Baptism – What Does This Mean?

Faith

Encore Post: Faith is one of those “church words” that everyone knows and uses, but finds hard to pin down. We use it to mean everything from a family of church bodies, to a system of things people believe, to trust in God, to accepting something is true, but that we cannot prove. The Greek language uses one word for both faith and belief. (πιστεύω — pisteoo — to believe, πίστις; pistis; Faith) When the New Testament uses the word, it uses it for both what we believe in and our trust in God to keep his promises to save us.

When the Bible talks about faith in God, (Saving Faith, Justifying Faith) it means a trust in God to keep his promises, especially his promise to save us. This trust is not something we create by things we do. It is created in us when the Holy Spirit comes to us through the Gospel, Baptism or the Lord’s Supper. (Romans 1:17, John 20:30-31, Ephesians 1:13, Romans 1:16-17) Our faith clings to Jesus, believing that his sufferings and death on the cross forgives our sins and gives us everlasting life. This faith responds to the Grace given to us in God’s Word and the Sacraments. It thanks God for his mercy, praises him and gives us the desire to serve God and our neighbors. (much more on this later. For now, see Ephesians 2:10)

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Rev. Robert E. Smith

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Means of Grace

Encore Post: Now and then, the news is filled with excitement over lottery jackpots worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Long lines form at convenience stores as everyone wants to buy a ticket. For all but a handful of people, the only value of the ticket is entertainment. Yet the very lucky winner is very happy indeed. She has won a fortune! Yet her bank account hasn’t changed a penny. Until the money is deposited, nothing has changed — other than she discovers she has more cousins than she ever knew she had!

Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, we have amazing riches in heaven. God loves us, gives us his grace. We are his children. Our sins are forgiven and we will live forever. Yet without a way of these things coming to us, it is not yet applied to us. To give these gifts to us, God uses the Means of Grace.

The Means of Grace are visible means by which God the Holy Spirit gives the gifts Jesus earned by his death on the cross. He uses these to plant faith in our hearts, strengthen and preserve it. Through them, we receive the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. He uses this to enter our hearts and live there.

These means are the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Holy Baptism, the Lord’s Supper and perhaps Absolution. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper and sometimes absolution are called sacraments.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Fort Wayne, Indiana

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Baptized into Christ’s Body

Encore Post: Baptism connects us with Christ. We are united with him in his death and when he rose from the dead, we rise with him. That is about as personal a relationship as we can get. Yet there is more. When we are united with Christ, we are also made a part of his body, the Church. We now have brothers and sisters in Christ with whom we will live forever.

When Jesus gave his final instructions to his apostles, he commanded them to make disciples from all peoples, baptizing them and teaching them. (Matthew 28:18-20) When we were baptized, we were put into Christ’s body, one of many members. God knew that we would need each other and so bound us together. (1 Corinthians 12:12-27) In this one body, we are united by the Holy Spirit. We have one Lord, one hope, one faith and one God and Father of us all. (Ephesians 4:4-6)

For this reason, the church ordinarily baptizes new Christians, young and old, during worship services on a Sunday morning or during the Vigil of Easter. In this way, all of the new Christian’s spiritual family can welcome them and rejoice with God that his child who once was lost has now been found and brought home to be him and them forever.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

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Stay Calm and Remember Your Baptism

Encore Post: While Baptism is a one-time event, its blessings last a lifetime. Baptism is an event outside of us, observed by witnesses and recorded in books. Especially when we are baptized as children, there is no question that God loves us, that he adopted us as his children and that we will live with him forever. When we are baptized, we realize that we are not seekers, but that God sought us and found us. We can be sure that we are saved and that we will live with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit forever.

In our sin-filled world, where we are at war with the world, the devil and our flesh, life can get confusing very fast. As we are confronted with our sinful nature, we may wonder how God can love us, whether we please him or can ever measure up to his standards. At times like these, we can remember our baptism. No matter what happens, this is the central fact of our lives. I am baptized.

