Claude A. Guild (A Biographical Sketch)
Born in Buffalo, Montana, May 9, 1916. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles A. Guild, Albany, Oregon. He attended the College of Idaho and Abilene Christian College, Abilene, Texas. He has a B. A. degree from the latter. He was a member of the Lutheran Church, Norwegian Synod. He obeyed the gospel of Christ under the preaching of J. C. Bailey, Radville, Sask. He was married to Sammie LaRue Lacy, Altus, Oklahoma, March 22, 1939. (She was a student of A. C. C.) They have four children. He has done evangelistic work in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Texas, Okla., Alaska, British Columbia and Saskatchewan, Canada.
At the present time he is laboring as evangelist for the church of Christ in Riverside, Fort Worth, Texas.
Let me say it is good to be here, see this house filled, have part in this series of lectures, and to speak to you especially upon this subject assigned videlicet; “Why I Left The Lutheran Church.”
Booklet on “Why We Left”
The little booklet which Brother Campbell announced is entitled “Why We Left The Lutheran Church”, and already some have made inquiry as to the “We.” By that I mean my immediate family: my father and mother, myself and my brothers and sisters. And it’s a pretty good crowd because there are ten children in our family.
Introduction
Tonight, in our study together, I think it well that we read a passage of scripture as an introduction to our lesson, and I would have you listen, please, as we read from 1st Peter 3, beginning with verse 13: “And who is he that will harm you, if ye be zealous of that which is good? But even if ye should suffer for righteousness’ sake, blessed are ye: and fear not their fear, neither be troubled; but sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord: being ready always to give answer to every man that asketh you a reason concerning the hope that is within you, yet with meekness and fear; having a good conscience; that, wherein ye are spoken against, they may be put to shame who revile your good manner of life in Christ. For it is better, if the will of God so will, that ye suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing.”
Setting for Change Made
I think it well, before we enter into the doctrinal differences, and some of the major differences why we left the Lutheran Church, that I give you a little historical background to the setting of the change we made. The only regret that I have about a lesson like this is that the personal pronoun has to be used. But I know, of a necessity, that when a subject like this is assigned, that it just has to be, so we will go ahead and use it. My mother’s people were Norwegians. That’s no reflection on my mother either, I’ll have you know. The Swedes might disagree with me. But, anyway, her father and mother and oldest brother and sister were born in Norway. They came to America and settled in Minnesota, and while there, she, with other children, was born into the family; and, of course, coming from Scandinavian countries, they being wholly, almost so, Lutheran people, they inherited, so to speak, their religion. While they lived in Minnesota, they were members of the Lutheran Church, and in particular, of the Norwegian Synod. When mother married father, he wasn’t anything religiously, but she was zealous after her father’s religion, or her parents’ religion, and she was determined that father would become a Lutheran. Hence, he consented to read before the minister for eighteen months before becoming a Lutheran; then he became a member of the Lutheran Church. After that, they moved westward to the state of Montana, where they homesteaded, and to that union were born ten children. While we lived then in Montana, we were still in a Norwegian community, and we were still in the Norwegian Synod, and my mother for a long time was superintendent of this particular Lutheran Church, in its Sunday School work.
