Word of Salvation – April 2019
B.C.34 – Baptism: Sacrament Of Initiation
Sermon by Rev. John Westendorp
Scripture Readings: 1Corinthians 9:24 – 10:13 & Colossians 2:9-12
Introd: King Louis IX of France was a king known for his godliness and goodness.
He lived back in the 13th century during politically troubled times.
Yet he was able to keep peace between the various factions among his nobles.
Simply by his own moral force he kept things under control.
He stands out as an ideal king of the Middle Ages.
History books tell us of the hospitals he built and the charities he founded…
and the way he fed more than a hundred of the poor every day.
King Louis was once asked what he considered the greatest day of his life.
His officials expected him to mention the day of his coronation when he was only twelve.
Or perhaps the day of his royal marriage to Margaret, the daughter of a count.
But he didn’t – instead he mentioned the day of his baptism.
“Because”, he said, “on that day God granted me salvation…!”
Okay, from our point of view we have problems with the King’s theology.
Yet there is something admirable about his choice of this day.
The day of his baptism – chosen above those other great days of his life.
In that sense we as Reformed Christians can learn something from King Louis IX.
What does your baptism mean to you? Many of us would say: Not very much?
How important do you regard the day when you received that sacrament?
Many people would say: It doesn’t really feature very much in my thinking.
Today the B. Confession reminds us that all of us should value the day of our baptism.
This evening we’ll especially consider three things.
The WHAT of our baptism, the HOW of our baptism, and the WHO of baptism.
A] THE MEANING OF BAPTISM.
- First of all we want to look at the WHAT of baptism… the meaning.
As we consider what baptism means there are three things that especially stand out.
We saw last week that Romans 4:11 speaks of sacraments as a sign.
But… it’s not first of all a sign of something we do… rather it’s a sign of something God does.
In this article of the Confession there is very little stress on OUR actions.
But it tells us a great deal about God’s work.
That lies at the heart of a lot of misunderstanding about baptism today.
Many folk today see baptism as a sign of their commitment to Christ… or a sign of their faith.
They believe… and they confirm their faith in their baptism. It’s about what we do.
Scripture doesn’t teach that… Romans 4:11 links sacraments to the righteousness God gives us.
In fact, if baptism is a sign of our faith or of our commitment to the Lord
then our feelings about the day of our baptism are going to change with the weather.
If my baptism is a sign of my faith then I’ll feel good about my baptism when my faith is strong.
But when my faith falters I’m not going to be helped much by thinking about my baptism.
On the other hand if the emphasis in baptism falls on what God does…
…not on my faith… but on His grace and the righteousness that He gives…
…not on my commitment to Him… but on His commitment to me…
then my baptism will be a rich source of assurance to me in difficult times.
The Reformer, Martin Luther, had a very vivid struggle with the devil in his life.
In his doubts and temptations he found satan’s presence very real.
So real that on one occasion he hurled an ink bottle at him.
Today tourists to Wittenberg are still shown the ink stain on the wall.
What is less well known is that in the middle of one such battle when he was riddled with doubt,
Martin Luther scrawled on the blackboard: “I have been baptised!”
This was the one certainty to which he felt he could cling.
For Luther that was not because baptism was a sign of his commitment to Christ.
Because that was the very problem Luther struggled with.
So Luther focused on his baptism as the sign of Jesus Christ’s commitment to Him.
- A second meaning of baptism beautifully pictures just how God commits Himself to us.
IOW baptism means not only that God has committed Himself to us…
but it also tells us HOW God has committed Himself to us.
The sacrament is a SIGN… God’s picture language… an audio-visual of the gospel.
So just as water is often used to wash away the dirt of the body…
so the blood of Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, cleanses the soul of its sins.
It is an outward sign of what God does inwardly.
So in Baptism we see that God has committed Himself to His people in the death of His own Son.
Thru the blood that flowed on Calvary God has provided a way of escape for us.
Thru the dying and the victory of Jesus we are set free from sin and satan.
That is why Luther could draw comfort from the fact of his baptism.
In that visible sign Luther saw God’s guarantee of His saving work.
So our baptism should be something that gives us certainty about our salvation through Jesus.
In our doubts and difficulties we can say: I have been baptised.
As water washes my body clean so Christ has washed me by his blood and Spirit.
- Thirdly baptism is a sacrament of initiation.
