My Conscience

Concerning Baptism, our churches teach that Baptism is necessary for salvation and that God's grace is offered through Baptism. They teach that children are to be baptized. Being offered to God, through Baptism they are received into God's grace. Our churches condemn the Anabaptists, who reject the Baptism of children, and say that children are saved without Baptism.
— Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions, AC Article IX.

As I continue on a path towards full time ministry, I'm proceeding to study the doctrines of my church body. This begins with The Book of Concord, a collection of “confessions” from the sixteenth century which the folks in my church body uphold as the faithful exposition of the Word of God.

So I started with the Augsburg Confession. This document was produced in the middle of a political and theological cauldron during the time of the Reformation. Reading the document reveals as much, but my purpose for reading it is different. It is held up as a confession of faith in my church body. As such, it needs to hold up as my confession of faith if I am to take the oath of ordination one day.

Which takes us to article IX. Let's look at the first sentence: “Concerning Baptism, our churches teach that Baptism is necessary for salvation and that God's grace is offered through Baptism.”

The phrase: “Baptism is necessary,” flies in the face of Scripture. Before I note more on that, I want to point out that I think that the second phrase: “...God's grace is offered through Baptism,” is clearly taught in Scripture. See:

• Acts 2:38-39, “...for the forgiveness of sins”
  
• Romans 6:3-5, to be “...united with Him is His resurrection”
• 1 Peter 3:17-22 “...baptism now saves you”, among others).
  

But Baptism is not necessary for salvation! Note this situation as it unfolded during Jesus' Crucifixion:

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"

But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."

Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

—Luke 23:39-43

That criminal believed the Lord Jesus and it was credited to him as righteousness. He was justified by his faith, just like Abraham in Genesis 15, just like the Tax Collector in Luke 18.

Now, I do not think Philipp Melanchthon was somehow just missing this event in Scripture. Indeed, he likely had a couple others in mind, such as Mark 16:16 where Jesus says:

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Or another in John 3:5 where Jesus is explaining the Kingdom of God to Nicodemus:

Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.

Here we have Scriptural evidence for both positions. Some will throw out Mark 16:16 because it is part of the “long ending” of Mark that does not appear in our most reliable manuscripts. I hesitate to do that because even though it is not necessarily reliable text, it is there and was probably accepted by the many of the saints who shed their blood so that I could sit here comfortably and ponder such controversy. Instead, I might borrow some language from one good theologian who found text he didn't like and call the long ending of Mark a passage of straw, and then leave it in anyway. (Martin Luther was the most arrogant and boisterous theologian I've ever read...and I love him for it. I think I relate.)

But we still have that John 3 passage. Jesus is clear and this is in all of the earliest manuscripts! How do I deal with this? Throw my hands up and say, “SEE THERE'S A CONTRADICTION!!”

Sorry Mech...er...Charlie. ;-)

Nahh. This is such good stuff we're dealing with in this passage. Jesus is revealing the nature of His Kingdom and who the subjects of that Kingdom would be and what they would be like. He is also directly revealing the nature of God and His will for all mankind at the same time (see John 3:16!).

I resist the notion that John 3:5 is a theological command. Instead it is a theological instruction. In other words, Baptism is to be normative.

Just as in Mark 16:16 Jesus hones in on faith, so he does in John 3:16. This is the critical requirement. But for normative situations Baptism is going to be a part of walking in step with the Spirit. Jesus answers this dilemma with everything we need to hear:

Those who heard this asked, "Who then can be saved?"

Jesus replied, "What is impossible with men is possible with God."
—Luke 18:26-27

I have much more to study in the Formula of Concord, and will have many more struggles like this one. This collection of confessions, we must remember, is not scripture. Therefore it is not authoritative in the same manner as Scripture. I remember back to the moment which launched the confessions themselves into history:

Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures or by evident reason-for I can believe neither pope nor councils alone, as it is clear that they have erred repeatedly and contradicted themselves-I consider myself convicted by the testimony of Holy Scripture, which is my basis; my conscience is captive to the Word of God. Thus I cannot and will not recant, because acting against one’s conscience is neither safe nor sound. God help me. Amen. —Martin Luther 1521

You go Martin. And Lord, I pray your help upon me. I want to serve the people you have called me to serve, but I want to do so in accordance with Scripture above all else.

Does this mean I am holding to a “quatenus” (insofar as) subscription to the confessions? I'm struggling with this, but it seems the answer must be yes right now. And, I never even got to the whole “condemn Anabaptists” part. I don't condemn anyone for holding to a different doctrine about Baptism! God help me.

I want to follow the path God has placed before me, and too much has happened to not believe He wants me on this path. However, my church body would require me to hold to a “quia” (because) subscription to the Lutheran confessions, where one subscribes because the Book of Concord is a faithful exposition of the Scriptures.

Pray for me, that I would too discover in this matter that “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”