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The Good News of Easter Baptism

Ben Zornes on

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Text: Luke 24:1-7, Romans 6:3-4

Two Questions
This morning, we will address the two questions given in our two passages–– “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” (Luke 24:5) and “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” (Romans 6:3).The response to the first is “Jesus is risen!” The answer to the second is “Jesus is risen, and we’re with him!” Easter is the foundation for every baptism, and each baptism is a celebration of Easter.

Garden of Graves (Luke 24:1-7)
Luke 24 begins in a garden as several women attempt to anoint the dead body of Jesus (vs. 1). This garden is not full of life but has become a place of death, a garden of graves (Jn. 19:41) When the women arrive at the grave they find the stone is rolled away and the tomb is empty (vs. 2-3). As they are processing, two angels appear and deliver a zinger, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” (vs. 5) On first pass, the women seem pretty justified in their search. They know Jesus is died because they saw him die. So he’s going to be among the dead. This is how it’s been since the events of another garden––the Garden of Eden.

The Gospel According to Two Trees
In the beginning, God created Adam, the seed of humanity’s family tree. The tree of mankind is contained and represented in this tiny seed named Adam. As the seed goes, so goes the tree. If the seed is healthy, the tree is healthy. If the seed is sick, the tree is sick. On the day Adam disobeyed, sin entered the seed and this disease infected the human tree. The root, trunk, branches, fruit all share the same disease, and, like the seed, “shall all surely die.”
Here begins the good news of another tree from a new Seed. The Master Gardener loves the diseased, the rotting, the dying people in Adam’s Tree. So the Lord causes a new Seed to grow on the old tree and from this new Seed he would plant a new tree. The Holy Spirit caused Mary to conceive so that “the child to be born will be called holy––Son of God” (Lk. 1:35). This seed has to be the Son of God and not the son (or great, great, great, great, great…grandson) of Adam, so he can born without sin (Hebrews 4:15). Because Jesus is man, He is united to the tree. Because Jesus is God, He is free from the sin of the tree.

Baptized into Adam’s Tree
The first thing Jesus does in his public ministry is to identify with Adam’s Tree by being baptized by John. John’s baptism was of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Mk. 1:4). But Jesus is the one person who does not need to be baptized. As Paul says, “He made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin” (2 Cor. 5:21). Jesus becomes the sin of those he will save. On the wooden cross, the Seed of the woman receives the punishment for the sins of Adam’s Tree. The Seed is then hacked off from the tree and the buried in the ground (Is. 53:8). But even when Jesus is buried as a dead seed, there comes new life. The angels announce to the women the miracle. The seed of the woman, Jesus, is no longer among the dead. He’s not here, but he has risen! And so the angels ask, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?”

Baptized into Jesus’ Tree (Romans 6:3-4)
This is all very good news for Jesus. But why is this good news for me and all those in Adam’s tree? At Easter, the seed of the new tree is planted. Pauls says that your baptism unites you with the Seed so that what happens to the seed, happens to you. In baptism, you die with the Seed. In baptism, you are buried with the Seed. And in baptism you are raised with the Seed in newness of life (Rom. 6:3-4). To become a Christian is to be cut off from the dying Adam Tree and to be grafted into the living Jesus Tree. And if this seems impossible for an individual twig to accomplish, that twig is correct. The work must be done by another, and it’s a gift to you (Eph. 2:8-9).

Baptized Death, Easter Life
The same question the angels asked about the Seed can now be asked about those from the Seed, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” If there’s new life from the dead for Jesus, then there’s new life for all those unified to Jesus. Once you are connected to the living Jesus Tree, then live like it! Produce the kind of fruit in your life that shows the kind of tree you’re connected to. Easter is the declaration that “Jesus is risen.” And each baptism is the declaration on another Easter, “Jesus is risen, and I’m with him.” This is the good news of Easter baptism.

