Clay Anderson | Baptized Into Christ

Sunday Morning, June 28, 2026

Given by Clay Anderson | Pastor of Youth Ministry, Christ Covenant Church

Baptized Into Christ
Heidelberg Catechism—Lord’s Day 26

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Questions can be, and often are, the mark of a healthy, curious Christian. And I think it's a feature of our faith that as believers, we don't always have to be afraid of what we don't understand perfectly. In fact, it's one of the reasons that I really do love working in youth ministry – that I get asked a lot of questions. Middle schoolers don't know yet that it's not cool to genuinely be interested in things, and so they will ask me good questions. I've been asked questions like, "Is it a good idea to ask her out?" or "How much time is too much time on Instagram?" "Did you see him cheat in that game?" "Is it okay for Christians to use Ozempic?" And those are just the ones my staff has asked. Easily the questions that I get asked most of all, maybe competing a little bit with predestination and free will, but of course is the question of baptism, because Presbyterians do baptism a little bit differently than a lot of some of the biggest churches that we are connected with and related to. There are three questions tonight from the Heidelberg Catechism on Lord's Day 26 about baptism. You can see them in the back of your bulletin. We'll continue talking about baptism next week. So, if I don't answer all of your questions, just give it a week, and ask Aaron the hard one. Let me pray for us. You'll want your copy of God's Word available as well, but before we dive in, let me ask for the Lord's guidance. 

Gracious God, we thank you again for this Lord's day, and we ask that your Holy Spirit would meet us. Would our eyes of faith be opened, that we might learn truth from your Word and about you, that you might be glorified, and that our hearts might be changed, whether it's a little bit or a lot, this evening, so that we might be awakened to new life in Christ. We ask all of this in his name. Amen. 

The first question you can see from our Heidelberg Catechism number 69: how does baptism remind and assure you that Christ's sacrifice on the cross benefits you personally? Now this “personally” phrase is going to be important for us tonight. And our first point, if I would summarize this question, it's really simply asking what does baptism do? What is actually happening when a child or a new believer is brought up on a platform and blessed by a pastor, covered with water? Well, let's start where the catechism starts. Baptism reminds and assures you of Christ's work. Now, this shouldn't be surprising. This is what Pastor Eric covered really helpfully last week. These are the two primary functions of the sacraments. They are signs and seals of God's new covenant of grace, which is to say, again Pastor Eric's really helpful language, the signs and seals. These sacraments point to and confirm spiritual realities of God's promises to his people, using elements that you and I can see and feel and sometimes taste. 

So, let's first examine baptism as a sign. Baptism points to your entrance into Christ and all the benefits that are related to your membership in that family of God. Galatians 3:27 says this: "As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ, which is to say that those who are baptized by faith have been united to Christ and receive his benefits." Look more in depth with me at Colossians 2:11-14. In the book of Colossians, Paul explains in chapter 2:11, "In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside nailing it to the cross.” We will return to this verse in a moment, so keep that page in your Bible open, but you can look and see there in verse 13 that the sign in the old covenant of circumcision, which will stay important next week, and the sign in the new covenant of baptism marks out your being connected with Christ, together with him. More specifically, our catechism dives into this truth that the washing of water is important, not just because that's what Christians have always done, but because that water as it is sprinkled or as it is poured is a picture of a spiritual cleansing – the cleansing that marks out your entrance, people of God, into a heavenly family. Just like brand newborn babies need to be taken, and they need to be cleaned up before they can be laid in the embrace of their loving mother's arms and eventually taken home from the hospital, so Jesus Christ washed us of our natural filth so we could be brought into his family. 