St. Paul reminds us that in baptism, we are united to Christ in his death. (Romans 6:3-11) Christ bore our sins on the cross, suffered and died to pay the full penalty we deserved for them. Because we are baptized, when he died, we died. When He rose from the dead, we rise to new life. Now we can face anything that comes our way.

Each day, we can prepare ourselves in prayer for the day. We can make the sign of the cross, remembering that we are baptized, thank God for his mercies and remember that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39)

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

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Who Should Be Baptized?

Encore Post: At first, this seems like a strange question. Since God uses baptism to save, why not baptize everyone? In fact, the words Jesus used to institute baptism says: “Going, make disciples of all peoples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” (my translation of Matthew 28:19) The reason why this is important question is that baptism is not some kind of magic spell that works as long as you do everything right. Baptism saves everyone who believes in its promises that God adopts them as his children, forgives their sins for the sake of the death and resurrection of Jesus and saves them from sin, death and the power of the devil. It is for everyone who is baptized in the name of the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

It is at that point that Evangelicals object to the baptism of infants and young children. How can children believe if they do not understand any of this? This concern comes from a different understanding of faith than Lutherans have. We see faith as a trust in God and his promises. James tells us that the demons believe, too, and they shudder. (James 2:19) No one trusts more than little children. Jesus holds them up as examples of faith, in fact. (Mark 10:13-16, Luke 18:15-17) I’ll say more on infant baptism in a later post.

For the same reason, many Protestants urge people baptized as children to be baptized again. The first Christians to do this lived during the Reformation are were called Anabaptists, which means: “baptized again.” Lutherans believe that once a person is baptized in the name of the Triune God that they do not need to be baptized again. Since God himself is the one baptizing and in it he makes us his children, sealing us with the Holy Spirit forever, we do not need to be re baptized.

The only time Lutherans would re-baptize someone would be if their church was not Christian at all. So, Mormons, who believe in a false god (Their father god is a human being like us who grew to godhood. He is a separate being from his literal, physical son, Jesus and their Holy Spirit), come to faith in the real Jesus, would be baptized. Of growing concern for us are churches, including ones that call themselves Lutheran, that baptize in names other that Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These Christians might need to be baptized again so they can be sure it was in the name God himself reveals to us and with which Jesus commanded us to baptize.

In short, baptism is for people who believe in what it promises — that for the sake of Jesus and his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, we belong to him and are sealed with the name of the one and only true God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

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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

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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.

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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

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What is a Sacrament?

Encore Post: The Roman Catholics have seven sacraments. Lutherans have two (or maybe three). Protestants of a variety of confessions have none. The reason why the list differs is because each has a different definition of sacrament. The word is from Latin and literally means “holy things.” It was used by Jerome in the Vulgate, the Latin version of the Bible used by the Catholic Church, to translate the Greek word μυστήριον (mystery), a word for the saving truths of the Christian faith.

The Church came to use it for the ways God gives his grace to his children. The Roman Catholic Church lists seven sacraments: Baptism, Holy Communion, Confirmation, Penance, Marriage, Ordination and Anointing of the Sick (Last rites)

Lutherans, following Martin Luther, use a narrower definition. For us, a sacrament is something that Jesus instituted, that God uses to give us his grace and so create faith and save us and that combines God’s promise with a physical element (water in Baptism, bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper) Lutheran theologians sometimes have included Absolution, where God forgives the sins of his people through the voice of a pastor. Because Absolution does not use a physical element, Martin Luther and other Lutheran theologians have been reluctant to list it as a sacrament.

We treasure the sacraments because they are gifts from God. They are objective and outside of ourselves. Because they do not depend upon us, but upon Christ who gives them, we are absolutely certain that in them we receive God’s grace, that we are saved, that he forgives our sins, that we are his children and that we will live with him forever.

For us, this changes why we go to church on Sundays and other days. We don’t go because we are doing something for God but because God has done something for us and wants to give us gifts. Here is the strength to live life in the struggle against the world, the devil and our flesh. Because of these gifts, we have the strength to do good works. For these gifts we thank him and give our lives over to his service and to care for others.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

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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

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