Psalm 116 prays, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints" (Psalm 116:15). These words are usually read in light of things like martyrdom or death at the end of life, when the saints of the Lord are ushered from this valley or sorrow and into the joys of heaven. However, that is our second death, a nap, nothing but the portal to life immortal. Why? Because we are baptized, and in baptism we died to this world, we died with Christ in order that we mat also rise in a resurrection like Christ. In Baptism, we are put to death in order that we may live in Jesus. St. Paul speaks this way about the Law and faith in Galatians 2 saying, "¹⁹ For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. ²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹ I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose." (Galatians 2:19-21). In Baptism, we are dead to this world. It is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives within us. We are righteous by faith, or trust in the merit of Jesus for our salvation. It is also faith that lives out our baptismal life, because we are dead to the things of this world, it is only faith that lives in love toward both God and the neighbor.

Think about this. If we are dead to this world, dead to its praises, its measurements, its promises, then our actions are not driven or deterred by the world. If moral purity were the driving force behind our sanctification, then our good works would be for selfish reasons rather than purely a fruit of faith. We do good works, not in order to please the world, to reach moral perfection, or to feel good about ourselves. We do good works because we are dead to this world and alive to God in Christ Jesus, it is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives within us. Because Christ lives within us, we live lives of good works. Those works are not hard to find, they are declared to us in the 10 commandments. However, the Law will never give us the ability to perform even the smallest good work. However, it is faith in Christ that does these good works, because faith confesses that we are dead to this world, and it is no longer we who live but Christ who lives within us. Jesus does the good works.  We are dead to this world, liberated and freed by Jesus. As the Confessions say, "But when a person is born anew by the Spirit of God and is liberated from the law (that is, when he is free from this driver and is driven by the Spirit of Christ), he lives according to the immutable will of God as it is comprehended in the law and, in so far as he is born anew, he does everything from a free and merry spirit" (FCSD VI.17). We the baptized have dead sanctification, not meaning a sanctification that doesn't exist, but rather a holy life because we are dead to this world and alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. The only way we live a good life, in love toward God and our neighbor, is by receiving He who lived the obedient life for us, Jesus the Christ. Only in the forgiveness of our sins are we put to death in this world, dead to worries, anxiety, despair, doubt, and fear, and freed to live joyously as we await our victorious departure home to heaven.

Peace be with you. May the devil be silenced, the world be hushed, and the Old Adam be drowned anew so that you hear only the voice of your Savior Jesus who says, "I forgive you. Have no worries. Just as you died like Me, you will also rise as I am risen, and you shall never die," Amen.

Jesus' Sheepdog,

Pastor Hull