Christ’s Teaching on Holy Baptism
“Baptism now saves US”
When writing to his churches, St. Peter declares that, just like the world was cleansed of sin and made a new birth & creation by the LORD, and just as Noah and his family was saved through the waters of the Flood, “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us” (1 Peter 3:21, KJV). To be “saved” means 
to be shielded from God’s wrath under the Law & Commandments, to be rescued from its damning judgment, and to be placed into the Kingdom of Christ, where we have all God’s love, blessings, mercy, help, & comfort, not only in Heaven for eternity, but also in our daily lives. Thus Noah, who “found grace in the eyes of the LORD,” (Genesis 6:8, KJV) was rescued in his earthly life from the Flood, because God loved him despite his sins. All who are baptised into Christ’s Death and Resurrection also find grace in the LORD’s eyes, and so are protected by Him every day unto life eternal.
Christ gave Baptism to His Church as a means to forgive sins. By Baptism, He brings the sinner into His Kingdom, to rule in mercy. At Baptism He pours out His Spirit so that the sinner clings to Him as Savior. The Spirit begins producing good works and thoughts in the sinner. Baptism is God’s work, not man’s. He uses Baptism to beget a new life now, and to guarantee a new physical life at the Resurrection.
Though many theologians despise the use of ‘common’ water to achieve such spiritual & eternal benefits, God created water and called it “good,” meaning that this creation of the LORD is blessed, pure, & holy physically & spiritually, and can thus be used by its Creator for any good work & effect. Christ chooses to use water as one means for His Spirit to enter human hearts with His spiritual blessings. Baptism actually gives the forgiveness of sins, that is, changes God’s anger over your sins into love & mercy for you solely for the sake of Christ, and not because of any ‘good’ works you do.
The Holy Spirit begets a new spiritual life by the waters of Baptism. He sustains this new life by His presence. He helps the believer produce thoughts, words, and deeds which conform to God’s Law. He buries the sinner with Christ and resurrects him, declaring the sinner “not guilty” of sin for Christ’s sake. Baptism is the Spirit’s tool, which puts into effect the decree of God which justifies the sinner (He declares sinners righteous, that is, “Not Guilty!” of sin).
God our Father makes many gracious promises at Baptism. He tells us personally that He loves us, that we will always be His dear children, and that He will always be our dear Father, who will care for us each day, and take us to eternal life in His Home. God makes these promises and binds Himself to them. God is the sole Actor & Agent in Baptism, without any spiritual action merit, or worthiness on the part of the sinner being baptized. Thus, Baptism is effective because of God’s Promise & work, 
and not because of any human pledge, good works, or response.
Begotten again from above
Christ teaches Baptismal regeneration and the Spirit’s unseen presence & work, when Christ and the Spirit together use water to bring sinners into God’s Kingdom of Mercy. Many popular theologians quote John 3:3-8 about being “born again.” Yet these same preachers omit Christ’s explanation that God the Father works this baptismal regeneration “from water and Spirit”:
3:3In reply Jesus also said to Nicodemus: 
“Truly, truly, I say to you, If someone is not begotten from above, 
	he is not able to see the Kingdom of God.” 
3:4Nicodemus says to Him: 
“How is it possible for a person to be born while being old? 
It is not possible into the womb of his mother a second time to enter in 
	and to be born, is it?”
3:5Jesus replied, 
“Truly, truly, I say to you, 
If someone is not begotten from water and Spirit,
	it is not possible to enter into the Kingdom of God. 
3:6The one who has been begotten from flesh, flesh he is; 
	and the one who has been begotten from the Spirit, spiritual he is.
3:7Do not marvel that I said to you: 
It is necessary for you to be begotten from above.
3:8The Wind blows where it wishes and its sound you are hearing, 
but nevertheless you do not know from where it comes and to where it leads; 
thus is everyone who has been begotten from the Spirit.” -- John 3:3-8
Christ says that anyone wishing to enter God’s Reign of Love must “be begotten from above” (gennethe anothen). The verb gennethe, from gennao, means “to be conceived in the womb” [it can also mean “be born,” as in “come forth from the womb, though the Greek verb tikto properly means “to come forth from the womb at birth”]. Nicodemus mistook anothen, “from above”, to mean “again,” as do most translations and most Protestant teachers. Nicodemus mistakenly thought of a new earthly, physical birth
Yet Christ was thinking of a new, spiritual birth which came from heaven above. In John 3:7‑8, 12-13, Christ describes a new conception “from above,” which is effected from the twin source of water and the Holy Spirit. So, Christ defines “being begotten FROM ABOVE” as applying water to give the Holy Spirit, a new spiritual life, and a place in God’s Kingdom. You can no more cause this second, spiritual conception than you caused your first, physical conception in your mother’s womb.
Baptism as the Spirit’s Means & Instrument
You were “begotten from above” when you were baptized on the authority of and in the Name of the Triune God. This is “the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost” of which Paul speaks (Titus 3). Christ says the water is the instrument or means by which He gives the Holy Spirit and divine blessings. In John 3:3-8, being begotten from above is accomplished “from water and the Spirit”. Water brings the new life and the Spirit. It is not a symbolic washing. Baptism actually gives this new life and the Spirit’s presence.
The Holy Spirit does not NEED water to accomplish His miraculous begetting from above, He CHOOSES to use water. That is His privilege. Christ says “the Wind blows where it wishes … but nevertheless you don’t know from where it comes and to where it leads; thus is every one who has been begotten from the Spirit.” UNLESS YOU ARE BEGOTTEN AGAIN FROM WATER AND THE SPIRIT YOU CANNOT ENTER THE KINGDOM OF GOD! Christ clearly connects the work of the Holy Spirit to the use of water. Baptism is the means, tool, and instrument the Spirit has chosen to give sinners a new spiritual life, which shall continue 
at the Resurrection of the body.
