Titus 3:4–7

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior toward mankind appeared, ⁵he saved us—not by righteous works that we did ourselves, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and the renewal by the Holy Spirit, ⁶whom he poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs in keeping with the hope of eternal life. (EHV)

Dear Friends in Christ,

In our Old Testament reading we saw David designated and anointed for his role as the future king of Israel. Nobody there that day thought David would be the one. In their minds he was just the little boy, who should keep his mouth shut and tend the sheep. But through the prophet Samuel, the Lord declared his true identity—future king of Israel. In our Gospel today, we saw God the Father identify Jesus as His beloved Son as He began His public ministry. The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the form of a dove to make it clear just which of the two men, John or Jesus, was the Messiah, the Anointed One of God.

What is your true identity? Who are you really, in the big scheme of things. Who has God declared you to be? We’ve all filled various roles in our lives—mother, daughter, grandfather, sister, boss, or employee—but if you had to narrow it down to the most important one of all, our text gives us some guidance. It reminds us that of all the things we are, the most important and lasting is this: Baptism Makes You God’s Child and Heir.

Jesus Saved Us from Our Former Identity

That is not what we once were. We started out as lonely orphans. Yes, God had created us. He’d given us our soul and our body. He had “fathered” us. But we were lost. We didn’t know who He was. We didn’t know where He lives. We didn’t know how to find Him. We were like these poor kids who get smuggled into our country across the southern border who don’t have any identity papers and don’t know where their parents are. They get shipped to big cities where they’re recruited into gangs and tasked with petty theft on the streets. They get exploited and abused. That’s what our spiritual lives would still be like if God hadn’t found us, rescued us and taken us off the street. He saved us!—not by righteous works that we did ourselves, but because of his mercy.

“He saved us.” He already did it! Notice that verb is in the past tense. Paul doesn’t say “He will save us,” but “He saved us.” Blessed assurance! And what did He save us from and for? He rescued us from hell and has given us the gift of eternal life with Him. It’s not about this life, it’s about the next. Paul wrote these words to his student and fellow believer Titus. And we who read these words are fellow believers too. So it’s just as true for us. It’s a done deal.

He saved us, …Not by righteous works that we did ourselves…. That could never be, because of our sins. God expects 100% perfection from us, 100% of the time—start to finish. So, even if we could offer that to Him in the future—which we can’t—we’d still have all our sins of the past to make up for.

Or think of it this way: If you had to fill out an application for room and board in heaven, and there was a blank on the application for you to list good works you had done to get in, what would you fill in the box? ‘Went to church most Sundays. Gave offerings. Baked cookies for the lady across the street.’ Who knows—maybe you could come up with a list of 300 to 500 things! OK. Now review your application. Go back and reread it. Fix any spelling errors. Do you think your list meet God’s demand for perfection? How many pages long is your list? Is your list completely honest, or have you added some spin, the way you would on a résumé to impress a potential employer?

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior toward mankind appeared, ⁵he saved us—not by righteous works that we did ourselves, but because of his mercy. Thank God that He is merciful; that He does not treat us as our sins deserve! He doesn’t let us in according to the number and level of good works we’ve accomplished, all by ‘ourselves.’ Instead He gives us the gift of eternal salvation out of the goodness of His heart. Because of His mercy, He rescued you off the street and Made You God’s Child and Heir.

He Gives Us Second Birth

How?  What was the adoption process? He saved us through the washing of rebirth. Last week we watched the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter. You might remember how he emphasized that he was “a born-again Christian.” Back in the 70s, it was very popular to ask someone “Are you ‘born again?” in a way that implied the second birth was different than baptism, and that Christians came in two classes—first-class Christians who were ‘born again’ and second-class Christians who weren’t. But in this passage Paul puts baptism and rebirth together. They’re not separate things! He calls baptism “the washing of rebirth and the renewal by the Holy Spirit”—the washing of being born again and of being made new again by the Holy Spirit. In John chapter 3, Jesus famously told Nicodemus, “You must be born again” and then explained, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God!” John 3:3, 5). Here, too, in our text, St. Paul tells us that if you’ve been baptized, you have been born again.

Being born, of course, isn’t something you do, it’s something that happens to you. When you were born the first time, your mother did all the work. Sometimes mothers brag about it, “I was in painful labor with you for 12 hours!” Kids can’t brag back, “Oh, I worked so hard to be born, for like 12 hours!”? In the same way, when you were reborn, you didn’t do the work. The Holy Spirit did! He saved us through the washing of rebirth and the renewal by the Holy Spirit, and Made You God’s Child and Heir.