We heard in extended form this morning from Romans chapter 3 about that natural filth. We don't need to delve too much into it tonight, but suffice to say, it is vital for us as Christians that we experience and that we get to see a sign that points to this reality that Christ has made us clean. Christ has made us acceptable to our heavenly Father. This picture is why in the Reformed and Presbyterian world we sprinkle or pour water instead of dunking or immersing. Of course, there is the weight of biblical examples. If you were to comb through the New Testament, it would become apparent as you looked at these pictures of baptisms that most of them, if not all of them, would not have required very much water. For example, in Acts chapter 16, that story of the Philippian jailer, Paul in prison and preaches the gospel to the Philippian jailer. Once he makes a profession of faith, he asks Paul, "What must I do to be saved?" Paul says, "At once you can receive the sacrament of baptism." It doesn't take him a while to go and find enough water. They don't have to make their way to the Jordan River, but not very much water would be needed. Now, more importantly than just counting the list of biblical examples is the picture in mind. Baptism is an image of washing, and when God and his inspired biblical authors want to depict cleansing or purification, they do it using the language of sprinkling or pouring. Look with me at Hebrews chapter 9, and we will see a New Testament author summarize the Old Testament image here in mind. 

Of course, purification and cleansing was immensely important for God's people under the Old Covenant. They were constantly reminded of their need to be cleansed, to be purified so that they could offer acceptable worship to their heavenly Father. And in Hebrews chapter 9, beginning in verse 19, the author of Hebrews summarizes how God's people would undertake this cleansing. Verse 19, “When the commandment of the law had and declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and he sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, ‘This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.’ And in the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. Indeed, under the law, almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.” Just one chapter over, Hebrews 10:2, two makes this point again, talking about new covenant believers experiencing the same cleansing: “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” The washing and the pouring of water points to the cleansing that you and I receive to our deepest level so that we can draw near with confidence to a heavenly Father in his heavenly house. More excellent New Testament imagery – look with me in the book of Titus 3. Titus 3:4, “When the goodness and loving kindness of God, our Savior, appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ, our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” In verse 7 there, that word “heirs” clues us into the fact that through baptism we are seeing a picture of that spiritual blessing of becoming a member of the family of God and thus having access to the rights and the privileges of being his children, his inheritance. To be called a child of God is to experience that cleansing of Christ pictured in baptism. 

Now, besides just this image, this pointing to, being a sign, sacraments are also seals. They confirm promises for us. Turn with me back to Romans chapter 6, which we read just a moment ago in our New Testament reading. There is more going on than simply a reminder or simply a memorial or a symbol here. “Do you not know,” Romans chapter 6:3 says, “that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 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.” Paul is highlighting this personal connection between receiving a sign and receiving real spiritual benefits from our Redeemer. The seminary professor R. Scott Clark uses really helpful language. He explains that the seal of baptism testifies that what is true in general is really true for you. Yes, Christ can wash away sins. Yes, his Holy Spirit can change people. And for those who receive baptism by faith, Christ has washed away all of your sins, and his Holy Spirit will change you. Sometimes on Sunday mornings, we will have several baptisms. We're blessed in a church of this size to sometimes see three, four, five, several baptisms in one day, and there is a reason – even though it would be much more efficient, and we would get to lunch quicker – there's a reason that we don't walk all of these babies up here and get one of those kind of waving sprinklers, just do them all at one time and then let them sit back down, go outside and dry off. There is a significance to the fact that each one of those children be known by name, identified by name to the congregation, that these families take a moment to speak words of truth from God's Scriptures over this child, because baptism is pointing to a reality that is true for that family and that child, just as much as it is true in general for every believer. God is declaring himself to be the God specifically of those families who come to his sacrament by faith, specifically the God of those children, even though they most likely will not remember that day. His promises are true for every child who sits back down in the pew with a dripping wet head and a sweet baptismal outfit from grandmother that is wet as well. 

Now, behind the question, we should take a moment to observe if baptism does point to and does confirm new covenant realities, what does baptism not do? What is the question here sort of leaving out? Well, baptism does not save anyone simply by receiving the sacrament. This would be the position of the Roman Catholic church. We are so careful with the language that baptism is a sign and a seal pointing to and confirming realities, but there is nothing magical about the water that's up in that baptismal font. There is nothing magical about the moment, as sweet and precious as it is – the sacrament itself points to the work of Christ Jesus for those who receive it by faith, points to and confirms the truth for us specifically, that Jesus Christ willingly went up to a cross, that he became a curse, that he offered in his own life and spilled his own blood so that he could wash away all of your sins. It is Christ who saves, and praise him that he gives us sacraments to remind us and to guarantee that these promises are true for us, but they are designed to point us to him. One good example in Acts chapter 8, the story of the Ethiopian eunuch. You can look there if you wish. But when the Ethiopian eunuch is traveling, and he comes to faith by the work of the Spirit after reading God's word, and Philip is there to explain to him the truth of Christ offered for him, as for all the nations, Philip's question is – when they come to the first body of water that they see – what is stopping me from being baptized? And Philip doesn't have to run off and find the right river or the right baptismal font. He doesn't have to get the right mix of oils and spices and glitter to make that baptism really, really magical, because the Ethiopian eunuch has placed his faith in Christ, in his Redeemer, whose blood was shed for him. So, we make an effort to be precise with what a sacrament is doing, what is happening when we see it, so that we can keep the glory due to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in focus. 

There's one other thing to note that baptism does not do, and that is that baptism does not somehow unlock a higher level of faith for those who receive it. It doesn't mark some kind of special access into another tier of Christianity or into another level of spirituality. Your baptism points to and confirms, it ties you to two of the most significant and dramatic turning points in the history of the people of God in the history of God's work in the world. As we've already read from Romans, it ties you to Christ's crucifixion and resurrection, and it ties you to Christ's sending of his Holy Spirit, which we'll say more about in a moment in Acts chapter 2 at the Pentecost. These are significant moments because they are once-for-all moments. Christ does not have to be sacrificed again, and he does not have to continually perform miracles so that you know that the Spirit is involved in your life, because again the focus here is not on the drama of the moment or the sacrament itself but on the power and the work of Jesus Christ in the life of his people. And so, you don't have to wait for some kind of second spiritual experience, because the Spirit is strong enough for our weak faith. It's strong enough for the promises of God to be received by babies, who again may or may not remember this day. These gifts, the cleansing of Christ's blood and the working and renewing power of the Holy Spirit in your life, are yours in full from the moment Christ calls you into his family. 

If that's what is happening now in the sacrament itself, let's spend some time, as the catechism does, talking about spiritual realities in view. That's what baptism does. What does baptism mean? You could see two things in view here. We'll start with the first one. What does it mean to be washed with Christ's blood? Well, to be washed with Christ's blood means that our sins are wiped away. Again, if you look back at Colossians chapter 2, verse 14, you can see there the line drawn between our baptism into Christ and his cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. To be baptized into Christ means to enjoy his benefits, and the first one that the catechism would have us focus on is this clean record, this purification of our sins, the stain wiped away and nailed to the cross, covered up in the blood of Christ. Jesus offered his own life so that our particular sins would be forgiven and that their stain on our record would be wiped away forever. Nothing less than this cleansing, this perfect cleansing, is the condition for entrance into the presence of the living and true God. Christ's covering and cleansing of your sins initiates your union with him, your membership in his family. As Pastor Kevin mentioned this morning, for those who are not in Christ, for those who are still slaves to sin, we live under the dominion of sin. That is the banner that waves above the life of the sinner. That is the flag that flies on their front porch. That is the commanding officer that they submit to. But when Christ cleanses you of your sin, he erases its record in your past, and he gives you a new banner to wave. He gives you a new flag to fly on your front porch, and his cleansing includes you in the count of the household of faith. The Westminster Confession will use the language of ingrafting. Baptism is a sacrament of initiation, of being brought into a new family, whether that happens late in your life as a new convert or whether it is the faith of your family, of your parents and of your grandparents and of your great-grandparents, that marks your connection to the people of God. This is the sign of the cleansing that brings you into Christ's family. 

It's interesting, if we take a moment to think about the world around us, this connection between cleansing and being welcomed, between cleanliness and hospitality, is one that we assume. It's a connection we make all the time. I've never flown first class, but I have walked by people flying in first class, and one thing that maybe just happens in the movies, but I certainly have seen happen is that when you sit in first class on an airplane – if it's a really nice airplane – the stewardess will come and will give offer you a hot towel. And that is the proof that you are in a special, comfortable part of the airplane, that you can wash off the grime of the TSA line and feel clean in your seat. Most of you, I'm sure, whether you are hosting old friends who you've known your whole life or you're bringing someone new home after church with you, will make some kind of effort to tidy up, to clean your house, to make sure the table is set and whoever walks in there feels welcome because the place is clean. Another illustration might be this. You may remember going over to friends’ houses when you were young, and one of the most embarrassing things that can happen is that you would go to your friend's house for a meal and there would be like secret rules or assigned seats that come along with their house that you had no idea about. You walk in, and your friend's like, "Oh, you know, that's dad's chair, or we only ever wear our left shoes in the house, or we always say the pledge of allegiance after dessert.” Whatever it might be, that's an embarrassing moment if you don't feel like you are prepared to come into someone's home and if you feel like you don't belong. Well, the cleanliness that Christ offers, the welcome that Christ offers, makes it so that you can feel the way a child should feel in his father's house: safe, welcome, confident, and loved. You belong at the table because of the blood of Christ poured out for you. 

