Dr. Martin Luther's

Small Catechism

The Six Chief Parts:

IV. The Sacrament of Holy Baptism

1. What is Baptism?

Baptism is not water only, but it is water used together with God's Word, and by God's command.

What is this Word?

In St. Matthew 28 our Lord Jesus Christ says:

"God therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

2. What benefits does God give in Baptism?

In Baptism God forgives sin, delivers from death and the devil, and gives everlasting salvation to all who believe what God has promised.

What does this mean?

God's name certainly is holy in itself, but we ask in this prayer that we may keep it holy.

What is God's promise?

In Saint Mark 16 our Lord Jesus Christ says:

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

3. How can water do such great things?

It is not water that does these things, but God's Word with the water and our trust in this Word. Water by itself is only water, but with the Word of God it is a life-giving water which by grace gives the new birth through the Holy Spirit.

Saint Paul writes in Titus 3:

"God saved us...in virtue of God's own mercy, but the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit, which God poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that we might be justified by God's grace and becomes heirs in the hope of eternal life. The saying is sure."

4. What does Baptism mean for daily living?

It means that our sinful self, with all its evil deeds and desires, should be drowned through daily repentance; and that day after day a new self should arise to live with God in righteousness and purity forever.

Saint Paul writes in Romans 6:

"We were buried therefore with Jesus by Baptism into death, so that as Christ was raise from the dead by the glory of the Most High, we too might walk in newness of life."

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Dated: 2 November 2003, MTH