Romans 2:28-29

COVENANT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

‘For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter.’

Romans 2:28

If we were to read this passage of Scripture carelessly, in which explanation is given of the rite of circumcision, we might easily think that St. Paul meant, in these words, to depreciate circumcision, and treat it as if it were of no value. And in thinking so, we should, of course, be very much mistaken. St. Paul had no thought of depreciating circumcision; only of making it to be rightly understood. It had never been intended as a title to salvation in the future life; and in St. Paul’s time the mistake seems to have grown up among the Jews of thinking that it was. Now circumcision has passed away. The Jewish Church has been merged in the Christian Church; and the rite of circumcision has been replaced by Christian baptism.

I. Baptism an important matter.—We can easily understand from our Lord’s strict commands to perform it, that baptism is a matter of very great importance. If it had not been, our Lord would not have taken such great care that all His people should be baptized. ‘ Teach them,’ He said to His disciples, but He also said ‘ baptize them.’ There are sects that neglect to teach, and there are sects that neglect to baptize. The one is as wrong as the other. The Christians we read of in Holy Scripture were all baptized. St. Paul himself, when he had the vision of Christ, went to Ananias, and was baptized. Cornelius, when he was converted, was instantly baptized. The jailer at Philippi, frightened and repentant, ‘was baptized, he and all his, straightway,’ say the Scriptures. There are other similar instances which you can read for yourselves in your Bibles. In this sense all Christians understood Christ’s words for many hundred years after He ascended; and all Christian people were baptized then.

II. And what is baptism?—It is the washing or sprinkling with water of a child or a grown person in the name of the Holy Trinity, with special prayers and thanksgivings. That is baptism, as you see it administered so often here at church. That is the outward part of baptism, the part of it that you can see. But there is something in it that you cannot see, and that is the effect of baptism. What is it that baptism does for your souls? In baptism we are born into a new and regenerate state. We are publicly proclaimed to the members of Christ’s Church—and a germ or seed of good is implanted in our souls, which will, if we follow and obey it, finally transform us into the image and likeness of Christ, so that we shall be found fit at length for the society of God and of the angels in heaven.

III. Baptism, then, is a great privilege; but it is also a great responsibility.—God has given it to us, and we may use it well or ill. It may be to us the gate of glory and holiness unspeakable; but if neglected and disobeyed, it may be only an additional talent which we must answer for; and of which the misuse will be a weight to sink us deeper into condemnation. By baptism we claim God’s promises, and are brought into connection and covenant with Him. Baptism will not save us; but it will put us in the way of being saved. It will not save us, but it will give us valuable help towards obtaining salvation. There are people who misrepresent the Church’s doctrine of baptismal regeneration, as if it were meant that because a person was baptized, he must therefore of necessity be saved. That is not what is meant at all. Amongst those who will be lost at the last, there will be, I cannot but fear, many baptized persons—men and women who have received the Spirit of Christ and the help of Christ, who have been professing Christians, and yet have fallen away after all, and lost their birthright, and denied their Saviour.

IV. Let us all try, first, to value baptism rightly for the great benefits it gives; and second, not to rely upon it as sufficient in and by itself, and apart from a holy life, to save us—which it will not do. That would be to repeat the very mistake of the Jews about circumcision. But, on the other hand, we must not think it a small matter whether we are baptized or no. A person who wilfully neglects baptism (as some sects of Dissenters do) does two things. First, he flatly disobeys the ordinance of Christ; and second, he deprives himself of just the most powerful help and weapon he could possibly have in his strife against sin.

Illustration

‘ “Let it be ours,” says Bishop Moule, “to reverence, to prize, to use the ordinances of our Master, with a devotion such as we might seem sure we should feel if we saw Him dip His hand in the font, or stretch it out to break the bread, and hallow it, and give it, at the table. But let us be quite certain, for our own souls’ warning, that it is true all the while—in the sense of this passage—that ‘he is not a Christian which is one outwardly, neither is that baptism, or communion, which is outward; but he is a Christian which is one inwardly, and baptism and communion are those of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter.’ Sacred indeed are the God-given externals of Christian order and ordinance. But there are degrees of greatness in the world of sacred things. And the moral work of God direct upon the soul of man is greater than His sacramental work done through man’s body.” ’