By means of Baptism, members of all nations are made Christ’s disciples:
“Therefore, when you go, make disciples from all nations,
	by baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son 
		and of the Holy Spirit,
	and by teaching them to keep watch over everything whatever I instructed you;
and behold! I with you am every day even until the end of the age.”
-- Matthew 28:19-20, free translation
Here in Matthew 28, Christ says that He gives the Church two means 
by which people become His students & followers. The first means is Baptism 
in the Name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. By this first means, non-speaking (infans, brephe) sinners are able to learn of Christ (Matthew 11:28-30, 21:16) and become His disciples. The second means, teaching, allows mature sinners to learn of Him.
Baptism is also a means which Christ uses to bless sinners:
God saved us not out of deeds done in righteousness which we ourselves did, 
but, just the opposite, He saved us by (dia) a washing of regeneration 
	and renewing of the Holy Spirit. (Titus 3:6)
The Greek preposition dia shows the tool or instrument used to accomplish the action of the verb: “He saved us dia a washing of regeneration”. This washing of Holy Baptism is the tool Christ uses to rescue us from our sins. As in John 3, the Spirit uses water to do His work. Dia also shows that the Holy Spirit renews and regenerates us by Baptism. Being begotten from above, renewed and regenerated, all are accomplished by water and Spirit used together at the same time. It is not we who regenerate and renew the Holy Spirit, but He renews & regenerates us, and He does so by means of Baptism.
A Good Tree Produces Good Fruit
Apart from Christ, we can produce nothing good (Romans 3:9-20). From youth, our thoughts are continually evil (Genesis 6:5, 8:21, etc.). Christ our Lord says, “If you make a tree good, and then its fruit is good, or make a tree bad, and then its fruit is bad.” (Matthew 12:33) Our old, evil lives must be uprooted and replanted if our lives are to bear good fruit.
Baptism ‘plants’ your new life in the Kingdom, where God forgives your sins, so that daily His anger over broken commandments and good thoughts, words, & deeds you neglect to do is changed into love, patience, mercy, and compassion upon you, His child, whom He has begotten from above from water and the Spirit. Baptism makes you ‘a good tree’ so that you can produce good works. Baptism, a well of living water, produces and sustains this new life and these new fruits in you day-to-day.
Living Your New, Baptismal Life
Baptism is the Spirit’s work. His work was not a one-time event. Baptism begins His eternal presence in you. By this baptismal indwelling, Christ also lives His life and through you every day. (Galatians 2:20)
After Baptism, you cooperate with Christ and the Spirit in producing good works, thoughts, desires, and words. The relationship between good works and Baptism consists of Baptism producing good works in you. The Holy Spirit inspired St. Paul to explain this to the Roman churches in this way:
6:1So, what will we say?
Should we keep remaining in the dominion of Sin 
	in order that His Charity would abound?
2May it never happen! Whoever died toward Sin, how will he still go on living in it?
3Or, are you ignorant this, that as many as were given baptism into Christ Jesus,
		into His Death you were baptized?
4So then, we were buried with Him by means of Baptism into Death,
	with the result that, just as Christ was raised out of the Dead,
		by the Father glorifying Him,
	thus also we ourselves in the new state of life will finally begin to walk.
5For, since we have become men planted together in a death just like His,
	then indeed we certainly also will be in a Resurrection just like His.
6Are you being ignorant of this, when we know that
	our old Adam was crucified along with Him;
		for His purpose was to make powerless the body that sins,
		with the result that no longer will we keep slaving for the sake of Sin,
		7for the one who died has been declared “Not Guilty!” apart from Sin.
8And since we did die along with Christ,
	then we keep trusting that we will also keep living with Him.
9 Are you being ignorant of this, when we know that
	since Christ was raised out of the Dead no more can He die;
	Death over Him no longer rules as master;
		10for the death which He died, for the sake of sin He died, once and for all;
		and the life which He lives, He is living for the sake of God, not Sin.
		11In this way you also must calculate yourselves
			to be, on the one hand, dead men toward Sin,
			but, on the other hand, to be men who live for God in Christ Jesus.
12So then, Sin must not reign in your mortal body,
	in order to pay heed to the impure desires of it,
13neither must you place at the disposal of Sin your members 
	as weapons to work unrighteousness on behalf of Sin;
to the contrary, you must place yourselves as the disposal of God,
	just like people come out of the Dead who are now living
	and so place your own members at the disposal of God,
		as weapons to fight for righteousness  on behalf of God.
14For, you see, Sin over you will not rule as master;
	because you are not existing under the Law,
		but to the contrary, you are existing under His Charity.
The Holy Spirit says through Paul that Christ has been raised from the dead with this RESULT: just like Him, you have already been given a new life by Baptism! God the Father nailed you to the Cross by means of Baptism, in order that God Himself would free you from slavery to sin, NOT so you will free yourself from sin, 
and certainly not simply to give you a chance to earn salvation.
Once you die for your sins, God declares you free (“justified”) from sin. God the Father punished you for your sins when He crucified you with Christ, so that all His anger, punishment, and fury over your sins was fully carried out on you in Christ. You join Christ on the Cross through Baptism, not through your prayers, meditations, or personal devotions. Your crucifixion for your sins took place at your Baptism.
Romans 6:3-7 do NOT mean that, since we are baptized into Christ, we must live a new life. Such an interpretation would change God’s promise that you will live a new life into a demand that you must live a new life. God’s purpose for baptizing you is that “we will not be slaves to sin any longer.” GOD WORKS HIS PURPOSE BY BAPTIZING YOU, NOT BY YOU FREEING YOURSELF FROM SLAVERY TO SIN! 
