Life of Peace Begins in Baptism :: Matthew 28:18-20

By

We have reached a turning point on our journey through Lent. After finishing the three Chief Parts of common Christian Doctrine ... the Ten Commandments, the Apostles’ Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer, Martin Luther begins the section on Baptism in the Large Catechism by saying, Every Christian also ought to have at least an ordinary, brief instruction about the Sacraments, because without them he cannot be a Christian (LC IV 1). 

Those are pretty strong words, and I hope by the time we’re finished you’ll understand them and agree.

5. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who don’t understand the sacraments.

To be sure, that is understandable. A sacrament is a mystery; literally, that’s what the word “sacrament” means. Our world doesn’t understand how water can do such great things, or how Jesus can give us his body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. This is one reason why we confess in the Third Article of the Creed that we can’t by our own reason or strength believe ... but the Holy Spirit calls, enlightens, gathers, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth through the Gospel, God’s written and spoken Word about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. That Word of that Gospel is joined with earthly elements in sacred acts that Christ has given ... namely, Baptism, Absolution, and the Lord’s Supper, to deliver to you forgiveness. Where there is forgiveness, there is eternal life.

To begin this conversation, we’ll start with baptism.

4. There is a lot of misunderstanding about baptism.

Some people think they are in constant need of being baptized ... that is, they need to do it over and over and over again. Some people think that baptism is about dedicating our life to God ... about making a commitment to God. Some people think it takes special water in quality and/or quantity to baptize. And yet others think that baptism is a one and done kind of thing ... once baptized, always saved. 

These are all total misunderstandings of Baptism. 

3. Other than it happening to us, baptism has nothing to do with us. 

As Peter told us, baptism is the work of God: He saves you now through baptism (1 Pt 3:21). 

The Church did not invent Baptism. It is not a human institution. Just before his ascension into the heavens, our Lord Jesus instituted this great sacrament. Jesus said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, while you are going, make disciples of all people, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to keep all that I have commanded. And behold, I will be with you all the days until the completion of the age (Mt 28:18-20). 

And there you have it: We should never have any doubt that Baptism is divine. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is God in the flesh, told us that this is how we make disciples. Therefore, because it’s divine, we should never doubt the promise he gives with this gift. He will therefore use it to his glory and your good.

So what is baptism? 

Our natural tendency is to think that baptism is something that we do, something we perform, something we fulfill as a requirement for salvation. That’s not true. Salvation comes by grace through faith. Faith comes through hearing God’s Word. God’s Word then leads us to baptism. 

In his day, Luther saw that notion being pushed from two sides. And frankly, we still see it today. On one side, there are those who have made the act of baptism dependent on what the clergy do. On the other side, there are those who think baptism is something the believer does. Luther rightly teaches us that to be baptized in God’s name is to be baptized not by men, but by God Himself (LC IV 10). It is what God does in us and for us. 

Listen again our Old Testament Reading from Isaiah: For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so will my word be that goes out from my mouth. It will not return to me empty. It will accomplish that which I purpose, and it will succeed in the thing for which I sent it (55:10–11). 

2. And that purpose is now to save you.

The power and the efficacy of baptism isn’t baptism in and of itself. The power and efficacy is the Word of God. As I have said in my sermons many times before ... God’s Word works. As you know so well, faith comes through hearing the word of God. Faith is a gift of God. You cannot create your own faith. You cannot strengthen your own faith. Only God does that. And one way he does that is through baptism. Baptism is not just plain water, it is the water included in God’s command and combined with God’s word. 

Our Lord Jesus Christ ... who is the Word of God at work in baptism ... has told us exactly how to make disciples ... he said, do it by baptizing and teaching. These two things ... baptizing and teaching ... work together. They are not individual acts. They are a present, ongoing work of God within you. Christ’s great command here is not to baptize and let God sort us out. Neither is the command simply to teach. The command is to make disciples. The way we make disciples is by baptizing and teaching. Anyone who has been taught the Gospel will long for baptism. And anyone who is baptized will long to be taught the Gospel. To remain in baptism means to remain a student of God’s word.

As a student of God’s word, we quickly learn that means listening to the full counsel of God’s Word ... you know, all that [Jesus] have commanded you. We don’t get to cherry pick which passages of scripture we listen to. All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correction, and training in righteousness (2 Tm 3:16). And the first thing Jesus taught was to ... repent, every one of you, for the kingdom of the heavens has come near (Mt 4:17). 

