The Baptised Life

What ought life look like for the baptised?

This past Sunday, I had the great joy of baptising five young people at church. The best part was that four of them are my own children. This week’s post is an adaptation of the sermon that I preached before baptising them. All Scripture references are from the ESV.

Introduction

Before he ascended to the Father, Jesus said these words:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

This is what we exist to do as a church, to make disciples who are baptised and taught to follow Jesus. Getting to do that is exciting.

First, I want us to consider what the baptised life looks like. If baptism is such a significant thing, it ought to mean something for everyday, right?

To help us understand it, we’re going to spend a little bit of time thinking about some words from St. Paul, one of the apostles that Jesus sent out to tell people about him.

Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarrelling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:1-7)

The baptised life is a life of good, a new life, and a life which is by grace alone.

1. The baptised life is a life of good (v1-2)

If Superman was saying that he was some amazing superhero but he was always getting into fights and stealing vapes from the corner shops in Metropolis, would you believe his words? It would be pretty tricky, right? Like if Superman says he’s a hero but he smells like mango and seems to always be running away from the police, you’d have to wonder if he could actually be called a hero.

The same is true of Christians and the Christian life. If we say that we believe certain things about Jesus, that ought to show in the way we live.

Paul’s big point in the letter to this friend Titus is that God is a God of truth and knowing God means living out that truth in the church, in our families, and in the world.

Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarrelling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. (Titus 3:1-2)

Part of baptism is belonging to Jesus and you can see very clearly in verses 1-2 that the life of a person who belongs to Jesus should be a life of doing good: respecting authority, being kind and courteous, doing good things, being gentle.

This is a sort of living that is beautiful. It’s icing on a cake. If someone spends a bunch of time, money, and effort baking a cake, do you think that they’ll coat it with mud and dog mess? No, they’ll use good things, sweet things, beautiful things.

Paul wants the lives of baptised people to be like that. Beautiful, shining bright. Why?

2. The baptised life is a new life (v3)

When you read the Bible and you’re trying to understand why the writer is saying what he is saying, the easiest clue is to look for words like “for” and “therefore”. So why is the baptised life a life of good? Because it’s a new life contrasted with your old life.

For we ourselves were once…

Look at verse 3. Does Paul think he’s better than anyone?

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. (Titus 3:3)

Not at all. In fact, he is right there showing that his own life was a mess. Look at how Paul describes his and Titus’s life before becoming Christians.

Foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves, hated by others and hating one another.

Does that sound like someone who is able to obey authorities, do good works, and be kind and courteous to everyone?

Why is that? Why can’t I be good? Paul recognises that humanity was created to do and be good, but our sin has made us bad. Elsewhere in the Bible, we read this:

They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. (Psalm 14:3)

The reason why the good things that are described in the first two verses look so good is because this is what they’re being compared to.

The church hall ceiling was dark brown wood, leaky, and loud. Now, the ceiling is bright white, it’s dry (we hope) and it’s quiet.

The baptised life is a new life that looks, feels and sounds completely different to the old life.

Perhaps you are sitting there trying to make sense of what you’re hearing. You feel like you’re a kind person, someone who tries to do good. You don’t always get it right, but you at least try. Why does it never seem to be enough? It’s because you know, deep down, that as much as you try to do good, you still wonder what God thinks of you.

3. The baptised life is by grace alone

Keep reading through the passage and what do we find? A big but.

We were bad people, really bad, full of hate and foolishness. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy. (Titus 3:4-5)

Why does God save people? It clearly says that it’s not because they do good things. It is because of his goodness and his love and his kindness.

How do we know that Jesus loves us? Because he went to the cross for us. Crucifixion was a death sentence reserved for slaves. For the worst of the worst. When Jesus went to the cross, he showed us how lost we are without him.

Elsewhere in the Bible, Paul explains that the wages of sin, of rebelling against God and living without recognising him, is death. But Jesus takes the judgement that we deserve, suffering in our place for us.

To quote the old hymn:

He died that we might be forgiven, he died to make us good.¹

This is grace. This is mercy. This is the only way that the baptised life happens. You cannot earn it, it has to be done for you by him and it happens when you believe in him.

Conclusion

For those who were saved long ago

Don’t forget the significance of your baptism. Look back and remember your old ways.

Commenting on these very verses, Charles Spurgeon wrote this:

Come then, pastor, elders, deacons, and members of the church, you who have served your Lord for many years, do not hesitate to join in this humiliating confession.

Confess and rejoice.

For those being baptised

For you here who are new believers, and particularly those of you who are being baptised today. Remember today. It’s a concrete reminder of your union with Jesus, of the day he made you holy, dedicated to him.

For everyone

And for all of us, let the light of your baptised lives shine in the darkness. You can’t expect people to be curious about the Christian life if they never see it happening.

Being respectful to authorities and kind to all people means living around all people. It means that you don’t so fill up your diaries with Christian activity that you only ever see non-Christians as a project. Nobody wants to feel like a project.

Jesus died and is alive today. Still saving souls. Still pouring out his Spirit on the church, empowering them to do every good work for his glory.

Amen.

1. There is a green hill far away by Cecil Frances Alexander