The Gospel Made Visible

Transcript

Thanks, man. It’s really good to be back with you. It’s good to worship with you, to sing with you, and to open the Word of God with you. Friends, if I haven’t met you yet, my name is Andrey. I’m a member here at Trinity Church of Portland, and I also have the immense privilege of serving here as one of the staff pastors. So if we haven’t met, I’d love to meet you, get to know you a little bit, and see how I can serve you and how we as a church can serve you.

Today we turn our attention to the topic of baptism. So I want to ask you, Christian, when you think of baptism, or rather when I say the word baptism, what do you think? What comes to mind? What associations do you have? Is it something of a spiritual rite of passage in your mind? Is it a practice vaguely associated with evangelicalism? Maybe if you grew up in a church tradition that baptized infants, does your mind go there? Do you think of children being consecrated or set aside? Maybe you think of it as an initiation into the religious community, a dedication? Or maybe you don’t have any thoughts about it at all. Maybe in your mind it’s somewhat of an irrelevant religious practice.

In speaking of baptism, the Protestant Reformer John Calvin says in his Institutes of the Christian Religion, “Baptism is the sign of the initiation by which we are received into the society of the church in order that, engrafted in Christ, we may be reckoned among God’s children.” The Reformers were nothing if not verbose! The sign of the initiation by which we are received into the church. In other words, it’s the way we can visualize how we came to be Christians—the gospel made visible.

As we continue our series titled Living Liturgy, our series on worship, we now arrive at the topic of Christian baptism. What is this practice of submerging people in water and being excited when they emerge? Is this a necessary or even relevant Christian practice anymore? Is it necessary for our worship of God? Why are we even talking about this in a series on worship? That’s what we’ll be digging into today: What is baptism? Who should be baptized? And why is it important?

Friends, if you have your Bibles, I want to invite you to open to Acts chapter 2, verses 37 through 41. If you don’t have a Bible, there should be one in the seat in front of you. And if you don’t own a Bible at home, we’d love to give you one as a gift and encourage you to read it and get to know the God of the Bible.

Once you open your Bibles to Acts 2, I’d like to invite you to stand if you’re able for the reading of the Word of God, beginning at verse 37:

“Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’

And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.’

And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, ‘Save yourselves from this crooked generation.’

So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.”

This is the Word of the Lord, saints. Thanks be to God. Please be seated.

Would you pray with me? Father, we ask for a supernatural work of illumination as we look to your Word to understand this command of our Lord Jesus. Help us to be obedient and help us to grow in love for Him as a result of our time in your Word. We ask in His wonderful name. Amen.

After His resurrection, Jesus returns to His disciples. He spends time with them, teaches them, and in Acts 1, He promises them the coming of the Holy Spirit, this Helper He had previously told them about. He said, “It’s better for you that I leave and He comes.”

Then Jesus ascends to heaven right before their eyes, and they are left waiting for His return. Then in Acts 2, the promised Holy Spirit arrives and makes quite the entrance. So much so that those filled with the Spirit begin to speak in various languages they hadn’t learned. Those around them are confused and think they must be drunk. This is the only explanation they can come up with.

This is where the Apostle Peter stands up and says, “This isn’t drunkenness. This is a movement of God.” More than that, there’s a lot going on here. After being a coward and betrayer of Jesus, Peter, filled with the Spirit, boldly preaches the gospel to this massive crowd. This is the first Christian sermon, the first sermon of the New Testament Church.

He preaches Christ crucified, the fulfillment of prophecy, the need for repentance of sin, and the sovereignty of God in Jesus’ death. The response? “What do we do, Peter?”

Peter tells them, “Repent and be baptized.”

As we consider what Acts 2 tells us about baptism, we’ll first look at the repentance that precedes water baptism, then the fact that baptism is an act of obedience, and finally the gracious gift God extends to those who come to Him in faith.

Let’s begin with repentance. One of the things I love about being part of Trinity Church is that the gospel is present in virtually every part of our liturgy—from the call to worship, songs, confession and pardon, kids catechism, to pastoral prayer. All are saturated with the gospel—the need for repentance, faith, and trust in Jesus. Salvation is only possible for those who have done that.

If you’ve worshipped with us before, you know we boldly proclaim the good news. We want anyone who comes to worship, especially if it’s their first time hearing of Jesus, to hear that if they repent of their sins and trust Jesus for forgiveness, Scripture promises they will be saved. Salvation is found in no other religion. I know that sounds closed-minded or harsh, but salvation is only possible in Jesus Christ, the Son of God who died in the place of sinners as their substitute.

This salvation isn’t earned; it’s a free gift—God’s grace to rebels and enemies, displaying His love, mercy, and kindness. That is the gospel.

So what is repentance? If we preach the gospel and focus on God’s love and grace, don’t we just lean into love, patience, and forgiveness? Yes. But the Bible repeatedly tells us that repentance is intertwined with these things. The sinner comes to see themselves as someone in need of forgiveness. They see they’ve sinned against a holy God and need to be made right. They repent, coming to God with a changed mind and heart.

