To what does the “one baptism” refer?

Explanation:

We know from Scripture that the culmination of the conversion process is baptism. For example, when the Lord Jesus commissioned his disciples to go into the world and bring the gospel to all nations, he said, Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned (Mark 16:16). Paul writes that baptism unites believers with the Lord in his death and resurrection (Romans 6:1–11) and with one another (Galatians 3:27–29, a passage using the concepts of baptism into Christ and putting on Christ to explain the common faith across various boundaries). ^5,6 Here in Ephesians 4:5, baptism presumes a common confession of faith among believers across all boundaries, that Jesus is Lord.

We also know that baptism is associated with both the Spirit and water. In Mark 1:8, John the Baptist explains that Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit. ⁷ In Acts 19:1–6, Paul says that baptism into Jesus has to do with receiving the Holy Spirit. ⁸ As such, the disciples in Ephesus are baptized by Paul and the Holy Spirit comes upon them.

We also notice that the phrase one baptism, in Ephesians 4:5, is preceded by two other phrases, one Lord and one faith. That is, Paul says here one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Of course, we know that Jesus Christ is Lord, and faith has to do with believing in Christ. Further, the process of coming to faith in Christ culminates in baptism, which has to do with water and the Holy Spirit.

To put it all together, what Paul seems to have in mind here is that faith in Christ culminates in baptism, which has to do with water and the Spirit. Thus, there is a bond of unity among believers, and this bond is symbolized and sealed through the visual sacrament of baptism. ⁹

Counterargument:

This interpretation asks too much of the text. That is, it insinuates that when Paul says one baptism he has the whole conversion process in mind that culminates in baptism that includes both water and the Holy Spirit. This is possible, but Paul may not have all of that in mind in this one simple phrase. In fact, the emphasis here does not seem to be on baptism or what baptism entails, but on unity. We can deduce this because Paul uses three terms that allow him to render the number one in all three genders: εἷς κύριος, μία πίστις, ἓν βάπτισμα (one Lord, one faith, one baptism, with, in turn, a masculine, feminine and neuter term). ¹⁰ We can see that his emphasis here is on unity. In other words, his emphasis is on the fact that the Ephesians are united as brothers and sisters in Christ. Thus, his thoughts on the intricacies of baptism are beside the point.

Response to counterargument:

That Paul creatively draws attention to the unity of believers by his choice of grammar does not negate the meaning of baptism. Our question here is not to pinpoint what he emphasizes in Ephesians 4:5, which may very well turn out to be unity. Rather, our question is to understand what he means when he writes, one baptism. We know that Jesus commanded his apostles to baptize believers into his name, and that baptism is the culmination of the conversion process. We also know that baptism involves water and the Holy Spirit. Finally, the context of Paul’s remarks reinforces the notion that baptism is the culmination of putting faith in the one Lord, as a visible sign and seal (see argument 2). ¹¹

Explanation:

To understand what Paul means by one baptism, we need to understand the context. Paul is calling the Ephesians to maintain unity in peace. He says in Ephesians 4:1–3 that the Ephesians are called to live a life worthy of the Lord, patient in love, and eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit. To reinforce the importance of the unity of believers, he explains there is one body, one Spirit, and one hope (Ephesians 4:4). Next, he explains there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism (Ephesians 4:5). Thus, the general force of Paul’s thought through Ephesians 4:1–5 is to emphasize unity among believers in Ephesus. ¹² Of course, knowing that Paul emphasizes unity through Ephesians 4:1–5 helps us understand what he means by one baptism. Baptism is the public initiation of believers into Christ. In other words, baptism is the outward sign and seal that one is united with Christ. ¹³ So, when Paul uses the phrase one baptism in Ephesians 4:5, he is explaining that the Ephesians are united, not only because they put their faith in Jesus Christ, but because that faith was publicly sealed through baptism.

Counterargument:

Even if Paul wants to reinforce unity through Ephesians 4:1–5, this does not mean that he has water baptism in mind. We know from other passages that he emphasizes that baptism has to do with the Spirit. ¹⁴ For example, in 1 Corinthians 12:12–13 he says that the Corinthians are one body, for in one Spirit they were baptized into one body. In other words, it is the baptism of the Spirit, not baptism with water, that is important to Paul. Jesus himself emphasizes the importance of baptism with the Spirit in Acts 1:5. There he tells the disciples not to leave Jerusalem (Acts 1:4), for John baptized with water but the apostles will be baptized by the Holy Spirit. Now, that believers were baptized with water is a historical fact that continues to this day, but the spiritual reality of baptism seems much more important to Paul. ¹⁵

Response to counterargument:

Unfortunately, there is no reason to tease apart the fact that baptism has to do with water and the Holy Spirit. For baptism is both a seal and a symbol of one’s initiation into Christ. Thus, the visible sign is a tangible reminder that the believer is washed clean in the blood of Christ, while the inward working of the Holy Spirit seals the believer as a child of God. So there is simply no reason to think Paul has one aspect of baptism in mind, rather than baptism as a whole. ¹⁶

Possible weaknesses:

It is hard to see what the weakness of this view might be. One might complain that Paul never mentions water, or the Spirit, so we should not assume that he has these elements of baptism in mind. But such a complaint misses the fact that Paul uses the term baptism in a summary fashion here and is not concerned with explicating the doctrine in detail. Thus, we are free to take it that when Paul uses the term one baptism, he has in mind all that baptism entails.

