6 October 2023
I say this in order that we may not adopt the opinion that long
prevailed among us, that our Baptism is past and can never be used after we
have fallen into sin, The reason for a notion of this sort is that one looks
upon Baptism in its aspect of a one-time action. Indeed, the idea goes back to
St. Jerome, who wrote, “Repentance is the second plank on which we must swim
ashore after the sinking of the ship” in which we embarked and sailed forth
when we entered the Christian church at Baptism. The view deprives us of the
use of Baptism, so that it can no longer benefit us. Jerome’s statement is not
correct, for the ship, Baptism, cannot be shipwrecked because, as we said, it
is God’s ordinance and not something of ours. It can happen, however, that we
slip and fall out of the ship. But when this happens and someone does fall out,
he should at once swim for the ship again and cling to it until he can climb
back on deck and sail forward as he had earlier begun to do. Thus we see how
splendid a thing Baptism is. It snatches us out of the devil’s jaws, makes God
our own, defeats and puts away sin, daily strengthens the new man in us, keeps
functioning, and remains with us until we leave our present troubles to enter
glory everlasting. Everyone should therefore look upon his Baptism as his
everyday wear, to be worn constantly. He should at all times be found in faith
and surrounded by its fruits. He should every day suppress the old man and grow
toward maturity in the new man. For if we want to be Christians, we must carry
on in the word that makes us Christians. But if someone falls away from it, let
him come back to it again. For just as Christ, the throne of divine mercy, does
not withdraw from us nor prevent us from coming back again to Him, though we
sin, so also all His treasures and gifts remain. As we once obtained
forgiveness of sins in Baptism, so that forgiveness continues for us as long as
we live, that is to say, for as long as we have the old Adam hanging about our
necks.
Martin Luther
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