Jesus Gives Baptism its Power

So how is it that something so simple and humble as baptism can do such great things? It’s because Jesus gave us baptism, and baptism gives us Jesus. Jesus gave baptism it’s power to save. As our Substitute, Jesus earned for us the right to be called children and heirs of God. Everything we need to do to meet God’s requirements, Jesus did first, and He did it perfectly. He did it all as our Substitute, including being baptized. When Jesus came to be baptized by John, “John tried to stop him, because he knew Jesus didn’t need forgiveness as the sinless Lamb of God…. “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?” ¹⁵ But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now, because it is proper for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then John let him” (Matthew, (3:14–15).

Jesus was describing His job as our Substitute when He said He had to “fulfill all righteousness.” The day after He was baptized, John pointed at Jesus and said, “Look! The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Remember, Jesus came to earn our salvation by doing two things: 1. He fulfilled all righteousness for us, and 2. He took away the sins of the world on the cross. And Jesus put all that saving power into the spiritual bath called baptism. In baptism we get all Jesus’ fulfilled righteousness, and in baptism we get Jesus’ payment for our sins on the cross. John started baptism; Jesus gave it power, as He explained to the crowd in our Gospel “I baptize you with water. But someone mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16). Jesus put the fire and the Spirit into baptism. He turned that simple water into the powerful stream that washes away our sins and gives us new birth and renewal.

I’m sure you know that so many of the big growing churches in America don’t believe any of that. They think baptism is just an outward act people do to say they love Jesus. What an insulting heresy! Baptism isn’t something we do for Jesus! It’s something He does for us! That’s why even the weakest little baby can be baptized.

Baptism Now Saves Us

So does baptism save us, or does Jesus? The answer is “Yes!” Jesus saves us through baptism! Jesus and baptism aren’t having a competition against each other. Baptism is one of God’s tools to give us all the good stuff Jesus earned for us—forgiveness, life, and salvation.  Go back to the simple and clear way Paul phrased it for us in our text: He saved us through the washing of rebirth and the renewal by the Holy Spirit, ⁶whom he poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs in keeping with the hope of eternal life.

What a powerful and thorough passage! Even if there were no other passages about Baptism in the whole Bible, this one would be more than sufficient to teach us what Baptism is and what it does for us! But of course there are other passages, such as 1 Peter 3:21, “…Baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the body but the guarantee of a good conscience before God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

So in just two passages we’ve now seen that baptism gives us new birth, it renews us by the Holy Spirit, it gives us justification by grace, it makes us heirs with the hope of eternal life, it saves us, and it guarantees us a good conscience before God. Wow! What a precious gift Baptism is! No wonder Jesus’ marching orders to the church, just before He ascended, begin with baptism. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19).

Baptism Sets Us Apart

Jesus’ baptism designated Him and set Him apart as our Prophet, High Priest, and eternal King. He was publicly anointed into His public ministry and the voice of the Father boomed from heaven, “You are my Son, whom I love. I am well pleased with you” (Luke 3:22). At your baptism you were set apart too. At your baptism the Father lovingly named you His beloved Child and Heir. When Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit landed on Him in the form of a dove. When you were baptized, the Holy Spirit came to you and took up residence in your heart. Once Jesus’ public ministry began, He began to show by His miracles that He is in fact the powerful Son of God, incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary. Now that you are baptized, you can also live out your new, true, wonderful identity as God’s Child and Heir.

To the one who thinks they are garbage… that their sins place them outside the circle of God’s love. . . baptism says, “No, you are loved dearly by God. The proof is that in His grace He justified you. You have been baptized; you are now totally innocent!” To the one who thinks that their innate goodness and ethical integrity is why God loves them… baptism says, “Actually, no. Your righteous acts had nothing to do with that. You needed to be washed clean as much as the next person.” To the one who says they have no power to serve God and others, that they can’t overcome that temptation, baptism says, “No, actually, you have been spiritually renewed. The power of God’s Holy Spirit is yours.” That’s why we can sing with joy,

“God’s own child!” I gladly say it. I am baptized into Christ!…I’m a child of paradise!

Baptism Makes You God’s Child and Heir. All by God’s grace! Amen.