The Necessary Use of the Sacraments

 “At a lodging place on the way the LORD met him and sought to put him to death. Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it…”

(Exodus 4:24–25 ESV)

Quite often, as we think of the sacraments, we believe that they’re unnecessary. We believe they don’t matter. We believe they’re unimportant. And we believe they are nothing more than signs or symbols of our faith in the Lord.

We, then, reach for extreme examples to make our point. What about a baby who dies moments after delivery, and doesn’t receive baptism? Is he saved? What about a man who is brought to faith in Christ but dies before he’s able to be baptized? Is he saved? 

We also point to situations like the thief on the cross. He clearly came to faith at the end of his life. But, as he was being crucified, and as Jesus was being crucified along with him, there was no opportunity for baptism. And we conclude from this that the sacraments don’t matter.

Using cases like these fail to make the point. They fail in their effort to demonstrate that the sacraments are nothing more than signs. And they fail in their effort to demonstrate that they are unnecessary.

The passage above demonstrates the exact opposite. God, you recall, had commanded circumcision to Abraham and his descendents after him. A promise of God was also attached to this act. Being circumcised, having their foreskin removed, meant that they were a part of God’s people and heirs of his promise, the promise given to Abraham.

We find in Exodus that, after fleeing from Egypt, Moses married the daughter of Jethro, the priest of Midian. And he had two sons with her before being called by God to return to Egypt to bring his people out of their bondage. He then went, with his wife and children, back to the land from which he had fled.

However, at a lodging along the way, the Lord met Moses and sought to put him to death. The reason for this is not clarified in the text. But Zipporah, the wife of Moses, clearly knew.

She took a flint, cut off her son’s foreskin, and touched Moses’ feet with it. We see from this that Moses had failed to circumcise his son. He had failed to obey this command of the Lord and to ensure that his son received the promise of God.

This had angered the Lord. It had angered him enough that he sought to put Moses to death. But, because of her actions, the Lord left him alone.

The physical act of circumcision is no longer required for the children of God.  But baptism, Scripture tells us, is a type of circumcision. Through baptism, Colossians 2 tells us, we are circumcised without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ. 

Realizing this, and looking at Exodus 4, we can see how seriously God takes it. And, as he takes it seriously, so must we. Baptism, along with the Lord’s Supper, is a means of grace, by which God bestows his precious promise and blessing upon us.  We, therefore, must necessarily make use of them.