Mother’s Dissatisfaction
But to bring the historical setting for our lesson tonight, just as briefly as we can, to its climax, I’ll tell you this; while we were living there, that is, in Montana, my mother became seriously ill and was taken to the hospital. Those months that she stayed—nine in number—in the hospital, she read her Bible. Not only did she read her Bible, but she called the minister of the Lutheran Church several times for confession. Each time she called him for confession, there were a number of questions she would ask him. The thing that she was primarily interested in was, not only her own soul (since seven doctors said she couldn’t live), but in her little children left out on the homestead. She wanted to know that she had done the right thing by us. And I’ll name in our lesson tonight some things in particular which she had in mind. I name just one of them now and that is this: We had all been sprinkled when little babies, at the age of eight days, and she wanted to be sure that she had done the right thing. And in her conversing with the Lutheran minister about these things in Lewistown, Montana, in the hospital, he answered her the very best he could—and he has my sympathies, because I speak the truth and lie not, he did the very best he could with what he had. But in answering my mother, it brought no satisfaction, because his answer would usually end up something like this: “Now, that’s all right. I know, I know it’s confusing to me, too, but after a while, when we all get over yonder, these things will be made plain.” But mother was not satisfied to wait until she got over there to make it plain. She thought that perhaps she could understand some of these things while she lived and while she had an opportunity to do something about it. On the third visit from the minister to my mother in the hospital for confession, she was still reading the Bible. When she wasn’t able to read it, father would read it to her. She was seeking and searching for the things that were of interest and that were perplexing to her. On the third visit of the minister for confession, she ask him again questions relative to the things that disturbed her. His answer was this (this was the last time he visited her): “Good woman, if you don’t quit reading that Bible, you are going to go crazy.” Well, having been in the hospital several months already, and under the condition she was there, finding no religious satisfaction, seven doctors saying she couldn’t live and leaving us little children out on the homestead, made my mother determined more than ever to live. And she put up a determined fight. It wasn’t long after that till she made a turn for the better, and she began to get strength, and stronger day by day. Finally she was dismissed from the hospital and came back out to the homestead where we were. Though not able to do her work, she was able to be about a little, and all the time here at home she prayed.
J. C. Bailey Instrumental in Change
Brother J. C. Bailey, who came from Saskatchewan to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ to us in Montana, related this in the Abilene lectures and in Corsicana last winter, when he was there; how my mother told him, as I have heard her say many, many times, the reason she would leave the house and walk along the timberline in the foothills that bordered our pasture, our land, was to pray earnestly that somehow, somewhere, we might learn the truth and what’s right with reference to God and things religious. And you’d have a hard time persuading my mother, and I join ranks with her, to believe that God did not hear nor answer her prayers. I am of the conviction tonight, that as surely as God heard and answered the prayer of Cornelius in Acts the tenth chapter, he heard and answered the prayers of my mother.
Unusual Preaching
That fall, there was a call that came on the old country telephone that there was going to be preaching down in the schoolhouse. They didn’t know just what stripe or color or kind it was, but it was different to anything we had been hearing, and they were sending the invitation around. Mother and father would not let us children go the first night, for they wanted to see and hear for themselves. The first night my parents heard something that they had never heard before. They heard the gospel preached in an unadulterated way, just as it is written in the word of God. And, at the end of the first service, my mother went to Brother J. C. Bailey, and asked him about infant baptism, and said she’d like to know if there is any passage in the Bible that would authorize it. He said, “Good woman, you go home tonight, and you search your Bible. If you can find infant baptism in your Bible and show me just one passage, one will satisfy me, I’ll be sprinkled and be a Lutheran preacher the rest of my life. If you can’t find it in your Bible, I’ll show it to you in the catechism; and in turn, I’ll want you then, when it is not found in the Bible, to be immersed for the remission of sins and become a Christian.”
Searching the Scriptures
My folks had searched the Bible, not only that night, but many nights before that, and months before that, but this was the first time that it had ever dawned upon us that there were contradictions between these two books, the Bible and the Lutheran Catechism. We had been taught to believe that this book simply made the Bible plain, that you had to understand the Bible through reading of this volume. To memorize the articles of the Catechism was essential to the understanding of the word of God. This was the first time that it had dawned on us that the two might conflict, or contradict each other. At the close of the second service, Brother Bailey showed the conflict between the two volumes, and with which contrast tonight, I hope I can satisfy your minds, too.
Obedience to the Gospel
The next night, after my mother heard the third gospel sermon, she came forward and made the good confession. A man living in the community by the name of C. V. Barnhart took a triple-bed wagon box and dammed up the creek so there could be water for immersion. While the water was rising, and during the time she was being baptized, my mother’s father—my own grandfather—her own brothers and neighbors, who had religious affiliation with the same institution, rode on horses around the baptismal scene and cursed and swore. But my mother continued in the baptismal, was baptized by Brother Bailey in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit for the remission of sins, and has never given up the faith to this good day. She is strong and living to this good night. Thank God for that.
