Foundation and Plain Instruction: Concerning Baptism

Christ, after his resurrection, commanded his apostles, saying, “Go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things whatever I have commanded you; and, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. Amen,” Matthew 28, verses 19 and 20.

Here we have the Lord’s command concerning baptism: when and how, according to the ordinance of God, it shall be administered and received; namely, that the gospel must first be preached, and then those who believe it baptized, as Christ says, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature; he who believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he who does not believe shall be damned,” Mark 16, verse 15. So the Lord has commanded and ordered; therefore let nothing else be taught or practiced forever. The word of God abides forever. Young children are without understanding and cannot be taught; therefore baptism cannot be administered to them without perverting the ordinance of the Lord, misusing his exalted name, and doing violence to his holy word. In the New Testament there are no ordinances enjoined on infants, for both in its doctrines and in its sacraments it deals with those who have ears to hear and hearts to understand, Matthew 13, verse 16. Even as Christ commanded, so the holy apostles also taught and practiced, as may be plainly seen in many parts of the New Testament. So Peter said, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,” Acts 2, verse 38. Again, Philip said to the eunuch, “If you believe with all your heart, you may,” Acts 8, verse 37. Here faith did not follow baptism, but baptism followed faith, Mark 16, verse 16.

Christ has commanded baptism in this way, and received it himself in the following manner. When the time had come and the hour had approached in which he would fulfill the commission laid on him, preach the word and make known his Father’s holy name, he came to John at the Jordan and desired to be baptized by him, so that he might fulfill all righteousness. He prepared to meet temptation, misery, the cross and death, and as a willing, obedient child resigned himself to the will of his almighty Father. He himself says, “I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me,” John 6, verse 38. He was baptized by John, attested by the Holy Spirit, and acknowledged by the Father as a beloved Son, Matthew 3, verse 17; Matthew 17, verse 5.

See, this is how Christ commands, and how he himself was baptized; this is how the apostles taught and practiced. Who will rise up against the Lord and say, It shall not be so? Who will teach and instruct wisdom? Who will accuse the apostles and evangelists of falsehood? It would be entirely unfitting for a child to command and judge his father, or a servant his master; and it is much more unfitting for the creature to exalt himself above his Creator. But now it is plain that the whole world, with its unprofitable doctrines and commandments of men, with its antichristian customs and long-standing usages, and its tyrannical, murdering sword, sits in judgment over Christ and his word. The truths of Christ are counted lies; his wisdom, foolishness; his light, darkness; and his gospel, perverted and false. In short, Christ must be silent and suffer.

Now it may perhaps be said that this was necessary at the beginning of the gospel, because at that time there were no believers whose children might be baptized; but now, if the parents are believers, then the children are also to be baptized, even as Abraham, when he believed, circumcised his children, Genesis 17, verse 23. O no! This does not follow.

Although Abraham believed God, only half of his seed was circumcised, namely, the male children and not the female, though he was the father of the female as well as of the male children. Of this, by the grace of God, more shall be said in the replication.

In the beginning the gospel was to be preached, and faith followed hearing, and baptism followed faith. This is beyond dispute, for so the Scriptures teach, Romans 10, verse 17. But that the children of believers should be baptized because Abraham’s children were circumcised can in no way be supported by Scripture. And if it could be established, though it cannot, there would then be only a few children baptized, for the number of true believers, sad to say, is very small, as anyone may see.

Not all who are called Christians are Christians. Only those who have the Spirit of Christ are true Christians, though I do not know where many of them are to be found. Indeed, what more shall we say? All who with Abel bring an acceptable offering, those who with Isaac are born of the free woman, and with Jacob have the birthright and have obtained the father’s blessing, must be slain by bloodthirsty Cain, mocked by Ishmael and hated by Esau, even as we hear and see on all sides. May God bring about a change for the better.

