Soteriology – Page 6 – What Does This Mean?

Baptized into Christ’s Body

Encore Post: Fifty-Fifth in a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism] Baptism connects us with Christ. We are united with him in his death and when he rose from the dead; we rise with him. That is about as personal a relationship as we can get. Yet there is more. When we are united with Christ, we are also made a part of his body, the Church. We now have brothers and sisters in Christ with whom we will live forever.

When Jesus gave his final instructions to his apostles, he commanded them to make disciples from all peoples, baptizing them and teaching them. (Matthew 28:18-20) When we were baptized, we were put into Christ’s body, one of many members. God knew we would need each other and so bound us together. (1 Corinthians 12:12-27) In this one body, we are united by the Holy Spirit. We have one Lord, one hope, one faith and one God and Father of us all. (Ephesians 4:4-6)

For this reason, the church ordinarily baptizes new Christians, young and old, during worship services on a Sunday morning or during the Vigil of Easter. In this way, all the new Christian’s spiritual family can welcome them and rejoice with God that his child who once was lost has now been found and brought home to be him and them forever.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Pastor Emeritus

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Stay Calm and Remember Your Baptism

Encore Post: [Fifty-Fourth in a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism] While Baptism is a onetime event, its blessings last a lifetime. Baptism is an event outside of us, observed by witnesses and recorded in books. Especially when we are baptized as children, there is no question that God loves us, that he adopted us as his children and that we will live with him forever. When we are baptized, we realize that we are not seekers, but that God sought us and found us. We can be sure that we are saved and that we will live with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit forever.

In our sin-filled world, where we are at war with the world, the devil and our flesh, life can get confusing very fast. As we are confronted with our sinful nature, we may wonder how God can love us, whether we please him or can ever measure up to his standards. At times like these, we can remember our baptism. No matter what happens, this is the central fact of our lives. I am baptized.

St. Paul reminds us that in baptism, we are united to Christ in his death. (Romans 6:3-11) Christ bore our sins on the cross, suffered and died to pay the full penalty we deserved for them. Because we are baptized, when he died, we died. When He rose from the dead, we rise to new life. Now we can face anything that comes our way.

Each day, we can prepare ourselves in prayer for the day. We can make the sign of the cross, remembering that we are baptized, thank God for his mercies and remember that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39)

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Pastor Emeritus

Fort Wayne, Indiana

The Church has Always Baptized Infants

Encore Post: [Fifty-Third in a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism] From the early days of the Church, she has baptized the infants and young children of believers. When the first Christians were baptized, their children, families and whole households were included. (Acts 2:37-40, Acts 16:15, Acts 16:33, Acts 18:8, 1 Corinthians 1:16) Beginning at the latest, in the 4th Century (300-400 AD), the majority of Christians were baptized shortly after they were born. Even today, most Christians are baptized during their childhood.

The Anabaptist movement of the 16th Century (1500-1600 AD) was the first Christian tradition to challenge infant baptism. Martin Luther pointed out that the first point to make when defending baptizing children begins here. Jesus promised that he would build his Church and the gates of hell would not defeat it. (Matthew 16:18) If infant baptism was not valid, he argued, the Church would not exist in their day and Jesus would be a false prophet. Since the Church does exist, had prospered and done the will of God to preach the Gospel, infant baptism must be valid.

As previous posts have covered, there is much more to the challenge to infant baptism by Evangelicals. Mostly in has to do with a completely different way of viewing the sacrament. There are many more arguments for infant baptism, If you wish to explore the topic further, visit the LCMS FAQ on baptism (https://www.lcms.org/about/beliefs/faqs/doctrine#baptism) and podcasts on infant baptism at Issues, Etc. (https://issuesetc.org/?ss=Infant+baptism)

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Pastor Emeritus

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Continue reading The Church has Always Baptized Infants

Is Baptism Necessary?

Encore Post: [Fifty-First in a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism] At first, it seems like a strange question to ask — even the wrong question to ask. Since Baptism is God’s work to save us, why wouldn’t we want to be baptized? There are several reasons this issue comes up. The first arose during the Reformation. The Anabaptist movement believed that children are innocent, and that God does not hold them accountable until a later age. In the Augsburg Confession (Article Nine) and the Apology of the Augsburg Confession (Article Nine) firmly rejects this argument (more in a later post on infant baptism).

