Baptism
18 And Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 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, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28 : 18-20
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What is Baptism?
Baptism is not just plain water, but it is the water included in God’s command and combined with God’s Word.
What’s so special about a handful of simple water?
Nothing, until God connects His Word to it! In Baptism,that is exactly what God is doing. He combines His life-creating an life-giving Word with the waters of Holy Baptism,and thereby we are born again of water and the Spirit (John 3:5).
The attached PDF below WHAT ABOUT HOLY BAPTISM explains The LCMS believes on the marvelous blessing that God gave us in Baptism.
Baptism is not just plain water, but it is the water included in God’s command and combined with God’s Word.
What’s so special about a handful of simple water?
Nothing, until God connects His Word to it! In Baptism,that is exactly what God is doing. He combines His life-creating an life-giving Word with the waters of Holy Baptism,and thereby we are born again of water and the Spirit (John 3:5).
The attached PDF below WHAT ABOUT HOLY BAPTISM explains The LCMS believes on the marvelous blessing that God gave us in Baptism.
| wa_holy_baptism.pdf |
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Baptism and its purpose
Lutherans believe that the Bible teaches that a person is saved by God’s grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ alone. The Bible tells us that such “faith comes by hearing” (Rom 10:17). Jesus Himself commands Baptism and tells us that Baptism is water used together with the Word of God (Matt 28:1920). Because of this, we believe that Baptism is one of the miraculous means of grace (another is God’s Word as it is written or spoken), through which God creates and/or strengthens the gift of faith in a person’s heart (see Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16; 1 Peter 3:21; Gal 3:26-27; Rom 6:1-4; Col 2:11-12; 1 Cor. 12:13). Terms the Bible uses to talk about the beginning of faith include “conversion” and “regeneration.” Although we do not claim to understand fully how this happens, we believe that when an infant is baptized God creates faith in the heart of that infant. We believe this because the Bible says that infants can believe (Matt 18:6) and that new birth (regeneration) happens in Baptism (John 3:5-7; Titus 3:5-6). The infant’s faith cannot yet, of course, be verbally expressed or articulated by the child, yet it is real and present all the same (see e.g., Acts 2:38-39; Luke 1:15; 2 Tim 3:15). The faith of the infant, like the faith of adults, also needs to be fed and nurtured by God’s Word (Matt 28:18-20), or it will die. Who can be godparents/sponsors?
The LCMS entrusts to individual pastors and congregations the responsibility of making decisions about finding ways to involve such people in the baptismal service (e.g., sometimes they are asked to serve as "witnesses" to the baptism). Since decisions in this regard often depend on the specific circumstances involved, it is best to speak to the pastor himself about such matters. He would also be able to share more specific information about the form of the baptismal service used in his congregation and the precise wording of the vows that sponsors or godparents are asked to take. |
This was just a portion of the Question and Answer document on LCMS Believes about Baptism. If you would like to read the whole document, please download the attached PDF file below.
| lcms-baptism-faqs-03-21-2016.pdf |