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Easter 2017: A New Kind of New

Ben Zornes on

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Introduction:
We have all heard about the new life in Christ. It is not possible to function in Christian circles without hearing that phrase. It is not possible to read through your Bible without realizing that Christ says that He makes all things new (Rev. 21:5). And if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation—old things have passed away (2 Cor. 5:17). But our hearts are slippery, and so we often miss the point by equivocating on the meaning of the word new.

The Texts:
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him” (Rom. 6:1–8).

Summary of the Text:
Paul has started to answer objections to the gospel that he laid out in the first chapters of Romans. If we are saved by grace, plus nothing, what is to prevent us from becoming morally dissolute? The answer to that question is that grace comes to sinners in one form only, and that form is the glory of death and resurrection. Sinners cannot take advantage of grace, because when grace comes near the sinner dies.

Shall we abuse grace by continuing in sin (v. 1)? God forbid it, Paul says. How can people who are dead to sin continue to live in sin (v. 2)? Do you not know that everyone who is baptized into Christ is baptized into His death (v. 3)? That is what baptism with the water of grace means. So if we were baptized into His death, this means that in an analogous way we are raised up from the dead by the glory of Father, in order that we might walk in newness of life (v. 4). If we have been planted in the pattern of His death, this means that we will also be planted in the pattern of His resurrection (v. 5). We know this. Our old man, our body of sin, is both crucified and destroyed, so that from this point on we might no longer be slaves to sin (v. 6). Freedom from sin is attained by those who die (v. 7). So if we are dead with Christ, it necessarily follows that we will also live with Him (v. 8).

Union with Christ:
As you have heard many times before, Jesus did not die so that we might live. It is appropriate to say that in a form of shorthand, but only if it is shorthand, and only if you know what it is shorthand for. The truth of the gospel is here: Jesus died so that we might die. He was buried so that we might be buried. He was raised from the dead so that we might be raised from the dead. He ascended into Heaven so that we might reign with Him from the right hand of the Father. The gospel is the gospel to us only through true union with Christ.

In this short passage, Paul makes this profound point three times. If we share His death, then we will share His resurrection (v. 4). If we have been planted together with Him in the likeness of His death (which is what baptism is), then it will be the same with the resurrection (v. 5). If we are dead with Christ, we will also live with Him (v. 8).

Different Kinds of New:
There are two ways that we could take the word new. One is quantitative and the other is qualitative. A new day would be a quantitative illustration. Today is Tuesday, not Monday, but it is another day just like the previous one. You got a new car, but it was a used new car, meaning that it was new to you. New to you, but not new. But there is another sense we need to have if we are to understand the potency of the gospel. Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week, on Sunday. But this day was qualitatively different. There had been a previous Sunday, just seven days before, but this Sunday was entirely and completely different. The world had been born again. The times of regeneration had been inaugurated. Jesus really had made all things new.

Water New or Spirit New?
Paul is explicit here on what our baptism means. We do not have the authority to contradict the meaning of our baptism on the basis of the meaning of our carnal logic. In other words, we are not allowed to say that grace means liberty to sin when our baptismal grace says that it means death to sin. Look down a few verses (Rom. 6:14). If we persist in contradicting our baptisms in this way, it will not be long before our baptisms rise up in order to contradict us. If Tyre and Sidon will be able to accuse Capernaum on the last day, then the baptisms of hollow Christians should certainly be able to rise up to accuse them.

“But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit [same word for newness], and not in the oldness of the letter” (Rom. 7:6). The newness that indicates salvation is a spiritual newness.

Both Kinds of New:
Someone can move into Christianity the same way you might move into a new house, or buy a new car, or take a new job. It is new in the quantitative sense. This is not a sinful thing, and it does apply to everyone who comes into the faith. Someone might be truly converted, and still need to get used to the ordinary new things. Christians form an actual subculture on the earth, and the lingo and the customs and the government might be new to you in the same way that the analogous things would be new if you joined the Navy. But those who are actually planted together with the Lord’s death are those who actually walk in a qualitative newness.

If this has happened, then it means that you are walking where Jesus is. And where He is must be described as being on this side of death to sin.