Now, the newly-born Christian must do all in his or her power to fight sin, especially taking advantage of the Spirit’s presence and gifts, as verses 12-13 say. Paul makes this abundantly clear in Romans 6:1-2, 12-13. Yet this life of good works is the product of Baptism, not the demand of Baptism. Your new Baptismal life is like Christ’s Resurrection life: once begun, it does not end. 
Baptism is a pure promise from God, your Father, to you, His child, that sin will not rule you unto death, but that Christ will rule you in His Kingdom unto life everlasting.
The Holy Spirit promises you who are baptized that “sin will not rule over you, because you are not under law but under grace.” It is not up to you, your good works, your personal piety or devotion to Christ, etc., as to whether you will remain “holy” or “sanctified” in this life. Instead, it is the work of the Holy Spirit, through Baptism, the Word, and the Lord’s Supper, to keep you “holy and blameless” in God’s eyes.
Like Paul, St. Peter says your sinful life dies, and, after your spiritual resurrection through Baptism, you can reply to God with a clear conscience:
	18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit; 19 in which he went and preached to the spirits in prison, 
20 who formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, 
were saved through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 
22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him. –1 Peter 3:20-21, RSV
The Holy Spirit says through the Apostle Peter that God used the waters of the Flood to save Noah’s family by (di’) wiping out the sinful world, and bringing them into a newly re-created world. Now the waters of Baptism save you by (di’) washing away your old sinful nature. You do not put away the squalor and filth of the flesh (Titus 3:3-7). Rather, baptism now saves because baptism is a request made by Christ for you. Christ makes this request di’ anastaseos, “by / through His Resurrection.” Christ’s Resurrection asks His Father to give you good conscience regarding sin & judgment.
Humans passively receive Baptism
The Spirit’s activity in and use of water contradicts the common false teaching that, by “getting yourself baptized,” you perform an act of obedience toward God. Some preachers say you must ‘get yourself baptized’ to confirm a covenant with God: you agree to keep God’s Law in return for His blessings. In this false teaching, Man replaces the Holy Spirit as the one who does the work of Baptism. A human would in this way rob God of His glory, for he sees his act of ‘deciding for Christ’ as of equal importance to God’s pledge be a kind, loving, merciful Father. Under this false view, Baptism is a two-way contract between God and man, rather than the one-way promise which Scripture describes.
For instance, in John 3, Jesus always uses the word “begotten” in the PASSIVE voice of the Greek verb. In John 3:3, 5, 6, 6, 7, & 8, Christ says a human being must be passively ACTED UPON by the Spirit, that the human must be begotten from above by the working of the Holy Spirit from heaven. The person being baptized is merely a passive recipient of Heaven’s actions. The false view of Baptism has man going up to heaven to bring the Holy Spirit down by human prayers, works, and decisions. Christ’s view has the Holy Spirit coming down from heaven, unseen by ignorant humans, 
to beget a new spiritual life in those dead in sin and trespass. In the view of Christ, the Apostles, and the Prophets, NO HUMAN BEING ACTS TOWARD GOD IN BAPTISM! GOD ALONE ACTS UPON A SPIRITUALLY DEAD SINNER. 
The Spirit begets a new creature, who then lives in God’s Kingdom of Mercy, having had peace made between God and man by the work of Christ. (Romans 5:1-2) The water and the Pastor are Christ’s means and instruments to pour out the Spirit from above, and Who renews, regenerates, and begets a new spiritual life in the sinner. Just as the Holy Spirit used water to create the world in Genesis, so now He uses water to create a new, perfect man within each believer.
The only evidence of the wind’s movement is the sound it makes; the only evidence of the unseen Spirit’s action is the application of WATER. Human reason cannot detect this work of the Spirit any more than it can predict or explain the movements of the wind. The Spirit’s work doesn’t need human reason to be effective. Before the Spirit comes into a human’s heart, he or she remain ignorant of Christ’s truths. Adults and infants are equally unaware of the Spirit’s work as Paul says, 1 Corinthians 2:
9 But as it is written:
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
		10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, 
not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, 
that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
		13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 
14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
As we mentioned when discussing Matthew 28:19-20, there are TWO means Christ uses to make disciples for Himself from among the nations: 
baptizing AND teaching. Adults first LEARN of Christ by the spoken Gospel. 
He enters adults by preaching the Gospel. Yet His presence may be only temporary. The newly conceived child of God may be stillborn if Baptism does not soon follow. Paul says we’re sealed by the Spirit as a down-payment: “It is God who makes both us and you firm in Christ and who has anointed us and has put His seal on us and given us the Spirit as a guarantee in our hearts.” (2 Corinthians 1:21-22, NET) The Holy Spirit, who causes repentance and faith in Adults by the preaching of the Word, also leads these adults to Baptism. 
In Acts Eight, the Holy Spirit directs Philip the Evangelist to explain the Scriptures to the Ethiopian official. Once he understands Isaiah is speaking of Christ, he then asked for Baptism. The Holy Spirit always uses Baptism to save by confirming the newly born faith, watering the new tree and growth with a spring of life-giving water.
Peter confirms that humans are PASSIVE recipients of baptism. He tells the Jews on Pentecost Day, 
38You must repent, and you must be given baptism, each one of you, 
	based upon the Name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins
and so you will receive the gift, the Holy Spirit;
39 because this Promise is for you and for your children,
	and all those far away as many as the LORD your God may call.
