How do we respond to the gospel of Jesus? What must we do to be saved? Some would say: “You just need to believe in your heart, and really really mean it.” Others say: “Just pray this prayer after me, and ask Jesus to come into your heart.” Some say: “Close your eyes, raise your hand, come down to the front, pray for Jesus to save you, and sign this card!” What all these answers get right is that the gospel demands a response. God’s grace is a gift that must be received by faith. We don’t have to earn it, but we do have to receive it. But the New Testament tells us how to respond to the good news of Jesus, and it’s more than just an inward decision you make or a private prayer you pray. As it turns out, God has given us a way, as embodied souls, to come to him in faith, receive his grace, and enter his church.

In this sermon, pastor Matt reminds us that the gospel demands a response for Christ from the heart and the body. We not only believe with our heart and confess with our mouth, but we also call on the name of the Lord to be saved in baptism, for it is there that Jesus reclaims our entire life in the body for himself.