Matthew 12:28: if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

In many historic baptismal rites, there is a moment of exorcism. The candidate for baptism is asked if he renounces the devil and all his works, and all his ways, and all his pomp. In some baptismal liturgies, baptism in water is accompanied by other rites that signify an exorcism.

According to the early sixth-century Christian writer John the Deacon, a catechumen “is exorcised by exsufflation that with the devil put to flight, entry may be prepared for Christ our Lord; that torn from power of darkness, he may be transferred to the kingdom of the glory of Christ’s love . . . . and that until recently a vessel of Satan, he may now become a dwelling of the Savior. And so [Satan] is exorcised, because the ancient deserter [from God] merits such disgrace. He is exorcised – that is, he is commanded to get out and depart, acknowledging the advent of him whose upright image in Paradise he had cast down by perverse counsel.”

We don’t do that. Following the Reformers, we believe that the simple rite of water baptism is the rite prescribed by Christ in the Scriptures, and, also following the Reformers, we believe that the ancillary rites that clustered around baptism distract us from the water that Christ gave us.

Yet, many of these secondary rites express the reality of baptism. We don’t perform an act of exorcism in baptism, but we do believe that baptism is about renouncing the devil. We don’t do an exorcism, but we do believe that baptism is the rite of transfer from one condition to another, from one kingdom to another, from the kingdom of darkness over which Satan rules to the kingdom of the Son of God. We don’t do an exorcism, but we do believe that baptism is about driving away the Satan by the Spirit of God.

Jesus came as the Divine Warrior in human flesh to destroy the kingdom of Satan, to bind Satan and to plunder his house. We are that plunder. We are the ones who have been delivered from Satan’s kingdom by the power of Jesus, who works by the Spirit, who casts out demons by the finger of God. Jesus has established His kingdom on earth, and through baptism we are incorporated into that kingdom, plundered from Satan’s kingdom, brought into Jesus’ realm.

This is the blessing that baptism brings, but baptism also brings obligations with it. Baptism comes with a warning. To whom much is given, much is required. Jesus warns in a parable that those who have demons driven out but are not filled with the Spirit are in danger of being infested with more demons. The last state is worse than the first. It’s more dangerous to be delivered from Satan’s kingdom and then return, than never to have escaped at all.

Baptism brings us out of Satan’s kingdom into the kingdom of Christ, but it also calls us to follow the Divine Warrior Jesus. Baptism enlists us in His army of conquest, and calls us to carry on Jesus’ campaign against Satan and Satanic evil everywhere it appears. Because of our baptism, we are obligated to follow the Spirit-filled Servant of Yahweh as His soldiers and disciples. Because of baptism, we are required to take up the armor of God, to carry on Jesus’ struggle against principalities and powers, against spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places.

As you raise your children, don’t hide from them the fact that evil is real, that Satan and his demons are real, that they are called to engage in a life-long battle against Satan and sin and death. Don’t shield them from the truth that they are entering into a world at war. At the same time assure them that they have been delivered by water and the word from Satan’s kingdom to be God’s own children, to be enlisted in the army of Jesus, the Divine Warrior who casts out demons by the power of the Spirit.

Remind them again and again that they have been baptized, and that because they have been baptized they have been plundered from the house of the strong man to become members of the household of the stronger man. Remind them that they have been taken from the losing side and put on the winning team.