The Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church | Page 9

to
compare them one with the other and to ask himself: What do they
teach? What is the meaning which a plain, unprejudiced reader, who
has implicit confidence in the Word and power of God, would derive
from them? Can he say, "There is nothing in baptism?" "It is of no
consequence." "It is only a Church ceremony, without any particular
blessing in it." Or do the words clearly teach it is nothing more than a
_sign_--an outward sign--of an invisible grace?
Look again at the expressions of these passages. We desire to be clear

here, because this is one of the points on which the Lutheran Church
to-day differs from so many others. Jesus mentions water as well as
Spirit, when speaking of the new birth. "Make disciples, (by) baptizing
them." "Be baptized for the remission of your sins." "_Be baptized and
_wash away thy sin._" "_Baptized _into Christ._" By baptism "put on
Christ." Christ designs to sanctify and cleanse the Church with "the
washing of water by the Word." "Washing of regeneration and
renewing of the Holy Ghost." "Baptism doth also now save us." The
language is certainly strong and plain. Any principle of interpretation,
by which baptismal Grace and regeneration can be explained out of
these passages, will overthrow every doctrine of our holy Christian
faith.
Our Catechism here also teaches nothing but the pure truth of the Word,
when it asserts that baptism "worketh forgiveness of sins, delivers from
death and the devil, and confers everlasting life and salvation on all
who believe, as the Word and promise of God declare." Our solid and
impregnable Augsburg Confession, also, when in Article II. it
confesses that the new birth by baptism and the Holy Spirit delivers
from the power and penalty of original sin. Also in Article IX., "of
baptism they teach that it is necessary to salvation, and that by baptism
the Grace of God is offered, and that children are to be baptized, who
by baptism being offered to God, are received into God's favor." And
so with all our other confessional writings.
The question might here be asked: Is baptism so absolutely essential to
salvation, that unbaptized children are lost? To this we would briefly
reply, that the very men who drew up our Confessions deny
emphatically that it is thus absolutely necessary. Luther, Melanchthon,
Bugenhagen and others, repudiate the idea that an unbaptized infant is
lost. No single acknowledged theologian of the Lutheran Church ever
taught this repulsive doctrine. Why then does our Confession say
baptism is necessary to salvation? It is necessary in the same sense in
which it is necessary to use all Christ's ordinances. The necessity is
ordinary, not absolute. Ordinarily Christ bestows His Grace on the
child through baptism, as the means or channel through which the Holy
Spirit is conferred. But when, through no fault of its own, this is not

applied, He can reach it in some other way.
As we have seen above, He is not so limited to certain means, that His
Grace cannot operate without them. The only thing on which our
Church insists in the case of a child as absolutely necessary, is the new
birth. Ordinarily this is effected, by the Holy Spirit, through baptism, as
the means of Grace. When the means, however, cannot be applied, the
Spirit of God can effect this new birth in some other way. He is not
bound to means. And from what we have learned above of the will of
God, toward these little ones, we have every reason to believe that He
does so reach and change every infant that dies unbaptized. The
position of our Church, as held by all her great theologians, is tersely
and clearly expressed in the words, "Not the absence but the contempt
of the sacrament condemns."
While the Lutheran Church, therefore, has confidence enough in her
dear heavenly Father and loving Saviour, to believe that her Lord will
never let a little one perish, but will always regenerate and fit it for His
blessed Kingdom ere he takes it hence, she still strenuously insists on
having the children of all her households baptized into Christ.
Others may come and say: You have no authority in the Bible for
baptizing infants. Without entering fully on this point we will briefly
say: It is enough for a Lutheran to know that the divine commission is
to "_baptize the nations_"--there never was a nation without infants.
The children need Grace: baptism confers Grace. It is specially adapted
to impart spiritual blessings to these little ones. We cannot take the
preached Word, but we can take the sacramental Word and apply it to
them. God established infant membership in his Church. He alone has a
right to revoke it. He has never done so.