So Acts 2:38 makes clear WHY God sent the Spirit on Pentecost:
a. 	so that unbelievers will have their hearts changed in repentance;
b. 	to lead sinners to water baptism in Christ’s Name;
c. 	to baptize in Christ’s Name (not the Spirit’s Name);
d. 	to forgive sins by baptism; and
e. 	for the Holy Spirit to take up permanent residence, using the new believer as His Temple, since the Jerusalem Temple was doomed.
God causes repentance by applying His Law to a sinner [Jeremiah 23:28-29, 31:31‑34; Gal. 2:19]. He baptizes you in Christ’s Name to forgive your sins (Romans 6:3‑7, Gal. 2:15-21) The Greek word kai, “and,” links “be baptized” with “will receive” to show the result of the passive Baptism. Christ gives His Holy Spirit from above [John 3:5-8]. We do not climb up into heaven by our faith, prayers, good works, or personal holiness to bring Him down to us.
St. Paul confirms the sinner is the passive recipient of God’s mercy:
“Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 
That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” 
--(Ephesians 5:25-27)
Christ makes us holy by washing us with water Baptism which, as Luther says in his Small Catechism, is connected with the Word. By Baptism, Christ cleanses us from sin, sanctifies us, and creates us a glorious church, totally free from any blemish, wrinkle or error of sin. Christ does this by Baptism & the Word: He acts, not us!
What Christ does at baptism, the Holy Ghost does at baptism:
For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, 
and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, 
but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, 
and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly 
through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being justified by his grace, 
we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. [Titus 3:3-7, KJV]
By this washing, the Holy Ghost renews and regenerates human beings, who, by their sinful nature are totally lost in sin (Genesis 6:5, Romans 3:1-20). The Holy Spirit works our new birth from above. We do not renew, wash, and regenerate ourselves! We are begotten again by Jesus shedding His gift upon us from above. Being declared “Not guilty!” of our many sins, we are made heirs of eternal life, which inheritance has been secured by the death of God’s Son, whose “Final Will & Testament” is sealed unto you personally when your receive Holy Communion. 
No adult can claim to perform a righteous work at baptism. There is no merit nor reward earned from God by “getting myself baptized.” In fact, if one has already been baptized as an infant, and, realizing this, then gets re-baptized as an adult, God’s wrath is tempted by this idolatrous act, for it despises the gift God gave in infancy, and replaces God’s gift with a cheap human idol, much like the golden calf in the Wilderness. 
This is because infant & first-time adult Baptism bestows the Holy Spirit upon, washes away all blemish of sin, regenerates the previously dead-in-trespass sinner, 
brings the sinner into the Father’s Kingdom, begets a new, eternal life, 
and God Himself acts upon the passive human subject.
The Spirit is “poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior. God’s purpose, which He accomplishes by His work & gracious power, is this: in order that, after we were justified by means of this Gracious Gift, we will become heirs in harmony with the hope of eternal life.” To be justified is to be acquitted of your sins. 
The Spirit speaks clearly: We “were justified BY MEANS OF THIS GRACIOUS GIFT” of the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit says we are declared innocent of sin (= be declared righteous, be justified) by means of the gift of Baptism, which is not earned “by works of righteousness which we have done.”
Infant Baptism
Just as adults passively receive Baptism, so also do children. The Holy Ghost begets adults and infants the same way: “‘If someone is not begotten from above from water and Spirit, it is not possible to enter into the Kingdom of God.’” Yet, once one is begotten from above of water and the Spirit, Christ brings that infant, child, youth, or adult into His Kingdom, where the Father has mercy, compassion, and love for the sinner, and gives eternal life and every good gift now and forever. In Matthew 19, some disciples stop little children from coming to Christ. He rebukes them, saying, “‘Let the little children come unto Me and do not try to keep them away, for the Kingdom of heaven is made up of such as these.’”
Baptism “does also now save” babies, just as it does adults: “‘For human beings this is impossible to do, but for God everything is possible.’” (Matt. 19:26) We reject the arguments of human reason, that infants can’t understand or agree to the mythical ‘baptismal covenant’ the sinner supposedly concludes with God at Baptism, when he ‘turns his life over to / decides for Jesus.’ We accept, believe, teach, and confess the power of God working through Baptism to save whomever He pleases.
In Matthew 11, Christ rebuked adults for rejecting the testimony of His miracles. He then says, “‘I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for hiding these things from wise and intelligent people and revealing them to babies (nepiois).’” The Greek word nepiois means “not speaking”: an infant, baby, or toddler who cannot yet talk. Christ says God the Father reveals His secrets to such as babies, while adults who have rejected Christ are condemned for unbelief. Christ praises God “‘for wanting it to be that way … . Only the Father knows the Son, and only the Son--and anyone to whom the Son wants to reveal Him--knows the Father.’” CHRIST HIMSELF REVEALS HIS FATHER’S MESSAGE TO LITTLE CHILDREN, even if adults think it impossible. He reveals the Kingdom and opens it to infants when the Spirit begets & regenerates them from above by water baptism.
Those teachers who reject Infant Baptism claim babies cannot make a ‘needed’ oral profession of faith. Yet on Palm Sunday infants made a perfect profession of faith. The adult unbelievers chided Jesus for allowing little children to shout “Hosanna to the Son of David” in the Temple. Christ our Lord replies, 
Have you never read, 
“Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise.”
In fact, Christ’s use and re-working of Psalm 8:2 shows that He specifically rejects false teachers, such as the Pharisees, who teach that our good works, not God’s gracious works of mercy, are what merit God’s pleasure and a place in heaven:
Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength,
Because of Your enemies, That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.
