This is a common Baptist and evangelical criticism of Lutherans.
"The baptism accounts in the New Testament all involve adults who believe and then are baptized," they say. You Lutherans should not be baptizing babies. It is not scriptural. Babies don't have the intelligence and emotional maturity to make a decision to believe."
Seventy million Lutherans worldwide would wholeheartedly agree with that last sentence!
"Our Baptist and evangelical brothers and sisters: You are 100% correct! Babies cannot make a decision to believe. But my Baptist and evangelical friends...neither can adults!"
The baby and the adult sinner are both dead spiritually, according to God's Word in the second chapters of both Ephesians and Colossians. Neither the baby nor the adult can make a decision to believe. It is impossible. They are spiritually dead!
Believing is a gift from God. Your belief is not dependent on any human quality that you possess. If your ability to believe is based on your adult maturity and intelligence, then your salvation is no longer a free gift, completely dependent upon the grace of God. Your salvation is then partly dependent on YOU and what you can provide in a salvation transaction with God.
Salvation doesn't work that way! Salvation is all God. Our belief is a gift from God. It is our response to his saving action. Our belief is not something we conjure up from our own human abilities.
Babies and adults believe because God provides the belief. Yes, dear Baptist and evangelical friends, Lutherans do believe in believer's baptism. God is providing belief, repentance, faith, and forgiveness of sins while the waters of baptism are flowing over the infant's head!
Now that is believer's baptism!
Slideshow
[God is providing belief, repentance, faith, and forgiveness of sins while the waters of baptism are flowing over the infant's head!]
ReplyDeleteScriptural verses?
Luke 18:15-17
DeleteI Cor. 7:14
Luke 1:15
Acts 2:38-39, 41
Matthew 28:19-20
Acts 22:16
Hebrews 10:22
Romans 6:4
Ephesians 5:25-26
Colossians 2:11-12
I Peter 3:18-21
I Cor. 6:11
John 3:5
Matthew 3:11
Mark 16:16
Romans 6:3-4
This comment was accidently deleted but the jist of the comment was as follows: the above verses have nothing to do with infant baptism and that my position is "crazy".
DeleteI have a suggestion for both Baptists/evangelicals and Lutherans. Read all the above verses but do so by following these guidelines:
--remove any pre-suppositions. Read the verses as if you had never heard of Christianity or Jesus Christ.
--in place of the verb "baptize" insert a made-up verb such as "grackle" and for the noun baptism, replace it with the made-up noun "grackism".
For instance, Mark 16:16 "He that believeth and is grackled shall be saved...".
After reading all the above verses inserting the word "grackle" for baptize, who do the verses indicate should and who should not be "grackled".