“When an unclean spirit comes out of a person, he roams through waterless places looking for rest, and not finding rest, he then says, ‘I’ll go back to the house I left.’ After returning, he finds the house swept and put in order. Then, he goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they go in and live there. As a result, that person’s last condition is worse than before.” (Luke 11:24-26)
In those words, our Lord Jesus gives us a solemn warning. It’s a warning that we Lutherans especially need to heed. For we often misuse God’s comforting truth about Baptism. We often treat baptism as our own sacrament and not Christ’s to be used according to His divine will.
As Lutherans, we are correct when we teach and confess that God saves us through the water and Word of baptism. We believe that because that’s the truth. In 1st Peter 3:21, God’s Word clearly says, “Baptism now saves us.” That’s black and white, straight from the words of Scripture.
We believe correctly that through Baptism God regenerates new life within us. God’s Word says so. Titus 3:5 says that God “saved us, not because of any righteous works that we have done, but because of His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” We know that washing refers to baptism because baptism is the only washing that Christ has commanded. So Scripture is clear–and without doubt–about what God does in and through baptism!
Even more, we are correct to teach that, through Baptism, God saves even infants and children. His Word says, from Acts chapter 2, “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 your children” (Acts 2:38-39).
So, then, what’s the problem? I’ve just shown where the Lutheran Church correctly believes what God’s Word teaches. We don’t have to twist, cavort, and dance around God’s Word, trying to explain why God’s Word doesn’t mean what it so clearly teaches on baptism. Then, where do we get into trouble?
It’s in this way. We often treat baptism as if it’s magic. We treat baptism as a get-out-of hell card we wave before God. Oh, yes, we get the part about God saving us through baptism right. But then in our sinfulness, we come up with other wrong-headed conclusions. We come up with deceitful distortions about baptism in which our fallen, sinful natures can delight.
We live out such a distorted view of baptism when someone is baptized, but then we never see him again in church. So, Beth and Josh, go to a faithful Lutheran Church where you live, where you and your newly baptized son, Cooper, can hear and receive God’s life-bestowing Word and sacraments. Don’t let Cooper live his life apart from Christ and His Church. Don’t decide, “It’s all right. He’s baptized.”
That’s a wrong conclusion. Baptism is to be a comfort when doubts about salvation arise. But don’t let baptism become an excuse to live however you want and to excuse whatever sin you commit.
Such a way of life is sinful. It separates you from Christ. Oh, yes, baptism saves–but baptism also brings one into a life of daily contrition and turning away from sin. That’s why Christ’s ties His command to baptize in Matthew chapter 28 to also teaching all that He has commanded. Baptism, apart from such teaching, goes against Christ’s command of discipling people into His Church.
You see, baptism introduces us into a life of sorrow over sin. Baptism brings us into a life of fighting against sin and turning away from it, and–by the power of the Holy Spirit–overcoming it. When we don’t struggle against our sin, when we rationalize it, and when we coddle it, then we defy our baptism and not live the baptismal life.
How does our Small Catechism for instruction in the Christian faith describe the life of the baptized? It does so with these words:
What does such baptizing with water mean?
It means the Old Adam in us, with all its evil deeds and desires, is to be drowned and die by daily sorrow and repentance. Day after day, a new man is to emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.
Jesus warns that once a devil is driven out of someone, the devil becomes restless. He wanders about, thinking all is lost. But then he thinks, “Perhaps, I can go back home. Perhaps, there’s room for me, once more, in that person’s heart.”
And if the devil returns and sees the heart is in order–but not occupied by the Lord–then the devil dances in sinful glee! For if Christ is not there, that means there’s room for Satan. And so he runs and gets other demons and they reoccupy the heart, leaving the person worse off than before.
That’s what Jesus says. That’s what Jesus means. So, yes baptism saves. But if one lives a life of willful sinning, spurning God and His Holy Spirit, one simply sets himself up for the devil to reoccupy his heart and soul, a heart and soul that Jesus had earlier saved.