See, this is the word and will of the Lord: that all who hear and believe the word of God shall be baptized (as stated above), in order to profess their faith by it, and to declare that from now on they will live not according to their own will but according to the will of God; that for the testimony of Jesus they are prepared to forsake their homes, goods, lands and lives, and to suffer hunger, affliction, oppression, persecution, the cross and death; indeed, that they desire to bury the flesh with its lusts and rise with Christ to newness of life, even as Paul says, “Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life,” Colossians 2, verses 11 and 12; Romans 6, verses 3 and 4.

Beloved reader, take heed to the word of the Lord, for Paul, who did not receive his gospel from men but from the Lord himself, teaches this also: even as Christ died and was buried, so we also ought to die to our sins and be buried with Christ in baptism. We are not to do this after we have been baptized; we must begin and do all this beforehand. “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection; knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, so that the body of sin might be destroyed, that from now on we should not serve sin; for he who is dead is freed from sin,” Romans 6, verses 5 to 7. For even as Christ died, has taken away sin, and lives to God, so every true Christian dies to sin and lives to God.

Do not think that we teach that Christians are to die to sin in such a way as to become insensible to sin. Not at all; but they die to sin so that they no longer obey their impure lusts, as Paul says, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts,” Romans 6, verse 12. Also John says, “Whoever is born of God does not commit sin; for his seed remains in him; and he cannot sin,* because he is born of God,” First John 3, verse 9; First John 5, verse 18. [* p. 26]

For as the death of our Lord would not have profited us if he had not risen from the power of death to the praise of his Father, so it will not avail us anything to bury our sins in baptism if we do not rise with Christ Jesus from the power of sin to a new life, to the praise of the Lord. “For in that he (Christ) died, he died to sin once,” says Paul, “but in that he lives, he lives to God. Likewise reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God through Jesus Christ.” And, “As you have yielded your members as servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity, even so now yield your members as servants to righteousness and holiness.” For being made free from sin, you became the servants of righteousness, and have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life, Romans 6, verses 10, 11, 18, 19 and 22.

Here observe, intelligent reader—you who desire to know the truth and seek the salvation of your soul—what the great and holy apostle Paul has taught you. If you believe his word, doctrine and testimony to be true, you will no doubt readily see from these instructions, and from many other passages in the Scriptures, that baptism is no more applicable to infants than circumcision was to the females of the Israelites; for we are no more commanded to baptize infants than Israel was to circumcise female children. It is also impossible for little children to die to sin as long as they have not been made alive to it; nor can they rise to a new life as long as they are not born of God through faith and led into righteousness by the Spirit of God. Therefore beware, for the purpose of baptism is to bury sin and to rise with Christ into a new life, which can by no means be the case with infants. Therefore consider well what the word of the Lord teaches you on this subject.

Again, Paul calls baptism “the washing of regeneration.” O Lord, how lamentably your Holy Word is abused! Is it not greatly to be lamented that men attempt, in spite of these plain passages, to maintain their idolatrous invention of infant baptism, and claim that infants are regenerated by it, as if regeneration were simply a dipping into the water? O no, regeneration is not such a work of hypocrisy; it is an inward change, which by the power of God, through faith, converts a man from evil to good, from carnality to spirituality, from unrighteousness to righteousness, out of Adam into Christ—which can in no way take place with infants. The regenerated live by the power of the new life; they crucify the flesh with its evil lusts; they put off the old Adam with his deeds; they avoid every appearance of evil; they are taught, governed and moved by the Holy Spirit, Romans 1, verse 17.

See, this is true regeneration with its fruits, of which the Scriptures speak, and it comes through faith in the word of God; without it no one who has come to the years of understanding can be saved, as Christ says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God,” John 3, verse 3. Indeed, it is all in vain, even if one were baptized by Peter, or Paul, or Christ himself, if he were not baptized from above with the Holy Spirit and with fire, Matthew 3, verse 11; as Paul says, “In Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature,” Galatians 5, verse 6; Second Corinthians 5, verse 17. All who are born of God in this way, changed and renewed in the inner man, and translated from Adam into Christ, are ready to obey the word of the Lord, and say with holy Paul, “Lord, what will you have me do?” They deny themselves with all their minds and hearts; they submit to the word and ordinances of the Lord without dislike or opposition; they receive baptism according to the command of the Lord, Matthew 28, verse 19. They become, and show themselves to be, fruitful branches of Christ, the true Vine, and joint heirs in the church of the Lord, John 15, verse 5. They receive forgiveness of their sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit; they put on Christ; they enter the ark of safety and are secured from the dreadful flood of wrath which, like a net, will come upon all who live on the earth. This, however, is not brought about by the power of the water or the sign, but by the power of the divine word, received through faith. For where there is no faith which works obedience through love (we speak again of those who have come to the years of understanding), there is no promise. “He who does not believe the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him,” John 3, verse 36. [Note 1]

