One of the great confessions produced the Reformation era is the Belgic Confession of Faith, authored by Guido de Bres in 1559, a few years before his martyrdom in 1567.
The entire section on baptism is excellent, but here is part of it:
By [baptism] we are received into God’s church and set apart from all other people and alien religions, that we may wholly belong to him whose mark and sign we bear.
Baptism also witnesses to us that God, being our gracious Father, will be our God forever….
So ministers, as far as their work is concerned, give us the sacrament and what is visible, but our Lord gives what the sacrament signifies—
namely the invisible gifts and graces; washing, purifying, and cleansing our souls of all filth and unrighteousness; renewing our hearts and filling them with all comfort; giving us true assurance of his fatherly goodness; clothing us with the “new self” and stripping off the “old self with its practices.”
The Belgic Confession is exactly right: Baptism is God’s work, God’s gift, God’s mark, God’s promise, God’s testimony.
The real meaning of baptism is not visible.
Today, you will see a pastor pour water over this child. That’s what you will perceive.
But by faith, we know God is claiming this child, setting this child apart, marking her and bringing her into his family as an adopted daughter. By faith, we perceive she is entering into his covenant and kingdom. In the pouring of water, she will begin a new life.
We cannot see all of that with our eyes. But we can see it by faith. The eye of faith perceives what is really happening. The most important part of baptism is not what you see, but what you believe, based on God’s Word. It’s not visible part of baptism that counts most, it’s the invisible part that is believed rather than seen.
There is more to baptism than meets the eye….
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