So, Christ says that babies and nursing infants make perfect professions of faith! Contrary to the Protestant teaching that only adults are candidates for baptism, and that only adults can make a proper confession of faith in Christ, the LORD God, Christ shows that adult ‘theology experts’ are condemned, while children are accepted. Humans can only say “Christ is Lord” by the Holy Spirit’s power [1 Corinthians 12:3, see above in these notes, on 1 Corinthians 2:9-14] Children and adults need the Spirit’s presence BEFORE professing Him as Savior. Those little saints were full members of Israel without verbal profession of faith or mental understanding of their Old Testament covenant obligations. Christ placed the Spirit into their hearts 
by His power. During this end of the ages, He does this by the waters of Baptism.
On Pentecost, the Spirit says through St. Peter: 
“You must repent and be given baptism, each one of you, 
	upon the Name of Jesus Christ, for forgiveness of your sins, 
and thus you will receive the gift, the Holy Ghost; 
because for you is the Promise and for your children, 
	all whom the LORD your God may call.”
The Greek word for children here, teknois, means CHILDREN OF ANY AGE! Both adults & children passively receive the forgiveness of sins and the Holy Ghost at Baptism. Why? Because God PROMISED these gifts! We do not earn God’s promise: it is a free gift, as Paul explains at length in Romans & Galatians. Adults and children of all nations enter Christ’s Kingdom by Baptism because of God’s Call of mercy, not because of our good works or our mental understanding of God’s actions. He brings them to repentance by the preaching of His Law. God calls sinners into His reign of mercy and love by His word & by Baptism. For adults who first have had faith’s first stirrings created by the Word, Christ seals them with the Holy Spirit by Baptism. Sinful humans must not take credit for God’s good work!
The Holy Spirit says through Peter that the Promise of Baptism is “for you and for your children.” In the New Testament, we read that whole families were baptized together at the same time. The early Church baptized infants with their families, asking the parents to confess the faith for their minor children. Lutherans continue this ancient Church practice by asking sponsors to speak for infants. We require teens to confirm the pledges made for them by their sponsors at Baptism, before admitting them 
to Holy Communion, to be sure they still have the true Faith. The overwhelming testimony of Scripture and twenty centuries of Church practice supports baptizing infants for the same reason we baptize adults: to bestow the Holy Spirit, to wash away sins, and to make sinners children of God, whether those sinners be infants or adults.
Further, Christ says that, to enter His Kingdom, we must be begotten from above. There is no ‘new birth’ from above apart from water baptism in Christ’s Name. In John 3, Jesus teaches that the Spirit comes from heaven THROUGH WATER. The means, tool, and instrument which Christ gave the Church to bring sinners into God’s Kingdom is the gift of water baptism, through which the Holy Spirit works a spiritual resurrection.
Forbidding infant Baptism robs parents of the comforting promise which God the Father makes to their children at Baptism. Parents should confidently believe, trust, and expectantly hope that the Holy Spirit transferred their child into His Reign of Mercy, washed away every sin, and presented the new creature to Christ holy and blameless in His Father’s sight (Ephesians 5:25-27).
One false idea used to exclude infants or minor children is that they supposedly cannot make a rational pledge or decision to keep God’s Law. In the Old Testament, the covenant / contract of Circumcision bound every circumcised male was to keep the Law of Moses or else face its curses and penalties. Yet circumcision was performed on the eighth day of the baby’s life! These infants, who could not read nor write, nor understand spoken speech, nor consent to contracts in a human legal sense, still were considered to have accepted the obligations of the Law of Moses when eight days old! If they failed to keep the pledge they made when eight-days-old, God threatened to punish them for not living up to their part of the covenant.
If Baptism were a contract or Law-based covenant, where the sinner knowingly and willingly promises to keep God’s Law in exchange for His blessings, how could Baptism be said to be of no effect for such babies in the New Testament when it was binding upon infants in the Old Testament? While Baptism is NOT a two-way contract with God, teachers who reject infant baptism claim Baptism is a Law-contract like Circumcision. Yet such false teachers deny their false Baptism-contract to infants, though eight-day-old babies were made to agree to the terms similar to their mistaken Baptism-contract during the Circumcision Covenant!
A NOTE ON IMMERSION
At various times in Church History, Christians have, on occasion, performed baptisms by plunging the sinner being baptized fully beneath water. While this may not be the best method, as we’ve said, for it disrupts the Biblical imagery of Baptism coming down from heaven above, with the Spirit being poured out upon the new believer, it is an effective method of Baptism. So, if you have been “immersed,” your baptism is valid.
However, at the time of Luther, when he freed the Church from the false teachings of the Medieval, Scholastic theologians, some radical false teachers though it necessary to cast aside every ancient Church rite in order to purge her of all traces of the Roman Bishops, who had corrupted many Church teachings & practices. Yet, often, these radicals did more harm than good, teaching heresies to the opposite of those of the Roman Scholastic theologians.
One example was a refusal by the radicals to use pouring out or ‘sprinkling’ of water at Baptism on adults. (They rejected infant baptism altogether.) These heretics, called “Anabaptists” (“re-baptizers”), claimed that the only valid means of Baptism is by “immersion’ as they called it, though the practice is really ‘submersion’ of the one baptized. This caused Martin Luther, who had on occasion practiced submersion / immersion, to refuse to practice ‘immersion’ ever again, lest he be thought to have conceded even one point to these Anabaptists.
Here in the last year of the 20th Century A.D., when the new millenium is about to begin in A.D. 2001, many in Western Society practice immersion / submersion as the only legitimate means of Baptism. Do not be troubled by such false theology. Your first baptism with water, into the Name of God the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit, whether done by immersion or by the preferred method of pouring out water over the subject, was properly performed. Yet, since there are so many teachers who trouble us and twist the Scriptures in accord with human reason, I must offer the following few words to refute their false teachings. I do so in order that you may never doubt that, as the Creed says, by your “one baptism for the remission of sins” Christ your Lord and Savior succeeded in bringing you into your Father’s Kingdom, where you are sanctified, saved, and where you will be physically raised from the dead for eternal life in Heaven.