The Lord commanded Moses to stretch out his hand and strike the sea with the rod, and the waters would be divided. Moses believed the word of the Lord, stretched out his hand and struck the sea with his rod; the waters were divided and Israel was delivered—not by the rod and the stroke, but by the power of the divine word, received by Moses through a sincere and living faith. Had Moses not believed the word of God, and through disobedience not struck the sea, frightened and oppressed Israel would undoubtedly have fared badly. He also received a command in the wilderness to set up a bronze serpent, so that when Israel looked at it they might be healed of the bite of the serpents. Moses believed the word of the Lord and set up a serpent; Israel looked at it and was healed, not through the virtue of the image, but through the power of the divine word, received by them through faith. In the same way salvation is ascribed to scriptural baptism, Mark 16, verse 16; the forgiveness of sins, Acts 2, verse 38; the putting on of Christ, Galatians 3, verse 27, and incorporation into his church—not on account of the water or the sign administered (otherwise the kingdom of God would depend on elements and signs), but on account of the power and truth of the divine promise, which we receive by obedience through faith. For all those who teach reliance on words, the elements and works make a golden calf with Aaron, and let a people without understanding commit idolatry and abominations with it. For in Christ faith alone avails, which works by love, the new creature, and the keeping of the commandments of God.

Beloved sirs, friends and brothers, awake and do not delay; give the Most High his due praise and honor, and listen to his holy word. For those who maintain that the baptism of children who are incapable of understanding is a washing of regeneration do violence to the word of God, resist the Holy Spirit, make Christ a liar and his holy apostles false witnesses. For Christ and his apostles teach that regeneration comes through faith, from God and his word; and this word is not to be taught to those who are unable to hear or understand,* but to those who are able both to hear and to understand. This is beyond dispute. [* p. 28]

The holy apostle Peter also explains the same, and says that “even baptism also now saves us; not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God (or the covenant of a good conscience toward God), by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” First Peter 3, verse 21.

Here Peter teaches us that it is the inward baptism, by which the inner man is washed, that saves us, and not the outward baptism, by which the flesh is washed. For only this inward baptism, as already stated, is of value in the sight of God, while outward baptism follows only as an evidence of the obedience which is of faith. For if outward baptism could save without the inner washing, all the Scriptures which speak of the new man would be spoken to no purpose. The kingdom of heaven would be bound to elemental water; the blood of Christ would be shed in vain; and no one who is baptized could be lost. No, no! Outward baptism avails nothing so long as we are not inwardly renewed, regenerated, and baptized by God with the heavenly fire and the Holy Spirit. But when we receive this baptism from above, we will be compelled through the Spirit and word of God, by the good conscience which we obtain by it, to believe sincerely in the merits of the death of the Lord and in the power and benefits of his resurrection. And from then on, because we are inwardly cleansed by faith and the spiritual strength we have received, we submissively covenant with the Lord, through the outward sign of baptism, which is enjoined on all believers in Christ—even as the Lord has covenanted with us in his grace through his word—that we will no longer live according to the evil, unclean lusts of the flesh, but walk according to the witness of a good conscience before him.

