Soteriology – Page 3 – What Does This Mean?

Is Baptism Necessary?

Encore Post: At first, it seems like a strange question to ask — even the wrong question to ask. Since Baptism is God’s work to save us, why wouldn’t we want to be baptized? There are several different reasons why this issue comes up. The first arose during the Reformation. The Anabaptist movement believed that children are innocent and that God does not hold them accountable until a later age. In the Augsburg Confession (Article Nine) and the Apology of the Augsburg Confession (Article Nine) firmly rejects this argument (more in a later post on infant baptism).

The other reason is that in this sinful world, sometimes people die without being baptized. Lutheran theologians answer the question by saying Baptism is necessary but not absolutely necessary for salvation. Baptism is necessary because God commands us to baptize and to be baptized. (Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 2:37-38) Jesus tells us that you cannot enter the kingdom of God if you are not born of water and the Spirit. (John 3:5) Yet the Scripture is very clear that the preaching of the Gospel also is a means of grace, which creates faith (Romans 10:14-17), forgives sins and brings everlasting life. (Romans 1:16)

So, God’s word can and does save, even when the opportunity for a Christian to be baptized has not come. But God is so rich in his mercy, that he gives his grace over and over again, in the form of the preaching of the Gospel, the baptizing of his children and in the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper and in Absolution. Each means brings forgiveness of sins, life and salvation in its own way, providing for us certainty that we are God’s own and will live with him forever. We refuse them at our own peril, for God gives them to us for our good and strengthening in the face of the assaults of the world, devil and our sinful desires. While God requires us to do so, so they are necessary, it more that we get to enjoy these blessings.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Blog Post Series

Baptism Saves You

Encore Post: Perhaps the point of greatest conflict between Lutherans and the Evangelical movement is our confidence that the Bible teaches that baptism saves you. As I noted in another post, most Protestants think of Baptism as a simple ceremony where a Christian declares that he puts his faith in Jesus as his personal savior. They think of baptism as something we do and so think that to say that baptism saves us, that it is the same thing as saying salvation is something we earn by what we do. Yet the Bible clearly says, “Baptism saves you” (1 Peter 3:21-22) and”unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5)

If Lutherans believed that baptism was something we do, we also would reject the teaching that it saves. After all, the heart and center of the Lutheran confession is salvation is by grace alone through faith alone for the sake of Christ alone. But we believe what the Scriptures teach, that salvation is God’s work, not ours. God the Father saved us, not by what we have done, but washing us and renewing us in baptism by the Holy Spirit. (Titus 3:4-7) Jesus gave himself for the church, cleansing us by the water and the word. (Ephesians 5:25-27) In Christ, through faith, God has buried us with Jesus in baptism and made us alive with Christ, forgiving our sins.(Colossians 2:11-14) So, when we say we are saved by baptism, we are saying that God saves us by baptism.

Blog Post Series

What is Baptism?

Encore Post: You may have discovered that Christians value Baptism a lot. Yet there are few subjects that the various Christian traditions disagree about more. Catholics believe baptism is a means of grace that removes original sin and forgives all actual sins committed before baptism. It does not forgive sins committed after that — for that you need to go to confession, be absolved and do penance. For many Protestants, it is a work you do in obedience to God’s command, showing you’ve accepted Jesus as your personal savior. For others, it is just a meaningful symbol of salvation.

Lutherans believe that baptism is a means of grace, one of the ways, instituted by Jesus himself, God uses to save us. (Matthew 28:19) It combines the Gospel of Christ’s saving obedience, suffering, death and resurrection with water to wash away our sins. (Ephesians 5:25-27, Titus 3:4-7) It is God himself who does the baptizing, using human hands.

Like the other means of grace, Baptism creates faith in hearts where there is none and strengthens faith where it exists. Baptism also marks us with the name of the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It makes us his children and heirs — heirs with Christ.

Finally, it is an undeniable declaration that we are saved. Why? Because we had nothing to do with it. In most cases, it is written in record books we can see and in all cases is written in the Book of Life. When Satan tries to cause us to doubt our salvation, we can tell him: “get lost! I am baptized.” Nothing can separate us from the Love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. And where he is, we will also be.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Blog Post Series

Holy Week Overview

Encore Post: On Palm Sunday, Jesus deliberately went to his death in Jerusalem. He could have called upon the countless armies of heaven to save Him, but He did not. Knowing full well what was ahead, He went willingly. Down the road used to bring the lambs for the Passover into Jerusalem, the Lamb of God went to the slaughter. Just as King David rode into the city on a donkey 1000 years earlier, Jesus chose a donkey as his mount. When the crowds acclaimed him Messiah, he received their greeting.

