Tags
Baptism, failure, grace, Parenting, Romans 12:12, Romans 7:15-25, sin, vows
We had a baby Baptized at our church service this morning. This is always a special occasion and a matter of great rejoicing, but today’s had a special element because the baby’s grandfather administered the Sacrament. So the Pastor asked his daughter and son-in-law the questions required of parents who Baptize infants.
(1) Do you acknowledge that although our children are conceived and born in sin and therefore are subject to condemnation, they are holy in Christ by virtue of the covenant of grace, and as children of the covenant are to be baptized?
(2) Do you promise to teach diligently to [name of child] the principles of our holy Christian faith, revealed in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments and summarized in the Confession of Faith and Catechisms of this Church?
(3) Do you promise to pray regularly with and for [name of child], and to set an example of piety and godliness before (him/her)?
(4) Do you promise to endeavor, by all the means that God has appointed, to bring [name of child] up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, encouraging (him/her) to appropriate for (himself/herself) the blessings and fulfill the obligations of the covenant? (Book of Church Order of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church)
As I heard these questions and the affirmative answers from the new, young parents, I wondered If the Pastor was thinking about when he was asked these same questions at his daughter’s Baptism. I know that I was remembering the 3 times I eagerly and wholeheartedly made these same promises as my children were baptized. And I was pondering how many times I had failed to live up to them. And our gracious God who knows and loves me despite my weakness and failures.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.(1 Corinthians 15:57-58)
I don’t know about you, but I always have good intentions of keeping the promises I make. But I end up joining with the Apostle Paul’s lament- For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.(Romans 7:15) I wanted to teach my children diligently, but I didn’t do it perfectly. I prayed for and with my children, but fell far short of the standard to Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.(Romans 12:12) And of course I fell far short of the ideal of nurturing, admonishing and encouraging my children. In fact I still do. I want to keep that standard, but I am unable to. Reflecting on the promises I made at my children’s baptisms might be depressing, if not for the hope I have in Jesus.
Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. (Romans 7:16) The vows I took remind me of what I should do, just as God’s law does. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.(Romans 7:17) This is not making an excuse, but acknowledging that while I have been reconciled to God through Jesus, I am not made fully like Him yet. I still have the remnants of my sinful, stony heart. Paul designates this as his flesh. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. (Romans 7:18-21)
This struggle does not go away in this life. It is said that we live in the “already”, as in we are already justified and forgiven of our sin, and the “not yet”, because we are not yet the perfect, glorified images of Christ that we will become. It is good that we mark occasions like Baptisms and hear other parents make the same promises that we did. We can reflect anew on what we should be striving to do as parents, and pray for the parents of the infant who is just starting out. And if we find ourselves lamenting how we fail, we can join again with Paul in saying: So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. (Romans 7:21-25)
Thanks be to God that we can see our sin and that He has already given us hearts that desire to honor Him.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Diane