The Sacraments4. What Baptism Indicates

Understanding how we come to faith…

Chain the Catechism: A topical study through the Lutheran confessions

Memorization Verses: It indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.St. Paul writes in Romans chapter six: "We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life" [Rom. 6:4].

LSB 596 1. All Christians who have been baptized,

Who know the God of heaven,And in whose daily life is prizedThe name of Christ once given:Consider now what God has done,The gifts He gives to ev’ryoneBaptized into Christ Jesus!

2. You were before your day of birth,Indeed, from your conception,Condemned and lost with all the earth,None good, without exception.For like your parents’ flesh and blood,Turned inward from the highest good,You constantly denied Him.

3. But all of that was washed away—Immersed and drowned forever.The water of your Baptism dayRestored again whateverOld Adam and his sin destroyedAnd all our sinful selves employedAccording to our nature.

4. In Baptism we now put on Christ—Our shame is fully coveredWith all that He once sacrificedAnd freely for us suffered.For here the flood of His own bloodNow makes us holy, right, and goodBefore our heav’nly Father.

5. O Christian, firmly hold this giftAnd give God thanks forever!It gives the power to upliftIn all that you endeavor.When nothing else revives your soul,Your Baptism stands and makes you wholeAnd then in death completes you.

6. So use it well! You are made new—In Christ a new creation!As faithful Christians, live and doWithin your own vocation,Until that day when you possessHis glorious robe of righteousnessBestowed on you forever!

Sing it!

Old Man -> New Man: What’s yours look like? How would your new powers manifest in superhero form?

PRAYER

• New Life• Old Adam drowned• New Man rises•Buried Sin• Trinitarian InvocationP raiseR epentanceA ppreciationY ouE veryoneR esolve

I've got peace like a riverI've got peace like a riverI've got peace like a river in my soulI've got peace like a riverI've got peace like a riverI've got peace like a river in my soul

I've got love like an ocean…I've got joy like a fountain in my soul..I've got peace like a river

I've got love like an oceanI've got joy like a fountain in my soul

Sing it!

Discussion

Not everyone is meant to make a difference. But for me, the choice to lead an ordinary life is no longer an option. 

~Peter Parker

The Sacraments

Say Mean Matter

Key phrases Own words Answer the questions/Personal application

• What does such baptizing with water indicate? •Where is this written? •What is the Old Adam? •How is this Old Adam to be drowned in us? •What is the new man? •How is this new man to emerge and arise? •How does Baptism indicate the daily drowning of the Old Adam and the

emergence of the new man? •With which words do we regularly remember our Baptism? •______________________________

SS New Life M Old Adam drowned T New Man rises W Buried Sin Th Trinitarian Invocation

It indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.

St. Paul writes in Romans chapter six: "We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life" [Rom. 6:4].

• Pray: Heavenly Father, gracious God,

I am a poor, miserable sinner, unworthy to lift up my eyes, hands, or voice unto You in prayer. But, You

have Yourself commanded us all to pray, and have promised to hear us, giving us from Yourself both the words and manner of prayer, by Your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. So I pray, according to Your promise, grant me the spirit of grace and of prayer, that with fervent heart I cry to You for my own needs and the needs of all men, in true faith; that my prayer may be heard according to Your promise. Upon Your Word and command, I come to You, rendering obedience to the same, and relying upon Your gracious promises. And, together with all Your blessed Christendom on earth, I pray as Jesus Christ has taught me: Our Father who art in heaven. Amen. (Luther).

SS: New Life

Sin EuphemismsWhite lie, shame, stumble,

imbalance, addictionMy Right, My opinion, My

freedom, my choiceWho I am, what makes me

happy, what doesn’t hurt anyone

Personal guilt, personal conflict, personal inadequacy

Not doing my best, not living to expectations, not =-

Death EuphemismsPass on, pass away, passing

through, or simply “pass”Go home, go to a better

place, crossover, departLose it, give it up, kick the

bucket, the final call, expire, 6 feet under, pushing up

daisies biting the dust, taking a dirt nap.