I also really appreciate the emphasis that the catechism puts on the second aspect that baptism points to and confirms. You can see it there in number 70: to be washed with Christ's Spirit. Two aspects of the baptism in view here: the washing of Christ's blood and the washing of Christ's Spirit. We've already read in Scripture that this is regeneration and renewal. Baptism by Christ's blood, cleansing of Christ's blood, points to and confirms our justification before God. And the baptism with Christ's Spirit, the washing of Christ's Spirit, points to our sanctification, that the Holy Spirit will be a part of the lives of the people of God day in and day out so that you and I might grow from one degree of glory to the next. How does the presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the people of God accomplish this? Well, look with me at John chapter 15, and Jesus will explain the role of the Holy Spirit in his people's lives. Towards the very end of this chapter, Jesus is looking to comfort his disciples with the promise of the Holy Spirit in view. He says in John 15:26, "When the helper comes whom I will send to you from the Father and the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me, and you also will bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning.” One of the first things that the Holy Spirit does and will do in the lives of the people of God is communicate the truth about who Christ is, who God the Father is, and who his Son is. The Holy Spirit does the work on your mind and on your heart to teach you and remind you about the past and present work of Jesus Christ in your life. It also makes you able to understand the Word of God. This witness that Jesus has left for us in written Word, the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to its truths and applies them, presses them in, to our heart so that we can leave a church service on a Sunday evening or a Sunday morning, a Wednesday evening Bible study, and go into the office the next day and go home that night with more clarity about the truth of God's Word and how it can shape the way that we live. 

Jesus will continue teaching about the Spirit in chapter 16 here. Look at verse 5. He says, "Now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where you are going?’ but because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you, and when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.” A few different aspects of the Spirit's work in our lives in view here. First, he is sent to be the comforter of God's people, sent to remind us of the real presence of Jesus Christ in our lives. Jesus says it's actually better that we have the Holy Spirit, because the body of Christ is seated in heaven, and his Spirit can be with each of us always. This is how we experience walking with Jesus. The Holy Spirit points us to and assures us of the evidence that when you walk in step with him, Jesus Christ is really with you, and he is really day by day fashioning you after his image in the words you say, in the thoughts you think, in the things that you do with your hands. Also, as the comforter, the Holy Spirit simply works to help you and I appreciate the work of God in our life. The disciples here, Jesus senses their fear and worry. When Jesus leaves, what will their life look like? And he leaves them the Spirit so that they can know that God is still working even when Jesus's body isn't walking among them. This is true for you, too. 

We saw this already. Keep reading and pick up in verse 9 again, or verse 8. When he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. Concerning sin because they do not believe in me, concerning righteousness because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer, concerning judgment because the ruler of this world is judged. Another work of the Holy Spirit is that he is a convicting force in the lives of the people of God and, as we see here, in the lives of the world around us. The Holy Spirit opens our eyes to the sin in our lives and in the world around us so that we can feel guilty about it and bring it to the Lord our God. He opens our eyes to what righteousness, what the fruit of the Spirit, can and should look like in our lives. He convicts us about how to live, what to give up, and what to put on. And this is, if I could just pause briefly and make one application – if you would want to know, if you have received the baptism, the washing of the Holy Spirit that this second half of this question has in view, simply examine yourself and consider how often you are motivated and inspired to repent of specific sins before your heavenly Father. Repentance – and regular repentance – is an excellent picture of the work of the Spirit in your life, and if you want to taste renewal, if you want to experience change for the better in your soul, that is where Scripture and the Spirit of God would have you start. 