First, in Matthew 3:13-17 the Holy Spirit states, 
And after He was baptized, Jesus immediately went up away from [apo] the water.
The false teachers say Baptism is ineffective if the subject is not fully submerged under water, and they improperly appeal to these passages, based upon the English translation, rather than the Greek original. According to the Greek preposition apo, Matthew says that Jesus went AWAY FROM the water. He never says Jesus was DOWN UNDER the water!
St. Mark’s account of Christ’s Baptism reads:
“after going up out of [ek] the water …” 
Mark say Jesus went UP OUT OF the water, but the ‘water’ to which he refers is not ‘water’ in general, but the Jordan River in particular! It is impossible to go DOWN OUT OF a river, and so when, as Matthew says, Jesus went away from the water of the Jordan River, Christ had to physically go up out of the river bed where the water was. So, Mark does not describe the method of Jesus’ Baptism, but he only gives the location of His Baptism. In any case, it is highly doubtful you could find anywhere in the Jordan River deep enough to submerge an adult male, even lying down. Except at flood stage, it just doesn’t have enough water. This is why all early Christian art always portrays Jesus standing up in the Jordan while John the Baptist pours water out over Christ’s head! The ancients, being historically so close to the actual event, knew as a matter of factual history that Jesus was baptized standing up while John poured out water over His head.
Further, the Greek verb baptizo means “immerse” NOT “submerge”. “Immerse” means put IN water, while the false teachers insist you must be placed UNDER water. Yet Baptism works not because of the volume of water, but because of God’s Promise.
Mark 7:4 is very important here. Mark tells us that the Pharisees never ate when coming from the market place “unless they baptize themselves” first (ei me baptisontai). They did not submerge themselves into one of the water jars used for these washings. They did not dip or immerse their hands into these large jars (see John 2, where similar large jugs of water were used by Christ to create wine at the wedding feast at Cana), for that would ritually contaminate the rest of the water inside. Rather, someone with “clean” hands would POUR OUT WATER OVER THE HANDS of the Pharisees to cleanse them. 
Thus, in Biblical usage, baptizo means to dip in water or pour out water over. Pouring out over, immersion, or submersion are all effective ways to baptize. If we really wanted to follow the very early Apostolic Church, we would need to find a stream of running water! That was always their preference, calling it “living water.” Standing water was only the second choice, used on special occasions.
What matters is that water be used in Christ’s Name in harmony with God’s Word. Scripture promises us that where we baptize in Christ’s Name, the Holy Spirit enters into the human recipient. The Holy Spirit’s, according to Christ’s promise and work, and not our promises to morally reform ourselves, is the One who works saving faith, the forgiveness of sins, and grants eternal life. He uses Holy Baptism with water to create, strengthen, and sustain the faith in Christ we need as a gift from God to grasp and lay hold of the forgiveness which our Lord and Savior won for us on His Cross.
Epilogue
To sum up, the Spirit and Christ testify that children and infants must not be forbidden entrance into God’s Kingdom. This entrance is gained by being begotten through water and the Holy Spirit, Who goes where He pleases and works faith in whom it pleases Him. Christ reveals His Father to whomever He pleases. When adults refuse Christ’s testimony, little children still understand it thanks to Jesus’ working in them. God personally prepares and perfects praise through infants and newborns nursing at their mothers’ breast [the nepion kai thelazonton of Matthew 21:16]. 
The Holy Spirit, forgiveness of sins, spiritual regeneration, and eternal life, 
are all given by Christ to the sinner by means of Baptism. At Baptism God pledged Himself to you. You were baptized by the Spirit with Water and the Word, 
so you are always certain that you, and your children have the certain, guaranteed promise of a loving, merciful Father in this life and in the life to come.
May you always rejoice and hold dear the Promise which God our Father makes to you through Baptism. These life-giving waters are a sure sign that the Holy Spirit has baptized you into the death and Resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ!
Soli Deo gloria!
Pastor Jeffrey A. Gross, Epiphany I, the Baptism of Our Lord, A.D. 2000
Appendix: Bible Narrative Stories on Baptism
Genesis 1:1-2 (The Holy Spirit creates the World out of Water. 2 Peter 3:5, Psalm 24:1-2) 
Genesis 6-9 (The Great Flood; see 1 Peter 3:18-22)
Exodus 2:1-10 (Moses saved by the River, exits a Prince, adopted of the King)
Exodus 14-15 (Crossing the Red Sea, & the Bitter Waters made Sweet at Marah)
	1 Corinthians 10 (Christ the Rock, Baptized into Moses, the Lord’s Supper)
Joshua 3-4 (People Enter Promised Land through Parting of Waters of Jordan)
2 Kings 5:1-19 (Naaman Bathes in Jordan for Healing, His Gifts & Merit Worthless)
Ezekiel 16:1-14 (The LORD Washes Israel to Remove Her Sins)
Ezekiel 36:22-28 !!