Rubbed out, checked out, snubbed out, OUT OF COMMISSION

Death Denial CultureWe “Celebrate a life” rather

than “mourn a death”A “memorial” not a “funeral”“funeral directors” not

“undertakers” A “casket” not a “coffin”Have a funeral your way…or

none at allCan we die of “natural

causes” is death really “natural”

Baptism: Romans 6  1What shall we say, then? Shall

we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

Amartia: To be without a share of or to miss the mark completely. “Can we go on being without to receive more?”

apeqanomen  th amartia: something that dries up and perishes. No longer that which was

za/w: A river that gives life or being full of vigor (context: vigorously being refreshed by sin)

Xriston Ihsoun eiv ton qanaton autou ebaptisqhmen?: The water that is poured on us is water that kills the body of sin before God (which also kills death for us, think chemo)

Baptism: Romans 65 For if we have been united

with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

giðnomai: to come to existence, to create ex nihilo

su/mfutov: Think Conjoined twins. To be born together

anastasis: to be revived from mortal doom. (Context: Christ overcoming the grave)

o(moiðwma: Identity and likeness, the image of God

douleu/w: compelled and coerced to service

dikaioo: To free by rendering righteous

Baptism: Old Man The “Old Man” is not:

Unable to do good in the sense of helping himself or others

An excuse to commit evils in the world without guilt

A wickedness that has fruition in infancy

The “Old Man” is: A proclivity to sin inherited during

my bodily creation A condemnation I am under as a

result of the federal headship of Adam

Endmic to our physical natures, and is a reality of a world re-created in imbalance, evil, blasphemy until the end.

The Old Adam is the corrupt and evil nature that we inherit because of Adam's fall into sin.

Eph. 4:22 Put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts (NKJV).

The Old Adam is to be drowned by daily contrition (sorrow for sins) and repentance (faith), by which we resist and overcome evil desires.

Luke 9:23 If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

Gal. 5:24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.

• Pray: Lord, my God, out of great

mercy, through the washing of regeneration, YOU made me a partaker both of the death and of the life of my Savior. Bestow upon me the power of Your Holy Spirit, that I may daily die unto sin, but live unto You and serve You, until in the life to come I shall be wholly renewed and in perfect bliss. Amen. (Zorn)

M: Old Adam drowned

Baptism: New Man The New Man is not:

The “uber man” of Neizche that can do whatever it wants “in the name of God”

Ignorant or ambivalent to the real issues occurring in the world (the “oh well” mentality)

Obsessed with piety and personal pride The New Man is:

Recognizing the depth and magnitude of his sin

Rejecting that which this world holds as important

Works diligently in this world despite persecution and hatred

Preaches BOLDLY the gospel as its native and miraculous language.

The new man is the new spiritual life and nature, created in us by the washing of rebirth.

2 Cor. 5:17 If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

The new man emerges and arises as we daily live and grow before God in true faith and good works.

Eph. 4:24 Put on the new man which was created according to God, in righteousness and true holiness (NKJV).

• Pray: Come, Lord Jesus, put off Your

garments, which You put on for my sake. Remove them that You may clothe us with Your mercy. Wrap Yourself with a towel for our sakes, that You may wrap us in Your gift of immortality. Pour water into the basin, wash not only our feet but also the head, and not only the body, but also the footsteps of the soul. I wish to put off

all the filth of our frailty. Let, then this water, O Lord Jesus, come into my soul, into my flesh, that through the moisture of this rain the valleys of our minds and the fields of our hearts may grow green. May the drops of water from You come upon me, shedding forth grace and immortality. Wash the steps of my mind that I may not sin again. Wash the heel of my soul that I may not feel the serpent’s bite on the foot of my soul. May I tread on serpents and scorpions with uninjured foot. You have redeemed the world, redeem the soul of a single sinner. Amen. (Ambrose of Milan, c. 339-97)

T New Man rises

Baptism: EverlastingMy Baptism is the personal

seal of Christ’s death on me. My Baptism reminds me I am

a chemo patient who understands my lowly origins until the day of reckoning

My Baptism is the white cloak that can be tie-died with the colors of Christ’s good works wrought in me.

My Baptism is eternal, objective, stalwart, omnipotent, and perpetually validated

Baptism: OT ImageryThe nakedness of AdamThe Seal of Cain for a

murdered brother A Floating Ark in the midst

of corpsesA decapitated giantThe slit throat of a lambThe blood stains of a

golden seatLamentations of a people

without a home

Baptism: NT FulfillmentA star marking localityA bloody circumcisionA dove hovering over a

baptismA cripple walkingA dead man risingA crown making newA sermon from a crossA breakfast on the shoreA tree amongst a glassy sea

By Baptism we have been made to share in Christ's death and resurrection. As He has buried our sin, so we too can and must daily overcome and bury it. And as He is risen from the dead and lives, so we too can and must daily live a new life in Him.

