You Have a Place at Grace - 1/8/2025

“Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matt.3:15).

Luther writes “do you think it was a joke that the heavens opened when Christ was baptized, that the Holy Spirit descended visibly, and that the divine glory and majesty were manifested everywhere?” (Large Catechism, “Baptism” 21).

God’s approval shines in the baptism of His only begotten Son, as Luther also points out: “God Himself has honored it by both words and deeds and has confirmed it by miracles from heaven” (Ibid, 21). It’s not a joke, and deserves the reverence of God Himself. Still, what’s the meaning behind the words “fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness?”

First, we look at the term “righteousness.” Matthew distinguishes between two types. There’s the righteousness of men (Matt.5:20) and the righteousness of God (Matt. 6:33). The former consists of man’s works; the latter is the righteousness of God, something He gives to sinners who receive it by faith. Maybe you’ve heard the phrase “imputed righteousness,” which means the righteousness of God imputed to the sinner for the sake of Jesus’ cross and blood. When Jesus says “fitting to fulfill all righteousness” He’s talking about the righteousness of God. Lutheran scholar Jeffery Gibbs says in his commentary after an extensive treatment of this verse ‘[Jesus] will enact God’s saving deeds for the people by standing with sinners, taking the place of sinners, receiving from John the baptism that sinners receive.” He’ll fulfill the righteousness of God ultimately by bearing the sins of the world in the sinner’s stead. Only at the cross come the words “it is finished” (John 19:30). The “it” is the plan of salvation for creation suffering under sin’s curse since its fall in Genesis 3. It’s fulfilled by the One Who lives perfectly under the Law, the Lamb without blemish presenting His flesh as the great Sacrifice to atone for all transgression and make us righteous before God and heirs to heaven. The fulfillment or “end” of the “Law for righteousness” is always Jesus (Romans 10:4).

Baptism is about Christ and His righteousness. It’s His work to save sinners, young and old. Baptizing a baby only emphasizes what we already know and confess regarding the Gospel, that it’s God’s work to save by “grace alone.” Expecting and even demanding a human response prior to the Gospel is no sola gratia position and makes man’s contributions a determining factor in receiving divine righteousness. Thankfully, God’s righteousness is fulfilled in Jesus, not us. He comes to us in those baptismal waters adorned with the mighty Word still declaring sinners righteous on account of the One Who ascended to the cross and fulfilled the Law’s demands in His life and death. God’s favor towards us only comes through His Beloved Son, the One in Whom He is “well pleased.”

-By Rev. Ryan J. Ogrodowicz, “You Have a Place at Grace,” January 6^th, 2026

Grace Lutheran Church - Brenham, Texas

The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod