Lutheran and Baptist Compared (Briefly)

Q: Could you compare Lutheran beliefs to Baptist beliefs?

A: This is something that I can only do in part. It is not only because I am more familiar with Lutheran teaching than with Baptist, but also because there are many varieties of teaching which are included under the heading of Baptist. Without going into great detail, these generally fall into one of two camps. One follows the general teachings of Arminius and is essentially “freewill” Baptist. The other party echoes the teachings of Calvin and is generally double-predestinarian. However, since Baptist affiliation is so strongly voluntary, what might be a generality for a group is not always specific for an individual congregation or Baptist churchgoer.

There are also factions and differences among many Lutherans. With both Lutherans and Baptists, the differences within the two groups may be almost as numerous as are the differences between the two groups. Since I’m in The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod, my answers are from our understanding of the Church and Christian doctrine.

A few differences are quite pronounced. Lutherans are sacramental. Thus, we believe in baptismal regeneration and practice infant baptism, rather than the “believer’s baptism” normally used by Baptists. We believe that the forgiveness of sins (absolution) pronounced by our pastors in Christ’s stead is as valid and certain as if Christ himself stood speaking the words. We also believe that the very body and blood of Christ are really present under bread and wine in Holy Communion.

As a rule, we are liturgical. We tend to follow the ancient liturgies (orders of service) of the Christian Church, shaped from its earliest days and rooted even in Old Testament worship.

We preach (and try to practice) the freedom of the Gospel, rather than emphasizing rules. We believe it is not possible without faith to truly obey God, and that no works, no matter how good, have any impact upon our salvation. Thus, we tend to not say, “Thou shalt not,” do something unless the Bible says, “Thou shalt not,” and unless we can see clearly that the prohibition is valid under the New Testament and not only part of the Old Covenant.

We do not teach any form of “once saved, always saved.” Instead, we heed the warnings in Scripture that speak of the risk of losing our faith and being lost eternally.

Our pastors are trained and certified by our church and are normally called to “full time” positions. We are not usually involved in other work in order to feed ourselves and our families but are free for whatever spiritual needs our members have that need our attention. We believe that God calls pastors through action of his church in order to forgive sins and that when they speak God’s Word of forgiveness to penitent sinners, it is as valid and certain as if Christ himself were speaking.

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Walter Snyder is the pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Emma, Missouri and coauthor of the book What Do Lutherans Believe.