Rom. 6:3-4 Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

• Pray: Almighty eternal God, according to

Your righteous judgment You condemned the unbelieving world through the flood. In Your great mercy You preserved believing Noah and his family. You drowned hard-hearted Pharaoh with all his host in the Red Sea and led Your people Israel through the same on dry ground. By these events You prefigured this bath of

Your Baptism. And through the baptism of Your dear Child, our Lord Jesus Christ, You consecrated and set apart the Jordan and all water as a salutary flood and rich and full washing away of sins. We pray through Christ for Your boundless mercy that You will graciously behold us and bless us with true faith in the Spirit. Then, b means of this saving flood, all that has been born in us from Adam and which we ourselves have added thereto may be drowned in us and engulfed. May we be separated from the number of the unbelieving, preserved dry and secure in the holy ark of Christendom, and serve Your name at all times fervent in spirit and joyful in hope. With all believers may we be made worthy to attain eternal life according to Your promise; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Luther’s Sintflut Gebet).

W: Buried Sin

Baptism: Binding MyselfI bind this day to me for ever. By power of faith, Christ's incarnation; His baptism in the Jordan river; His death on Cross for my salvation; His bursting from the spicèd tomb; His riding up the heavenly way; His coming at the day of doom; I bind unto myself today.

St. Patrick “Breastplate Prayer”

The words "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" come from the baptismal command (Matt. 28:19) and are known as the Trinitarian Invocation. By repeating these words, in church or by ourselves, we recall, claim, and confess before heaven, earth, and hell all that God the Holy Trinity has given us in our Baptism.

Rom. 8:38-39 I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Bible narrative: The three persons of the blessed Trinity revealed themselves at the Baptism of our Lord (Luke 3:21-22).

Note: The Trinitarian Invocation may be accompanied by the sign of the cross, made at our Baptism upon our foreheads and

hearts to mark us as "redeemed by Christ the crucified."

• Pray: O Lord, gracious Trinity, in my

Baptism You regenerated me to be Your child. I now repeat my vow that I will renounce the devil and all his works and all his pomp, and will remain true to You unto death. To this end grant me the power of Your Holy Spirit, O Father, for the sake of Jesus Christ, my Savior, and finally give me the crown of life which You have graciously promised me. Amen. (Zorn).

Th Trinitarian Invocation

In urgent cases, in the absence of a pastor, any Christian may administer Holy Baptism. Take water, call the person by name, and apply the water, saying: "I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.“

If there is time, Baptism may be preceded by the Apostles' Creed and the Lord's Prayer.

A Short Form for Holy Baptism in Cases of Emergency

Gone, gone, gone, gone…YES! My sins are gone!Now my soul is free and in my heart’s a song. Buried in the deepest sea,Yes, that’s good enough for me.I shall live eternally.Praise God! My sins are gone!

Sing it!

ConclusionIt indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.St. Paul writes in Romans chapter six: "We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life" [Rom. 6:4].The Old Adam is the corrupt and evil nature that we inherit because of Adam's fall into sin. The Old Adam is to be drowned by daily contrition (sorrow for sins) and repentance (faith), by which we resist and overcome evil desires. The new man is the new spiritual life and nature, created in us by the washing of rebirth. The new man emerges and arises as we daily live and grow before God in true faith and good works. By Baptism we have been made to share in

Christ's death and resurrection. As He has buried our sin, so we too can and must daily overcome and bury it. And as He is risen from the dead and lives, so we too can and must daily live a new life in Him. The words "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" come from the baptismal command (Matt. 28:19) and are known as the Trinitarian Invocation. By repeating these words, in church or by ourselves, we recall, claim, and confess before heaven, earth, and hell all that God the Holy Trinity has given us in our Baptism. Note: The Trinitarian Invocation may be accompanied by the sign of the cross, made at our Baptism upon our foreheads and hearts to mark us as "redeemed by Christ the crucified."

Confession (The Giving and Receiving of Forgiveness) (4 weeks): Definition

Next Time…(2/10)