This form for the baptism of children is one of the
oldest in our liturgy. The earliest Dutch version
of 1566 is an abbreviation and translation of a German
form used in Heidelberg. An earlier English translation
was approved by the Synod of 1912. The present translation
was adopted by the Synod of 1976.
Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ:
What the Lord has revealed to us in his Word about
holy baptism can be summarized in this way:
First, Scripture teaches that we and our children
are sinners from birth, sinful from the time our mothers conceived us (Ps. 51:5).
This means that we are all under the judgment of God and for that reason cannot
be members of his kingdom unless we are born again. Baptism, whether by immersion
or sprinkling, teaches that sin has made us so impure that we must undergo a
cleansing which only God can accomplish. Therefore, we ought to be displeased
with ourselves, humble ourselves, and turn to God for our salvation.
Second, baptism is a sign and seal that our sins
are washed away through Jesus Christ. For this reason we are baptized into the
name of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Our baptism into the name of God the Father is
his assurance to us that he makes an everlasting covenant of grace with us and
adopts us as his children and heirs. Therefore, he surrounds us with his goodness
and protects us from evil or turns it to our profit.
When we are baptized into the name of the Son,
we are assured by Christ himself that he washes us in his blood from all our
sins. Christ joins us to himself so that we share in his death and resurrection.
Through this union with Christ we are liberated from our sins and regarded as
righteous before God.
Baptism into the name of the Holy Spirit is the
assurance that the Spirit of God will make his home within us. While living within
us, the Spirit will continually work to strengthen and deepen our union with
Christ. He will make real in our lives Christ's work of washing away our sins.
He will also help us each day to live the new life we have in Christ. As a result
of his work within us, we shall one day be presented without the stain of sin
among the assembly of the elect in life eternal.
Third, because all covenants have two sides, baptism
also places us under obligation to live in obedience to God. We must cling to
this one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We must trust him and love him with
all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We must abandon the sinful way of life,
put to death our old nature, and show by our lives that we belong to God. If
we through weakness should fall into sin, we must not despair of God's grace,
nor use our weakness as an excuse to keep sinning. Baptism is a seal and totally
reliable witness that God is always faithful to his covenant.
Our children should not be denied the sacrament
of baptism because of their inability to understand its meaning. Without their
knowledge, our children not only share in Adam's condemnation but are also received
into God's favor in Christ. God's gracious attitude toward us and our children
is revealed in what he said to Abraham, the father of all believers: "I will
establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your
descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God
of your descendants after you" (Gen. 17:7). The apostle Peter also testifies
to this with these words: "The promise is for you and your children and for...all
whom the Lord our God will call" (Acts 2:39). Therefore God formerly commanded
circumcision as a seal of the covenant and as a declaration that righteousness
comes by faith. Christ also recognized that children are members of the covenant
people when he embraced them, laid his hands on them, and blessed them (Mark
10:16). Since baptism has replaced circumcision, our children should be baptized
as heirs of God's kingdom and of his covenant. As the children mature, their
parents are responsible for teaching them the meaning of baptism.
Let us turn to God, asking that in this baptism
his name may be glorified, we may be comforted, and the church may be edified.
Almighty, eternal God, long ago you severely punished
an unbelieving and unrepentant world by sending a flood. But you showed your
great mercy when you saved and protected believing Noah and his family. Your
judgment upon sin and your great mercy toward us were again shown when the obstinate
pharaoh and his whole army were drowned in the Red Sea, and you brought your
people Israel through the same sea on dry ground.
We pray that in this baptism you will again be
merciful. Look upon these your children with favor by bringing them into union
with your Son, Jesus Christ, through your Holy Spirit. May they be buried with
Christ into death and be raised with him to new life. Give them true faith, firm
hope, and ardent love so that they may joyfully bear their cross as they daily
follow Christ.
Give these children the full assurance of your
grace so that when they leave this life and its constant struggle against the
power of sin they may appear before the judgment seat of Christ without fear.
We ask this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the
Holy Spirit, one only God, lives and reigns forever. Amen.
Address to the Parents
People of God, as you have now heard, baptism is
given to us by God as proof that he does make a covenant with us and our children.
We must, therefore, use the sacrament for the purpose that God intended and not
out of custom or superstition. You are asked to give an honest answer to these
questions as a testimony that you are doing what God commands.
First, do you acknowledge that our children, who
are sinful from the time of conception and birth and therefore subject to the
misery which sin brings, even the condemnation of God, are made holy by God in
Christ and so as members of his body ought to be baptized?
Second, do you acknowledge that the teaching of
the Old and New Testaments, summarized in the Apostles' Creed, and taught in
this Christian church, is the true and complete doctrine of salvation?
Third, do you sincerely promise to do all you can
to teach these children, and to have them taught, this doctrine of salvation?
Answer: We do.
(name), I baptize you into the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
< em >Prayer of Thanksgiving
Almighty God and merciful Father, we thank you
and praise your name for having forgiven our sins through the blood of your dear
Son, Jesus Christ. We thank you for uniting us with Christ through your Holy
Spirit and adopting us as your children, and we thank you for sealing and confirming
these blessings to us and our children in the sacrament of baptism.
We pray, O Lord, that you will always govern these
children by your Holy Spirit. May they, through your guidance, be so nurtured
in the Christian faith and godliness as to grow and develop in Jesus Christ.
Help them see your fatherly goodness and mercy which surrounds us all. Make them
champions of righteousness under the direction of Jesus Christ, our chief teacher,
eternal king, and only high priest. Give them the courage to fight against and
overcome sin, the devil, and his whole dominion. May their lives become an eternal
song of praise to you, the one only true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
