************ Sermon on Belgic Confession Article 34 ************
Doctrine: Baptism
By: Rev. Adrian Dieleman
This sermon was preached on August 8, 1999
B.C. 34
Colossians 2:11-12; 3:1-10
"Holy Baptism"
Introduction
Do you know the date of your baptism? If you are like me, you probably don't – especially if you were baptized as a child. We know birthdays, graduations, wedding anniversaries, and the like but most of us don't know the date of our own baptism.
Topic: Baptism
Subtopic:
Index: 756-760
Date: 8/1999.101
Title: The Most Important Day of My Life!
One of the most godly and Christian rulers of all time was Louis IX of France. He was so godly that he was given the nickname of "Pious."
Louis ruled from 1226-1270 during one of the most turbulent periods of France's history. Yet, Louis was able to keep peace between warring and rival French nobles. He was an accomplished knight, fearless in battle, heroic in adversity, unyielding when he was convinced he was right. He fasted much, loved sermons, and chanted with the priests. He built hospitals to care for the sick and -- out of his own pocket -- he generously cared for more than one hundred of the poor.
Louis was asked once what he considered to be the greatest day of his life. There were many days he could have mentioned: the day he was crowned as king though he was only 12 years old, the day of his marriage, any of the days in which he won a battle. He mentioned none of these. Instead, he mentioned the day of his baptism.
As a Roman Catholic his theology behind all of this may have been wrong but at least he sensed the importance of a day we either forget or shrug off as being unimportant.
Louis IX of France had the right idea. I say that because Scripture teaches us that baptism is one of the most important events in your life and my life.
I The Meaning of Baptism
A What is the meaning of baptism? What is its significance in the life of a believer? What can Ben and Janine say to their son Meije about his baptism this morning?
First of all, the water of baptism shows us that the work of Christ is sufficient for our salvation; baptism shows us that the work of Christ is complete, that He has finished His work of redemption.
God's rule of atonement says that for a person to be forgiven blood has to be shed. In Old Testament Israel it was the blood of sheep and goats, the blood of bulls and rams, and the blood of circumcision. God's rule of atonement still applies: to be forgiven today we also need the shedding of blood. The blood that has been shed for us, however, is the blood of Christ upon the cross. Christ, you see, is the fulfillment of the law. He has put an end to
every other shedding of blood, which anyone might do or wish to do in order to atone or satisfy for sins.
You may wonder how this fits in with baptism. Baptism, by the command of Christ, has taken the place of circumcision:
Having abolished circumcision,
which was done with blood,
[Christ] established in its place
the sacrament of baptism.
And baptism, according to Paul in Colossians 2, shows us that we have been circumcised in Christ.
(Col 2:11-12) In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, (12) having been buried with him in baptism ...
Children and parents no longer have to spill blood at circumcision or at altars to make satisfaction for sins. Baptism shows that the blood of Christ is all that we need to be saved.
B What is the meaning of baptism? The second thing we can say is that baptism is the means by which "we are received into the Church of God." No one can be a member of the church on earth until they are baptized. So, technically speaking, Meije Tiersma did not become a member of Trinity Christian Reformed Church until his baptism this morning. What is true for children is true for adults too: they are not received as members of the church until or unless they are baptized. And, it is only after baptism that someone's name is entered into the church's record books.
C What is the meaning of baptism? The third thing we can say is that baptism is God's means of setting us apart. The Confession puts it this way:
By [baptism] we are ...
... set part from all other people and alien religions,
that we may be dedicated entirely to him,
bearing his mark and sign.
In Hawaii during the 19th century all lepers were sent by the government to an isolated island. Leprosy marked those people as being different so they were set apart. In baptism God sets us apart as surely as the lepers of Hawaii were set apart. He sets us apart from all heathens and from all those who have other religions.
In baptism God puts His mark on us showing us that we have been set apart by Him.
Topic: Baptism
Subtopic:
Index:
Date: 8/1999.101
Title: The Mark of God
When the government first introduced the Social Security number many thought this could be the mark of the beast mentioned in the book of Revelation (13:16-17; 14:11). The mark shows that you belong to the beast.
Today, many people think that the mark of the beast might be a small computer chip embedded just under the skin at birth; this chip would contain all sorts of information about health and medical history, income, family, schooling, IQ, SAT scores, school grades, DNA, and the like. After Frank Leyendekker showed me how this is done with his Frisian horses I realized it could easily be used on people too.