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The Covenant Home #7: Sketch of Godly Parents

Joe Harby on

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INTRODUCTION:

When we consider what parents should look like, what first comes to our mind’s eye? Our tendency is to rush to some sort of a “works orientation,” and not to rest in faith.

THE TEXTS:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealedfrom faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith’” (Rom. 1:16-17 ).

“Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercyfor a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments” (Dt. 7:9).

“Then they said to Him, ‘What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent’” (John 6:28-29).

THE SKETCH:

Godly parents are characterized by their faith—which means they are confident, trusting, quiet, and serene. Of course godly parents exhibit good “work,” but it is the fruit of their faith. Their works exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees, but they would not dream of trusting in those works. Paul tells us in Philippians to work out our salvation, but God is at work in us both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Phil. 2:12). We are to work out what God works in. In the work of parenting, we are to work out what God works in. And nothing else.

The heart of godly parenting is therefore faith, and it is faith from beginning to end.

THE WAY IT WORKS:

The human race is divided in two categories—covenant keepers and covenant breakers. Now when we make this division, we immediately tend to assume that the covenant keepers do so on the basis of their works. But covenants with God are kept in only one way—by faith from first to last. Trusting in works is how we break the covenant.

Now in the covenant of salvation, God has been kind enough to promise you your children. You do not appropriate this promise through what you might do—although if you have appropriated it by faith, then that will affect what you do.

Consider the parallel challenge of promises for answered prayer: “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:24). These promises are not obtained from a vending machine, but the promises do mean something.

BASIC QUESTIONS:

First, covenant blessings are promised to whom?—God gives the promise to a thousand generations to those who keep his covenant. There are two aspects—those who are in covenant, and those who keep covenant.

Second, what do we do?—But what do we do to keep His covenant? What good things can we do? This brings us back to the words of Christ in John 6. This is the work of God . . . that you believe.

Third, real faith is the kind that gives way to constant believing—The trust and belief which we exhibit toward God is not a sporadic or momentary thing. This is what we see in the passage from Romans 1. The just shall live by faith.

Fourth, where does faith arise?—the Bible teaches that faith comes from hearing the Word of God. In the ministry of the Word, you hear God’s promises, and if the Holy Spirit gives you ears to hear that Word, then you will hear.

Fifth, what are we to believe?—we are to believe the Word of God, all of it, and with regard to this subject, you are to trust God at His word with regard to your children, and their children after them.

Sixth, when are we to believe?—as with other aspects of our lives, time and history matter. You cannot believe God’s promises for the salvation of a child if that child has already died in rebellion. This is another way of saying that there is a time of opportunity, and such a thing as too late. Now if a child is grown up and in rebellion as a direct result of how the child was brought up, God may still show grace and mercy. Pray that He does. But this grace would not be in ordinary fulfillment of covenant promises to covenant parents.

But the Question of Sovereignty Nags:

When parents panic, one of the questions they might ask is, “What if my children are not elect?” This question can be asked both by those who accept the doctrine of election, and those who do not, and who ask the question in order to illustrate a problem with it.
So remember the doctrine of means and ends—God does not ordain things willy-nilly. A good order and purpose attends all that He does.

Second, we all understand the principle elsewhere —if we consider the subject of evangelism, we understand that God is the final cause of everything, but that He ordains

the use of instrumental (secondary) causes to accomplish His purposes.

Third, we should simply apply this to our children—trusting God to keep His Word does not contradict His sovereignty. How could it? He made the promise as an expression of His sovereignty.

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On Christian Disobedience #3

Joe Harby on

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Introduction

We continue to consider the increasingly relevant subject of Christian resistance to tyranny. But as we look to the Scriptures, beware of the danger of excitement over “right- wing red meat.” If ever a conflict with the magistrate comes, it must be a plain matter of submission to divine authority, and not an obvious example of a scofflaw who has just recently discovered a few Bible verses. It must be a matter of an upright man standing before a lawless throne, and not two dogs fighting over a piece of meat.

The Text

“If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath . . . Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Rom. 12:18–13:10).