In the O.T. circumcision was the sacrament that marked one as belonging to the covenant nation.
So too in baptism we are formally recognised as belonging to the people of God.
Both circumcision in the O.T. and baptism in the N.T. are rites of initiation into the believing community.
And in all the N.T. passages baptism is pictured in that way.
Throughout the book of Acts we see people coming to faith in Jesus.
And as they come to Christ they are baptised… that’s the sacrament of initiation.
In this way they are received into the church and recognised as part of the people of God.
The church has always required baptism as a condition of membership.
Baptism is like a badge one wears to show that one belongs.
Maybe in our Western society we no longer appreciate that fully.
But people in Muslim countries certainly do.
Their Muslim family and friends often put up with someone showing an interest in Christianity.
But when they are baptised they usually become outcasts of their families.
They have been initiated into the Christian church and therefore they are cut off.
So baptism – as a sacrament of initiation – sets the people of God apart from all other people.
It marks them off from other religions and other people.
This idea of baptism as an initiation again show us that baptism is first of all about what God does.
Not what we do…. but what God is doing.
Baptism is not a sign that we were wise enough to come to Christ.
But rather that God took steps to ensure that we belonged to Him.
He took the initiative… He brought us to himself and placed us within the Christian church.
B] THE METHOD OF BAPTISM.
- Let’s move on and also consider the HOW of baptism. The method.
How is baptism to be carried out?
There is some confusion at this point… and a lot of disagreement among Christians.
Probably the least contentious matter is the words accompanying the sacrament.
Last time as we considered sacraments in general we saw that the words are most important.
We saw that it would be meaningless and foolish to just go thru the motions – silently.
In the institution of baptism Jesus commands us
to do it in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
We are to do that to show that we have the authority of the Triune God for this ritual.
But there is also another reason for mentioning all three persons of the Trinity.
That is that all three persons are involved in the work of our salvation.
The Father planned our salvation before the foundation of the world.
The Son accomplished it by His death and resurrection.
And the Holy Spirit applies it to our lives today.
So we are baptised into the name of each of the persons of the Trinity.
Today we don’t have too much trouble with this aspect of baptism.
There was a time when liberal theology reigned in the church… and the Trinity was denied.
Then baptism was no longer done in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Sometimes, instead, it was done in the name of faith, hope and charity.
And still some of the cults today have replaced this baptismal formula.
- Secondly baptism is obviously to be done with water.
That sign of cleansing (that Ephesians 5 speaks of) must be seen.
It is interesting that at this point our confession mentions – pure water.
By saying that it doesn’t mean that the water has to be sterilised.
No – it simply means ordinary clean water.
There is good reason why we make a point of that.
Right thru the history of the Christian church there have been superstitions.
As though the water had to be something special.
Holy water… that had received special treatment with some incantation.
Wealthy people have at times even had water brought from the Jordan river
as if that made the baptism more effective.
Over against all such superstitions we affirm the use of ordinary water.
Water from the same source as your shower or bath….!
IOW the validity of the sacrament does not depend on the kind of water used.
- Thirdly we should also add that the validity of baptism doesn’t depend on the quantity of water either.
In fact our confession speaks only of SPRINKLING.
Today many Christians do have a problem with that.
In fact there are Christian churches today which would not accept our baptism.
Not even if it was carried out while you were an adult.
Some churches accept as a valid baptism only those baptisms done by total immersion and to adults.
If you were to join such a church they would insist you be re-baptised.
Reformed Churches at this point have always been more broad-minded.
Our church order instructs the churches to accept any baptism
that has been carried out in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We believe – from a Biblical viewpoint the quantity of water doesn’t matter.
In fact the Rev. Steven Voorwinde (RTC) once wrote a article
in which he showed that there is more Biblical justification for sprinkling than for immersion.
And that those who try to prove otherwise haven’t done their homework.
So when we talk about the HOW of baptism, the method…
Then we certainly see differences in the way baptism is carried out.
But let me draw your attention again to the essentials.
The vital thing is not the water…. the vital thing is the blood of Christ.
It’s not the ritual that is central but the reality to which the ritual points.
Has the blood of Jesus washed away your sins ?
If not you can have your baptism done over and over.
And you can try every method possible.
But no amount of baptisms will ever take away the guilt and sin of your soul.
