Luther on baptism and justification

In an article in Bruce McCormack, ed., Justification in Perspective , Carl Trueman makes some helpful comments about the assumptions and consequences of Luther’s views on baptism and justification.

“At the heart of Luther’s mature understanding of baptism,” he writes, “as with his mature understanding of justification, is a notion of humanity that sees human beings primarily in terms of relation and status. This is often summed up in studies of Luther’s thought with reference to his totus homo , or ‘whole human being,’ anthropology. This is a concept of vital relevance to any discussion of his understanding of justification and, given the centrality of justification to his theology as a whole, to any coherent understanding of Luther’s theological contribution to the West.” In this context justus and peccator don’t refer to parts of a human being; instead, “he uses this language to talk in terms of the believer’s status and relations with respect to God and the world, the two basic contexts for understanding human existence.”

As Luther’s theology developed, “the concept and language of status have increasing priority over the concept and language of transformation.” He goes on: “This relational understanding of sinfulness and righteousness is also very clear in Luther’s understanding of baptism and its relationship to the Christian life. Yes, baptism marks the start of the Christian life, but it also expresses the whole content of the Christian life from birth to death as well. It is not primarily the start of a process to be carried on by other sacraments; it is, rather, the sign of all that the Christian life is about – dying to sin and self and rising to Christ – and it confers this status upon its subject.”

He refers to the well-worn story that Luther would remind himself of his baptism to give him confidence in struggles with Satan, and then adds: “although the efficacy of the sacrament can be grasped only by faith, there is a sense in which baptism itself engrafts the believer into the body of Christ and thus creates the context where the great battle takes place betwen God and Satan as to who will rule over the individual.”