Milestone’s in Paul’s Argument

Not only is general context important in understanding “Romans 13,” but it is also crucial to grasp the much-neglected immediate context.

Lovers of Peace: effective resistance will never be accomplished through those who love rabble-rousing (v. 18).

Give Place to Wrath: Paul opposes the spirit of vigilantism. Do not avenge yourselves, but return good for evil (vv. 20- 21). This is not inconsistent with calling the cops. In fact, it requires calling the cops. God is the one who executes wrath and vengeance (v. 19), and He does it through His deacons, discussed in the next few verses. God says “vengeance is mine,” not “vengeance is bad.” Note here that we are talking about vengeance, and not emergency self-defense. It has been rightly observed that when every second counts, the police are only minutes away.

Subject to Authority: we must not even think about resistance until we have learned this demeanor. Where must we learn it? First, we learn in godly families and churches. Learn the basic tune before you attempt the part with the difficult harmonies and complicated words.

Do Right: the existing authorities are the ordinance of God (v. 2), established to reward righteousness and punish evil. Therefore do what is right—the Christian is to be a model citizen. Too often resisters say they hate the tyranny, but what they really hate is the very idea of authority. But if we love God, we must hate all evil (Ps. 97:10), and we must also love and honor true authority (1 Pet. 2:13-17).

Love through the Law: nevertheless, Paul’s conclusion is not “do whatever they say.” His conclusion is that we are to give ourselves over to loving one another, and this is measured by means of the holy law of God. We keep the Ten Commandments, and whatever other commandment there might be,as we love. This is the requirement of God. We are to obey the magistrates to the extent it is consistent with this charge. This boundary is not just limited to major issues like “preaching the gospel.” It applies to anything that is covered by the revealed will of God.

The Deacons of God

Now remember the broad context of the Bible as we consider this. The authorities established by God are men, and therefore cannot be treated as an absolute authority. Nor does Paul require this of us in the context of this passage.

First consider the word diakonos. The civil authorities are called God’s deacons three times in this section (twice in v. 4, and once again in v. 6.). In other words, they have an authority above them, and that authority has expressly charged them with a specific task. That task is the administration of justice as defined by God. Paul assumes throughout this particular discussion that the assigned task is being faithfully discharged.

Put another way, he is not talking about a situation when the civil authority is penalizing the righteous and mandating celebration of iniquity. A deacon is a steward. He is entrusted with something, and is not the inventor of that something.

Second, consider the reason for taxes. The reason we pay taxes is that the recipients of these taxes are God’s deacons, attending continually to the administration of justice. Third, we obey for conscience sake. We submit for the Lord’s sake (1 Pet. 2:13). We are directed by conscience, and not because we granted any final authority to our earthly rulers. We obey because God says to, to the extent God says to.

When to Just Say No

To the extent a regime is in high revolt against Heaven they forfeit the investiture of the Lord. Nevertheless, because of the deceitfulness of our own hearts, even when we have determined the general right of resistance, we must take care to pick our battles carefully. A refusal to resist can be as principled before God as drawing a line. Do not accept the privilege and then make a “flaming battle for liberty” out of your reluctance to pay the bill. If you did a lot of dancing, then don’t do a lot of objecting when it comes to the piper-paying.

So Then . . .

Focus on the meaning of marriage. Sodomy is not what a federal judge says it is. Sodomy is what the Lord who rained fire from heaven on the Cities of the Plain says it is. It has been the good pleasure of God to send us this particular challenge in the “glorifying” professions—photography, floral decorations, cake baking.

Remember the politics of child-bearing. We have many duties with regard to our children are given directly to us, without any civil middle man. This includes all questions of spanking, nurture, conscription, education, and, on their side, suicidal birth control and abortion. “In a multitude of people is the glory of a king, but without people a prince is ruined.” (Proverbs 14:28, ESV)

Be jealous for the liberties of the church. The church answers to her Head, the Lord Jesus Christ. He has said we are to preach the gospel to every creature, baptize the nations, and teach them all. He did not say to ask permission from others, or to make sure we got a license.

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