Baptism eBook: My Adoption into God's Family

By Gaylin R Schmeling

What is Baptism?Many church bodies have developed their own versions of this ancient Christian rite, but what does the Bible say about Baptism?The book Baptism clearly demonstrates what the Bible says: Baptism is a mighty act of God in which he washes away sin and creates saving faith. Through this mighty act, sinners are born again as children of God and become living members of Christ' s spiritual body, the church.If you' re wondering what Baptism is and what it means for your everyday life of faith, this book is for you!The People' s Bible Teachings is a series of books on all the main teachings of the Bible. Following the pattern set by The People' s Bible series, these books are written for all Christians in an easy-to-read manner. The authors of The People' s Bible are all pastors and professors who have had years of experience teaching others about the Bible.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Northwestern Publishing House
• Release date: Jul 1, 1999
• ISBN: 9780810025943

Book preview

Editor’s Preface

The People’s Bible Teachings is a series of books on all of the main doctrinal teachings of the Bible.

Following the pattern set by The People’s Bible series, these books are written especially for laypeople. Theological terms, when used, are explained in everyday language so that people can understand them. The authors show how Christian doctrine is drawn directly from clear passages of Scripture and then how those doctrines apply to people’s faith and life. Most importantly, these books show how every teaching of Scripture points to Christ, our only Savior.

The authors of The People’s Bible Teachings are parish pastors and professors who have had years of experience teaching the Bible. They are men of scholarship and practical insight.

We take this opportunity to express our gratitude to Professor Leroy Dobberstein of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, Mequon, Wisconsin, and Professor Thomas Nass of Martin Luther College, New Ulm, Minnesota, for serving as consultants for this series. Their insights and assistance have been invaluable.

We pray that the Lord will use these volumes to help his people grow in their faith, knowledge, and understanding of his saving teachings, which he has revealed to us in the Bible. To God alone be the glory.

Curtis A. Jahn

Series Editor

Introduction

Growing up on a farm in central Minnesota, I learned how important water is for life. Without the proper rains, a field that looked as though it could produce a bumper crop would wither into nothing in the scorching August heat. Water plays a vital role in the existence of life. It cannot be taken for granted because the supply of pure, fresh water is exhaustible. Although scientists are searching for new sources of fuel for our mechanized world, finding sources of water remains the top priority. An oil shortage could affect transportation and manufacturing and thus might lower our standard of living. But without water, life and all its related activities on our planet would cease.

Water can also bring death and destruction. Its deadly qualities become quite real when we witness a drowning victim dragged from the watery deep. A flood’s destructive qualities become obvious when we view a town or fertile farmland that has been swept over by a flood.

Water, indeed, brings physical life and death. Spiritually, water has the same effect, that is, when water is connected with the Word in baptism. The water of baptism is essential for eternal life. As Jesus said to Nicodemus, No one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit (John 3:5). Baptism is a washing of rebirth that gives never-ending life (Titus 3:5). The water of baptism also brings death, death to the sinful flesh.

Baptism united us with Christ’s death and resurrection. Because we were so united with Christ, what happened to him during Holy Week has become effective in our lives. Baptism is our Holy Week event, our death and resurrection by the power of Christ’s death and resurrection. In baptism our old sinful flesh was nailed to the cross, killed, and buried with Christ in the tomb. Because of our participation in the death of Christ through baptism, we are freed from sin (Romans 6:7). Jesus’ blood washed away all our sins. Then as Jesus arose triumphant that first Easter morning, so we arose to new life in baptism by the power of Christ’s resurrection. The Holy Spirit created faith in Christ’s cross through baptism and gave us resurrection power so that we can live resurrection lives, victorious lives, free from Satan’s tyranny.

We continue to die and rise again throughout our lives by daily returning to baptism through true repentance and faith. Here we receive the power for a more Christ-like life. This resurrection life born in baptism and nourished through the Word and the Holy Supper culminates in the resurrection of the body on the Last Day.

What a treasure baptism is! A German emperor once said that the three handfuls of water poured over his head were worth more than his crown. No wonder Martin Luther marked himself each day with the sign of the cross in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit to emphasize, I am baptized. Baptism gave meaning and purpose to Luther’s life in a seemingly meaningless world.

This book will help us better understand the meaning of baptism and deepen our appreciation of its many blessings. Many people live with the motto He who dies with the most toys wins! In such a time, may we join with Luther and believers of all time in daily returning to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. There we will die to ourselves that we might live in and for Christ and thus affirm I am baptized as the ultimate source of our identity, security, and meaning.

