We are going to take a one-week break. We've been studying over the last weeks this fall the book of Ephesians. We're going to take a little break from that this week to look at the book of Romans and read together and study a portion of Romans 4. We're right in the middle of Paul's argument, so it's helpful maybe to back up a little bit. Paul's been laying out the case for why salvation is, by grace alone, simply received by faith. He said first, it can't be by our own efforts, by our own works, because there is none righteous. And then he's laid out how it's all by the work of Jesus, and therefore just received as a gift, grace, by faith. And now he gets into chapter 4, and he wants to give an illustration, he wants to give an example, so he says, Let's think about Abraham and how Abraham was justified. Abraham was declared righteous by God. And then we'll pay attention and focus in a little bit on the last part of the passage where he gets into what's the role of external signs. external rituals, signs, even ones that God himself instituted. Do they help out in salvation? If so, what do they do or don't do? Well, let's read together. We'll read 1 to 12 and then focus in on 9 through 12. This is God's Word. What then, shall we say, was gained by Abraham, our father, according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? Abraham believed, and it was counted to him as righteousness. Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift, but as his due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness. Just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works. Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin. Is this blessing then only for the circumcised or also the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised, who are not merely circumcised, but also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. May God bless his word to us this afternoon. Now, of course, 2020 has been odd on many, many, many levels. But one of the odd things for the Emanuel family, at least, is that we haven't celebrated the sacraments in seven months. Over seven months. No baptisms, no celebration of the Lord's Supper. That's been a hard thing to navigate, a decision to make, but it's what we've done, and well, that's about to change, though. A baptism this morning. Next month, when we're inside the building, we're gonna celebrate the Lord's Supper again. So it's good, it seems a great time to think about what exactly are the sacraments? Well, Let's talk about it. Let's look at what the Bible begins to say. We can only do an overview. We'll talk more specifically about baptism today. Next month, we'll get into a little more of the Lord's Supper, but specifically diving into baptism this morning as one of those ordinances or sacraments of the covenant of grace. What is it and why is it important to you and to me in the midst of our walk with Christ? So we're going to ask several different questions. And here's the first one. What is a sacrament and why exactly are we using this passage? We'll kind of answer both of those at the same time. What exactly is a sacrament and why are we using this passage to talk about it? Okay, what is a sacrament? Well, probably the quickest, most succinct definition is this, that a sacrament is a sign and seal of the covenant of grace. A sign and seal of the covenant of grace. It's short, but maybe it doesn't clear up all the questions. But it does give us some kind of hooks to hang things on. A sign and seal. You saw those words in our passage, if you looked carefully, talking about Abraham there in Romans 4. Sign and seal, we'll talk about that. Paul doesn't mention covenant of grace explicitly, but it's bound up to what he's talking about and what he's teaching. The covenant of grace is God's one plan of salvation. His plan to call the people to Himself. His promise to save them through His Son. And it's all of grace because of what Jesus does for us. His plan to call the people and rescue them. And as is laid out here in Romans 4, it's one plan. Whether you're looking at the Old Testament, looking forward to what Christ will do, Abraham, or we're looking now, looking back at what Christ has already done, it's one family of God, one plan of salvation, one covenant of grace. And so as Paul introduces that, he's able to say, if you want a picture of what a New Testament Christian looks like, you can use the illustration of an Old Testament saint, like Abraham. which allows us then to begin to think about the role of signs in the covenant. Because in Paul's discussion, he talks about the role of the sign of circumcision and what that role that played in Abraham's life. We don't have the exact same sign now. That was a sign looking forward, a bloody sign, but we have a corresponding sign and it looks back in baptism. You might have noticed in our scripture reading this morning in Colossians 2, there Paul puts circumcision and baptism side by side, even in the same sentence, and says they both point to the same thing. They both point to the work of Jesus and our salvation in Him. And so the bottom line, we could say more, but for time's sake, bottom line is baptism and circumcision point to the same thing, salvation in Jesus and his