Encore Post: We confess in the 4th part of Baptism: “What does such baptizing with water indicate?” Answer: “It indicates that the Old Adam in us should be 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.”
“Where is this written? Answer: 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.”
When we confess this part of Baptism we see that there are two men at war within us, the Old sinful Adam and the New Man, created in the image of Jesus, to do the good works which God had prepared beforehand for us to do. And sometimes because we are still in our sinful flesh we will fail, miserably in fact, in not sinning. But we know from Jesus himself and explicitly from St. John that if we do sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, who graciously forgives our sins.
Only when we die or when Christ returns in His final Advent will the fight that is within us be completely done. Our sinful flesh fights against our desire to actually do things which are pleasing in the sight of our Heavenly Father. You just need to watch children who hear their parent’s instruction concerning cleaning up their toys before breaking out more and kinda begin to put things away before becoming too enamored with the toy train in its box. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak, said our Lord of His Disciples. We see in them ourselves too, our spirit is willing but our sinful flesh is weak and sinful.
But Christ promises in Baptism we have salvation, and as Paul says we have are united to Jesus’ death and resurrection that we may live a new life. What we are in Baptism is not fully known, but in the final Advent of our Lord our Old Adam will be stripped away and we will be like Jesus is, pure as He is pure.
Baptism prepares us for Christ’s Final Advent, and we pray with all the saints, “Come, Lord Jesus. Come!” And Jesus responds, “Behold, I am coming soon.”
Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
La Grange, MO
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