I believe in the Holy Ghost; one holy Christian Church, the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.
What does this mean?-
I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel…… (Matt 16).
If we believe this, as opposed to reformed predestination or total free will, Lutherans baptize as a means of bringing salvation to babies. In other words, we recognize it is what GOD has done first in our lives.
Further: (Holy Spirit) ..enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith;. This is why Lutherans believe in one baptism... the Holy Spirit is involved with justification and sanctification. Baptism joins us with Christ in his death and resurrection. However, this does not mean I think that people who practice freewill or predestination are dammed, I beleive most church try to put GOD in box, then create "rules" to get him out.
we recognize it is what GOD has done first in our lives.
Amen!
But we don't believe that we bring salvation to babies--only God did that through Jesus. We baptize our babies as a sign of God's work through Jesus. It's a sign, a stamp, of God's grace.
I understand that, but...
The "baptism" itself -- I don't see the Bible say anywhere that in order to be saved, you must have water poured over your head and certain ceremonial words stated. In other words, shouldn't we ask the question: what IS baptism?