Whatever the mark of the beast might be, the Christian has received something similar from God – the water of baptism. In baptism God puts His mark upon us. This mark shows you belong to God.
D What is the meaning of baptism? The fourth thing we can say is that baptism witnesses to us
that [God] will be our God forever,
since he is our gracious Father.
Here the Belgic Confession of Faith calls to mind the everlasting covenant God established with us. God will never ever forsake us so long as we shall live. He is faithful and loyal to those who have been set apart by His mark. Even when we, through weakness, should fall into sin, we don't have to despair of God's grace. Baptism is a seal and totally reliable witness that God is always faithful to His covenant.
Here is the biggest difference between a Reformed and an Arminian view of baptism. When it comes right down to it, the Reformed take a God-ward view of baptism while Arminians take a man-ward view of baptism. According to the Arminian view – the view of almost every single church other than those that are Reformed or Presbyterian – baptism is a pledge of one's faith and readiness to serve God. According to the Reformed view, on the other hand, baptism is a declaration of God's grace to us in and through Christ. Baptism doesn't point to us; rather, it points to Christ and His finished work upon the cross and in the grave.
E What is the meaning of baptism? The fifth thing we can say is that baptism shows that the blood of Christ
... washes and cleanses [the soul] from its sins
and transforms us from being the children of wrath
into the children of God.
In explaining this, the Belgic Confession of Faith calls Christ "our Red Sea." Israel, if you remember, had to pass through the Red Sea in order to escape the tyranny of Pharaoh and enter the Promised Land of Canaan. We have to pass through the Red Sea of Christ – which is a reference to His precious blood – to escape the tyranny of the devil and enter the spiritual land of Canaan. Baptism, in other words, signifies and seals to us that we have passed through the blood of the Lamb so that we are free from sin and Satan and heirs of everlasting life.
F What is the meaning of baptism? The sixth thing we can say is that baptism signifies we are new creatures in Christ. Borrowing from the imagery of the Apostle Paul in our Scripture reading from Colossians, the Belgic Confession of Faith talks of
clothing us with the "new man" and stripping off the "old"
with all its works.
The "old man" is the man of sin. The new man is the man of righteousness.
When David and Christopher come home from work they are covered from head to toe with dirt and dust and sometimes grease and oil and bits of manure. They peel off their dirty clothes, hop in the shower, and put on clean clothes. They have gone from being dirty to being clean.
Baptism signifies that kind of change in our life: we have gone from the dirt of sin to the cleanliness of righteousness.
II All God's People Should be Baptized
A The Belgic Confession of Faith reminds us of Christ's command
that all those who belong to him
be baptized with pure water ...
This command is found in Matthew 28: "... go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them ..." All of Christ's people are to be baptized.
Included in the number of "those who belong to him" are the children of believers. Here the Belgic Confession of Faith speaks against the error of the Anabaptists who condemn the baptism of infants.
Those who are opposed to infant baptism make one basic error: they believe that baptism is a sign of human faith; they say that baptism says or shows something about the person being baptized. Under this view, of course, little children cannot be baptized because they have no faith and are not able to make any commitment to God. Their view of baptism, as I said earlier, is man-ward. But when your view of baptism is God-ward, when you say it shows something about God and His grace towards us in Christ, then the age and maturity and spiritual level of the person being baptized is unimportant.
When we think about it, the baptism of a helpless child is a most dramatic and precious symbol of God's grace. For you see, congregation, an infant receives the sign of God's grace before he or she could possibly lead a life of service or commitment. In the baptism of a child we see that salvation truly has nothing to do with ourselves and our own efforts. Infant baptism is a strong reminder that we are saved purely by the grace of God in Christ.
B The Belgic Confession of Faith, based upon Scripture, advances three reasons why the children of believers ought to be baptized.
The first argument is that our children are part of the covenant and as such ought to receive the sign of the covenant – namely, baptism. This does not mean we are in favor of indiscriminate baptism – that anyone and everyone can have their children baptized. No, not at all. Rather, only the children of believers can be baptized. Only the children of those who have professed Christ can be baptized.
I want you to think of what we are saying about our children if we deny them the sacrament of baptism. We are saying they are outside of the covenant. We are saying they are to be treated like the pagan and the heathen – like little lost souls.
Either our children belong to Christ or they belong to the Devil. If they belong to Christ they have to receive baptism, which is the sign or mark of being in the covenant.
