_What is Baptism?_
Baptism is not water alone, but it is water comprehended in God's
command, and united with His Word.
_What is God's command concerning Baptism?_
It is given in the words of Christ in the last chapter of Matthew:
="Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."=
_What benefit do we have from Baptism?_
Baptism works the forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the
devil, and gives everlasting life to all who believe what the Word and
promises of God declare.
_What is God's promise concerning Baptism?_
It is given in the words of Christ in the sixteenth chapter of Mark:
="He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that
believeth not shall be condemned."=
_How can water do such great things?_
It is not water indeed that does it, but the Word of God, which is in
and with the water, and faith which trusts this Word of God in the
water.
For without the Word of God, the water is water alone, and no Baptism.
But with the Word of God it is a Baptism, that is, a gracious water of
life and a washing of regeneration in the Holy Ghost; as Paul says in
the third chapter of the epistle to Titus:
"According to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration,
and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which He shed on us abundantly through
Jesus Christ our Savior; that being justified by His grace, we should
be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life."
_What does the baptizing with water signify?_
It signifies that the old man in us should, by daily sorrow and
repentance, be drowned and die, with all sins and evil desires; and
again a new man daily appear more and more, who shall live before God
in righteousness and purity forever.