I am not sure how many of you know who Russel Brand is. He is an English actor and comedian, but over the last few years, he has exploded on YouTube with a channel that deals with political conversations, boasting over six million subscribers. Now, whether you like his take or not, he comes across as one who is eager to have honest conversations and challenge commonly held narratives, which I at least appreciate. But I bring him up because he has been very public about his recent conversion to the faith. It was a slow process, with a lot of conversations with people he trusted, and then last month, he announced he had been baptized. As I said, he has been very open about it all, not preachy or condemning to others, but open to instructions and insight from others as he is navigating this new life in Christ. The reason I mention this is because when he talks about his baptism, he is speaking about something particularly important to him, something which marks a new chapter in his life, but the baptism itself was… unimpressive. There was water, of course, and there was the Word of God, but the heavens did not open up. He did not suddenly start speaking in tongues and he did not receive special powers, he just got wet and received the promise of God.

This was not a celebrity baptism worthy of camera time. With all of his fame, it was just a baptism, no different than all the baptisms that have happened right here. Water and Word are applied to individuals, sometimes adults, like Brand, sometimes young children, and even newborn infants. No doubt, the lowly and simple optics of baptism create a fundamental misunderstanding of this gift. I do not remember my baptism. I was a little over a month old. I have the certificate sitting in a frame on a shelf in my study. It is how I know the event took place. I have wondered, at times, if I was missing something about the experience. Like, does an adult have some great revelation when they are baptized? Turns out, they do not. They remember it in ways I do not, but they do not usually recall any great and powerful working of the Spirit in that moment. So, they do not tend to speak much about it. It happened, it is important, crucially so, but it is not some magical event that drastically changed everything, at least not the way we would usually think of it.

A Christian baptism is a washing of water into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is a moment in time when the work of the Holy Trinity breaks into this lowly and sin-riddled existence to claim you as His own children. Baptism is not your profession of faith or your public testimony of a life of dedication to our Lord. No, it is just the opposite. It is God’s declaration that he has taken hold of you. It is, then, a moment of true forgiveness and love. It is to receive the mercy of God.

We see this play out in the story of Nicodemus. He comes to our Lord by night and says, “We know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” And what does Jesus say to him? He says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” To even be able to see the Kingdom of God, to be able to see the active rule and reign of the Almighty, to see the way through the wasteland, the hope and assurance of salvation itself is to be born again. A new birth must happen, a second birth, a birth which will deliver you from the chains of sin and death that prevent you from entering the Kingdom of God.

Of course, Nicodemus misunderstands this, and who can blame him? This second birth language is new and strange. He tries to understand it and asks, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” This whole thing does not make any sense. To this, Jesus replies, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” This is a different kind of birth. It is not bound to the things of the flesh but of the Spirit. And just as your first birth was not something you controlled or even contributed to, so this second birth is also the working of another upon you. To be born again, born of water and the Spirit, is to receive the gift given by God.

To be born again is to enter into a new life, a new relationship with God. It is a gift which creates and sustains our faith. And we need this, this work that is outside of our own doing, this work that is done to us. For there are times when I am unsure, when my faith, my trust, and my confidence are shaken to the core. There are times when I do not feel like a child of God, and I certainly do not act like one. If salvation were contingent upon my effort or even my behavior, there would be no certainty. But I am baptized. I have been claimed by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I have been born again, born of water and the Word. This promise is sure. This promise is not built on my shaky foundation. In fact, this gift is to die to myself and to live in Christ. He is my hope, my assurance, my confidence in life everlasting.

Right after this exchange with Nicodemus, Jesus speaks what is easily His most famous words. He says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.”  This, I think, is a commentary of sorts on His whole discussion about being born again. To be born again is to receive the work of the Spirit, which comes through water and the Word. The Holy Spirit awakens you in a new birth and directs you to believe in the Son sent by the Father, to believe this One has come not to condemn the world but to save it. This is the source of your hope, life, and salvation.

Therefore, we see that to talk about our salvation is not to highlight our work but to talk about the working of God. And to talk about the work of God is to confess the work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is how God reveals Himself at work for you, for your salvation. He alone is the author and the perfector of your faith. When you doubt, He remains true. When you stumble, He presses on. When you betray, He is faithful. And this one God, this Holy Trinity, has called you by name. He has given you the new birth. He has declared that you are heirs of eternal life.

As a result, your simple baptism, your special day when water was poured over your head in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, it becomes the source of great strength and confidence. It may not have looked like much. In fact, many who were there probably forgot it even happened, or you may have no recollection of the moment, but none of it depends on you. The full might of the Creator of Heaven and Earth was there. The One who was lifted up like Moses’ serpent on a pole was there. The Spirit that poured out on the Apostles on Pentecost Day was there. And this one God does not forget. He will not abandon you. He will not forsake you, for you are born again, and so, you will see the Kingdom of God.