The other reason is that in this sinful world, sometimes people die without being baptized. Lutheran theologians answer the question by saying Baptism is necessary but not absolutely necessary for salvation. Baptism is necessary because God commands us to baptize and to be baptized. (Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 2:37-38) Jesus tells us that you cannot enter the kingdom of God if you are not born of water and the Spirit. (John 3:5) Yet the Scripture is very clear that the preaching of the Gospel also is a means of grace, which creates faith (Romans 10:14-17), forgives sins and brings everlasting life. (Romans 1:16)

So, God’s word can save, even when the opportunity for a Christian to be baptized has not come. But God is so rich in his mercy, that he gives his grace over and over again, in the form of the preaching of the Gospel, the baptizing of his children and in the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper and in Absolution. Each means brings forgiveness of sins, life and salvation in its own way, providing for us certainty that we are God’s own and will live with him forever. We refuse them at our own peril, for God gives them to us for our good and strengthening in the face of the assaults of the world, devil and our sinful desires. While God requires us to do so, so they are necessary, it is more that we get to enjoy these blessings.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Pastor Emeritus

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Baptism Saves You

Encore Post: [Fiftieth in a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism] Perhaps the point of greatest conflict between Lutherans and the Evangelical movement is our confidence that the Bible teaches that baptism saves you. As I noted in another post, most Protestants think of Baptism as a simple ceremony where a Christian declares he puts his faith in Jesus as his personal savior. They think of baptism as something we do and so think that to say that baptism saves us, that it is the same thing as saying salvation is something we earn by what we do. Yet the Bible clearly says, “Baptism saves you” (1 Peter 3:21-22) and “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5)

If Lutherans believed that baptism was something we do, we also would reject the teaching that it saves. After all, the heart and center of the Lutheran confession is salvation is by grace alone through faith alone for the sake of Christ alone. But we believe what the Scriptures teach, that salvation is God’s work, not ours. God the Father saved us, not by what we have done, but washing us and renewing us in baptism by the Holy Spirit. (Titus 3:4-7) Jesus gave himself for the church, cleansing us by the water and the word. (Ephesians 5:25-27) In Christ, through faith, God has buried us with Jesus in baptism and made us alive with Christ, forgiving our sins.(Colossians 2:11-14) So, when we say we are saved by baptism, we are saying that God saves us by baptism.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Pastor Emeritus

Fort Wayne, Indiana

What is Baptism?

Encore Post: [Forty-Nineth in a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism] You may have discovered that Christians value Baptism a lot. Yet there are few subjects that the various Christian traditions disagree about more. Catholics believe baptism is a means of grace that removes original sin and forgives all actual sins committed before baptism. It does not forgive sins committed after that — for that you need to go to confession, be absolved and do penance. For many Protestants, it is a work you do in obedience to God’s command, showing you’ve accepted Jesus as your personal savior. For others, it is just a meaningful symbol of salvation.

Lutherans believe that baptism is a means of grace, one of the ways, instituted by Jesus himself, God uses to save us. (Matthew 28:19) It combines the Gospel of Christ’s saving obedience, suffering, death and resurrection with water to wash away our sins. (Ephesians 5:25-27, Titus 3:4-7) It is God himself who does the baptizing, using human hands.

Like the other means of grace, Baptism creates faith in hearts where there is none and strengthens faith where it exists. Baptism also marks us with the name of the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It makes us his children and heirs — heirs with Christ.

Finally, it is an undeniable declaration that we are saved. Why? Because we had nothing to do with it. In most cases, it is written in record books we can see and in all cases is written in the Book of Life. When Satan tries to cause us to doubt our salvation, we can tell him: “get lost! I am baptized.” Nothing can separate us from the Love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. And where he is, we will also be.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Pastor Emeritus

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Life Everlasting

Encore Post: Three words in the creeds go by quickly when we confess them — but we talk about them very little. The closest we come is when we think about what happens when we die or when we comfort each other at the death of a Christian loved one. “She’s in heaven now,” we say. Or “my baby is now an angel.” There are a lot of misconceptions packed into these thoughts. Perhaps the greatest of these is that things cannot get any better for them. But that is far from true. Things are very good indeed for them, for they are with Jesus and at rest from their labors. But the best is yet to come.

On a day we do not know, Jesus will return from heaven. He will bring an end to sin, suffering, grief and pain. He will raise them and us from the dead, reuniting their spirits with their bodies and transforming them to be like his. We will be reunited with them in the sky. After the last judgement, the real joy begins. It is so far beyond our comprehension that words cannot describe it. So God’s Word tells us bits and pieces, in symbol, metaphor and image. The bottom line: we will see Jesus and there can be no greater joy. God will have restored his creation to the state he intended from the very beginning. He will again call it “very good.”

The announcement in the Book of Revelation says it best:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” (Revelation 21:1-5)

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Pastor Emeritus

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Worship is About God’s Gifts to You

Encore Post: In most churches, worship is about what Christians do to glorify God. It is about praying, giving contributions to support the work of the Church, singing your song, and dedicating yourself to follow Jesus. Lutherans understand worship as all about what God gives to us — Absolution, God’s Word read, sung by us and preached to us, and the Sacraments, especially the Lord’s Supper, where Jesus gives us his body to eat with bread and his blood to drink with wine. In these gifts, his means of grace, mysteriously, God places and strengthens faith in our hearts, gives us the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. We sing his praises, pray to him at his invitation, and offer the sacrifice of our lives to thank him for these gifts.

