Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and may our Lord and Savior sanctify you in the truth, for His word is truth. Amen

The Second Sunday after Pentecost (2010)

Baptism is the Gospel we Preach Rev. Toby Byrd

Galatians 1:11-12 (ESV)

For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. [12] For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

What a marvelous day! We are truly blessed to have witnessed the miracle of re-birth this morning as Ethan and Caleb were baptized in the name of the Triune God, cleansed of all sin, given the gift of the Holy Spirit, and made members of the body of Christ, all through the waters of Baptism. This morning, each of you were eyewitnesses of the Gospel at work as Ethan and Caleb were born again clothed with the righteousness of Christ. As these boys were cleansed by the waters of Baptism, you could hear our Lord Jesus saying to Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5 ESV). Therefore, through this salutary gift, the door to the kingdom of God is opened to Ethan and Caleb as they received the indwelling Holy Spirit who will faithfully lead them in the sanctified life all their days. From now on, every day of their lives, they can call upon the Lord as a child of God to be rescued from sin, death, and the devil while being assured that the Lord will hear and respond to their need. Marvelous indeed is this Baptism for it is the very Gospel we preach.

In the Epistle Reading for today, St. Paul speaks of this Gospel. He stands to defend it against those who would falsely teach that what he had to say was nothing more than something he had learned from others or something he had created out of thin air. In refuting these false teachers, St. Paul says, “the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ” (vv. 11-12). St. Paul received the Gospel on the road to Damascus when Christ appeared to him and talked with him. After humbling St. Paul by knocking him from his horse and blinding him, Jesus told him to, “Rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do” (Acts 9:6 ESV). Our Lord then told Ananias, a disciple, to go and baptize St. Paul, to lay hands on him, committing the ministry of the Word to him while commending him to the church. Thus, St. Paul was called by God to preach the Gospel of Christ, that is that God in His mercy graciously saves us, “by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Titus 3:5-6 ESV). This is what you witnessed this morning with Ethan and Caleb. They have been renewed and regenerated by God.

St. Paul says that the Gospel he preached is not man’s gospel and the Gospel we witnessed in the baptism of Ethan and Caleb is also not man’s gospel, but sadly many make it man’s gospel by failing to understand God’s Word in the blessed sacrament of Baptism.

Those who deny the blessings of Baptism exchange the bright beams of the Gospel of peace with the darkness of man’s reason. Standing on the slippery slope of man’s ego, they fail to avail themselves of the Gospel blessings of Baptism; God’s Word in and with the water of Baptism bestows God’s grace, consolation, and eternal life. Many, however, rather than seeing the Gospel in Baptism, see Baptism as nothing more than man’s affirmation of his acceptance of God. Thus, they change the Gospel into Law. Instead of relying on the Gospel they turn to the law, the word of wrath, seeking to justify themselves, thereby placing this word of death in front of the Gospel; the very Word of life.

Relying on reason and its powers, the flesh resists the spirit and fails to believe that God’s promises are true. The flesh, fighting against the spirit, holds it captive so it cannot believe as firmly as it wants. St. Paul tells us he also suffered from this miserable condition as he wrote to the church at Rome, “but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members” (Romans 7:23 ESV). Convinced of this struggle of the flesh against the spirit, we must continually teach that the gift of faith and the blessings of Baptism are not a human work, but the blessings of a merciful and gracious God. Therefore, we teach, believe and confess that we are brought to faith only through God’s Word and we are given the blessings of the Gospel through the means of grace; Baptism, Holy Communion, and God’s Saving Word.

St. Paul asks, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:3-4 ESV). Now, does St. Paul believe that Baptism is merely an act of man; a symbolic gesture of one’s faith? Hardly! St. Paul clearly teaches that baptized Christians are dead unto sin, but alive unto God. All who are baptized are sanctified through the waters of Baptism. Baptism is a means of forgiving sin; it is a mortification of the old man in us and a resurrection of the new. Through the waters of Baptism we are made new and righteous in God’s sight for the sake of His Son, Jesus Christ. St. Peter, comparing Baptism to the flood, reminds us, “Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:21 ESV). Thus, this washing of rebirth creates new spiritual lives and natures within the baptized person and has done so this morning for Ethan and Caleb. Is there any doubt that Baptism is the Gospel, the very Gospel we preach?

Holy Scripture makes it clear; Baptism should not be withheld from anyone desiring to receive it. Our Lord Jesus tells us to baptize all nations; this includes all people regardless of age. Infants and children are baptized in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit because it is commanded by Christ. Our Lord Jesus told the disciples, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God” (Luke 18:16 ESV). It is only arrogance that would refute the Word of Christ and deny children Baptism. Moreover, on that first Christian Pentecost St. Peter preached to those convicted of their sin, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself” (Acts 2:37-38 ESV). Our Lord God calls all mankind through the Gospel, promising the forgiveness of sins and life eternal for the sake of His Son, Jesus Christ; this is what we proclaim, this is Baptism.

St. Paul, in his letter to the church at Galatians, wrote, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27 ESV). Thus, Ethan and Caleb put on Christ this morning. They are now children of God, brothers of Jesus Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God. From this day forward, robed in the righteousness of Christ, they are without the Law, living only by faith in Christ Jesus. Through the waters of Baptism, God has established a covenant of grace with Ethan and Caleb. Therefore, all their days the Holy Spirit will lead them in living the baptized life; a life of daily return to the grace of God given them in Baptism. Living in this Baptismal covenant they shall daily confess their transgressions and through faith they will seize the forgiveness of sins guaranteed by their Baptism. Thus, living the baptized life, Ethan and Caleb will bask in the consolation of the assurance of the forgiveness of their sins as they live a new life in Christ.

The Blessed Sacrament of Holy Baptism is solely the work of God and not the work of man. Through this Blessed Sacrament we receive God’s grace and we are given the Holy Spirit to believe in the atoning work of our Savior, Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit, leading us in the sanctified life, leads us to believe and confess that it is only the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and it alone, that has gained for us the forgiveness of sins; bringing us spiritual healing and offering us eternal life.

Thus, all that our Lord Jesus did to accomplish our salvation is given us through the waters of Baptism. This is the Gospel; the proclamation of the grace and mercy of God for Christ’s sake. It is this proclamation that assures all who have been brought to faith to continue to believe that their former unbelief, which kept them mired in the Law of God and under His wrath, has been pardoned and forgiven. This is Baptism; it is the very Gospel that we preach. It is the Gospel I shall preach all my days, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16 ESV). It is the power that has cleansed Ethan and Caleb, it is the power that has adopted them as children of God, and it is the power that grants them life eternal with Christ Jesus in His heavenly home. Amen.

May the Peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.