Indeed, baptism clearly throws Satan out the door. It’s not by accident that we confess in our baptismal liturgy: “Depart, you unclean spirit, and make room for the Holy Spirit in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Later, in our baptismal liturgy, we ask, “Do you renounce the devil, all his works, and all his ways?”
Yes, through baptism, God drives the devil out our hearts and lives. Yet–and get this truth and never lose it–for Satan to be kept out, one must continue to live in his baptism. If not, then it’s just as Jesus said. The evil spirit that God tossed out the front door enters later through the back, with even more of his minions.
That’s why the Church asks the parents to pray for their baptized child and make sure he receives Christian instruction. Parents are to nurture their child in the Christian faith and encourage him faithfully to receive the Lord’s Supper. Those aren’t just some cutesy words of Christian culture. They’re for real! Those words are the Church’s earnest admonition to parents.
For Satan to be kept at bay in one newly baptized, the parents are to teach their children how to live in their baptism against Satan. Again, that’s part of the “all” that Jesus commanded to be taught for the one baptized.
As for infants, so it is for adults. When an adult is received into the Church, we always give the same solemn charge to him: “Do you intend to hear the Word of God and receive the Lord’s Supper faithfully?” That isn’t to fulfill some Law. No, it’s the Church’s way of teaching us that through faithfully receiving these means of grace, God keeps breaking Satan’s power in our lives.
And do you know why God’s Word and Sacraments have the strength to keep breaking Satan’s back? It’s because God’s means of grace–baptism, the preached Word, holy absolution, and the Supper: the Gospel–are the ways God saves us and keep us strong in the faith. That’s why.
In each way that Jesus Christ comes to save and, to continue to save us, He comes to take away all the crushing burden of all our sins. Through the Word and Sacraments, God gives us sinners the salvation that Jesus won for us when He shed His blood on the cross. That’s how we receive forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. That’s also how we also live in our baptism.
Through Word and Sacrament, Jesus doesn’t just tell about such forgiveness, life, and salvation. No, He actually gives such forgiveness to us! That’s the difference between the Word that simply informs and the Word that actually does. And Satan flees from such a powerful, life-bestowing Word from God! By being where Jesus comes to you in Word and Sacrament, there God the Holy Spirit keeps you strong in the faith. That’s how you live in your baptism.
Luther once made this most-profound observation: Jesus won salvation for you on the cross. But that’s not where He gives you your salvation. It’s in baptism, the Lord’s Supper, absolution, and the preached Word. That’s where God the Holy Spirit gives out salvation.
So, if you want salvation and the forgiveness of sins, don’t run to the cross. For you can’t get there anyway. Calvary is faraway and long ago. And even if you were to go there, your Lord is no longer on the cross!
If you want your sins forgiven, go to where Christ comes to you now. Through Word and Sacrament, your Lord gives you what was sacrificed on Calvary: the Body that carried your sins, the Blood that was shed for your pardon and peace. It’s there and it’s yours. Yes, Jesus still comes to you today, giving to you His cross-won salvation to keep saving you and strengthening you in the faith.
So our Lord’s warning about the demons trying to return home is something we Lutheran Christians need to heed. We need to take our Lord’s words seriously, so we won’t pervert our rejoicing about baptism into the delusion that we have a license to sin without consequence. If we live our lives in such a distorted belief, then our baptism becomes a judgment on us instead of salvation.
Yes, our Lord drives the devil out through the Word and water of baptism. And Jesus continues to keep Satan at bay through His preached Word, Absolution, and Supper. Jesus keeps the devil away by living within us, constantly forgiving us our sins, keeping us free from the devil’s dominion.
That’s why we hasten to Christ’s Church. For in His Bride, the Church, Christ continually comes to us to keep saving us and to keep us in the one, true faith. Amen.
