The Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me!

15 days old. That’s how old I was when I died and was buried. When I died to sin. When my old self was crucified with Christ in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that I would no longer be enslaved to sin. When I was baptized into Christ’s death and buried with Him.

But something else also happened in that water connected with God’s Word. I received new life—Christ’s resurrected life—and was given the privilege of walking in newness of life from that day forward. Now, by God’s grace, I am alive to God in Christ Jesus. Redeemed. Washed clean. Forgiven.

Even though I have no recollection of my baptism, that life-giving Sacrament is the best thing that ever happened to me. The fact that I don’t remember it doesn’t bother me at all. Why should it? Baptism isn’t about me and what I did for God. It is about Christ and what He gave me freely. While an individual can receive Holy Baptism at any age, infant baptism is a beautiful reminder that faith in Jesus Christ is a free gift from God. It is given to you. It is His work, not yours. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Today—on this anniversary of my baptism—I thank God for faithful parents who brought Christ to me via this life-giving Sacrament as an infant. They also taught me to confess my sins, to hear my Shepherd’s voice, love my Shepherd’s house, and hunger and thirst for my Shepherd’s true body and blood. In short, they raised me—a sinner to the very core of my being—“in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4), that I might rejoice daily in the forgiveness, life, and salvation that are mine in Christ. Dad and Mom, thank you!

Take a moment and rejoice in your baptism as well. In fact, do it daily! For you received the same blessings I received in that water connected with God’s Word. As a joyous reminder, here is a sampling of God’s words and promises connected with this life-giving Sacrament:

“Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.” [Mark 16:16] 

“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 2:38-39] 

“Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins.” [Acts 22:16] 

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. For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. [Romans 6:3-11] 

In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. [Galatians 3:26-27] 

Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that He might present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. [Ephesians 5:25-27] 

He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. [Titus 3:5-7] 

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]

For the Forgiveness of Sins

I just opened up the May 2013 issue of The Lutheran Witness, paged through it, and was stunned by the very first letter to the editor. It reads:

I just read the article, “Can’t We All Just Get Along?” in the March 2013 issue of The Lutheran Witness. I was more than a little surprised about what we Lutherans are supposed to believe regarding the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper, as beneficial as it is, does not forgive sins. Forgiveness of sins is a free gift, given by grace, those who believe in Jesus as the Son of God who died, was buried and rose again as atonement for our sins. The Lord’s Supper serves to remind us of the sacrifice of Jesus and to strengthen our faith. To say that it is a source of forgiveness is not Scriptural; it adds a “works” requirement for the free gift of God to all who believe.

Charles F. Hawkins

Beaumont, Texas

I do not know Mr. Hawkins. But what he writes above is Scripturally false. To claim the Lord’s Supper “does not forgive sins” is a denial of our Lord’s very own words. Here is Saint Matthew’s account of the institution of this Sacrament:

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. [Matthew 26:26-28]

The body of Christ that was broken on the cross for the redemption of the world is the very same body He gives in this Sacrament. The blood of Christ that was poured out on the cross for the sin of the world is the very same blood He gives in this Sacrament. It is not a different body and blood, or a reminder of body and blood, or symbolic of body and blood. It is His body and blood. Jesus says so. His body and blood are the very means by which He grants forgiveness in this Sacrament. “Take, eat; ... drink of it, ... for the forgiveness of sins.”

Martin Luther confesses this beautifully in the Small Catechism:

What is the benefit of this eating and drinking?
These words, “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins,” show us that in the Sacrament forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given us through these words. For there there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.

To be charitable, perhaps Mr. Hawkins does not understand the difference between objective justification (the forgiveness Christ won for the entire world on the cross) and subjective justification (the forgiveness Christ distributes to individuals exclusively through the means of grace—Word and Sacraments).

Take, for example, Saint John’s words: “The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Objectively, Jesus’ blood cleanses every sinner from the creation of the world to our Lord’s second coming on the Last Day. But subjectively, Jesus’ blood needs to be applied (i.e. given, distributed) to sinners through the means of grace so that they, by God’s grace, might believe it and live from it. One of the ways in which that forgiveness is given is in the Lord’s Supper.

Then Mr. Hawkins charges that those who believe Christ forgives sins in this Sacrament are guilty of works righteousness. His words: To say that it is a source of forgiveness is not Scriptural; it adds a “works” requirement for the free gift of God to all who believe.