work on the cross, membership within the covenant community and the promises of the covenant of grace. So that allows us then to be able to dive in a little bit more and get into more of the more meaty questions. Okay, how about this one? What does baptism have to do with salvation? What does baptism have to do with salvation? One of the frequent concerns that people will sometimes raise with us Presbyterians, baby baptizers, is, well, hold it, hold it. Are you saying that baptism saves that child? That's a good question. Because the truth is, there are churches out there that teach that, that baptism has a kind of saving power right here in front of you. But is that what we believe? Well, let's look at Paul as he lays out this argument. Because he talks about the role of a sign as it fits with salvation. It's a part of his argument through Romans. The idea that salvation is all of grace received by faith. And he's made the point again and again, it can't be by works. Because no one's righteous? The work of Jesus is sufficient? So now he anticipates a question. Well, what about circumcision? How does that play in? How does that act of obedience to God under the Old Covenant, how does that play in? Does that contribute something? Does that add a little something to the salvation? Is it essential in terms of having some saving effect? So Paul's going to answer the question by laying out the chronology of Abraham's life. He answers by dates. So he says, okay, well, let's think about it. Was Abraham declared righteous first? and then circumcised, or was he circumcised first, and then righteousness later? Because it's already quoted from earlier in the passage, from Genesis 15, that passage where it declares that Abraham believed and it was credited to him as righteousness. Paul says that's salvation. Through faith, you receive that gift of an alien righteousness, the righteousness of Christ. So then Paul says, verse 9, you're quoting, For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before. See how he answers the question? By chronology. He says, think about the timeline. Abraham was declared righteous, Genesis 15. When was he circumcised? Genesis 17. It's actually a gap of almost 20 years. So, you know for sure, Paul says, that the circumcision that took place, the sign of the covenant that was given 20 years later, couldn't have contributed to his salvation. It couldn't have been a saving part of his righteousness, because there was a gap of 20 years where God's verdict on his life was, you're righteous, received by faith. And so, whether it's Abraham in the old, or whether it's Elias here, or you and me, we can be confident in saying, no, baptism does not save. It is not a work that we contribute. It is not something righteous where we add our little part to the work of Christ. Paul's whole point is, Jesus did it all. which might raise and should raise an important question. Well, then why is baptism even important? What's so important about it if it doesn't contribute anything? Ah, here's where Paul comes in with a language of sign and seal, sign and seal. He says, verse 11, talking about Abraham, he received the sign of circumcision. Well, let's just even stop there. He calls circumcision a sign. A sign. Anytime God made a covenant, He always added a sign, something visible, tangible, that pointed beyond itself. It's something that we're pretty used to, even in everyday life. Think of even you coming here to church this afternoon. Whether you were a regular member of Immanuel, especially if you're a visitor, that sign out front was really helpful. You're driving along the road, it's pretty hard to see the church back here, so what really helped you on your way, the big sign, Immanuel! Ah! You were able to say, this is where I turn. This is the place. The sign pointed the way. It pointed beyond itself. The sign isn't Immanuel, right? None of you stopped out front by the road and set up your chair right in front of the sign, right? No, you knew that the sign wasn't Immanuel. The sign just pointed to Immanuel, which is why you're set up here. Same thing with signs of the covenant. This is what God does. He gives these tangible signs, like baptism, not because baptism is salvation or gives you salvation, but because it points beyond itself to where salvation is found. It's this tangible outward, I need cleansing from sin. God does that. I need something that's going to take out the pollution from my heart. That's the work of Jesus. I need to be connected to Him. Yes, baptized into His name. And so let the sign this morning or this afternoon point you to where salvation is found. It's found in Jesus Christ and in Him alone. Actually, signs do a little bit more than just, signs of the covenant at least, do a little bit more than just what that sign out front does. Because you might call that sign out front an empty sign. But signs of the covenant are a little more than that. Sacraments are a little more than that. Maybe a better illustration, or at least bringing in this idea, Let's go to a different sign. A sign that does a little more to communicate what it represents. So let's think of the sign of a kiss. Say, for example, Maggie's out shopping, but she comes home and