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]