Scripture References:
st. 1 = Titus 3:5-7, Heb. 10:14
st. 2 = Rom. 6:3-4, Col. 2:12
st. 3 = Rom. 8:15-16, Eph. 4:5-6
Michael Saward (PHH 16) wrote "Baptized in Water" in London on May 29,1981, a few days after the twenty-fifth anniversary of his ordination to the ministry. The text was first published in Hymns for Today s Church (1982), a hymnal on which Saward worked as text editor.
This song explains the New Testament theology on baptism in a rather compact way. The first line in each stanza alludes to John 3:5, Ephesians 1:13, and 1 Peter 3:21. The rest of each stanza explains the process symbolized by baptism: being cleansed by Christ's blood for salvation and godly living (st. 1); dying and being buried with Christ and rising again, free and forgiven (st. 2); and gaining the privilege of becoming God's children through Christ (st. 3). Each stanza also finishes with a note of praise to God. The text is powerful precisely because it is biblical.
Liturgical Use:
Infant or adult baptism. An excellent example of a "triumphant hymn" called for in the second form for Baptism of Children and the second form for Baptism of Adults in the Psalter Hymnal.
--Psalter Hymnal Handbook