On Thursday evening, Jesus gathered with his disciples to celebrate the Passover. They remembered the night when the Angel of Death passed over the doors of the people of Israel, marked by the blood of the lamb. That night when he gave us the Lord’s Supper, Jesus became our Passover, giving us his body to eat with bread and his blood to drink with wine.

Later He would be led to trial before the Sanhedrin, which met in Solomon’s Temple. Here the Lamb of God was condemned to die. On the cross, when He said, “it is finished” God completed the sacrifice for our sin.

What the women found when they arrived at the tomb the next Sunday morning changed everything. The stone was rolled away, the guards had run away and an Angel greeted them. “He is not here! He is risen!” Once it sunk in, the disciples went from sadness to joy. The day of worship moved for Christians from the Sabbath to the Lord’s Day. The very people who ran away and hid for fear of arrest would face arrest, torture and eventually death themselves to proclaim the good news of salvation because of the death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah.Today we still proclaim the same good news. Now we were redeemed, forgiven and restored to fellowship with God.

Blog Post Series

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Concordia Theological Seminary
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Lazarus, Come Out!

Encore Post: Mary, Martha and Lazarus were close friends of Jesus. When Jesus came to Jerusalem, He often stayed with them in their home in Bethany — a little town two miles away. So, when Lazarus fell ill, it was personal, all the more so because Jesus knew his friend would die. Yet this sign would be one of the greatest of all his miracles and would set in motion the events leading to his suffering, death and resurrection.

So, two weeks before his own resurrection, Jesus went to comfort his friends. He said the words that touch a chord in our hearts even today: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26) Still he grieved for his friend. Then, even though Lazarus had been dead four days, Jesus ordered the tomb opened and called Lazarus back from the grave.

Previously, Jesus raised several people from the dead. The resurrection of Lazarus was different because it was so close to where the priests lived. The Sadducees could ignore stories about Jesus as just fairy tales when they happened in Galilee. When their neighbors actually witnessed Lazarus coming back from the dead, they could not dismiss it.

When Caiaphas the High Priest heard about this miracle, he said: “It is better than one man die than the people.” He was right even though he did not know why. From this moment on, the priests and the Pharisees started to plan to kill Jesus and Lazarus A week later, Jesus would ride into Jerusalem in the middle of lambs destined for sacrifice. With his death, he destroyed death, it’s angel passing over us forever.

Block Post Series

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Concordia Theological Seminary
Fort Wayne, Indiana

The Forgiveness of Sins

Encore Post: King David was a prime example of someone who needed forgiveness. In one episode, he managed to shirk his duty as a commander, lust after his neighbor’s wife, use his power to rape or commit adultery with her, lie to her husband, send him on a suicide mission to murder him then marry Bathsheba to cover it up. He sinned against everyone it seems. Yet it is to God he goes for forgiveness. In the end, all sins are rebellion against God. (2 Samuel 11:1-12:25 and Psalm 51)

Forgiveness is hard to come by in this world. When we are hurt, we want to return that hurt in kind. Eastern religions like Hinduism and Buddhism have no forgiveness — you pay back the bad Karma you give with suffering in this life or nearly endless reincarnations. Mormon must cease sinning to pay for forgiveness and progress towards godhood. Pagan religions require a suitable sacrifice to an appropriate spirit.

Christianity is different. We have a loving and merciful God, who in Jesus died to pay for our forgiveness and through the Holy Spirit gives faith, the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. The Spirit chooses to use his Church to bring this forgiveness to all. In the Church, the Gospel is preached, God adopts his children through baptism, Jesus gives his body and blood for the forgiveness of sins and he hears our confessions and absolves us of our sins by pastors he sends to do so.

So, then, the Church is not a country club, a place where only good people need apply. It is a hospital, where we who are sick can get well, taking the only medicine that can make us well. We are, after all, beggars telling other beggars where they can find bread.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Blog Post Series

The Marks of the Church

Encore Post: The word “Church” is used in many ways by Christians. We call our buildings churches. We name our local gatherings of Christians churches. We talk about national organizations of Christian believers, congregations, colleges and seminaries churches. We even call worship services church — in a way. Strictly speaking, the Church is all those who have faith in Christ. Even though only God knows for sure who is a Christian or who is not, the public confession of Christians and their good works reveal them to us and to the world. The same thing is true for the Church as a whole. When the Gospel is preached and the sacraments are offered, there you will find the visible Church. So, these things are called the marks of the Church.

The Means of Grace are the instruments that the Holy Spirit uses to call people to faith in Christ and to strengthen and maintain that faith. He places these gifts into the hands of the church and the pastors he calls to shepherd them. They are the masks God wears to seek and to save the lost. He calls them together to receive these gifts, to encourage each other and to thank and praise him. This divine service is what we often call worship.

