Sermon Tone Analysis

Baptism

Sacrament: “A visible sign of an invisible grace.”

Another term (we prefer): ordinance.

Baptism(re)enacts the work that the Triune God accomplishes in salvation.

Baptism is Commanded

Christ commanded baptism.

The command to baptize is connected to discipleship.

Baptism is for all believers.

Baptism is connected to the Kingdom of God.

Baptism Unites Us

United in him, we share the same testimony: one Lord, one faith, one baptism.

These are the terms that characterize the testimony of all who are truly Christ’s.

We testify that Jesus is Lord; we testify that faith in his work on our behalf is our only means of salvation; and, by our baptism, we testify that we are cleansed of sin and united to him by his grace alone.

We are called out of our separateness not to do as we please, but to direct our faith and practice toward the truths given to us by the testimony of Scripture.

He rightly makes a transition from a fellowship in death to a fellowship in life; for these two things are connected together by an indissoluble knot—that the old man is destroyed by the death of Christ, and that his resurrection brings righteousness, and renders us new creatures.

John Calvin and John Owen, Commentary on the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 221.

Baptism unites us as children of God, part of God’s family.

Baptism unites us in our submission to God’s authority over our lives and rights.

Baptism would be regarded as establishing Christ’s proprietary rights over the baptized person, and the name of the baptized person would be booked in the ledger to the account of Christ.

Baptism is Meaningful

Paul tells us to go back to the beginning of our Christian lives, to go back to the marks of our baptism, and to remind ourselves what baptism signifies.

My baptism signifies my identification with Jesus’ death on the cross, and that I am mystically crucified with Christ.

I identify with that act; I put my personal trust in the act of Christ on the cross, and as Christ was taken down from the cross and buried in the ground, so I, in terms of my old nature, am put to death and buried.

Baptism embodies the Gospel.

“Buried in his likeness, risen to newness of life in Christ.”

Baptism initiates us into the family of God.

Baptism assures us of our salvation.

Baptism challenges us to walk worthy of our calling.

Baptism reminds us we do not live and worship in our own power.

Baptism