To be charitable, perhaps Mr. Hawkins does not understand “works.” This word, in the context he uses it, means an attempt to merit God’s grace and favor by something you do. To tie the forgiveness of sins Christ’s gives in this Sacrament to a human work is preposterous. After all, to receive our Lord’s true body and blood for the forgiveness of sins is not your work for Christ. It is Christ’s work for you. He is the Giver of this gift—the forgiveness of sins. You simply receive it in faith, according to our Lord’s words and promises. By the way, the same forgiveness is given in Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution, and the preaching of the Gospel. Like the Lord’s Supper, these gifts are also Christ’s work for you, not your work for Him.

This letter to the editor would not have surprised me had it come from someone with an evangelical, non-denominational, or “just me and Jesus” confession. But a Lutheran should know better.

I pray Mr. Hawkins will revisit our Lord’s words, Luther’s Small Catechism (cited above), and the following quotations from the Lutheran Confessions, to the end that he too might believe that our Lord Jesus Christ does indeed give forgiveness, life, and salvation in the Sacrament of the Altar. To deny the forgiveness of sins is to gut the Sacrament of its very benefit and leave it as little more than a quaint snack.

The Lord’s Supper does not give grace by the outward act (ex opera operato). ... It is impossible to receive the forgiveness of our sins because of our work by the outward act. [Apology XXIV 11-12]

Now examine further the effectiveness and benefits that really caused the Sacrament to be instituted. This is its most necessary part, so that we may know that we should seek and gain there. This is plain and clear from the words just mentioned, “This is My body and blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Briefly, that is like saying, “For this reason we go to the Sacrament: there we receive such a treasure by and in which we gain forgiveness of sins.” [Large Catechism V 20-21] 

Therefore also, it is useless talk when they say that Christ’s body and blood are not given and shed for us in the Lord’s Supper, so we could not have forgiveness of sins in the Sacrament. Although the work is done and the forgiveness of sins is secured by the cross [John 19:30], it cannot come to us in any other way than through the Word. [Large Catechism V 31] 

The entire Gospel and the articles of the Creed—I believe in ... the holy Christian Church, ... the forgiveness of sins, and so on—are embodied by the Word in this Sacrament and presented to us. [Large Catechism V 32] 

Because He offers and promises forgiveness of sin, it cannot be received except by faith. ... Whoever now accepts these words and believes that what they declare is true has forgiveness. [Large Catechism V 34-35]

The New Face of Terrorism

Our country once valued the free exercise of religion. In fact, the very first amendment to the Constitution states:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...

Sadly, these are just words on paper when it comes to the military. Not because those serving in the armed services want to remain quiet when it comes to living and confessing their faith. Not because military chaplains desire to stop bringing the comfort of Christ crucified to those whom they serve. But because the present administration and the elites in charge are targeting Christians as “domestic terrorists.”

The act of proselytizing (speaking about one’s own faith to others) is now being compared with “spiritual rape” and could lead to a court martial. Mikey Weinstein—an atheist and anti-Christian extremist—is the driving force behind this.  He calls such acts “horrible, horrendous, dehumanizing behavior” and a “national secutity threat.” He labels those who proselytize as “enemies of the Constitution” and guilty of “treason.” Pentagon officials are meeting with Weinstein as it crafts and implements new procedures.

Ken Klukowski writes about this here and here. Todd Starnes here.

Behold, the new face of terrorism in America...

I pray our brothers and sisters in Christ who serve in uniform will be strengthened to bear the cross as this persecution for confessing His name begins. “Come, Lord Jesus!” [Revelation 22:20]

O Creator of the universe, You did not form Adam from the dust of the world so that his children would spill their brothers’ blood in that dust. With Adam’s sin came death, destruction, and war. Yet You did not turn from Your fallen creation but embraced it in the flesh of Your incarnate Son, winning our peace with You through His death and resurrection. Still, humanity rebels, and evil flourishes with wars and rumors of war. Young men and women today protect our nation in the profession of arms, even now serving in places of danger, to shield us from the manifested evil of terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, and other wicked instruments of Satan’s hatred. I pray, dear Lord of peace, that You would protect those who wear the uniform of my country and serve with courage, honor, and commitment. Comfort and strengthen our sailors, marines, soldiers, airmen, and coast guardsmen. Be with their loved ones who must wait at home while they go to far and distant lands, answering the call of duty. Bless the faithful ministry of chaplains who go with them to proclaim Your Gospel and administer Your Sacraments on ships and in foxholes. Guide the leaders of this world that they may seek to walk in peace so that the skills of warriors may not be used except to deter those who would seek to harm us. I ask this in the name of the Prince of Peace, the only Savior of the world, Jesus the Christ. Amen.

Lutheran Book of Prayer: For Our Armed Forces