The church in this sense is also called the church militant — the fighting church — because it is at war with the World, the devil and his forces and our sinful desires. These earthly organizations formed by members of the Church are plagued by the same things individual Christian are. The sinful self of its members mean that congregations also sin, are persecuted by the world, tempted by the devil and suffer along with the Christians who form them. Unbelievers may also belong to them, all the while deceiving themselves and others, behaving like any other Christian.

Yet, as flawed as they are, God loves his people and choses to use them to proclaim his Gospel, create faith, forgive sins and bring the lost home. After all, the Lord of the Church, her Good Shepherd, laid down his life for them. And the day will come when he will return to bring his bride, the church, home to enjoy the marriage feast which has no end.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Blog Post Series

Kept in the True Faith

Encore Post: Military planners labor long hours to plan every detail of a campaign before the first soldier or sailor even receives their orders. They consider carefully all of the strengths and weaknesses of their enemy and their own troops. They weigh every possible variation and the effects unforeseen weather might have on the battle. Yet the moment the battle begins, all of that goes away. “The fog of war” sets in. You can’t see clearly. Sometimes you mistake enemies for friends. The battle might be won everywhere but where you are.

In this sin-filled world, you are at war and in the middle of a battle. The old and new man compete for control of your life. The world and the devil try to bend you to their will. Sin, sickness, grief and death explode all around you. In the middle of this chaos, the Holy Spirit fights to keep you in the true faith. The good news is that he will. Nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:38-39) The Holy Spirit who began a good work in you will complete it on the day Christ returns. (Philippians 1:6)

We can be sure that we will be with Jesus when we die because he promises we will. (John 12:26) It does not depend on how many good works we do, whether we confessed and repented of all of our sins, whether we really accepted Jesus as our Lord or not. It all depends on God, who does it all for us and promised we would be with him forever. He guarantees it. After all, he gave us the Holy Spirit.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Blog Post Series

Called by the Gospel

Encore Post: God’s grace knows no limit. He loves us so much that all three persons work for our salvation. The Father chose us to be his before the world was made. He sent the Son to die for us. The Son became a flesh-and-blood man, lived a perfect life for us, suffered and died to pay the price for our sins and rose from the dead so that we might rise to live forever.

The Holy Spirit makes us holy — sanctifies us. In theology, we use the word sanctification in two ways. The first is everything the Spirit does from placing faith in our hearts to maintaining it to the day of our death. The second way we use it is for everything the Spirit does after he saves us. Martin Luther describes the first definition in this way: “the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, sanctified and kept me in the one, true Faith…” (Small Catechism, Creed, 2.3)

The Holy Spirit calls us through the preaching of God’s Word.(2 Thessalonians 2:13-14) He inspired Moses, David, the prophets, evangelists, apostles and the other human authors of the Scriptures to record his words. In the Word of God we find the law, which condemns us all as sinners, worthy of eternal death, and the gospel, which reveals that God is gracious to us for the sake of Jesus’ death on the cross and will forgive all those who believe this. This gospel is preached to us by those God sends to do so, read in the Bible and when put together with water in Baptism. In this way the Holy Spirit calls us to faith in Jesus. (Romans 10:14-17, Titus 3:5-7)

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Blog Post Series

Little Sheep that Hear the Voice of Their Shepherd

Encore Post: God the Holy Spirit gives no end of blessings to God’s people. When he calls us by the Gospel and creates faith in our hearts, we hear the voice of our Shepherd. We will live with him forever. What else can he give us, we think.

And yet, there is more. He calls us to be a member of his church. The Greek word for church is ἐκκλησία (ekklesia) which means literally “to call out, to call up.” Greeks used it for a city council or a militia unit. The Greek translation of the Old Testament (Septuagint, LXX) used it for the gathering of God’s people. Jesus, the Gospel authors and St. Paul used it in this way. Martin Luther defined in the Smalcald Articles 10.2: “For, thank God, a child seven years old knows what the Church is, namely, the holy believers and lambs who hear the voice of their Shepherd.”

The Holy Spirit calls, gathers and enlightens the whole church, into which he places us. But this church is not limited to our local congregation. It is catholic — a Latin word that means universal. All people who believe in Jesus Christ are a part of this Church. It includes people of all nations, races, places and situations. It also includes the Church Triumphant, Christians who have died in the faith and whose spirits now live with Christ. It is eternal and cannot be destroyed. This Church is one and cannot be divided.

It is also invisible. Since the faith that makes us a member of the Church dwells in our hearts, only God knows who belongs in it. Yet it is very real. It means that we are never alone. Not only is Jesus with us always– not only does the Holy Spirit dwell in our hearts, we have our brothers and sisters to be with us, pray with and for us and to share our burdens with us. And one day, they will be with us before the throne of God, praising God forever for his grace and mercy.

Blog Post Series