Memory Work:
1. What does Baptism signify and seal to you?
It signifies and seals to me that as water washes my body, so Christ by his blood and Spirit washes me from all my sins. (Acts 22:16)
2. Is the outward washing with water the same as the washing away of sins?
Indeed not. Only Christ can cleanse me from my sins, which forgiveness I must receive by a true faith. (I Cor. 6:11)
3. Should children of believing parents receive baptism?
Yes, since God himself gives them his promises and places them in his covenant and his church. (Acts 2:39; I Cor. 7:14)
4. Which benefits do we receive in baptism?
In baptism God assures us that he will be our Father, thus cleansing us from sin, separating us from the world, and providing us with all things needful in this life and in the world to come.
5. To what does baptism obligate us?
All who receive baptism must repent of their sins, seek their salvation only in Christ, pray daily for the Holy Spirit to work in their lives, and walk in the ways of the Lord. (Acts 3:19)
Things to Look Up:
- Prove that Christ instituted baptism. Matt. 28:19,20.
- How is the story of the flood connected with baptism? 1 Peter 3:20,21.
- Show that in the New Testament baptism has replaced circumcision. Coloss. 2:11,12.
- What, according to the Form of Baptism, does each person of the Triune God promise in baptism?
- How is our baptism connected with the sufferings, death and resurrection of Christ? Romans 6:3-6.