United in the Death and Resurrection of Christ

A Christocentric Eschatological Study of the Sacrament of Baptism According to the HKBP Confessions of 1951 and 1996

Abstract

This study aims to examine the Christocentric eschatological understanding of the sacrament of Holy Baptism as articulated in the HKBP Confessions of 1951 and 1996. Holy Baptism is understood not merely as an outward sign of incorporation into the church community, but as a living and dynamic communion with the death and resurrection of Christ. The urgency of this research lies in the need to deepen the congregation’s theological comprehension of the eschatological dimension of baptism, which has often been reduced to mere ritualistic or symbolic expression. From the perspective of HKBP theology, baptism embodies the hope of eternal life and marks the beginning of a new existence grounded in union with the salvific work of Christ. This eschatological dimension must be emphatically reaffirmed in ecclesial teaching so that the faithful may grasp baptism not merely as a tradition or an administrative requirement of the church, but as both a sign and a means of participating in the divine plan of salvation—already inaugurated and yet to be fulfilled. Utilizing a critical theological approach and ecclesiastical document analysis, this study demonstrates that the HKBP Confessions of 1951 and 1996 consistently affirm that through baptism, every believer is united with Christ in death to sin and raised in the eschatological hope of eternal life. The sacrament of Holy Baptism, in HKBP’s theological framework, is intrinsically bound to the hope of new life that has already begun in the present and will be consummated at Christ’s second coming. Thus, Holy Baptism becomes both a sign and a means by which the faithful are united with Christ’s salvific work—from the cross to His glory.