C The second argument for infant baptism raised by the Belgic Confession of Faith is that
Christ has shed his blood no less
for washing the little children of believers
than he did for adults.
Therefore they ought to receive the sign and sacrament
of what Christ has done for them.
The central promise of baptism is the forgiveness of sins by the blood and Spirit of Christ. This promise is no less for children than it is for their parents.
D The third argument for infant baptism concerns the essential unity of the Old Testament and New Testament covenants:
Furthermore,
baptism does for our children
what circumcision did for the Jewish people.
That is why Paul calls baptism
the "circumcision of Christ."
If, in the Old Testament, the children of believers were circumcised then, in the New Testament, the children of believers receive baptism, which has taken the place of circumcision.
III One Baptism in the Name of God, With Water, for All Sin
A In talking about baptism the Belgic Confession of faith reminds us that it is to be done
"in the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit."
We baptize in the name of the triune God. There was a period in the Netherlands, right after World War II, when baptisms were done in "faith, hope, and love." But such baptisms are not valid. Rev. Charles Foster of Elwood, IN told the following story in Focus On the Family Magazine.
As a minister, I conduct many baptismal services. My denomination baptizes in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. One Sunday, my family and I went to a friend's home in the country.
Our four children went outside to play with the others. After a short while, we heard only silence and wondered what the children were up to. We found them behind a barn quietly playing "church."
Our 4-year-old daughter Susan was conducting the baptismal service. She held a cat over a barrel of water. Trying to be as solemn as her father, she repeated the phrase she had heard many times: "I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and in the hole you go!"
Around the year A.D. 200 the church had to struggle with the Marcionites. The Marcionites were followers of the heretic Marcion. Marcion rejected the Old Testament and almost all of the New Testament, including the accounts of the incarnation and the resurrection, basing his teachings on ten of the Epistles of St. Paul and on an altered version of the Gospel of Luke. Marcion divided God into the just God of Law, who was the Creator of the Old Testament, and the good God, the infinitely superior deity revealed by Jesus Christ. After Marcion and his views were condemned by an early Church Council the question arose what to do with his baptisms. Would those he baptized have to be rebaptized? Could the church accept the baptisms administered by a heretic? One of the first Church Councils said any baptism was valid so long as they were done by a valid representative of the church and in the name of the triune Godhead. The reason? Because baptism does not point to man's work or man's faith but to God's grace – and not even an heretic can undo that.
B The Belgic Confession of Faith also reminds us that baptism is to be done with "pure water." Here we are being warned against the extra practices that crept into the sacrament by the time of the Middle Ages. The Roman Catholic Church, for instance, told her priests to breathe three times upon the face of those being baptized, make the sign of the cross upon the forehead and chest, touch the ears and nostrils with spit, put holy salt into the mouth, and cast out any evil spirit. All of these extra practices attached to baptism took away from the central symbolism of baptism – namely, that the water represents our cleansing by the blood of Christ.
Here is also a reminder that baptism needs water. We don't practice dry baptisms. We don't baptize with anointing oil. We baptize with water.
Topic: Baptism
Subtopic:
Index:
Date: 8/1999.101
Title: Pure Water
This reminds me of the time the lid of the baptismal font was lifted and there was no water. I looked behind the pulpit for my glass of water – no water. I sent the presiding elder to the kitchen while we sang a song. After a couple of stanzas he still hadn't returned so I went to the kitchen. He was boiling water on the stove. He thought water for baptism was special and couldn't be taken just from the tap. But any water will do just so long as it is water.
C Two times the Belgic Confession of Faith reminds us that a child of God is to be baptized only once. Here it speaks against those who are not content with the baptism they received as infants and insist on being rebaptized. Baptism points to what Christ has done. And, what Christ has done does not need to be repeated. Just like we are physically born only once, so are we spiritually born only once. Therefore, the ceremony pointing to what Christ has done does not need to be repeated.
D Lastly, the Belgic Confession of Faith tells us that our one baptism
... is profitable
not only when the water is on us
and when we receive it
but throughout our
entire lives.
The Roman Catholic Church wrongly believes that baptism deals only with original sin, the sin we are all born with. Actual sin, they say, requires something more – the sacrament of penance. Not so, says the Confession. Baptism shows us that God because of Christ forgives us all of our sins – those we are born with as well as those we actually commit.