The Lutherian Faith
Article IX: Of Baptism: The Augsburg Confession
1] Of Baptism they teach that it is necessary 2] to salvation, and that through Baptism is offered the grace of God, and that children are to be baptized who, being offered to God through Baptism are received into God's grace.
3] They condemn the Anabaptists, who reject the baptism of children, and say that children are saved without Baptism.
A Biblical Correction from Jesus Christ:
It breaks down like this:
1.) Water baptism is by immersion, but it never saves because it is a picture of the unified work of Jesus Christ. We buried in water baptism in His death, but we are raised out of baptismal waters into a picture of the newness of eternal life.
2.) No one receives God's grace in water baptism, because it is not essential for justification by faith alone. Rather it is essential for Christian obedience in a predestinarian demonstration of Christ living in our Spirit-residing hearts.
3.) If water baptism saves, how is justification by grace alone through faith in Christ alone? If baptism saves, how is the imputed unified merit of Christ alone imputed to us by the sovereign work of the Spirit and Word in spiritual rebirth devoid of baptismal waters?
