The Wittenberg Trail
Your Path to the Authentic, Historic & Catholic Faith
Martin Luther
"The world is now so full of sects clamoring that Baptism is an external thing, and that external things are of no benefit.. but God's Word and command institute, establish, and confirm Baptism."
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Baptism
Baptism
is a Means of Grace
"The means of grace through which the Holy Spirit works on us to create faith and spiritual growth are evangelical. That is, they bear the Gospel of forgiveness through Christ. ...Their purpose is to communicate grace, the unmerited favor of God that grants eternal life.
...Faith itself is considered by Lutherans to be a gift of God, created in the human heart as His action through the Holy Spirit. Faith has to do with trust, with conscious dependence on Christ, the assurance that, in fact, He will do it all.
...Consider, for example, the Baptism of infants. A mere baby cannot understand the meaning of this ritual. A baby has no knowledge of the Bible, no moral formation, no will capable of making a commitment to Christ. How can Lutherans say that a baptized baby is a Christian, that the child has been born again, no less? And how can they square their teaching on baptismal regeneration with their teaching on justification by faith?
Infant Baptism, in fact, is perhaps the best illustration of justification by faith. A distinctive Lutheran teaching about Baptism is that baptized infants do, in fact, have faith. To be sure, a baby does not have much knowledge or capacity for choice - but faith is not a matter of intellectual mastery, nor is it a decision. Faith is trust, a relationship of utter dependence on Christ. Does a baby, in all of its incapacity, trust its mother and father? Does it have a relationship of utter dependence with its parents? Isn't the love of the mother for her child something the baby knows, constituting the most heartfelt reality of its little existence? If a baby can have faith in its parents -resting securely dependent in their love and care - why can't a baby have faith in its heavenly Father?
In justification, the human being is purely passive, purely receptive. Salvation, again, is not by works, not by moral effort or by acquiring knowledge or by cultivating a mystical experience. Salvation is simply receiving a free gift from God.
A baby receiving Baptism models that passive reception, which adults constantly struggle against in their zeal to save themselves by their own efforts"Veith
Holy Scripture
Ancient Creed"...baptism that now saves you." (1 Peter 3:21)
"Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call." (Acts 2: 38-39)
"And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name." (Acts 22:16)
"Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." (Mark 16:16)
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19)
"He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit." (Titus 3:5)
"Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit." (John 3:5)
"Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection." (Romans 6:3-5)
"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word." (Ephesians 5:25-26)
Early Church Fathers"I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins." Nicene Creed (381 A.D.)
"The church has received from the apostles that custom of administering baptism even to infants. For those who have been entrusted with the secrets of the divine mysteries knew well that all are tainted with the stain of original sin, which must be washed off by the water and the Spirit." (Origin)
"Infants are to be baptized for the remission of sins." (Origin)
"Let no one mislead you by false doctrine. The baptism of children the church has practiced at all times... and has guarded it to this day continuously." (Augustine)
"For from the infant newly born to the old man bent with age, as there is none shut out from baptism, so there is none who in baptism does not die to sin." (Augustine)
"And they shall baptize the little children first. And if they can answer for themselves, let them answer. But if they cannot, let their parents answer or someone from their family. And next they shall baptism the grown men; and last the women." (Hippolytus)
"He [Jesus] came to save all through himself; all, I say, who through him are reborn in God: infants, and children, and youths, and old men. Therefore he passed through every age, becoming an infant for infants, sanctifying infants; a child for children, sanctifying those who are of that age . . . [so that] he might be the perfect teacher in all things, perfect not only in respect to the setting forth of truth, perfect also in respect to relative age" (Irenaeus)
"If, in the case of the worst sinners and those who formerly sinned much against God, when afterwards they believe, the remission of their sins is granted and no one is held back from baptism and grace, how much more, then, should an infant not be held back, who, having but recently been born, has done no sin, except that, born of the flesh according to Adam, he has contracted the contagion of that old death from his first being born. For this very reason does he [an infant] approach more easily to receive the remission of sins: because the sins forgiven him are not his own but those of another" (Cyprian of Carthage)
"You see how many are the benefits of baptism, and some think its heavenly grace consists only in the remission of sins, but we have enumerated ten honors [it bestows]! For this reason we baptize even infants, though they are not defiled by [personal] sins, so that there may be given to them holiness, righteousness, adoption, inheritance, brotherhood with Christ, and that they may be his [Christs] members." (John Chrysostom)
There are different views of Baptism among Christians. As you continue on the Wittenberg Trail, here is information on how Lutherans understand Baptism.
