# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2019_S212
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

212

II. THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS­­—COMMISSION ON THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS

Abbreviations used:
AC

Augsburg Confession

AE

Luther’s Works, American Edition, ed. Jaroslav Pelikan, Helmut T. Lehmann and
Christopher Boyd Brown, 75 vols. (Philadelphia and St. Louis: Augsburg and
Concordia Publishing House, 1955–).

Ap

Apology of the Augsburg Confession

FC SD

Formula of Concord: Solid Declaration

KW

Robert Kolb and Timothy J. Wengert, eds. The Book of Concord: The Confessions
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2000).

LC

Large Catechism

LSB

Lutheran Service Book (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2006).

LSCwE

Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing
House, 2017).

SA

Smalcald Articles

SC

Small Catechism

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An Inexpressible Treasure

THE THEOLOGY AND PRACTICE OF HOLY BAPTISM
A REPORT OF THE COMMISSION ON THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS
THE LUTHERAN CHURCH—MISSOURI SYNOD | NOVEMBER 2018

Supper, to read and study the Scriptures and to care for
one another as members of the Christian community.
Baptism gives the promise that Jesus will ultimately raise
us from the dead on the Last Day and give us our eternal
inheritance in the new heavens and the new earth. It is
not an overstatement to say that Baptism encompasses
our entire life in Christ and under Christ.
In order to highlight the significance of Baptism, this
study is organized around four parts:
Part 1: “Baptism and the Story of Jesus”3 shows how Baptism fits within the story and mission of Jesus and how
its importance for our lives flows out of the life of Christ.
Those who are not familiar with this account as related
in Holy Scripture need to be helped to see how Baptism
fits within this story. Accordingly, Part 1 will focus on
the telling of this story as laid out in the Gospels and
the Book of Acts. This seeks to provide a coherent and
consistent story within which one can account for the
entirety of the Christian life that Baptism encompasses.

An Inexpressible Treasure

THE THEOLOGY AND PRACTICE OF HOLY BAPTISM 1

INTRODUCTION

E

arly on the first day of the week, breath
entered into the body of a man who had been
crucified three days earlier. The moment that he
inhaled the stale air of the tomb, everything in
the universe and human history changed. And now, his
body awakened to a new life, he sat up, stood up and left
the tomb as the one appointed to be the Lord of God’s
entire creation. Jesus’ resurrection marked the first day
of the new creation and is the basis for all the gifts of that
new creation.
1
In 2013 Res. 4-08A, the Synod asked the CTCR to “provide a study
of the theology on Holy Baptism that sets forth the scriptural and
confessional teaching on this great sacrament of Christian rebirth and
offer positive guidance to pastors and congregations regarding proper
baptismal practice” (2013 Convention Proceedings, 132–133). The
leading phrase in the title of this study, “An Inexpressible Treasure,”
is a summary of Luther’s repeated reference to Baptism in the Large
Catechism as, for example, a “treasure … greater and nobler than
heaven and earth” (LC IV 16; KW 458), “an inexpressible treasure” (LC
IV 26; KW 459), “a treasure that God gives us and faith grasps” (LC IV
37; LW 461) and “a treasure and medicine that swallows death” (LC IV
43; KW 462).

THE THEOLOGY AND PRACTICE OF HOLY BAPTISM

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As Lord, Jesus established Baptism as the entryway
into our new life under God’s reign.2 Through the doorway of Baptism, we are invited to participate in the Lord’s
2
In this study, the phrases “reign of God” and “reign of Christ” occur
frequently. The more familiar New Testament phrases “kingdom of
God” and “kingdom of heaven” include the truth that God in Christ
is actively reigning as the King of the kingdom. The phrases “reign of
God” and “reign of Christ” help to express this aspect of the truth of
Jesus and the kingdom.
The 2017 edition of Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation defines
“the kingdom of God” (for which we continue to pray in the Lord’s
Prayer) as “the gracious rule and reign of God” (Q. 255, p. 247). This
kingdom, says the Explanation, “was promised in the Old Testament
(Ex. 15:18; 2 Sam. 7:12, 16; Is. 9:7)”; we further note here that God’s
kingdom was actually present in the Old Testament by way of type
and unfolding fulfillment of God’s promises. The Explanation further
unfolds the biblical understanding of the kingdom of God by noting
that it was “ushered in by Jesus’ incarnation, public ministry, death
and resurrection (Mark 1:15; Col. 1:13–14); that it “comes to us here
and now by his Spirit through the Word” (Luke 17:20–21; John 3:5; Rom.
14:17); and that it “will be brought into its fullness when Christ restores
all things and returns in glory (Dan. 7:13–14; Matt. 25:34; Rev. 11:15)”
(Q. 255, pp. 247–248). It is with this fourfold biblical definition in view
that the present document speaks of Jesus as “re-establishing” God’s
gracious reign hrough His life, death and resurrection and bringing us
under that gracious reign through the Sacrament of Baptism as we look
forward to Christ’s return in glory and the full and inal establishment
of God’s kingdom.

INTRODUCTION

2019 Convention Workbook

2

there is life and salvation), delivers us from death and the
devil, and brings us safely through the final judgment.
Part 4: “The Baptismal Commission” addresses both
theological and practical questions that have been raised
in the course of the church’s history as it has brought
the Gospel into new cultures. To that end, it will discuss
elements that are essential for the church’s practice of
Baptism in order for it to be a Christian Baptism, as well
as certain matters that are not essential but are useful
and beneficial for teaching. These themes are roughly
organized around Jesus’ Great Commission as found in
Matt. 28:18–20.
Addendum: A final section addresses further questions
that people may raise about the theology and practice of
Baptism.

Part 2: “Baptism: A New Beginning” explores the
various ways in which the Bible expresses the benefits
of Baptism. To that end, it will focus especially on the
New Testament letters, where we find discussions about
the meaning and benefits of Baptism for our life. It will
also discuss how Baptism places us within the context of
God’s story and promises to Israel throughout the Old
Testament. This section will focus on themes such as the
new life given in Baptism, our adoption as children of
Abraham (and hence of God) and our reception into a
new community.
Part 3: “The Gifts and Benefits of Baptism” considers
the privileges and responsibilities that become ours as
members of God’s kingdom through Baptism. It moves
from an exploration of the biblical material to a focus on
the ways in which we have expressed it within our catechisms. Accordingly, each section is organized around
the theological themes with which we are familiar in
Martin Luther’s Small Catechism. In brief, Baptism gives
us the forgiveness of sins (where there is forgiveness,

3
Throughout this document, every reference to “God’s story” or “the
story of Christ” assumes that we are talking about events that actually
happened and that are recorded for us with complete reliability by the
Holy Scriptures. The word “story” is used to communicate that God’s
salvation is the true account of events that our God actually performed
in history, especially in the deeds and words of the Lord Jesus. God did
not save us by communicating a series of ideas; He saved us by actually
doing things in Christ and promising saving gifts on the basis of what
He did. In that important sense, the Gospel is a narrative, a story, His
story.

THE THEOLOGY AND PRACTICE OF HOLY BAPTISM

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INTRODUCTION

3