If you are from a Baptist background and wish to understand what Lutherans believe and teach, this page is for you. This is not intended to be a comprehensive comparison of Lutheran and Baptist teaching and practice, but rather to highlight some of the more important or more striking aspects of such a comparison.
Most importantly, traditional Lutherans and Baptists (together with all true Christians) share a belief in the Trinity, as well as the facts of Jesus’ person and work: His incarnation, miracles, atoning death, resurrection, ascension into heaven, and His anticipated Return in Glory.
The Similarities
Salvation by Grace Alone, through Faith Alone, on account of Christ Alone
Lutherans and Baptists share the belief that sinful human beings are forgiven and adopted by God, not because of any merit or worthiness in them, but solely because of the undeserved favor of God. That is, salvation is a gift. We do not earn it in any way; we merely receive it, and we receive it merely by believing it. Good works, which are pleasing to God and commanded by Him, do not contribute to one’s salvation, but rather result from a person’s being saved.
Scripture is the inerrant Word of God, and the source of all doctrine and belief
Traditional Lutherans and Baptists together believe that the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament are alone the inspired, inerrant, and indeed, infallible Word of God.
The Priesthood of All Believers
Lutherans and Baptists together believe that all Christians are priests, that is, mediators between God and human beings. Specifically, all Christians are called and empowered to intercede with God for one another and for the world. We do not believe that the church’s clergy occupy a spiritual plane above the people of God, or are given spiritual powers that other Christians do not have.
The Differences
Before going any further, the interested Baptist it would probably find the discussion about Lutherans and Protestantism helpful, especially in understanding the differences between Lutherans and Baptist regarding Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
Baptism: God’s Work, Not Ours
When God commands us to be baptized, He is not commanding us to do something so much as He is instructing us where to find the entrance to His Kingdom so that we may enter into it. This is similar to Christ’s command to believe in Him. The point of that is not to tell us what we must do to earn salvation (“believe”), but where salvation is to be found (“in Him”). Baptism may be liked to an adoption proceeding, in which God adopts us as His own. In other words, the chief actor in Baptism is God, not us; and the chief thing going on there is what God does to and for us, not what we do in obedience to His command.
Baptismal Regeneration
Lutherans believe in Baptismal Regeneration, that is, that through the water of Baptism the Holy Spirit forgives sins, delivers from death and the devil and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this. Moreover, the Holy Spirit Himself enters into and begins to indwell the person to preserve them in faith and keep them to everlasting life. In short, to be baptized is to be born again. For this reason, Lutherans believe in “one baptism for the remission of sins”, and never intentionally re-baptize anyone. To re-baptize someone would be to call into question the promise of God offered in their original baptism. Instead, Christians are called to renew their faith in the promise God made to them in their original baptism rather than doing the baptism again.
Infant Baptism
For every Baptist, that Lutherans baptize infants is a huge problem. Suffice it to say that for Lutherans, that Baptists don’t baptize infants is a huge problem! I am not going to go into the whole issue here, but I do want to give a sense for the logic at play. So here it goes. Remember, together with Baptists, Lutherans believe that all sinners are saved “by grace through faith.” There are no exceptions.
So the threshold question is whether infants need saving at all. Are they even sinners? Lutherans say yes, infants are sinners just like the rest of us and absolutely need saving. “In sin did my mother conceive me” Ps 51:5. “That which is flesh is flesh” John 3:6. “All have sinned” Rom 3:23, etc. There is no Biblical support for the proposition that any sinner is saved without faith, merely because they are an infant. We might want that to be so, but we have no Biblical warrant to believe that. The next question then is this: Can an infant have some kind of faith to be saved? Lutherans say yes to this also. Unless one is willing to call into question whether any who die as infants are saved, there is simply no other choice than to believe that an infant can have some kind of faith such that they can be saved. Well then, if an infant needs saving, and can be saved, what then is the logic of withholding Baptism from them, the very offer of salvation? Did Jesus not say, “Let the little children come to me” Mark 10:14? By bringing children to Baptism, are we not bringing them to Christ? Christ makes Baptism what it is, not a person’s ability to articulate a personal belief in Jesus and to ask Him into their heart. We baptize infants because they need saving and because they can have faith to be saved. The fact that an infant cannot express a personal faith in Jesus is immaterial. That doesn’t mean they don’t have some kind of saving faith. That only means they can’t talk!
If you are a Baptist reading this, I am not under the illusion that the preceding has persuaded you that infants not only can be but ought to be baptized. I only want to provide a sense for how a Lutheran approaches this question.
The Real Presence of Christ’s Body and Blood in the Lord’s Supper
Baptists believe that the Lord’s Supper is a symbolic presentation of our Lord’s atoning death and of our fellowship with Him and with one another. Lutherans believe that about the Lord’s Supper too, and much, much more.
Worship is the gathering of God’s people into Christ’s presence, to hear His word, and to be near Him. In the Eucharist Christ makes Himself really and truly present among us in a manner, and with an intensity, like nowhere else. That is why the Lord’s Supper is so central to Lutheran worship. It is not merely a symbolic presence. It is not merely a spiritual presence. It is the Real Presence of Jesus Christ. Nowhere does the person and work of Jesus more completely come together than in this sacred meal, where His incarnate Body and Blood, given and shed to atone for our sins, is distributed to us Christians to eat and to drink.
In this Sacrament, Christ is objectively (not merely symbolically) present, and any person who participates, though he be an unbeliever, will eat and drink the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus. Christ’s real presence does not depend on our faith, but on the power of Christ to do what He said, and He said “This is my body.” Now, the Sacrament is meant for our blessing, but to be blessed by it one must receive it in faith. Otherwise, we eat and drink unworthily, profane the Body and Blood of the Lord, and incur Christ’s displeasure. See 1 Cor. 11:27-30.
Creeds, Confessions and the External Unity of the Church
In general, Baptists believe in the sovereignty of every individual Christian to read and interpret the Scriptures for themselves. Lutherans do not believe that. We do believe that every Christian has a right to read the Scriptures for themselves, and perhaps even the duty to do so, but as to their correct interpretation, that is not a matter for the individual. That is the task of the Church as a whole. Individual Christians are to read the Scriptures and interpret them with the Church, not on their own.