Dear Baptized Ones,

    This Sunday we will have the joy of seeing Jake Anderson baptized. Chris and Michelle want this means of grace to serve Jake as he grows up as a sign of his need to repent of the sin that will come to him so naturally and receive the cleansing death and resurrection of Christ so as to walk in newness of life before the Lord. The Andersons are also setting Jake apart through baptism as part of the covenant community because of the great gift that he is to them from the Lord. They want to honor God in committing to raise Jake to know his Creator through family and corporate worship. His baptism will serve as a powerful witness to all of this both now and in the future.

   In my devotional reading, I came across this quote by John Calvin from his Institutes of the Christian Religion in 3.3.9: Rebirth in Christ!:

“…in a word, I interpret repentance as regeneration, whose sole end is to restore in us the image of God that had been disfigured and all but obliterated through Adam’s transgression….Accordingly, we are restored by this regeneration through the benefit of Christ into the righteousness of God; from which we had fallen through Adam. In this way it pleases the Lord fully to restore whomsoever he adopts into the inheritance of life. And indeed, this restoration does not take place in one moment or one day or one year; but through continual and sometimes even slow advances God wipes out in his elect the corruptions of the flesh, cleanses them of guilt, consecrates them to himself as temples renewing all their minds to true purity that they may practice repentance throughout their lives and know that this warfare will end only at death.”

    What an amazing picture of the power and goal of repentance! We have not been left to live in perpetual defeat or disfigurement. Our lives grow ever more pleasing to Lord as His Holy Spirit works in and through us as a result of Christ’s applied righteousness to display His glory in our lives. Though this process of sanctification can be slow and painful, it is ultimately beautiful and good. Our obedience to God’s commands and use of the means of grace such as baptism evidences our faith in God’s promise to do these things. How great is our God that He gives us these tangible covenantal signs to evidence our need and His faithfulness to His promises! In this, baptism truly is a blessing in and of itself. Consider this week how your baptism has truly been a blessing to you over your life. Give thanks to God for being faithful to fulfill His promises of which your baptism is a sign.

In Christ,

Cameron