greets me with a kiss. You could say, that kiss is a sign of her love. Yeah. But it's not just an empty sign. It's a sign that's actually communicating what it represents. And that's what you have in the sacraments of the New Covenant. That's why we speak of them as means of grace. That when they're received by faith, God works through them. In the same way He does in the Word. When you receive the Scriptures, it's communicating you the good news of Jesus. You know Him better. You're ministered to. It's a means of grace. Same thing with the sacraments. When you receive it by faith, it communicates what it signifies. Like a kiss. There's that need to receive it by faith, either at the moment it is given or later on. But when received by faith, it communicates what it actually signifies, which actually brings up a bit of a warning. This is probably something that's good for us to take to heart because signs only become a blessing to us when we receive them by faith. Signs could act as a curse, a kind of judgment on us. Let's go back to our illustration. Say Maggie comes home, gives me a kiss, I kiss her back, but my part of it is just a sham. It's really kind of fake. Because inside, I'm angry, I'm bitter, oh, say worse, I've been unfaithful. In that sense, the sign of her kiss is actually not really a blessing. It's actually something of a condemnation of me. a judgment upon me. It's calling out my hypocrisy. It's calling out the ugliness. And there's something corresponding with that when we think about receiving baptism or receiving the Lord's Supper and not combining it with faith. Maybe for you, you look into your past and you were baptized. Well, that baptism is only a blessing to you if you receive it by faith, if you're trusting in the Jesus that it points you to. And if not, if you're running from that Jesus, realize that baptism is actually far from a blessing. It's something of a judgment upon you. But don't fear, run to Jesus. There is rescue. Whether it was some time in the past, or this very minute, running to Him, there is full forgiveness. Because after all, that's the point of the sign. He did it all, and there's cleansing in Him. So baptism is a sign. It's also a seal. It's also a seal. And you see that here in our passage as well. He, Abraham, received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. It was a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith. a seal. That is, it made this statement in Abraham's life that this righteousness that he was given was real, was authentic, that the promises of God were trustworthy and true. Abraham could count on it. It wasn't a fake. It was real. Kids, you know what I have here? Kids, I have a piece of paper, but it's a very special piece of paper. It's a birth certificate. You have one of these. And one thing that's neat about a birth certificate is at the bottom of it, it has a seal. A raised seal. You can feel it. And that seal is pretty important. Because what it does is it demonstrates that this document is real. That all the information here is genuine. You can trust it. It's real, accurate information. Elias has one of these. This isn't Elias's birth certificate. This is actually my baby's birth certificate. Only, she's not really a baby anymore. She just got her driver's permit and her working papers. But actually, in the process, we started to learn something. We're reminded of the power of a seal. Because for the longest time, this seal just sat. It was in the fireproof box. It just sat there for years and years and years and years. But recently, we put this thing to work. Because this was needed. To get that driver's permit. To get those working papers. Without the seal, she wasn't getting it. But with the seal, with this guarantee, oh yeah, this information is true. She really is who she says she is. Then, it's powerful. And that's something of what a sign of the covenant does, what it did for Abraham. Getting that sign was this message from the Lord. That's important to remember. Baptism primarily is not what we say to Jesus, but what he says to us. What he says to Abraham all those years ago was that righteousness is real. You really are my son, my child, a part of the family. And so it is to all who trust in Him. It's a seal of the righteousness that we have by faith. It's this message of, this is real, this is authentic. You can count on it. You can believe it. The promises of the covenant are true. So as you think about your own salvation, see baptism as being this seal that's given to you. The promises are real. Jesus really died for sinners. Even you, believer, and you can trust it 100% regardless of what you feel or might wrestle with. The seal guarantees to you it's real. Now, we want to come in a minute to how useful this is, but just a quick message or a quick aside on, well, what does this have to do with infants? What does baptism have to do with babies? Real quickly, we don't have a lot of time to unfold the case for infant baptism. That would be a sermon in and of itself. But maybe you'd raise that question because, after all, our example here in Romans gives us a sign given to an adult who makes a profession of faith, Abraham. And we've even said that the timing is pretty significant