Ever since my move from American Evangelicalism to the Confessional Lutheran Church, baptism has been a topic of much discussion and debate. I’ve played the spectator in many social media feuds between Lutherans and most other denominations on this topic over the last year or so. I sincerely believe that both sides are well intentioned, but are talking past each other in an effort to play their supposed trump cards to “win” the debate once and for all. Coming from American Evangelicalism, I can certainly understand where they (American Evangelicals) are coming from. I no longer agree with them, but I can understand them. The American Evangelicals (here on referred to as AE’s) believe that baptism is a decision rooted in spiritual acumen. It’s the first step of new obedience to begin ones sanctified journey. Lutherans, on the contrary, believe that baptism is much, much more. Lutherans believe that baptism actually saves and gifts faith. The argument here is typically based in how we define “work” as it applies to our salvation. The AE’s say that Lutherans are adding baptism to the gospel message in a similar way the Judaizers in Galatia did with circumcision. This is a complete misunderstanding of what Lutheran’s believe about baptism. Lutheran’s do not believe that baptism works “ex opere operato” (that the act in and of itself grants salvation), but that the God is working in, with and under baptism as a means to fulfill His promise of forgiveness of sins. The Judiazers in Galatia stated that in order to become a Christian, one must first become a Jew (through circumcision) and only then could salvation be obtained. This is the essence of “ex opere operato.”

So the question often bandied about centers on how is the NT work of circumcision (as found in Galatia) different from Lutheran view of baptismal regeneration?

The answer lies in who is doing the work. There is no NT promise attached to circumcision as circumcision was the sign of the Abrahamic covenant. The Abrahamic covenant was fulfilled in Christ (as Christ is the Seed of Abraham as found in Genesis 22:17 & Galatians 3). So now circumcision is just that; circumcision. There is, however, a NT promise attached to baptism. The promise is “the forgiveness of sins” and the “gifting of the Holy Spirit.” We see this promise in many places in the NT (Acts 2:37-39, Titus 3:4-7, John 3:5-6, Colossians 2:11-15, 1 Peter 3:18-21, Acts 22:12-16, Romans 6:1-5, Matthew 28:19-20).  When a promise is made (by God), it is He (God) who fulfills the promise. This is where the rubber meets the road. In the Lutheran view, the act of baptism is not a human work, because the recipient is not doing any of the work. The promises are being fulfilled by God through the means of baptism (water and the triune name of God). In addition, the recipient is just that…a recipient. In speaking with a dear friend concerning this, a rather helpful analogy came to mind.

(Please keep in mind that all analogies break down when taken too far…)

As I was considering the debate on Christian baptism, the idea of the fountain of youth crossed my mind and I realized that it could be used as a tool to help explain the Lutheran view of baptism. For those unfamiliar with the fountain of youth, I’ll give you a brief overview. The fountain of youth is a mystical tale that crosses cultural, national and historic boundaries. It claims there exists a hidden fountain that has the magical property to stop aging and overcome death; eternal life. All that one must do is find the fountain and dip in it and the promises of the fountain will attach themselves to the person dipping. Similarly, in the NT, (Acts 2:37-39, Titus 3:4-7, John 3:5-6, Colossians 2:11-15, 1 Peter 3:18-21, Acts 22:12-16, Romans 6:1-5, Matthew 28:19-20) we are told that Baptism “…is for the remission of sins”, “baptism now saves”, and “…is the washing of regeneration” (as well as gifting The Holy Spirit). In these verses we see that baptism actually does something. Here is also where I surrender that baptism is a work; the question is who’s doing the work? If the result of the work is forgiveness of sins, and Mark 2:7 tells us that only God can forgive sins, then it stands to reason that God is doing the work. This is where the “fountain of youth” comes in handy. When someone finds the fountain of youth and dips in it, is youthful complexion and eternal life a gift or a wage? Where did the eternal life come from? The answer is the fountain. The only thing the person dipping in the fountain did was receive the promise of never aging and eternal life. This also helps in explaining how faith is created in infant baptism. If the fountain of youth grants eternal life by merely dipping in it, then what does age matter? If I dipped my infant in the fountain of youth, would the promise of youth be rejected because of failure to comprehend the promise? No, that’s not how it works. Baptism is the delivery method for the gifts of God’s promise to forgive our sins in Christ. Baptism is an extension of what was wrought and accomplished on the cross. Infants can and should be baptized because they are sinners through the seed of Adam (Romans 5:12) and thus need what baptism has to offer. Just as an infant will eventually age and die, the fountain of youth will counteract this result through dipping in the fountain. Similarly, since we all are sinners and face the wage of death, we all need forgiveness of sins obtained through a dip in the waters of baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.