Repentance means turning away from sin, a transformation, a deep change. It’s a hatred of sin once loved and defended. It’s a shift of priorities, loves, and allegiance. Without this change, can it truly be called repentance? No, it would be mere behavior modification.

What much of the world wants is what Dietrich Bonhoeffer calls cheap grace— forgiveness without true repentance. The Bible knows nothing of that. Biblical repentance produces life and a new person because it originates with God. It’s a miraculous work of God.

Verse 37 tells us that when they heard Peter’s message, they were cut to the heart—not self-inflicted, but a work of God convicting them. Consider Ephesians 2

, which tells us we were dead in sin, but God, rich in love and mercy, saves us. Even the faith to believe is a gift from God. How does a dead person believe? It’s God’s work.

No one can convince you to repent and follow Jesus, but when God acts, He opens eyes and softens hearts. When the gospel grabs hold of a person, they cannot remain the same.

Peter’s sermon ends with the question, “Brothers, what shall we do?” The answer: repent and be baptized.

This leads us to our second point: repentance leads to obedience. When God changes a person, they desire to live in obedience. This is a marker of Christianity. The Christian no longer lives for themselves but gladly follows Jesus.

Peter preaches Jesus’ lordship—not just Savior but Lord. Jesus owns us and determines our lives. The Great Commission in Matthew 28

commands disciples to make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Where does baptism come from? It’s rooted in Old Testament ritual washings and the proselyte baptism of converts into Judaism. Jesus Himself was baptized by John the Baptizer, not because He needed cleansing, but to set an example of obedience and identify with His people.

Jesus calls His disciples to baptize those who believe. Baptism visually shows the death and resurrection of Jesus, the death of the old self, and the birth of the new. Romans 6

says we are buried with Him by baptism into death so that we might walk in newness of life.

Baptism publicly proclaims that we belong to Jesus, that our sins are washed away, and that we have been raised to new life. It’s the gospel made visible.

Throughout Acts, the pattern is clear: belief followed immediately by baptism. In Acts 8, 9, 10, and 16, those who believe are baptized without delay.

This has caused me to reflect on how we view baptism. Have we set traditions or preferences above Scripture? The New Testament pattern is simple: repent, believe, be baptized. Some churches may have excesses or problematic practices, but Scripture calls for baptism as an act of obedience following faith.

I want to clarify some misconceptions. Baptismal regeneration—the idea that baptism saves—is heresy. Salvation is by grace through faith alone. Water baptism has no supernatural power. Forgiveness is tied to repentance, not baptism.

Paedo-baptism, or infant baptism, while not heresy, is not supported by this text. Acts 2 and other passages show baptism following personal faith and repentance, not as entrance into a covenant community like circumcision in the Old Testament.

We can still fellowship with those who practice infant baptism, but Scripture teaches baptism as a public profession of faith by those who have personally repented and believed.

Baptism identifies the believer as belonging to Jesus and His church. It is a public profession of faith and obedience.

Finally, Peter promises a gracious gift to those who repent and believe: the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2

). Those who follow Jesus receive forgiveness, hope, family, identity, and God Himself dwelling within them.

Acts 2

shows that those baptized immediately join the community of believers, devoting themselves to teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer. The church is a home and gift to the believer.

If you’re here and unsure about Jesus or baptism, we would love to talk with you. Don’t ignore the gospel. Ask the Lord to soften your heart. Reach out to any member of this church and ask, “Tell me about Jesus. What do I do?” We’d love to pray with you and help you understand what it means to follow Jesus and obey His command to be baptized.

If you believe in Jesus but haven’t been baptized, I ask, why not? Are you waiting to grow spiritually first? The biblical flow is repent, believe, be baptized. Baptism is a matter of obedience and public proclamation.

Young people, if you believe Jesus has forgiven you and saved you, come talk to us. We want to help you understand what it means to follow Jesus and be baptized.

The New Testament church has two ordinances: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Unfortunately, these are often minimized in the Western church. May the Lord help us honor Him in glad obedience.

In baptism, we see the new birth, a dead person made alive by God. In the Lord’s Supper, we remember Jesus’ body broken and blood shed for us.

St. Augustine and John Calvin spoke of the sacraments as visible words of God—His truths and grace seen tangibly, acts of worship for His people.

May the Lord help us worship Him rightly and obey Him fully, putting on display the gospel that saves—the only gospel that can save anyone.

Would you pray with me? Our great God, gracious Lord, patient Father, if we’ve been disobedient in any aspect of what we’ve seen today, we ask for your grace and mercy. Through your Spirit, help us obey and live as you’ve called us, so we can beautifully display the gospel that saves. We want Jesus to be made known and clearly seen here. We ask this in His name, for His glory. Amen.