Ezekiel 47:1-12 (Life-Giving Water from the Temple; Tree of Life Restored)
	John 7:37-39 (Christ Is the Temple Who Gives Water: the Holy Spirit)
	Revelation 22:1-5 (Water from Lamb’s Throne, Tree of Life)
Zechariah 14:6-11 (Water, New Land, Live in Safety)
Christ’s Baptism: Matthew 3:1-17; Mark 1:1-11; Luke 3:1-22
Matthew 8:23-27 (Jesus Calms the Sea: Creator of Water Works Miracles with It)
Matthew 8:28-34 (Jesus Slays Demons by Casting Them into the Water)
John 1:19-51 (Christ’s Baptism & Calling of Disciples)
John 2:1-24 (Wedding at Cana: Water used miraculously; Temple Cleansed)
John 3:1-36 (Water & Spirit, Son of Man from Heaven, John’s Baptism rejected)
John 4:1-42 (Woman at Well: Living Water She Can’t Fetch; 
	Hidden Life from Christ)
John 5:1-47 (Lame Man Healed at Pool of Bethesda)
John 6:1-21 (Feeding of 5000, Walking on Water)
John 7 (Christ is Messiah: Rivers of Living Water from His Heart; 
	Holy Spirit to Come; Ezekiel 47, above)
John 9 (Christ Heals Blind Man at Pool of Siloam, “Sent”)

Ancient Testimonies to Infant Baptism
The Church Fathers taught the practice of infant baptism and declared it to be of apostolic origin. In fact, a council held in the 250s discussed the question of whether an infant should be baptized on the eighth day after birth (see quotation from Cyprian, below). The only reason one would even discuss this is because one recognized baptism as the Christian equivalent of circumcision , which was given on the eighth day after birth (Lev. 12:2-3). The Fathers who were raised in Christian homes (such as Irenaeus) were almost certainly baptized as children themselves (else they would not be declaring the practice to be of apostolic institution, but as a new invention). So when Irenaeus states that regeneration happens in baptism and that Jesus came so even infants could be regenerated, he had in mind regenerating infants by baptism. Since he was born in a Christian home in Smyrna c. A.D. 140, this means he was probably baptized c. A.D. 140. He was also probably baptized by the bishop of Smyrna at that time—Polycarp—a personal disciple of the Apostle John, who had died only a few decades before.
These testimonies by Christians who suffered persecution, directly speak against fundamentalist teachings which claim to represent the early Church. A popular Protestant myth about the Early Church is that it did not practice Infant Baptism, but followed “believers baptism,” which false teaching in fact was never found anywhere in history until the mid 16th Century A.D. As you read these important true voices from the Early Church, you will see that the Lutheran (“evangelical catholic,” that is, universal Gospel) practice of Infant Baptism is the true Biblical, Apostolic, ‘primitive,’ ancient practice of the whole Christian Church.
The Martyrium of Polycarp 9,3
"'...Revile your Christ.' Polycarp's reply was, 'Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King and my Savior".
(The age of Polycarp is most certain evidence that he, a convert and disciple of the Apostles, was baptized as an infant or small child. Baptism was the entry into the life of Christ. Polycarp served Christ for 86 years. If baptized as an adult or teen that would have made him ridiculously old. It is also apparent from the First Apologia of St. Justin (15, 6) that the men and women of 60 or 70 years of age mentioned therein, 'who were disciples of Christ from childhood', were baptized between the years 85 AD and 95 AD as children. Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, 360.)
Irenaeus of Lyons
"`And [Naaman] dipped himself . . . seven times in the Jordan' [2 Kgs. 5:14]. 
It was not for nothing that Naaman of old, when suffering from leprosy, was purified upon his being baptized, but [this served] as an indication to us. For as we are lepers in sin, we are made clean, by means of the sacred water and the invocation of the Lord, from our old transgressions, being spiritually regenerated as new-born babes, 
even as the Lord has declared: `Except a man be born again through water and the Spirit, he shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven' [John 3:5]" (Fragment 34 [A.D. 190]).
"He [Jesus] came to save all through himself; all, I say, who through him are reborn in God infants, and children, and youths, and old men. Therefore he passed through every age, becoming an infant for infants, sanctifying infants; a child for children, sanctifying those who are of that age . . . [so that] he might be the perfect teacher in all things, perfect not only in respect to the setting forth of truth, perfect also in respect to relative age" (Against Heresies 2:22:4 [A.D. 189]).
Hippolytus
"Where there is no scarcity of water the stream shall flow through the baptismal font or pour into it from above; but if water is scarce, whether on a constant condition or on occasion, then use whatever water is available. Let them remove their clothing. Baptize first the children, and if they can speak for themselves let them do so. Otherwise, let their parents or other relatives speak for them" (The Apostolic Tradition 21:16 [A.D. 215]).
Origen
"Every soul that is born into flesh is soiled by the filth of wickedness and sin … 
In the Church baptism is given for the remission of sins, and, according to the usage of the Church, baptism is given even to infants. If there were nothing in infants which required the remission of sins and nothing in them pertinent to forgiveness, the grace of baptism would seem superfluous" (Homilies on Leviticus 8:3 [A.D. 248]).
"The Church received from the apostles the tradition of giving baptism even to infants. The apostles, to whom were committed the secrets of divine sacraments, knew there is in everyone innate strains of [original] sin, which must be washed away through water and the Spirit" (Commentaries on Romans 5:9 [A.D. 248]).
Cyprian of Carthage
"As to what pertains to the case of infants: You [Fidus] said that they ought not to be baptized within the second or third day after their birth, that the old law of circumcision must be taken into consideration, and that you did not think that one should be baptized and sanctified within the eighth day after his birth. In our council it seemed to us far otherwise. No one agreed to the course which you thought should be taken. 
Rather, we all judge that the mercy and grace of God ought to be denied to no man born. … If, in the case of the worst sinners and those who formerly sinned much against God, when afterwards they believe, the remission of their sins is granted and no one is held back from baptism and grace, how much more, then, should an infant not be held back, who, having but recently been born, has done no sin, except that, born of the flesh according to Adam, he has contracted the contagion of that old death from his first being born. For this very reason does he [an infant] approach more easily to receive the remission of sins: because the sins forgiven him are not his own but those of another."
(Letters 64:2,5  [A.D. 253]).
Ambrose of Milan
"Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God. No one is excepted, not [even] the infant." (Abraham 1:3:21 [A.D. 387]).