The Christian Cyclopedia defines Baptism as:
"* Baptism instituted by Christ.
Baptism was instituted by Christ (Mt 28:18–19) and is to be used as a means to impart forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation till the end of time. Its visible element is water (1 Ptr 3:20–21); nothing else may be substituted. The mode of applying water is an adiaphoron, the Gk. term baptizein meaning not only immersing but also washing, sprinkling, and pouring (Mk 7:3–4; Acts 1:5 cf. 2:16–17; Eph. 5:25–26; Heb 9:10 [“washings,” literally “baptisms”] cf. Nm 19:13, 19; Didache 7:1–3).
* Purpose of Baptism.
“It works forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare”. Acc. to Scripture, Christ sanctifies His ch. with the washing of water by the Word (Eph 5:25–26). Baptism makes disciples of men (Mt 28:19); it saves (1 Ptr 3:21); it is a washing of regeneration (Tts 3:5) by which men are born again (Jn 3:5–6). Through Baptism we put on Christ, that is, His merits and righteousness, by the very faith which, by application of the Gospel, it creates in the heart (Gl 3:26–27); for Baptism is pure Gospel, not Law, and hence it does not save mechanically, but by faith, which receives the blessings Baptism offers and which is worked by this Sacrament; the Gospel is both the means of creating faith and the foundation of faith. Baptism also unites the baptized with the Triune God, for we are baptized into communion with the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (Mt 28:19) as also into communion with Christ (Gl 3:27). And by Baptism we are buried with Christ into death, that is, through Baptism we partake of the merits which Christ procured for the whole world by His vicarious suffering and death (Ro 6:3–5). Baptism, as the application of the saving Gospel, is, therefore, a true means of grace. “How can water do such great things? It is not the water indeed that does them, but the word of God which is in and with the water, and faith, which trusts such word of God in the water”. Baptism is a means of grace because it “is not simple water only, but it is the water comprehended in God's command and connected with God's word", the Gospel promise of salvation. Those who have fallen from baptismal grace should remember that God's promises of forgiveness, life, and salvation remain unshaken; they should return penitently to the Gospel covenant est. by God with the baptized in and through Baptism.
* Meaning of Baptism.
By Baptism we are buried with Christ into death and arise with Him to newness of life (Ro 6:4). “What does such baptizing with water signify? It signifies that the Old Adam in us should, by daily contrition and repentance, be drowned and die with all sins and evil lusts and, again, a new man daily come forth and arise, who shall live before God in righteousness and purity forever”.
* Infant Baptism.
Baptism in the NT is the counterpart of circumcision in the OT (Cl 2:11–12), and in the OT infants were circumcised (Gn 17:12; Lv 12:3). In the NT families were baptized (Acts 16:15, 33; 18:8; 1 Co 1:16); in Acts 2:38–41 Baptism is connected with the promise “to your children.” Christ's command to baptize all nations certainly also included infants (Mt 28:19–20). The need for infant regeneration is clear (Ps 51:5; Jn 3:6; Eph 2:3). Baptism is the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost (Jn 3:3–7; Tts 3:5). Christ desires to have also little children brought to Him for the blessings of His grace (Mk 10:14). Little children can believe (Mt 18:2–6)."
Infant Baptism
Why We Baptize Babies
Infant Baptism I
Infant Baptism II
In Defense of Infant Baptism
Evidence for Infant Baptism in the Church Fathers and Inscriptions
Infant Baptism in the Early Church
Baptism
Baptism and Faith: Just Whose Work Is It?
Is Baptism Our Symbolic Work for God or God's Powerful Work for Us?
Baptism in the New Testament
On Baptism
Visit
The Wittenberg Trail Online Community
What does it mean to Baptize?
Rev.
Ernie Lassman, pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church in
Seattle, WA, posted this video on both his
church website and
on
YouTube.
Should infants be Baptized?
Rev.
Ernie Lassman, pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church in
Seattle, WA, posted this video on both his
church website and
on
YouTube.
What is the relationship between Faith and
Baptism?
Rev.
Ernie Lassman, pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church in
Seattle, WA, posted this video on both his
church website and
on
YouTube.
Can you be saved without Baptism?
Rev.
Ernie Lassman, pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church in
Seattle, WA, posted this video on both his
church website and
on
YouTube.
What is so special about the water of
Baptism?
Rev.
Ernie Lassman, pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church in
Seattle, WA, posted this video on both his
church website and
on
YouTube.
Why should you remember your Baptism every
day?
Rev.
Ernie Lassman, pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church in
Seattle, WA, posted this video on both his
church website and
on
YouTube.