As you bow in faith before Christ and accept that His blood was shed for you…
then your one baptism has great meaning… and it need never be done again.
For it is a reminder of your new birth in the Spirit.
Just as were born only once so your baptism should only be once.
Just as in the O.T equivalent of baptism – circumcision – it could only be done once.
It’s a reminder that you have once been initiated into Christ and His church.
C] THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM.
- The third matter we want to touch on briefly is the WHO of baptism.
Who is it who is to be baptised. And again we are in an area where Christians disagree.
We would have to say first of all that baptism is for believers.
It is for all those who trust in Christ for their salvation.
And when we say that we have no problems…!
All Christians are agreed – believers should be baptised.
When we find forgiveness thru faith in Christ we will also want that confirmed to us in holy baptism.
Although I again want to stress that the sacrament is not a sign of my faith in the Lord Jesus.
Rather it is a sign of what God has done for me in His saving work.
However the point is – and Christians all agree – believers ought to be baptised.
- The contentious issue at this point is the matter of infant baptism.
Should infants too receive this sign and seal of God’s grace?
And then a great number of Christians say, “Yes, of course!”
But ever since the days of the Anabaptists at the time of the Reformation
there have been those who reject the baptism of our little ones.
I am not going to try to meet all the objections and solve every problem.
I just want to stress at this point two things in particular.
First of all we do not have two kinds of baptism – one for believers and one for children.
We have only one baptism. And that one baptism is applied to believers and their children.
Secondly we do not just baptise children indiscriminately.
We baptise only the children of believing parents.
I can give you many reasons why this church also applies baptism to the children of believing parents.
And no doubt people of “Baptist” persuasion would raise some objections.
However there is one issue that is often missed in the whole debate.
And that issue is this: Do our children belong to the Lord and His church or do they not belong?
May we regard them as members with us of the covenant community?
Or must we simply regard them as little pagans until they are able to decide for themselves?
Many people of Baptist persuasion recognise that our children are special.
So they have services of dedication for their children.
We too say that children of believers are special and that they belong.
But they belong… only on the basis of the finished work of Christ – therefore we baptise them.
- When it comes to WHO should be baptised we have to say one more thing.
That this sacrament is not just for individuals.
It is for the whole covenant community.
If people could see that, then difficulties about infant baptism would disappear.
We need again the vision of the early church which saw that so very clearly.
Paul in Col. 2:12,13 could speak in the one breath about circumcision and about baptism.
Paul tells those Colossian Christians that they have been “circumcised in Christ”.
And when we ask what that is… we learn that it is simply holy baptism.
The early church were not afraid to draw the lines from the O.T. to the N.T.
That’s why we read also from I Cor. 10.
There Paul said of the Israelites in the wilderness that they were all baptised into Moses
and that they drank from the Rock which was Christ.
The Christian church is the Israel of God… the NT covenant community.
Therefore just as Abraham received the sign of circumcision as a believer
we today still administer the sacrament of initiation to those who come to Christ as adults.
But Abraham also administered that sign to the baby Isaac.
To show that he too belonged to that covenant community.
And that God’s gracious promises were also for Abraham’s children.
Today as we take the whole council of God in O.T. and N.T. we affirm with our confession
that we believe our children ought to be baptised and to be sealed with the sign of the covenant.
Conclusion:
I want to close by saying that our baptism should be a great comfort to us.
God has given us this sign and seal of His commitment to us.
On the other hand our baptism should never make us complacent.
We can never say – I’ve been baptised so it doesn’t matter how I live ?
The whole point of Paul’s mention of the Israelites baptised into Moses
and drinking from Christ their Rock… is that many of them still fell in the wilderness.
That’s why Paul found it so important to discipline himself in the Christian race.
Our Baptism is a great encouragement to us.
But it’s also a call to us to live the Christian life to the honour and glory of God.
Amen.
BC stands for Basic Christianity. What are the fundamentals of the faith?
BC also stands for Belgic Confession – a document in which the Christian church (in a time of great persecution) spelled out the basics of what she believes.
When Christianity is a mile wide and an inch deep it needs to grasp again the basics of the faith and confess them in a world where the faith is increasingly under attack.
Those who drew up the BC declared that they were ready to obey the government in all lawful things, but that they would “offer their backs to stripes, their tongues to knives, their mouths to gags and their whole bodies to the fire” rather than deny the truth expressed in this confession.