Part I

The Scriptural Basis

for the

Sacrament

1

The Command and Institution of Baptism

Baptism is a glorious saving act of the triune God in which water is applied in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Through baptism sinners are born again as the children of God the Father through faith in Christ Jesus the Savior. As the apostle Paul states, You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ (Galatians 3:26,27). Through baptism we become members of Christ’s body, the church, for we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body (1 Corinthians 12:13). Also through baptism we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, including all the blessings of salvation. As the apostle Peter proclaimed on Pentecost: 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 (Acts 2:38).

Sometime during the 40 days between his resurrection and ascension, Jesus commanded his followers to administer baptism until the Last Day: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, 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).

Our Lord gave a similar directive at the end of Mark’s gospel: Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned (16:15,16).

The divine institution of baptism is also evident from the practice of the apostles in the New Testament. In his Pentecost sermon, the apostle Peter urged those listening to him to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38), that is, by authority of Jesus Christ, because Jesus had instituted and commanded baptism.

Baptism and Matthew 28:18-20

The entire gospel of Matthew proclaims the good news of Christ’s redemption, on the basis of which Christ calls people to be his disciples. At the end of the gospel, Christ directs his disciples to go and make disciples, that is, lead others to trust in Christ as their Savior. Disciples of Christ are to make others disciples of Christ.

Immediately after giving this directive, Christ explained how disciples are made: by baptizing and by teaching. The words baptizing and teaching express the means, or instruments, by which people become disciples of Jesus. All people become disciples by baptism and by being taught everything that Christ has commanded.

Baptism is to be performed in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. In the name of also means by authority of and on the basis of. In baptism a person is brought into a relationship with the divine name. This trinitarian baptism, baptism into the name of the triune God, is at the same time a baptism in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 10:48). It is a baptism founded upon the name of Christ because it is based upon Christ’s redemptive sacrifice (Acts 2:38) and is a baptism into Christ, into union and communion with him (Galatians 3:27).

From the Second Commandment and the First Petition of the Lord’s Prayer, we see that the name of God means God himself and everything God has revealed about himself. To be baptized in the name of the triune God means to be baptized in reference to the Trinity, to be connected and united with the Trinity in such a way that we become God’s possessions and are dedicated to his service.

When an animal is branded, a certain symbol is burned into its hide to show that the animal is the possession of a particular ranch or farm. So in baptism God brands us as his own. He places his name on us. We are marked with the sign of the cross, indicating that we have been redeemed by Christ and are God’s possessions forever.

Yet we become more than merely God’s possessions in baptism. God’s love for us is so great that he is pleased to call us his children (1 John 3:1). Through baptism we are brought into fellowship with the triune God so that we are God’s children and heirs of salvation (Galatians 3:26,27).

When this truth was proclaimed by a missionary in India, a man replied: A child of God! No, that is too much, that is too great for a miserable wretch like me. Think how privileged we would feel if we were adopted into the family of a multimillionaire and declared his legal heir. Every earthly advantage would be ours. We, however, have received an adoption infinitely greater. In baptism the Almighty himself adopts us and makes us his sons and daughters, coheirs with Christ who share in his glory (Romans 8:17). The spiritual inheritance we receive in baptism makes every earthly privilege pale by comparison. Baptism draws us into union and communion with God himself. In baptism God the Father receives us as his children and heirs (Galatians 3:26), God the Son washes away our sins with his precious blood (Acts 22:16), and God the Holy Spirit gives us new birth, by working faith in the Savior in our hearts (Titus 3:5).

According to Christ’s baptismal command, Christ’s disciples are to make disciples of all nations. These words have no restrictions and exclude no age group. They include all people, both young and old. There is no basis in Christ’s baptismal command to deny one group of people the right to be baptized, since the Lord Jesus clearly directs us to baptize all nations.

Jesus concludes his baptismal command with a promise: Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. This assures us that our Savior is present with us just as certainly as he was with the disciples during his earthly ministry. He is with us in baptism not only in his omnipresence (present everywhere) but also in his gracious presence so that we are saved according to the Father’s mercy (Titus 3:4,5), united with Christ and his death and resurrection (Romans 6:4,5), and born again by the Spirit (John 3:5).

John’s baptism and Christ

At the beginning of his public ministry, Jesus came to the Jordan River to be baptized by John the Baptist. John preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Luke 3:3), pointing to Christ, whose redemptive