January 6 - All Who Believe and Are Baptized

Listen here.

Welcome to Devotions for Worship where we meditate on the appointed Scripture readings for the upcoming Sunday. I am Pastor Eric Tritten from Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Hudson, OH. Thank you for being with me today.

On Saturdays we look at a hymn for our devotional meditation. This might be a helpful devotional habit because the hymns we sing are expressions of faith and often teach us important lessons. They are, in a sense, God’s Word rearranged and set to music. It is good for us to look closely at what we sing. There are beautiful and inspiring biblical messages contained in the hymns.  

The hymn we will look at today is All Who Believe and Are Baptized (You can listen to it here.) In the Lutheran Service Book from Concordia Publishing House it is hymn number 601.

The Hymn:

This hymn was written by Thomas Kingo, a 17^th century clergyman. He was probably the greatest Danish poet of the 17^th century and one of the most important hymn writers from Denmark.

Because this hymn is short, just two verses, I will read it.

1. All who believe and is baptized
Shall see the Lord's salvation;
Baptized into the death of Christ,
They are a new creation.
Through Christ's redemption they shall stand
Among the glorious heav'nly band
Of ev'ry tribe and nation.

2. With one accord, O God, we pray:
Grant us Your Holy Spirit.
Help us in our infirmity
Through Jesus' blood and merit.
Grant us to grow in grace each day
That by this sacrament we may
Eternal life inherit.

We should notice that the first verse proclaims God’s salvation. Almost quoting Mark 16:16 it says that all who believe and are baptized shall be saved. How did that happen? It happened because we were baptized into the death of Christ, and, echoing 2 Corinthians 5:17 we remember that if anyone is in Christ that person is a new creation. Our standing with God is rooted in Jesus’ redemption, and our hope of everlasting life is placed firmly on Him.

That does not mean that there is nothing for us to do, however! “With one accord, O God, we pray: Grant us Your Holy Spirit.” We pray, as God calls us to, for the Holy Spirit to help us for Jesus’ sake so that we grow in grace each day. This means that we live each day in forgiveness, but it also means that God’s grace shapes and forms us so that we will walk in newness of life, as our reading from Romans 6 stated. This, of course, does not earn our salvation or cause us to inherit eternal life – that is a gift given by God through the Word and Sacraments, including Baptism – but we long for our lives to conform to the hope we have through Baptism: that we have become children of God.

Let this thought rattle around in your head today: You believe and are baptized, so you are saved. Pray for the Holy Spirit to help you live as God’s child as you face today’s challenges.

Prayer:

With one accord, O God, we pray: Grant us Your Holy Spirit. Help us in our infirmity Through Jesus blood and merit. Grant us to grow in grace each day That by this sacrament we may Eternal life inherit. Amen.

Memory Verse:

Romans 6:4

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Thank you so much for using Devotions for Worship, I pray that our time together has blessed you and given you something to meditate on – some reminder of God’s grace to rattle around in your brain – for the rest of the day.

It’s not too late to join me in reading through the Bible in 2018 – or even to read through the New Testament. Send me an email at eric.tritten@gmail.com, tell me what you’d like to read and I can share a plan our two to help you do that!

One more thing: If you got something out of this devotional time, would you share it on social media or just tell someone about it? It stands to reason that if this blessed you, it will bless someone else.

Thanks again and God bless you!