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, 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 on sinning. Baptism is a seal and totally
reliable witness that God is always faithful to his covenant.
On the basis of the covenant the children of believers
are to be baptized despite their inability to understand its meaning. Adults,
however, should not be baptized unless they have felt their sins and confess
repentance and faith in Christ. This is why John the Baptist followed God's command
by preaching the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins and why he
baptized those who confessed their sins (Mark 1:4-5; Luke 3:3). Similarly, our
Lord Jesus Christ commissioned his apostles to make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
(Matt. 28:19). To these instructions he added the promise that he who believes
and is baptized will be saved (Mark 16:16). And, as the book of Acts clearly
shows, the apostles accordingly followed the rule of baptizing only those adults
who confessed their penitence and faith. Also today, therefore, only those adults
are to be baptized who have come to understand the meaning of baptism through
the preaching of the gospel, and who are able to give an account both of baptism
and of their own faith.
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 with favor upon these brothers and sisters who are about to be
baptized 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 him. Give them
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 Adults to Be Baptized
(name), since you want to be baptized as a seal
of your incorporation into God's church, you are asked here in the presence of
God and his people to respond without reservation to the following questions.
Your response will demonstrate that you accept
the Christian faith as taught to you and professed by you, and it will also confirm
your intention, by God's grace, to live according to that faith.
First, do you believe in the only true God, who
is distinct in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Do you believe that
he has created out of nothing heaven, earth, and everything in them, and that
he still upholds and rules them so that nothing happens outside his divine will?
Second, do you believe that you are sinful from
the time of conception and birth, that therefore you are under the judgment of
God, and that you are by nature entirely incapable of doing good and inclined
to all kinds of evil? Do you declare that you have often broken the Lord's commands
in your thoughts, your words, and your actions, and that with your whole heart
you repent of these sins?
Third, do you believe that Jesus Christ, who is
both true and eternal God and true man, and who assumed his human nature from
the virgin Mary's flesh and blood, has been given you by God as your Savior;
that through this faith you receive forgiveness of sins in his blood; and that
by the power of the Holy Spirit you have become a member of Jesus Christ and
his church?
Fourth, do you agree with all the articles of the
Christian faith as taught from God's Word in this church and do you intend to
continue steadfastly in this teaching? Do you also reject all heresies and errors
conflicting with this doctrine? And do you promise to continue in the fellowship
of this church both by listening to the preached Word and by celebrating the
Lord's Supper?
Fifth, do you genuinely intend always to live as
a Christian and to reject the world and its evil attractions, as a member of
Christ and his church should; and do you promise to submit gladly to all Christian
admonitions?
Answer: I do.
May our great and good God mercifully crown with
his grace and blessing the sacred commitment that you have just made, through
Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Sacrament
[The minister shall say] :
I baptize you, (name), into the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Almighty God and merciful Father, we thank you
and praise your name for forgiving 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 so govern these
new members of your church by your Holy Spirit, that they will live a devout
Christian life, growing and developing in Jesus Christ. Help them see your fatherly
goodness and mercy surrounding 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 only true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Synod of Dort (1618-19) drew from two earlier
adult baptism forms to produce this form. An earlier
English translation was approved by the Synod of
1912. The present translation was adopted by the
Synod of 1978.
