332 Dimensions of Baptism
So I move to my final point, which is to draw out the importance of
baptism in this context of moral formation and growth. It has been
possible in both paedobaptist and believer's baptist tradition to make the
act of baptism virtually a private affair, outside the context of the regular
worship and life of the community of faith. It is also a matter of fact that
many candidates baptized in either mode do not continue in the faith.
If baptism declares a deep relationship in God through Christ, then the
more careful nurture of those who are baptized is crucial. The image of
newborn babes is a powerful one in this respect. How will they be taught
to walk? Care and example are obvious answers. When the Church
receives new members by baptism, with joy it receives a responsibility of
care. Together, the calling is to live the life in Christ, to live out baptism.
Such nurture and teaching should happen before and after baptism. The
early Church before Constantine certainly took care that members should
understand both doctrine and its moral implications.^12 This task remains
important for churches which take baptism seriously as initiation into the
life in Christ in the fellowship of the Church. Such formation is a life longjourney (Phil. 3.12-14). It is not apart from the imitation of Christ and
those whose lives are an example worthy of imitation (Phil. 4.9). It
involves the work, from first to last, of the God who enables us both to
will and work for his good pleasure (Phil. 2.12). Baptism is part, a crucial
part, of the moral miracle of faith and life in God the Creator, Saviour and
Sanctifier.this theme is by W.H. Willimon, Peculiar Speech: Preaching to the Baptized (Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1992).- See A. Kreider, The Change of Conversion and the Origin of Christendom:
(CMMC; Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 1999).