in Abraham's case. He had the faith to receive the righteousness first and then the sign. True. But we get to expand in the scriptures and see covenants sometimes work that way. Faith first, then sign. But sometimes in God's plan, it works the opposite way. Sign first, then faith. For example, what about Abraham's son? God commanded that Abraham would receive the sign as an adult after his faith, but for his son Isaac, it was sign first as an infant, and then faith came later. That seems to be the way the covenant always works, or often works, that you have sometimes people brought in, and then it's faith first, and then the sign, baptized in as an adult. We have some examples of that in our own church. But for children of believers, they're born into the covenant family, they receive that mark of entry at the beginning, the sign first, and then the prayer and the trust is that the Lord will add faith later. It's not a guarantee, 100%, but it's that promise. The promises is for them, and that's our prayer for Elias, is our prayer for every covenant child. That sign that was placed on their life will be combined with faith to receive the gift the same way anybody receives the gift, through faith in the work of Jesus. Okay, well, we need to conclude with, what good is all this? Maybe this sounds a little theoretical. I hope it's helpful, because we do need to understand as we go back to celebrating the sacraments, what they are and what they aren't, to understand and remind ourselves of these things. But it's good to press in and realize, yeah, but this is really, really useful to you where you are right now. Even if you were baptized years ago, Baptism is helpful for you today and tomorrow and Tuesday. Put the sign to work. Put the seal to work. Maybe we go back to our illustration of the birth certificate. Remember what we said, for years this seal just sat. We didn't really use it for anything. Oh, it was there, but we didn't use it. But now all of a sudden, we've put it to work. Put it to work for that driver's permit. Put it to work for those working papers. That's basically the call for you. That's what you're to do with your baptism. Put it to work. Maybe your baptism has been something that's been just sitting on the shelf collecting dust. You really don't think about it. It's not really that significant. Well, take it off the shelf and put it to work. Use it for what it was meant to do. To be that sign to you about where salvation is all about. That seal. It's real. You know what Martin Luther used to do? He had this little habit. times in his life when he was feeling especially tempted, maybe it was temptation from within or an attack of the evil one, he would, in those moments of critical spiritual battle, he liked to say to himself, I'm a baptized man. I'm a baptized man. Think of that. There's some real power there. We see what he's doing. He's basically taking the seal, the birth certificate, and putting it to work. He's taking his baptism and saying, that is relevant right here. right in a moment where perhaps he's tempted to wander away, or perhaps when he's tempted, the evil one tempting him to, oh no, those promises aren't true, you can't trust God, you can just do whatever you want, you're not good enough, you haven't lived up to be a pastor, you haven't lived up to even be a Christian, look how awful you are. Do you ever hear those voices? You know, from within your own heart, trying to convince you that you're not good enough, trying to convince you to go the wrong way, What do you do in moments like that? Well, here's one thing you can do. You can say to yourself, I'm a baptized man. I'm a baptized woman. It's going back to what the seal is for. It's pressing in and realizing God has put something on your life to assure you, to give you a kind of confidence. Right in those moments, the promises are true. salvation really is by grace alone. And if you're simply trusting in that, then it's done. Righteousness, yours. Strength of the Holy Spirit, yours. A child of God, that's who you are. Regardless of what the world may tell you in that moment, what your heart may have you wrestling with, what you may feel, you can put that seal to work and say, This is true, God's promises, and it's true for me. Think of ways this week to put the seal to work. Think about your baptism. Maybe it was years ago. Maybe you remember that moment keenly. Maybe you don't have any memory at all. In a sense, it doesn't really matter whether you remember the moment. It's what you're doing with it now. Are you receiving the Jesus represented there by faith? Are you taking that sign upon your life, that seal upon your life, and putting it to work in the midst of the hardships of the Christian life? Well, there is good news there, because it points you to the good news Himself in Jesus. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for your powerful, powerful love that you have not only worked salvation and made it known through your word, but reinforced it in tangible ways for your people. We thank you for baptism in the Lord's Supper. We pray, Lord, as we as your people take a hold of these gifts, that we would be pointed to the power of Jesus. We pray in his name. Amen. Amen.