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Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
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Baptism, Why and What? |
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Ninth
Sunday after Trinity July
20, 2008 I was one of those inquisitive children who like to ask, “why?” I still do. I want to know why we do what we do. Why do we have a church? Why do we go to church? Why do we do what we do in worship? Why do we baptize people? Why do people get baptized? I want to know why we do things because I want to know we have a good reason for them. Do we have a good reason for these things? The short answer is, “yes.” We have the Church because God founded it. We go to church because God tells us to. We do what we do in worship because God tells us to do it. We baptize because God tells us to baptize. Mt. 28:19 tells us, “Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Now if God tells the Church to baptize people, He obviously also intends people to be baptized. And so, we find these words in Acts 2:28, “Repent and be baptized every one of you, for the remission of sins.” There are many good reasons for doing some things, but the best reason for doing anything is because God says it. Let’s talk about the remission of sins for a moment. I talk about this a lot, because the Bible talks about it a lot, so it must be important. In fact, the single most important fact about every person is that we are all sinners who will one day stand trial in the court of Almighty God for our crimes against Him. None of our excuses will work on that day. We won’t be able to blame our sins on our economic status. We won’t be able to blame parents or teachers or preachers or race or nationality or religion. It won’t work on that day to say, “it can’t be wrong if it feels so right.” One glaring fact will stand out against all of our excuses; we sinned and we did it because we wanted to. That will condemn us in the eyes of Almighty God. But God is rich in mercy, and He forgives the sins of all who come to Him through Jesus Christ. The crucifixion of Christ is about God bearing the condemnation of our sin in Himself instead of requiring it of us. And He promises that all who believe in Christ, in biblical faith, are forgiven and will live with God in Heaven forever. “There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ,” God tells us in Romans 8:1. He has removed our sins from us as far as the east is from the west, according to Psalm 103:12. And everyone’s favorite verse, John 3:16, tells us that “God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Yes we will stand trial before God. Yes we will be found guilty. But no, we will not go to hell, for Christ has paid our debt to God, and we will be set free, if we have accepted Christ as He is presented to us in the Bible. I will say more about that in a few moments. Because of this we follow Christ in baptism, and baptism has two basic parts, God’s part, and our part. Let’s look at our part first. We can summarize our part by saying we are making serious promises to God, and, at the same time, we are making a profession of faith.. We are saying “I believe this faith, and I will be faithful to it.” The Prayer Book expresses this well in a few beautiful and very biblical vows, made in the form of questions and answers. It says on page 277 that we renounce the devil and all his works. We know about the devil. He tells us his ways are the ways of life and happiness, but he is a liar and the father of lies. We always find this out too late, after we have chased his rainbows and eaten his bread. Then we find that his rainbows have no gold and his bread is the bread of tears. Sin may give momentary pleasure, but the tears are forever. In our baptism, we renounce him. We reject him. We eject him from our lives, him and all his ways and all his lies. We say to the devil, “Get thee hence, Satan,” (Mt. 4:10). We renounce the world with its vain pomp and glory. The word, “world” is used here in the spiritual sense to represent all the ideas and values that oppose God. We reject these things, and all the glitter and approbation of the world. We stand against it. We will not follow others into sin and despair. We renounce all these things. “Be not conformed to this world,” (Rom. 12:2). We renounce the sinful desires of the flesh. “Flesh” is also used in a spiritual sense here. It represents our natural desires and appetites, especially when we allow them to rule us. Renouncing them means we will not be ruled by them, like animals. Instead, we will subject them to the law of God, and He will rule our appetites. “They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts,” (Gal 5:24). We promise to believe in Jesus. Of course this means we believe in Him as a historical person, but more than that, it means to believe in Him as one might say, “I believe in America.” It is a belief that carries a deep commitment to it. It is an acceptance of America’s values, and its way of life. So it is with belief in Jesus. To believe in Him in biblical faith is to commit ourselves to Him without reservation. The words of Thomas describe this well, when seeing the Risen Christ He bowed before Him and said, “My Lord and my God,” (Jn. 20:28). Belief, then, includes accepting Christ as Lord. It is a total commitment to Him and to His ways. And, in baptism, we promise to accept Jesus as Lord. We make Him our Master, our King. Or, as the highest position in existence, we make Him our God. It is not just that we recognize that He is God. It is that we intentionally crown Him as our God. My God. In baptism we say to The God, “Thou art my God. To Thee only do I belong.” We Crown Him King and God of our lives. Again the words of Thomas illustrate this, “My Lord and my God.” We promise to accept Christ as Saviour, as the One who alone can bring us out of our sin and hell. He gave His life for our souls, and sets us free from the penalty of our sins to live a righteous and holy life. Again, we do not merely accept Him as The Saviour, but as our Saviour. My Saviour. We trust in Him as our only means of peace with God. Once again I refer you to the words of Thomas to see this in action in real life. In Baptism we promise to believe the Apostles’ Creed. This creed is simply a summary of the major and essential doctrines of the Christian faith. You cannot be a Christian and not believe the doctrines in the Apostles Creed. You can disagree with other Christians over baptism, for example. But reject any one of the teachings of the Apostles’ Creed and you have rejected Christ. In baptism you are saying “I do believe these doctrines. This creed is my creed.” This is a promise that you make to God. Your baptism, or your confirmation at a later time, is your assertion that you are committed to this faith. You were baptized into it. But God does something in Baptism too. The act of baptism is God’s sealing unto you certain promises, if your faith is true and real. What does God promise to you? He promises forgiveness of sins. We have looked at some of the biblical promises of God to forgive our sins. Baptism is a seal of this promise and a sign of it. God promises to regenerate you. To generate is to start, so to regenerate is to start over. God is starting you over again, turning over a new leaf, beginning again. Regeneration means God is making you into a new kind of person. He is reforming your old attitudes and habits and actions, and forming new ones in you that are in conformity with His holy and righteous will. God promises to make you a member of His Church. Baptism is the rite of entry into the Church. That means you have become a part of a new culture, a new people, a new family. You have new friends, and they are a new kind of friends. Your new friends encourage you live in godliness and goodness. They encourage you to do positive things that promote your eternal well being. They encourage you to renounce and keep on renouncing the devil and his ways, and to accept and keep on accepting the ways of Christ. This are the kind of friends you need. Finally, God promises to give you Heaven. One of my favorite passages in all of Scripture is John 14:2, “in my Fathers house are many mansions.” I have seen some exotic mansions in my life, from great plantation homes to the super rich industrialists’ houses, and even a European castle or two. To say Heaven has many mansions means it is a grand place. But the best mansions will be the spiritual mansions, the eternal safety, and the great inner peace of knowing nothing will ever hurt us again, forever; the joy of finally being fully reformed, so we will never sin again, or even be susceptible to temptation. Best of all will be seeing and walking with God face-to-face. No more fears, no more doubts, no more questions, just knowing God as fully as we could ever want to know. Yes, it is a great place, and its all yours. God promises it to you. He gives it to you as the free gift of His grace. Your baptism is His promise to you, all this and more is yours, if you only believe. Let us pray. Holy Father, as we make and remember the promises of our baptismal vows, we beseech Thee to strengthen anew our desire to do as we promised, “by God’s help.” And let us continue to lay hold by faith upon your promises signed and sealed to us in that same sacrament, that we may be encouraged and cheered upon the way of Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen. The Rev. Dr. R. Dennis Campbell, Vicar, Holy Trinity Anglican Church,
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