Though these words of Peter are very plain, the learned are not ashamed to force them into a very different meaning by means of their plausible comments and their much-boasted reason (probably so that they may keep the favor of the world and live in wealth without cross or affliction), and they teach that baptism is a sign of grace—which, according to my limited understanding, can in no way be established. Our sign of grace is Christ Jesus alone, through whom God’s abundant love is freely given and declared to us. He was gloriously prefigured to the ancient patriarchs by signs: by the coats of skin to Adam and Eve, by the rainbow to Noah, by circumcision to Abraham; and by these signs they were assured of the divine covenant. But we are assured of God, of his divine grace and his eternal peace, by this one sign only, which is Christ Jesus. The seal in our consciences is the Holy Spirit; but baptism is a sign of obedience, commanded by Christ, by which we testify when we receive it that we believe the word of the Lord; that we are sorry for and repent of our former life and conduct; that we desire to rise with Christ to a new life; and that we believe in the forgiveness of sin through Jesus Christ. Not, my beloved, that we believe in the remission of sins through baptism—by no means; for by baptism we cannot obtain faith and repentance, nor do we receive the forgiveness of sins, nor peace, nor liberty of conscience; but by it we testify that we have repented and received pardon and faith in Christ, as said before. With the fathers it was not so, for they received assurance and comfort through the signs that the promise would be true and sure. We have this assurance in Christ Jesus alone, in whom all the figurative signs were fulfilled; so that we have in this one true sign, Christ, what the fathers had in many figurative signs. In short, if we had forgiveness of sins and peace of conscience through outward ceremonies and elements, then the REALITY would be superseded and his merits made of no effect.

See, this is the only and true foundation of baptism which the Scriptures maintain, and no other. This we teach and practice though all the gates of hell rise against us; for we know it is the revealed word of the Lord and his divine ordinance, from which we dare not take away, nor add to it, lest we be found disobedient and false before God (who alone is the Lord and God of our consciences). For “every word of the Lord is pure; he is a shield to those who put their trust in him,” Proverbs 30, verse 5.

Oh God, what are the learned and highly learned masters of this world doing, who are so earnestly engaged in detracting from God’s word and wisdom and cleverly pressing their own vain reason and wisdom? They will not prosper. God will not give his honor to another, for he is the Lord; that is his name, and beside him there is no other, Isaiah 42, verse 8. Conquering, he will conquer them. He will turn their wisdom to folly and their reason to disgrace, for he “knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain,” First Corinthians 3, verse 20.

Luther writes that children should be baptized on account of their own faith, and adds, “If children had no faith, then their baptism would be a blaspheming of the sacrament,” and so on. It seems to me a great error in this learned man, through whose writings the Lord at first did much good, that he maintained that children without knowledge and understanding had faith, while the Scriptures teach so plainly that they do not know good from evil and cannot tell right from wrong. And he (Luther) says that faith lies dormant and hidden in children, as in a believing person who is asleep, until they come to the years of understanding. If Luther writes this as his sincere opinion, he writes much in vain concerning faith and its power; but if he writes to please men, may God have mercy on him; for I know of a truth that it is only human reason and the invention of men. But it shall not make void the word and ordinance of the Lord. We do not read in Scripture that the apostles baptized a single believer while he was asleep. They baptized those who were awake, and not those who were slumbering. Why then do they baptize their children before that sleeping faith awakes and is confessed by them?

Bucer does not support this doctrine in this way; he maintains infant baptism differently, namely, not that children have faith, but that by baptism they may be added to the church of the Lord and instructed in his word. He admits that infant baptism is not expressly commanded; nevertheless he maintains that it is right. O Lord! How lamentably they err who court the favor and honor of men and do not seek the favor and honor of God. Since infant baptism is not expressly commanded by God, as he acknowledges, it cannot be acceptable to the Lord; Et per consequens, that is, and by consequence, no promise can follow from it. Therefore the reader should know that true Christians ought not to be governed in this matter by the opinions and traditions of men, but by the word and the ordinances of God. For we have only one Lord and Master of our conscience, Christ Jesus, whose word, will, command and ordinance it becomes us, as his willing disciples, to follow, even as the bride rejoices greatly to hear the bridegroom’s voice, John 3, verse 29.

