as it is performed.. .the

exercise of a spiritual gift is itself the charisma.'^51 This in itself is an argu-

ment for the extension of the period of initiation to the point when the

Spirit can manifest charismata in human persons and commission them

for responsible service in the world. Whether this is a laying on of hands

within the occasion of the baptism of a believer, or in a rite many years

after infant baptism, it is still part of beginnings. Just as in baptism the

Spirit takes an element in the natural world—water—and uses it as a place

of encounter with God for renewal of life, so the Spirit takes natural

human faculties and opens them up as a place to manifest spiritual gifts.

When this begins to happen it is the end of the beginning, the end of lay-

ing foundations. A woman or man has become a disciple.

(c) An Interplay of Christ's Body and Church

In the New Testament writings, the phrase 'body of Christ' has three

meanings—the risen and glorious body of Jesus who was crucified, the

community of the Church, and the eucharistic bread in which the commu-

nity shares.^52 While some scholars make a total identity between at least

51. Dunn, Jesus and the Spirit, p. 254, italics original.


52. E.g. (1) Rom. 7.4; Phil. 3.21; Jn 2.21; (2) 1 Cor. 6.15; 12. 4-31; Rom. 12.3-8;
    Eph. 4.1-16; Col. 1.18; (3) 1 Cor. 10.17, 24, 27, 29.