All Who Believe and Are Baptized, ELW 442 & LBW 194
1 All who believe and are baptized
Shall see the Lord's salvation;
Baptized into the death of Christ,
They are a new creation;
Through Christ's redemption they will stand
Among the glorious heav'nly band
Of ev'ry tribe and nation.
2 With one accord, O God, we pray,
Grant us your Holy Spirit;
Help us in our infirmity
Through Jesus' blood and merit;
Grant us to grow in grace each day
By holy Baptism, that we may
Eternal life inherit.
Devotion
This hymn picks up most of the themes of this week and of Sunday’s scripture passages: baptized into the death of Christ, the gift of the Holy Spirit, a new creation, and eternal life. Its main focus is on Jesus’ suffering and death for our salvation, which for us begins with baptism. And baptism doesn’t end at the completion of the rite: as with a child being adopted or an immigrant being granted citizenship, the rite or the certificate is only the beginning. It is the beginning of life surrounded by God’s grace (favor) even in the midst of our infirmity (sin). It is all in light of the promise that one day we “will stand among the glorious heavenly band of every tribe and nation.”
Baptism joins us to Christ and to his people and continues for our whole life. Thanks be to God!
Prayer
Lord God, I pray that my old sinful self, with all its evil and faithless thoughts and deeds, may be drowned through daily repentance and that day after day a new forgiven self may arise to live with you in faith and righteousness forever. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.