Baptism and Dying to Self: New Life in Christ
Nicholas Schonlau reflects on baptism as more than an act of obedience: it is a death to the old self and an inward change worked by Christ. Drawing from Luke 9, Acts 2, Deuteronomy 30, Colossians 2, and Romans 6, he connects baptism with repentance, circumcision of the heart, and new life.
- Baptism points to the believer’s death to the old self and rising to new life in Christ.
- Peter’s words in Acts 2 show that repentance begins with being “cut to the heart.”
- The inward change of the heart is connected to the outward expression of baptism.
By Nicholas Schonlau
Since I became a follower of Christ, I’ve been enthralled with what it means to follow him. One of my favorite passages on this subject is, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). That has always been the challenge, for me and for many other Christians I’ve known over the years.
What does it mean to deny myself? It means I must die.
I think back to when I was buried with Christ through baptism. According to Paul, I died that day and arose with a new life in Christ.
While recognizing the importance of baptism, have you ever had difficulty comprehending the idea of putting off the sinful nature and putting on the new life found in Christ? I have seen nearly 50 people go down into the waters of baptism this year and come back up. Yet, when I consider conversion in all its aspects, I think about what’s being left in the water (the grave). I think about what I left in the water that day. Indeed, did I fully understand that I was supposed to leave something behind?
Rising up out of the water—wearing Christ—is a truly refreshing and beautiful experience, and it’s made more beautiful because each of us rises as a new person. Like a snake shedding its skin, Paul says we are to put off the old self.
Cut to the Heart
I hear so much about the obedience side of baptism and not enough about the effect of baptism. The more I look at passages like Acts 2, where Peter tells the crowd what they must do, I begin to shift my focus from “repent and be baptized” to “they were cut to the heart.”
You see, Peter could have just said, “repent and be baptized.” Instead, he makes the connection between this rowdy crowd and their King David, who many years before believed this Christ was truly Lord. Peter accuses the crowd of being responsible for Jesus’ death on the cross. This assertion does more than startle the crowd; they are “cut to the heart.” The Greek word for cut, katenughsan, means to be wounded severely or even to near death. Again we see the idea of death occurring.
God is in the business of changing lives and hearts. When he takes us through his process, he is the gardener pruning the vine. Like a gardener, God knows new growth is possible only after the old is cut away and left behind.
An Inward Change
Scripture taught about this long before Jesus walked the earth. Deuteronomy 30:6 says, “The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.” The circumcision of our hearts mirrors the principle of pruning. It happens so that we may love God more.
Paul relates circumcision to putting off the sinful nature. In Colossians 2:11 he says, “In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ.” So we have the tie between the dying to our old self and the circumcision of the heart that has been expressed from Old Testament days till now.
In an address to the church at Rome, Paul explains: “A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is a circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not written by the written code” (Romans 2:28, 29). It is not merely the physical circumcision that made Abraham a Jew; it was the circumcision of his heart. It was an inward change.
When we explain baptism in the church, in order for it to be better understood, we must also be able to explain the circumcision of the heart. We must die to ourselves; prune the old to allow the new to grow. As Paul writes: “If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been freed from sin” (Romans 6:5-7).
It’s more than just obedience; it’s about an inward change through an outward expression. So, it’s time that we deny ourselves, carry our cross daily, and follow him.
Nick Schonlau serves as director of adult ministries at Third City Christian Church in Grand Island, Nebraska.