Since we do not have a single command in the Scriptures that infants are to be baptized, nor that the apostles practiced it, we modestly confess with a good conscience that infant baptism is nothing but a human invention, a selfish notion, a perversion of the ordinance of Christ, a manifest abomination standing in the holy place, where it properly ought not to be, Matthew 24, verse 15.

Beloved sirs, how little the word of the Lord is regarded, which says, You shall not do what is right in your own eyes, but observe whatever I command you, Deuteronomy 12, verse 8. Did not the Father testify from heaven and declare, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear him”? Matthew 17, verse 5. Does not the whole Scripture direct us to Christ? Are we not baptized in his name so that we should hear his voice and be obedient to his word? Do you not boast of being the apostolic church? Why then do you depart from Christ and cling to antichrist; from the apostolic doctrine and practice to the doctrine and practice of the learned? Do observe how severely and how often God punished men for the self-made opinions which they upheld as works of holiness and divine worship.

Nadab and Abihu, because they offered strange fire before the Lord, were suddenly destroyed by fire before the altar through the wrath of God.

Saul had mercy on Agag, the king of the Amalekites, and, prompted by his good intentions, spared the best sheep and oxen to sacrifice to the Lord, contrary to the word of the prophet. That seeming act of mercy and praiseworthy zeal was punished as the sin of witchcraft and idolatry, because he acted according to his own judgment and not according to the word of the prophet. He was reproved by the prophet, struck with a pestilence, and his kingdom was taken from him and given to a more faithful one, First Samuel 15, verse 23.

Manasseh, the king of the Jews, and others in Israel made their children pass through fire. They built temples and altars on all the high places, and also in cities and countries, with good intentions; for they wanted to honor the almighty and eternal God by it, as may be plainly seen, Second Kings 21, verses 3 to 6. This glorious and holy choice was so offensive before God that Jeremiah refused to intercede for the people. Israel was laid waste, Jerusalem and the temple were burned, and the people with the holy vessels were carried into a foreign land, Second Kings 25, verse 9; Second Chronicles 36, verse 12. Therefore God says by the prophet, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; and walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, not those of your own choosing, so that it may be well with you, Jeremiah 7, verse 23.

What advice, then, my beloved friends, shall be given concerning such willful deceivers, who so presumptuously do violence to the express word of the Lord, and so shamefully lie about the Almighty, the Most High God, and teach that it is the word of God, though he never proposed such things, much less commanded them, and never will?

How awful it is to sin against God in this way, and to pervert his holy and precious word so lamentably! Indeed, they shall be severely punished by the Lord with heavy judgments; they shall not escape the fury of his fierce wrath if they do not repent and reform; for God is an enemy to all liars. They have neither part nor lot in his kingdom; their portion is eternal destruction in the lake of fire, Second Thessalonians 2, verse 8; Revelation 20, verse 10; Revelation 19, verse 20.

In the second place, it is evident that infant baptism is an accursed, abominable and idolatrous institution. For all those who are baptized in infancy are called Christians, and are counted partakers of the Lord’s grace, merits, death and blood, and are called his people, although the whole course of their lives is entirely heathenish, wild and dissolute; indeed, they indulge in nothing but gluttony, drinking, gambling, whoring, cursing and swearing, as though the water in baptism could make them Christians and keep them so. O no! Paul declares, “He who does not have the Spirit of Christ is none of his,” Romans 8, verse 9. Indeed, the helpless, innocent children, though they are baptized with the blood of the Lord and have the sure promise of the kingdom of God, must, if they are not baptized with this baptism, be buried outside the graveyard as accursed. What infamy! What blindness! We will say nothing of godfathers, of crossing, breathing on, sprinkling with salt water, anointing, spitting on, and their abominable exorcism, all of which is nothing else than open blasphemy, and not commanded by God. What abominable, detestable idolatry these things are!

