Baptism empowers living a new life.

 

Sermon for Trinity 6, July 12, 2026

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  He gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father—to whom be the glory forever and ever.  Amen.

Romans 6:3-11  ³Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  ⁴We were therefore buried with him by this baptism into his death, so that just as he was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too would also walk in a new life.  ⁵For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united with him in the likeness of his resurrection.  ⁶We know that our old self was crucified with him, to make our sinful body powerless, so that we would not continue to serve sin.  ⁷For the person who has died has been declared free from sin.  ⁸And since we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.  ⁹We know that since Christ has been raised from the dead, he will never die again.  Death no longer has control over him.  ¹⁰For the death he died, he died to sin once and for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God.  ¹¹In the same way also consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (EHV)

Baptism empowers living a new life.

Dear friends in Christ,

            It all seems so counterintuitive, doesn’t it?  Being buried with someone is a good thing?  Being crucified will set us free?  Having died with Christ, we will live?  How can this be?

            St. Paul is responding to ideas that the Gospel will encourage immorality because it removes the threat of the Law.  What was misunderstood is that the law doesn’t actually instill good or faithful behavior.  Rather, the fear of condemnation, at best, results in only reluctant obedience rather than truly godly living.  For the Christian, however, it is not fear of condemnation that motivates the lifestyle we intend to live.  Instead, Paul explains, Baptism empowers living a new life.

Paul first addresses the consequences of sin.  He wrote, “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were therefore buried with him by this baptism into his death.”  The condemnation of the law is what put Jesus on the cross.  He was punished in that cruel way because of our sin and the sins of the world.  Because we “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), Jesus paid the penalty of death required by the law for the world.  This is the ultimate demonstration of God’s love for us.  Though we deserved only death and eternal separation from God, His Son Jesus brought us back into peace with God.

You see, sin had always separated us from our God and Lord.  Inherited sin caused us to be eternally antagonistic toward God.  If not for God’s intervention, we would have no hope.  However, God sent Jesus to end that separation that had condemned us and the whole world.  For us, Jesus paid the full penalty required to set us free from the curse of sin, which is death.  Then, in further demonstration of God’s love for us, baptism is the way God has connected us with Christ.  Being baptized into Christ, we are no longer separated from God, either in life or death, because His death now covers us. 

At the same time, being now connected with Jesus in baptism, we are no longer dead to God.  The apostle wrote, “We were therefore buried with him by this baptism into his death, so that just as he was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too would also walk in a new life.  For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united with him in the likeness of his resurrection.”  This is the most important sentence in human history.  Though Jesus died for the sins of the world, though He died on that cross as a consequence for all of our guilt, Jesus didn’t stay dead.  The Father in heaven has accepted Jesus’ sacrifice as the acceptable conclusion of our rebellious ways, for with all sin put on Jesus, we are counted clean of any guilt.

Before He went to the cross to suffer and die for you and me, Jesus told His disciples, “This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again.  No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.  I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it up again.  This is the commission I received from my Father.” (John 10:17-18)  From the very beginning of time, it was God’s plan to rescue us from the dark ways the devil led mankind astray.  We had inherited a sinful nature from our parents.  We couldn’t fix the problem.  Worse yet, that sinful nature controlled our every thought, feeling, and action.  Satan had us by the throat and his accusations against us weighed us down with hopelessness and shame. 

However, when Jesus rose from the grave alive again on Easter morning, this message could ring out cross the world: “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For in Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1-2)  True life was now restored in Jesus, and in baptism we are freed from the devil’s control while being connected to Christ, through whom Baptism empowers living a new life. 

The shame and hopelessness of our inherited sinful nature has been lifted from us.  Paul wrote, “We know that our old self was crucified with him, to make our sinful body powerless, so that we would not continue to serve sin.”  We know this only because the Holy Spirit has granted this knowledge to us through the power of His Word and baptism.  We also know that while we remain in this world, we still drag around the corpse of our old sinful nature, though that old nature has lost its power. 

Because Baptism empowers living a new life, no longer does our old nature control us.  Paul’s point is to ask why we would want to return to serving the dead things of the devil who will spend eternity in a prison prepared only for him and his followers?  No right thinking person would be willing to do that, “For the person who has died has been declared free from sin.  And since we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.”  In gratitude for having been set free from sin and death, the new man in us rejoices to walk in harmony with our Savior who is always living in holiness.  Because Christ has been raised from the dead and restored to His Father’s side in heaven, we too walk in the assurance of His promise, “Because I live, you also will live.” (John 14:19)  Connected to Jesus through baptism, we possess eternal life right now.  Yet, we wait for its ultimate fulfillment on Judgment Day.

“We know that since Christ has been raised from the dead, he will never die again.  Death no longer has control over him.”  Realize the ramifications of this statement.  Death has no control over Jesus.  Sin can never touch Jesus again.  He took ours upon Himself on the cross, and paid the ransom to set us free with His blood.  But never again.  The devil can no longer accuse.  Death’s threat has been destroyed by the open tomb on Easter morning.  That is the sure and certain proof that Jesus lives and His promise to us is most certainly true as well.

Through the washing and Word of baptism, we were cleansed of our sin and connected with Christ Jesus.  In this, we are also connected with the righteousness He lives.  As God has restored Jesus to life and placed all things under His authority, Jesus continues to live in perfect harmony with His Father’s will just as He did while walking this earth on our behalf.  Nothing about Jesus’ righteousness has changed, except that now we too walk in His holiness.  His Spirit then empowers us to resist the temptations of the devil, the world, and even our own sinful self, and when we stumble and fall, to repent of our weaknesses and return to His care.  Paul wrote, “For the death he died, he died to sin once and for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God.  In the same way also consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

Dear friends, this is the admonition of the Holy Spirit that we live our lives here on earth for the Savior who gave His life so that we might live.  Jesus once told His disciples, “I am the Vine; you are the branches.  The one who remains in me and I in him is the one who bears much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)  We live in farm country, so you all are well familiar with what a plant can produce if uprooted from the soil, or how much fruit a branch will bear if cut off from the main stem.  It all just withers and dies, producing nothing but fuel for a fire.  On the other hand, in our baptismal connection with Jesus, “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance so that we would walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)

Yes, that is why baptism is so life giving.  It connects us, who once were dead and useful only as fodder for the fires of hell, with the Living One who will never die again.  In Jesus, we are connected with the Son of God through whom all living things were given physical life.  He is the source of our spiritual life, and it is His everlasting life pulsing into us through the connection formed between Him and us in baptism that grants us life and empowers us to live more holy lives while here on earth. 

Dear friends, having been restored to eternal life in our baptisms, we are now enlivened and empowered to serve Him who rescued us from the dead.  We now live, not out of fear of punishment, but out of gratitude and true faith in the Savior who redeemed us and restored us to the realm of the truly living.  Then also, whenever you may stumble or fall short of the glory of God, return in repentance to the grace of baptism and receive again that life-giving power.  Therefore, rejoice now and for the rest of your life because Baptism empowers living a new life.  Amen.

May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, both soul and body, be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.  Amen.