Explanation:

When Paul says one baptism in Ephesians 4:5, we have to understand the nature of baptism to understand what Paul means. And the nature of baptism has to do with identification. ¹⁷ Thus, when Paul says one baptism he has in mind identification with Christ.

We can deduce that the nature of baptism has to do with identification through passages such as 1 Corinthians 10:2 where we learn that the people of Israel were baptized into Moses. The idea is that the people of Israel are identified with Moses. Similarly, in Mark 10:38–39, Jesus asks the disciples if they are able to be baptized with the baptism he will undergo. Of course, Jesus does not mean baptism in the sense of being immersed in water, or the Spirit, but he is asking if the disciples are willing to identify with him and accept God’s will, even unto death.¹⁸ In neither passage are water and the Spirit mentioned or implied.

Of course, Paul himself explains that baptism has to do with identification with Christ. For example, in Romans 6:1–11 he explains that to be baptized into Christ is to be identified with Christ. This means that one dies with Christ so that one can also participate in his resurrection. We learn something similar in Galatians 3:27 where Paul says that anyone who has been baptized into Christ has put on Christ. ¹⁹ Thus, we can conclude that the nature of baptism has to do with identification. So when Paul uses the phrase one baptism he has identification with Christ in mind.

Counterargument:

While it is true that baptism has to do with identification, it also has to do with water and the Spirit. No one disagrees that when one is baptized with water, the sacrament is a sign that the believer is now identified with Christ, so that he is dead to sin and alive in Christ. Neither does anyone disagree that receiving the Spirit has to do with being united with Christ in a meaningful way. Still, the fact is that baptism, whether for infants or for adults, is a public declaration that one is now identified with Christ. As such, the believer who is baptized is either immersed in or sprinkled with water and sealed by the Holy Spirit. Now there may be some debate over how infants who do not yet accept Christ can be sealed with the Holy Spirit, or whether a full confession of faith is necessary for baptism, but it is difficult to see how one could separate water and the Spirit from identification with Christ.

Explanation:

When Paul uses the phrase one baptism, we have to understand that he is talking about the fundamentals of Christianity. We can deduce this because the phrase one baptism comes at the end of a series of phrases including, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Paul’s point here is that Christians have one Lord, that is Jesus Christ, and one doctrine of faith related to him. Thus, there is an underlying reality in the Christian life, which has to do with placing one’s faith in the one Lord. And the inward reality of placing one’s faith in the one Lord has to do with identifying with the one Lord. ²⁰ Thus, we could paraphrase Paul as saying, one Lord, one faith, one inward identification.

In fact, it is the inward identification with Christ that is the basis of the outward sign of baptism. ²¹ In other words, because one identifies with Christ, one is baptized into Christ, and so, once one is inwardly baptized into Christ, one also partakes in the outward symbol of baptism. Of course, Paul is not focused on details, and mentions neither water nor the Spirit. Thus, he has in mind the fundamental reality of baptism, which is inward identification with Christ.

Counterargument:

The problem with this view is that it undermines itself. The notion that Paul is not concerned with the details in Ephesians 4:5 may be true, but this does not imply that he has in mind only identification with Christ and not the outward symbol of water. It has always been a command of Christ and practice of the church to baptize believers, or children of believers, into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to signify the cleansing work of Christ and inward reality of baptism. Thus, we can assume without argumentation that the brothers and sisters in Ephesus, who have one Lord and one faith, were literally baptized with water when they became members of the church.

In fact, we may even suggest that unless Paul says otherwise, we should assume that when he uses the term baptism, whatever else he means he also means the actual outward symbol of water and the inward sealing of the Holy Spirit. For humans learn through the senses so that the association with baptism and water is developed in the mind by witnessing water baptisms. On the other hand, the inward spiritual reality of identification with Christ is not open to the senses, but abstract, and so more difficult to grasp except when it pertains to one personally. This is likely why Paul sometimes explains that baptism has to do with identification with Christ, but he never explains that it has to do with water (Galatians 3:27; 1 Corinthians 10:13; Romans 6:3). That baptism has to do with water was likely obvious to his audience and did not need to be explained.

Possible weaknesses:

The weakness of this view is that by trying to emphasize an important aspect of baptism, which is the inward identification with Christ, this view fails to consider that baptism is a multi-faceted sacrament. In other words, while it might be true that in the context of Ephesians 4:5, Paul elevates identification with Christ, this does not imply that he does have in mind all that baptism entails, including the outward symbol of water and immersion in the Spirit.