In the third place, we are informed by historians ancient and modern, and also in the decrees, that baptism was changed both in its mode and in its time of administering. In the beginning of the holy church, people were baptized in common water on their first profession, upon their own faith, according to the Scriptures. Afterwards a change was made: they were examined seven times before being baptized. After that they were baptized at two set times, namely, at Easter and Whitsuntide. Higinius, the tenth pope, instituted godfathers in the year 146. Finally, Luther tells us that in the year 407 Pope Innocent confirmed infant baptism by a decree; and it is to be feared that it will not be abolished except at the cost of much innocent blood of the saints and children of God, even as the prophets in their days reproved the accursed abominations and idolatry of the kings, priests and people not by admonition only but also with their blood, as we read in both sacred and secular history. [Note 2]

If infant baptism was commanded by God in his word, why did Innocent add his decree? How can baptism as the world practices it be right, since it has been changed so often? We plead with you, for Jesus’ sake, to consider that Christ Jesus, and not the learned, is King and Lord of his Church, and rules over it with his scepter, Spirit and word, Matthew 11, verse 27. As it is said, He is made Wisdom to us, and no one can instruct him; he appeared in order to bear witness to the truth. Those who love the truth hear his voice and believe his word, and not that of the learned; for his word is truth, but the word of the learned in this respect is seduction. For Christ commands that believers should be baptized; but concerning infants who are without understanding he gave no command. But the learned say that he who does not have his children baptized, and is himself baptized upon his faith as Christ commanded, is a fanatic, an Anabaptist and a heretic.

We have given you here the principal reasons why we oppose infant baptism, not only in doctrine but also at the sacrifice of our lives and possessions. For we well know, by the grace of God, that there is not one word in the Scriptures in its support. We tell you the truth and do not lie. Is there anyone under the canopy of heaven who can show us by divine truth that Jesus Christ, the Son of Almighty God, the Eternal Wisdom and Truth, whom alone we acknowledge as the Lawgiver and Teacher of the New Testament, has given a single command that children should be baptized, or that his holy apostles ever taught or practiced it?

What need is there, then, to press this on us by tyranny and punishment? Only show it to us in the word of God, and the difficulty is removed. For God, who knows all things, knows that in our weakness we humbly seek to walk according to the divine ordinances, word and will, for which we poor, miserable men are shamefully reviled, banished, robbed and slain by everyone in many countries, like innocent sheep. But the Lord be eternally praised! We are counted unworthy of heaven or earth, even as Christ said, “They shall deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you; and you shall be hated by all nations for my name’s sake,” Matthew 24, verse 9.

It is our determination, in this matter as in all other matters of conscience, in view of the wrath of Almighty God, that we will not be swayed by lords and princes, nor by doctors and teachers of schools, nor by the influence of the fathers and long-established customs. For in this matter neither emperors, nor kings, nor doctors, nor licentiates, nor councils, nor proscriptions against the word of God will avail. We dare not be bound to any person, power, wisdom or times; we must be governed by the express and positive commands of Christ alone, and the pure doctrines and practices of his holy apostles, as remarked above. For if we do so, we neither deceive anyone in this matter nor are we deceived. Alas! Woe to him, woe to him who departs from this foundation, or is forced to do so, whether through the weakness of the flesh, or tyranny, or false doctrine, and will not testify of the word of his Lord until death to this wicked and sinful generation, both in word and deed, Matthew 10, verse 38; Matthew 16, verse 24.

Observe, all of you who persecute the word of the Lord and his people: this is our instruction, doctrine and belief concerning baptism, according to the instruction of the words of Christ; namely, we must first hear the word of God, believe it, and then be baptized upon our faith. We are not seditious or contentious; we do not approve of polygamy; nor do we seek or wait for any kingdom on earth.

O no! No! To God be eternal praise, we well know what the word of the Lord teaches us and testifies on this subject. The word of the Lord commands us that we desire with a sincere heart to die to sin, to bury our sins with Christ, and to rise with him to a new life, even as baptism is a figure of this.

That we seek to walk humbly and uprightly in Christ Jesus, in the covenant of his grace and his eternal peace, and with an approved conscience before God, even as the mouth of the Lord has commanded, as he has testified by his example, and as we are taught by the pure doctrines and practices of the apostles, First Peter 3, verse 21.