I
am consistently amazed at the visceral reaction of those who deny the efficacy
of Baptism to any talk about how Baptism is efficacious. One person wrote a
long response to my article, “Three Examples of How Lutherans DenyJustification by Faith Alone: A Response – Part One of Two,” decrying baptismal
regeneration as a false gospel, and calling “water baptism” merely a symbol,
commanded to be carried out on/by those who are believers. His comments are too
long to reproduce here in their entirety (if you want to read them, simply go
to the original article and scroll down to the bottom). I will, however,
respond to two points the person made, as I think they get to the heart of the
matter. Firstly, he writes:
“Water baptism is
simply a remembrance. It is not the means of grace through which God provides
salvation; that is simply ‘warmed over’ Roman Catholicism. The Bible asserts
unambiguously that an unregenerate sinner is justified by faith alone in Christ
alone. Trying to assert that water baptism plays any part in regeneration is
simply a false gospel. Any ecclesiastical (church) procedure plays no part in
justification.”
First,
we have to deal with this term “water baptism.” To talk about “water” baptism
is akin to talking about “food” eating. There is no baptism without water, as
the Greek word “baptizo,” from which we get our word baptism, means to apply
water either by immersing, dipping, pouring, or sprinkling.
Certainly we hear about things such as the baptism of the Holy Spirit. John the
Baptist said that the one to come after him would baptize with the Holy Spirit
and with fire.
Understanding how language works, though, we know that when one applies a word
like baptism (which means “to apply water”) to something which is not water,
one understands from context that the speaker is using analogy. Continuing with
our food/eating parallel, one might say, after reading an interesting book, “I
devoured every word!” One would not mean that he engaged in any type of actual
eating. Rather, he is saying that the book was interesting and he read it with
enthusiasm. So, we must agree with Paul that there is only one baptism, and can
dispense with the rather annoying and theologically loaded term “water
baptism.”
There is one body
and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord,
one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and
through all, and in you all (Ephesians 4:4-6).
Second,
I understand what this person thinks they are trying to say, but he misses the
mark. Perhaps this is just me knit-picking, but the Bible does not assert that
“an unregenerate sinner is justified by faith alone in Christ alone.” I know
this, because what this person is attempting to use in his argument, though he
may not realize it, are the “solas” which came from Luther's theology and the Lutheran Reformation (you’re welcome, by the way). As I stated in the original article, Paul says we
are saved by grace, through faith in Christ, and even this faith does not come
from us. Back to Ephesians two, yet again:
For by grace you
have been saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of
God (Ephesians 2:8).
So,
how does that faith, which is God’s gift, get to us, since it isn’t by work, so
that men are deprived of boasting? It comes through his means – His Word. And,
when God couples his word of promise with a physical element…voila! You get a
sacrament. When God couples water and his word of promise, you get Holy
Baptism, which is the washing of regeneration.
For we ourselves
were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and
pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when
the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works
of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us,
through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit whom he
poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been
justified by his grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life
(Titus 3:3-7).
So,
you may say all day long that baptism is simply a remembrance and that it is
not a means of grace. I challenge you to show me in Scripture where it says
such a thing. You cannot. I, on the other hand, can, as countless orthodox
Christian theologians have for 2,000 years, point to the words of St. Peter:
There is also an
antitype which now saves us – baptism (not the removal of the filth of the
flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection
of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:21).
Did
you catch that? Peter says that baptism now saves us! And he clarifies, just so
we don’t mistakenly think that he means the physical act of washing dirt away
by itself. Baptism saves us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. What
wonderful news! If the commenter wants to maintain that, “…to assert that water
baptism plays any part in regeneration is simply a false gospel,” he may take
that up with the Apostle Peter if he likes. I will cling to the plain reading
of the words of Scripture in their context.
That
context is the comparison Peter makes between baptism and the flood and Noah’s
Ark. Eight people were saved in the ark, “through water,” Peter writes, and in
the next sentence likens this salvation (the shadow) to the salvation given by
God in baptism, through the resurrection of Jesus. Luther, in his Small
Catechism, explains it this way:
How can water do
such great things? Answer: 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. For without the word of God the water is simple water and
no baptism. But with the word of God it is a baptism, that is, a gracious water
of life and a washing of regeneration in the Holy Ghost as St. Paul says,
Titus, Chapter three…this is a trustworthy saying (Luther 2008).
In
the end, it is a question of what you see baptism to be. Is it God’s act, or
man’s? Is it something God does to you, or a work of obedience you offer to
God? Scripture is clear that baptism is God’s work, done using the hands of a
pastor, and the power of the Holy Spirit, to deliver His gifts to us. It all
comes from outside of us.
This
brings me to the second point of contention. If baptism is so important in
regenerating people, why did Paul say he was not sent to baptize? The commenter
writes:
“It is interesting
that Christ did not send the apostle Paul, his chief evangelist, to baptize,
isn’t it? Instead, he was sent to preach the gospel. That is where the power
is…in the gospel, not water.”
My
friend, you and I agree. The gospel of Christ is the power of God to salvation
for everyone who believes.
As we have discussed previously, that is why baptism is able to work forgiveness
of sins, deliver from death and the devil, and give eternal salvation to all
who believe this: It is not simple water only, but it is the water comprehended
in God’s command and connected with God’s word! That Gospel, of which we are
not ashamed, is the power working in baptism.
Yes,
Paul did write that he was not sent to baptize. He was, as he says sent to
preach the Gospel. Here is the entire passage in context:
Now I plead with
you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the
same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly
joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it has been
declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that
there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am
of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” Is
Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of
Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest
anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. Yes, I also baptized the
household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other.
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with
wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect (1
Corinthians 1:10-17).
Paul
did not baptize. He was sent to preach. Well, except for Crispus and Gaius…and
also Stephanas’ household…and maybe some others he doesn’t recall…but he didn’t
baptize! Paul is addressing the issue of sectarianism among the Corinthians and
he is making the point that it’s good he didn’t personally baptize a bunch of
people, otherwise these wretched Corinthians might say he was doing it to gain
a following. Certainly Paul is not saying that his mission was only to preach
separate and apart from baptism. Paul’s mission is the same as that of the
other Apostles:
Then the eleven
disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for
them. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. And Jesus came
and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on
earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to
observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even
to the end of the age.” Amen (Matthew 28:16-20).
So,
the disciples are sent here by Jesus to baptize and teach, but not to preach?
Right, that was going to be Paul’s job…how absurd. Jesus gave the same mission
to all the Apostles. The baptizing, preaching, and teaching can’t be separated
out and any one thing omitted, because it is all part of them delivering the
means of grace – God’s Word – to unregenerate sinners so that God could, by the
power of His Spirit, do his work of making these sinners into regenerate
Christians, when and where he willed to do so.
God
comes to we who are spiritually dead from outside of ourselves, by means. Jesus
is delivered to us through the external word, whether by reading, preaching, or
through the Sacraments. The Holy Spirit uses those means, as he wills, to
create believers out of unbelievers or, as the confessions say, willing persons
out of unwilling ones. This faith is more than intellectual assent and
knowledge and comes to us without our work, through the work of the Holy
Spirit. Repentance? Another gift worked in us by God the Holy Spirit, and not
something done of our own will.
That’s
really as far as I know how to take this, so I’ll end with the words of the
Small Catechism (which are really the words of St. Paul, because in this
passage, Luther ends by quoting Romans):
What does such
baptizing with water signify? Answer: 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. Where is this written?
Answer: St. Paul says, Romans, chapter six: We are buried with Christ by
Baptism into death, that, like as he was raised up from the dead, by the glory
of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life (Luther 2008).
