ELLIS The Baptism of Disciples 351
theologically the baptism of believers flows out of this view of the Church.
Thus, to use Kelleher's language, to see this baptism as an example of
liturgical praxis enables us to see it as 'an example of incarnate mean-
ing'.^45 Here is an embodiment of the Church as a believer-Church and this
is clearly exemplified in those baptismal services where the one baptized is
also welcomed at the Lord's Table and received into the membership of
the local church. As the congregation witnesses the testimony of the new
Christian and celebrates their entry into the Church it also embodies the
very nature of that Church as a company of believers. However, baptism is
not only an embodiment of this ecclesiology but 'an instrumental act of
meaning', for baptism creates the Church both by adding to its number and
by highlighting the faith of the one who is welcomed. The baptism of
believers reminds the Church that it is a response in faith to the gospel of
Christ and that membership should not be separated from faith in Christ.
Secondly, we should remember that the focus of baptism is not ulti-
mately the faith of the one being baptized but the one into whom that
person is baptized. This is where Schillebeeckx's presentation of Christ as
the primordial sacrament is so helpful. Baptism is an embodiment of the
gospel of Christ, with its washing imagery embodying the forgiveness of
sins and its burial imagery embodying new life in union with the one who
was crucified, buried and raised.^46 We may here employ Wainwright's
image of patterning and, if we explore the instrumental nature of this
christocentric focus, we shall be brought both to biblical accounts of the
baptism of Jesus and a challenge to what we mean by 'believer'.
We have seen how Baptists have from the earliest days seen faith as
more than a matter of doctrinal assent. They have looked for evidence of
experiential faith, a change of lifestyle and a transformation of values in-
dicative of a work of God in the life of the believer. For this reason, it maybe helpful to talk not of the baptism of believers so much as the baptism of
disciples. The word 'disciple' makes more explicit an emphasis on obedi-
ent faith and the desire to follow Jesus Christ. Baptism can be seen as an
embodiment of such discipleship. Indeed, the early emphasis on baptism
as an ordinance and the requirement that faithful followers should be- Kelleher, 'Liturgy', p. 492.
- Because of the polemical nature of much writing about baptism, Baptists have
tended to use Rom. 6.3-4 as a support for their argument concerning immersion as the
proper mode of baptism. However, it offers great possibilities both for the ethical
theme of new beginnings and as an embodiment of the mystical union of the believer
with Christ.