So, worship really is not about us — it is about God’s gifts. God invites us to gather together the same way that our mothers and fathers gathered for dinner. When we call us to eat a well-prepared, delicious feast, we don’t say “Do I have to eat it?” or “But we just had a big dinner last week!” We get up and hurry to receive this wonderful gift of our host’s love and enjoy the time together with those we love.

So, the question we should ask ourselves and each other is not: “Do we have to go to church?” but really is “Do we get to go to church?” The Lord and Creator of the Universe is coming to church. He is the same Jesus who loved us so much that he became one of us, suffered, died and rose again so that he could give us his gifts, forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. So, let’s go and unwrap them!

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Pastor Emeritus

Fort Wayne, Indiana

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The Zeal of the Lord of Hosts will Do This

Encore Post: When I was at seminary, I fell in love with the book of Isaiah. My love for the book has only intensified. This is especially so when it comes to the readings that we just heard from Isaiah for Christmas. Isaiah 9:2-7 is perhaps the most well known prophecy of the coming Messiah. We easily remember the names that Isaiah calls the child who is to be born: “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” But we should not forget the the last sentence of verse 7. It says, “The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will do this.”

That got me thinking more about the Lord’s zeal. What is it? What does it mean that the Lord has zeal? And in which direction is this zeal going?

Yes, what is this zeal? As I studied the word behind the translation “zeal”, the word used is the same word that the Lord uses to describe himself as a jealous God to Israel at Mt. Sinai. There He speaks to Israel displaying to them that they are his possession and no one else’s, and Israel should not chase after false gods because they are the Lord’s chosen. The Lord knows his own, so he desires them for himself and for himself alone.

But in Isaiah, as I traced the word further, I saw that zeal was also connected to the Lord’s promise he made to David. That promise is found in 2 Samuel 7, when the Lord tells David that he will place a son on the throne and he his reign will be forever and it will be a reign of peace.

That is big news! And the first instance of this word in Isaiah as well as Isaiah 37:32-35, “zeal” connects us back to that promise made to David. The child that is born, the son that is given will reign on the throne of David. And it will be so because the zeal of the Lord of Hosts will do this. The Lord remembers his promises and makes them come full circle in the birth of Jesus. He is the King of the Jews, the Son of David, who saves his people and brings peace to all, as the angels declare.

The Lord’s zeal is for his people, whom He works to reconcile unto Himself. And this zeal is seen again in the work that this Son of Isaiah 9 does. He joyfully goes to the cross to bring to us peace! The Lord’s zeal is Jesus’ zeal who cares for us, remembers us, and dies for us that we might be made children of God.

What a zealous God we have, caring for his people, remembering his promises, and by his own zeal makes his promises come true! The zeal of the Lord of hosts has done it and done well for us and our salvation!

Merry Christmas!

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
Christ Lutheran Church
Noblesville, Indiana

Digging into the Old Testament: The Ebionites

Encore Post: As we begin digging into the history of Christianity and how the Old Testament came to be understood by Christians (Remember we hold to what Jesus said and how Jesus used the Old Testament, namely that He is the fulfillment of it), we first come across the group that we know as the Ebionites or as we know them from Galatians, the Judaizers.

The question presented to Christians, especially of Jewish background was how the law of Moses was supposed to be understood. Should the Christian follow it still? To what extent?

If we remember the laws of Moses come in three varieties: Moral, Civil, and Ceremonial. Some of the Ebionites did not force these laws on everyone else, but from Galatians 2 we hear of a pretty vocal group. This group appeared to hold to all three varieties of the laws of Moses. They certainly held to the moral and ceremonial.

Jesus himself dealt with some of this during his earthly ministry. Paul and his companions certainly did. The first council of the church (Acts 15) dealt with the question of the ceremonial law.

We still hold to the moral law, as is given to us in the 10 commandments. Because of Christ the ceremonial law is fulfilled. These ceremonies such as the laws concerning the Day of Atonement and the ritual purification washings of the priests are no longer needed. In Christ, they are fulfilled once and for all. We no longer need to keep the ceremonial law in a rigorous fashion the way of the people of the Old Testament. And we certainly do not need to keep the laws and traditions of man also see the Solid Declaration.

We need to be aware of the trappings of what the Ebionites taught, especially about the Old Testament and the law contained therein. While the Ebionites wanted to maintain the laws of Moses in their entirety, the next push came from a man named Marcion who wanted to do the exact opposite. We will talk more about him next.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
La Grange, MO