Term
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Definition
Baptism is not simply plain water. Instead it is water enclosed in God's command and connected with God's Word.
What then is this Word of God?
Where our Lord Christ says in Matthew 28:19, "Go into all the world, teach all nations, and baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
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Term
Second:
What gifts or benefits does baptism grant?
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Definition
It brings about forgiveness of sins, redeems from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe it, as the words and promise of God declare.
What are these words and promise of God?
Where our Lord Christ says in Mark 16:16, "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be damned." |
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Term
Third:
How can water do such great things? |
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Definition
| Clearly the water does not do it, but the Word of God, which is with and alongside the water, and faith, which trusts this Word of God in the water. For without the Word of God the water is plain water and not a baptism, but with the Word of God it is a baptism, that is, a grace-filled water of life and a "bath of the new birth in the Holy Spirit," as St. Paul says to Titus in Chapter 3:5-8, "through the bath of rebirth and renewal of the Holy Spirit, which he richly poured out over us through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that through that very grace we may be righteous and heirs in hope of eternal life. This is surely most certainly true. |
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Term
Fourth:
What then is the significance of such a baptism with water? |
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Definition
It signifies that the old creature in us with all sins and evil desires is to be drowned and die through daily contrition and repentance, and on the other hand that daily a new person is to come forth and rise up to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.
Where is this written?
St. Paul says in Romans 6:4, "We were buried with Christ through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we, too, are to walk in a new life." |
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