Every time you come to the Lord in repentance ... that is, mourning your sin and your need for a savior ... you are returning to and walking in your Baptism (LC IV 75). So stop hesitating in this regard. Return to your baptism (LC IV 79). He didn’t baptize you so that you could return to your sin. Instead, hold fast the riches of God’s grace with a firm faith and joyfully give thanks for his mercy. Because of the grace of God, you who live in baptism have nothing to fear any longer. In the great flood of baptism, you died with Christ. Your sin was buried. It is erased. And you will be raised in the resurrection of the dead, just as Christ was raised from the dead. 

1. And because of your Baptism, your Lord will remain with you forever.

Believe what Jesus says, behold now I am with you all the days until the culmination of the age. This is the greatest blessing of baptism. What God does for us in baptism is first and foremost to give us new life. You could say that new life is being born again, but it is even better to say that you have been born from above (Jn 3:3). He is the one who pours out his Holy Spirit upon you generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:4-7). Baptism then indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever (SC IV). 

God makes this all possible through the faith he gave you to begin with ... the faith that clings to the water of baptism, the faith that assures you of the objective truth that our Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled all righteousness in his own baptism after he was born without sin ... lived his life without sin, thereby becoming the perfect Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. In the great exchange, he then took your sin from you ... through baptism. He carried it to the cross ... where he ensured your sin died with him. After his rest in the tomb, finally he rose from the dead and ascended into eternal glory. This is what awaits you in baptism. And all who believe this, will be saved. That’s the objective reality. 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we have a great treasure in baptism. God will deliver you from your worst enemies ... sin, death, and the devil. Your status as children of God has been assured by God himself. 

Now you know how the Lord of Peace grants you peace at all times in every way ... in Jesus’ name

Popular posts from this blog

Advent of New Life :: Matthew 21:1-9

By
Then the crowd, those going before him and those following, continued to cry out to the Son of David, saying, Save us, please! Blessed is the One Coming in the Name of the Lord! Save us, please, in the Highest Heavens! Yes, Come Lord Jesus! Save us now!  Today we begin a new year of looking forward to this Advent of our Lord, the day he will forever and finally come to save us!  BEHOLD, JESUS IS ALWAYS COMING TO FULFILL THE ADVENT OF HIS BLESSINGS 1. We generally are always eager to see the advents of our lives fully realized. There are many advents in our lives. The word advent literally means “coming” or “arrival.” Advent is generally a positive term. That’s because advents normally are filled with hope, peace, love, and joy. So, like expectant mothers, we look forward to their arrival.  To the world, perhaps no advent is bigger than the secular new year ... the day we put away the old and hope for something better in the new. Every year, the media makes a big spectac...
Read more

The Eyes Have It :: Luke 10:23-24

By
What do you see? What do you hear? These are the questions of the day on this Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity. What do you see? And what do you hear?  Before we get ahead of ourselves by jumping to conclusions and declaring you can see and hear just fine ... you need to know ... not everybody sees what you see or hears what you hear. Every week your pastor gives three sermons: the one I write, the one I preach, and the one you hear. And each of you might be hearing a different sermon than the person next to you. More than that, some of you may be seeing one thing and others may be seeing something completely different. And some of us will just fall asleep not seeing or hearing anything at all.  As Jesus tells the disciples ... For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to witness what y’all see and they didn’t witness it, and to hear what y’all hear and they didn’t hear it (v. 23-24). That is to say they longed to see Jesus, living, dying, rising, ascending. They long...
Read more

The Mind of Christ :: Philippians 2:5-11

By
The next day, the large crowd that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming into Jerusalem, took the branches of palms and went out to meet him and began crying out: Hosanna! Blessed is the one coming in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel (Jn 12:12-13). No story has ever had a bigger buildup to a greater letdown than this one. The Jews were all of the same mind: They had been looking forward to this day for more than a millennia. And here he came! Jesus of Nazareth in Galilee (Mi 5:2)! The prophet like Moses (Dt 18:15)! The son of David (2 Sm 7:12)! Our Messiah (Is 61:1) ... Here he came, riding into Jerusalem on a donkey (Zec 9:9), fulfilling the scriptures. Zechariah, Micah, Isaiah, Deuteronomy, Samuel, the Psalms. This is the day the Lord has made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it (Ps 118:24). ... These things are written so that you will believe Jesus is the Christ, the son of the Living God and that by believing you will have life in his name (Jn 20:31...
Read more