One more thing to note about the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives – continue looking here at verse 12. Jesus says, "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you." The Holy Spirit declares, he clarifies, he makes clear that Christ is real and that he is coming and that his glory is the ultimate concern for the life of the believer. 

The opposite of these things would be true for those who are still stuck under the banner of sin, who have not received the washing of Christ's blood and of Spirit. Sinners around us, and you may remember your own life as a slave to sin, are confused because they don't have that clarifying power of the Spirit. They are scared because they don't have access to that comforting power of the Spirit. The sinner is calloused to the good and beautiful things of the world because the Spirit has not enlightened them to what is true and beautiful and serious and important. And of course, sinners are lost because it takes the Holy Spirit to show us day in and day out how to walk in step with our Lord Jesus Christ. The believer who is baptized by the Spirit of God will find themselves renewed day in and day out, more loving towards our heavenly Father, more curious about him, more zealous to obey him and full of the energy from the Spirit to pursue all of those newfound interests. 

I think this connection between cleanliness and growth is also pretty easy for us to see if we simply meditate on a few things in the world around us. Scrapes, injuries, they need to be cleaned so that they can heal. They need to be covered so that they can heal. Gardens need to be weeded so that they can flourish. Cleanliness requires maintenance, and Jesus Christ both saves his people, wipes their record clean, and then sends them the Spirit so that day in and day out they can grow. These two benefits, justification and sanctification, as our theological tradition refers to them, are the mark of the baptism offered to you, what being baptized into Christ means for the people of God. 

Finally, I think we should answer this question. You'll notice in 71, we see some Scripture references there. And I think this section of the catechism, this Lord's Day, is trying to close with something practical here. Knowing what baptism does, knowing what it means, why should you get baptized? And why should you bring your children by faith to baptism? Well, the answer of the catechism here is that first of all, Scripture says Jesus himself leaves his people with promises that baptism really does remind and assure them of his grace, of the washing of his blood and the renewal of his Spirit. In the institution of baptism, where he says, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” and where he says, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” And this promise is repeated when Scripture calls baptism the washing of regeneration and the washing away of sins. 

Let's close by looking again at Titus chapter 3. I'll read it one more time in verse 4, “When the goodness and loving kindness of God, our Savior, appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ, our Savior, so that being justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” The inheritance in heaven, the storehouses full of blessing that God has prepared for his people, and even beyond that, the benefit of life in the presence of God, these are the privileges of the family members of God, of those children and men and women who belong to his house. And these are the privileges and blessing that our baptism points to and confirms, that it reminds us of and assures us are real for you and I particularly. So, receive his baptism by faith, whether you are bringing your own children or whether you have been baptized yourself. Look back on your baptism in faith, knowing that it reminds you and assures you of these promises. Get excited when the little ones come up here to be baptized. This is a special and humble and joyful church, and I don't have to encourage you all to get excited for baptisms, because I see the joy in your faces and the joy of our parents' faces when they prepare even to just read a few verses up here for the sake of their child. I would also encourage you not to wait. I'm sure Aaron will say more about this, but bring yourself, bring your children to receive this sacrament, because it will identify them with the people of God, and that is the safest, the most secure, and the most loved that we can be. 

I opened with questions. Let me close with a question. Parents, grandparents, what will your answer be when the child that you love asks you, "Dad, mom, how do I know if I will really get into heaven? How do I know if God really loves me?" Well, baptism is a bit of a cheat code here, because you can point to theirs, whether they remember it or not. You can point to the others that have happened in this church even this year. And through that sacrament, you can point them to the blood and the Spirit of Christ that is over them and that is in them if they claim it by faith, as surely as the water from the baptismal font gets those babies wet. Let's close in prayer and praise God for this truth. 

Gracious God, we praise you again, first and foremost for the work of your Son, Jesus Christ, for his willing sacrifice on the cross, for his blood poured out to wipe away our sins, for the constant comfort and gift of his Holy Spirit. We also praise you and thank you for the sacrament of baptism, that we can see and feel what it is like to be covered, washed, and cleansed. And we can put our faith in you, whose covering is perfect, whose cleansing is forever, and whose Spirit endures. We pray all of these things in Christ's name. Amen.