Gregory Nazianzus
"Do you have an infant child? Allow sin no opportunity; rather, let the infant be sanctified from childhood. From his most tender age let him be consecrated by the Spirit. Do you fear the seal [of baptism] because of the weakness of nature? Oh, what a pusillanimous mother and of how little faith! … ‘Well enough,’ some will say, `for those who ask for baptism, but what do you have to say about those who are still children, and aware neither of loss nor of grace? Shall we baptize them too?' Certainly [I respond], if there is any pressing danger. Better that they be sanctified unaware, than that they depart unsealed and uninitiated." (Oration on Holy Baptism 40:7,28 [A.D. 388]).
John Chrysostom
"You see how many are the benefits of baptism, and some think its heavenly grace consists only in the remission of sins, but we have enumerated ten honors [it bestows]! For this reason we baptize even infants, though they are not defiled by [personal] sins, so that there may be given to them holiness, righteousness, adoption, inheritance, brotherhood with Christ, and that they may be his [Christ's] members" (Baptismal Catecheses in Augustine, Against Julian 1:6:21 [A.D. 388]).
Augustine
"What the universal Church holds, not as instituted [invented] by councils but as something always held, is most correctly believed to have been handed down by apostolic authority. Since others respond for children, so that the celebration of the sacrament may be complete for them, it is certainly availing to them for their consecration, because they themselves are not able to respond" (On Baptism, Against the Donatists 4:24:31 [A.D. 400]).
"The custom of Mother Church in baptizing infants is certainly not to be scorned, nor is it to be regarded in any way as superfluous, nor is it to be believed that its tradition is anything except apostolic" (The Literal Interpretation of Genesis 10:23:39 [A.D. 408]).
"Cyprian was not issuing a new decree but was keeping to the most solid belief of the Church in order to correct some who thought that infants ought not be baptized before the eighth day after their birth. … He agreed with certain of his fellow bishops that a child is able to be duly baptized as soon as he is born" (Letters 166:8:23 [A.D. 412]).
"By this grace baptized infants too are ingrafted into his [Christ's] body, infants who certainly are not yet able to imitate anyone. Christ, in whom all are made alive … gives also the most hidden grace of his Spirit to believers, grace which he secretly infuses even into infants. … It is an excellent thing that the Punic [North African] Christians call baptism salvation and the sacrament of Christ's Body nothing else than life. Whence does this derive, except from an ancient and, as I suppose, apostolic tradition, by which the Churches of Christ hold inherently that without baptism and participation at the table of the Lord it is impossible for any man to attain either to the kingdom of God or to salvation and life eternal? This is the witness of Scripture too … If anyone wonders why children born of the baptized should themselves be baptized, let him attend briefly to this … The sacrament of baptism is most assuredly the sacrament of regeneration. … Unless we voluntarily depart from the rule of the Christian faith, it must be admitted that inasmuch as infants are, by the sacrament of baptism, conformed to the death of Christ, they are also freed from the serpent's venomous bite." (Forgiveness and the Just Deserts of Sin, and the Baptism of Infants 1:9:10; 1:24:34; 2:27:43 [A.D. 412]).
"This [infant baptism] the Church has always had, always held; this she received from the faith of our ancestors; this she perseveringly guards even to the end." (On Original Sin 2, 20, excerpted in Schaff, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2d Series, 10:317-19.)
Council of Carthage V
"Item: It seemed good that whenever there were not found reliable witnesses who could testify that without any doubt they [children whom had been found abandoned] were baptized and when the children themselves were not, on account of their tender age, able to answer concerning the giving of the sacraments to them, all such children should be baptized without scruple, lest a hesitation should deprive them of the cleansing of the sacraments. This was urged by the [Northwest African] legates, our brethren, since they redeem many such [abandoned children] from the barbarians" (canon 7 [A.D. 401]).
Council of Mileum II
"[W]hoever says that infants fresh from their mothers' wombs ought not to be baptized, or say that they are indeed baptized unto the remission of sins, but that they draw nothing of the original sin of Adam, which is expiated in the bath of regeneration . . . let him be anathema [excommunicated]. Since what the apostle [Paul] says, 'Through one man sin entered into the world (and sin through death), and so passed to all men, in whom all have sinned' [Rom. 5:12], must not be understood otherwise than the Catholic Church spread everywhere has always understood it. For on account of this rule of faith even infants, who in themselves thus far have not been able to commit any sin, are therefore truly baptized unto the remission of sins, so that that which they have contracted from generation may be cleansed in them by regeneration" (canon 3 [A.D. 416]).
The African Code
"Concerning the Donatists it seemed good that we should hold counsel with our brethren . . . concerning those infants alone who are baptized by Donatists, lest what they did not do of their own will, when they should be converted to the Church of God with a salutary determination, the error of their parents might prevent their promotion to the ministry of the holy altar" (canon 47[51] [A.D. 419]).
Additional Scripture passages on Infant Baptism
1 Cor. 7:14: "For the unbelieving husband is consecrated through his wife, 
and the unbelieving wife is consecrated through her husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, but as it is they are holy."
(Infant baptism is suggested in the respect that the children of Christian parents are said to be holy whereas they might be unclean otherwise, and there is no suggestion that they will have to seek baptism on reaching years of discretion.)
Acts 16:30-33: "Then he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved." So they spoke the word of the Lord to him and everyone in his house. He took them in at that hour of the night, and bathed their wounds; then he and all his family were baptized.
(The whole household is baptized. The Jewish custom for circumcising proselytes into Judaism included the circumcision of children and infants along with the whole extended household. The Jewish converts to Christianity would have expected their children to be baptized into the Church with them.)