Who is to be baptized?

According to the command of our Lord Christ, all nations are to be baptized, therefore all living people, children as well as adults, in the following order:

1. Those who can receive instruction are first to be taught the chief parts of Christian doctrine. After that, they are baptized, at which time they also confess their faith in Christ.
   
   Assignment: Read Acts 8:26-39: Philip baptized the Ethiopian courtier.



2. Those infants who are born to members of a Christian congregation, are first to be baptized and then instructed. Also those children, whose guardians give the congregation permission to instruct them in the Christian faith and to give them a Christian upbringing.

What is meant by Baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit?

When Baptism is administered according to Christ’s command in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, this means that the true God Himself baptizes and receives the one baptized into communion with Himself and makes him a partaker of all His grace.

Ex. 20:24: In all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.

Luther: “To be baptized in the name of God is to be baptized not by men, but by God Himself. Therefore, although it is performed by human hands, it is nevertheless truly God’s own work.”

How is Baptism to be administered?

Our Lord Christ has not given a command as to the manner in which Baptism is to be administered. Christians have the freedom to decide the manner – pouring, immersing or sprinkling – just as long as water is used and the Baptism is adminstered in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The word baptize (in Greek - βαπτίζειν [baptizein]) is used in the Bible to denote washing, pouring, sprinkling and immersing; hence, all contact with water.

Assignment: Read Mark 7:4, Acts 22:16, Matt. 3:11, Eph. 5:26 and Heb. 9:10.

Who administers Baptism?

Baptism, as a rule, is administered by the pastor of the congregation, but in case of an emergency, every Christian has the right and responsibility to administer it.

1 Cor. 4:1: Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.

Who has instituted Holy Baptism?

Our Savior, the Lord Christ Himself, instituted Holy Baptism when He gave the disciples His mission command.

Matt. 28:18-20: All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and, lo, I am with you alway even unto the end of the world.

How is water used in Holy Baptism?

What is Baptism? Baptism is not simple water only, but it is the water comprehended in God’s command and connected with God’s word. What is that word of God? Christ, our Lord, says in the last chapter of Matthew: Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.

In Baptism water is not used in the natural way, for it is connected with God’s Word. Luther: “Baptism is nothing else than a divine water; not that the water in itself is nobler than other water, but that God’s Word and command are added.”