Effort to Save Others
After that, Brother Bailey wanted to see my father become a Christian too. He said, “Listen, I didn’t get to make up my mind the first time. She led me before the minister and I had to read before him eighteen months to become a Lutheran, and this time I’m going to make up my own mind.” I may be a little of the disposition of my father, but, anyhow my father was going to make up his own mind in this thing. He was running coal mines. Brother J. C. Bailey took off his white collar, went into the coal mines with my father and mined coal for six weeks. But he had other things in mind beside mining coal by tonnage and making a wage. While he mined, he preached to my father; and after six weeks he baptized him; and along with baptizing my father, he baptized my oldest brother and sister and myself. Since that good day, including my baby brother who was baptized into Christ just about ten days ago, my entire family—father and mother and the ten children—all have been baptized into Christ. And there, if you please, is just a little historical background to the reasons why we left the Lutheran Church.
Reasons for Change Made
But this is not sufficient. I know that. I believe that I need to give you tonight some one-two-three reasons why we made the change that we made. We firmly believe that in the change we made we came from darkness into light. And the things I am saying tonight, I am saying with all the kindness I can command toward those who are still in darkness. I believe I can sympathize with the disposition of heart with people who are still in error, who have never heard the gospel preached purely, as it is written. And that people tonight has my sympathies; but along with that, let me say: I fear no contradiction of anything we may have to say tonight. We have preached these same things from Ketchikan, Alaska, to Corsicana, Texas. I have preached it with Lutheran preachers on the front seats. It would be my humble prayer, my earnest request, that all Lutherans who would be interested in a lesson like this, be present, and if anyone has anything to say, or wants to take issue with anything we have to say tonight, I believe it would be fair, Brother Campbell, to open the house and give them any amount of time they want after the lecture. And that bargain stands good tonight, and it will stand good tomorrow night, or a week from tomorrow night, or just any time you want to arrange the meeting. We have no fear of anything I have to say, nor am I ashamed of anything I have to say.
Human Foundation of Lutheranism
Here is reason number one why we left the Lutheran Church: The foundation of Lutheranism is human and not divine. If you can’t understand that language, let me say it in a little different way: The foundation of Lutheranism is on humanity, rather than on Jesus Christ the Son of God. It was founded on a human being, an individual by the name of Martin Luther, rather than on the foundation of Jesus Christ. Listen to me, there never was heard of, or read of, a Lutheran Church until All-Saints Day on October 31, 1517, in Whittenberg, Germany. To be specific, there never was a Lutheran Church until 431 years and two days ago from tonight. There never was. But I note that New Testament language reads like this: “Upon this rock I will build my church,” said Jesus in Matt. 16:18. The Lord spake this language in the year 32 A. D. Then I go to Acts 20:28, Paul to the elders of Ephesus, down at the sea-shore of Miletus, said: “Feed the church of the Lord which he has purchased with his own blood.” Two things in that verse make me believe that the church was in existence in the year 60 A. D., the time that Paul spoke this to the elders of Ephesus down at the sea-shore of Miletus. One reason, Paul said, “Feed the church,” and you can’t feed something that doesn’t exist; the other reason is, Paul said, “Which he has purchased with his own blood.” It was a thing of the past; it had already been purchased. Somewhere between 60 A. D. and 32 A. D. the Lord Jesus had built his church.
Institution of Lord’s Church
I then take you to the language of Acts according to the historian, Luke, in the second chapter, verse forty-seven: “And the Lord (watch it) added to the church daily such as were being saved.” There, if you please, is the first time the church is spoken of as an existing institution. And that took place on the first Pentecost after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, in the year A. D. 33. And when we search the scriptures, we find what the word of God teaches as to the establishment of the Church. Jesus Christ established his church in the year 33 A. D., on the first Pentecost after the resurrection. And more than that, he is the foundation of it. In 1 Cor. 3:11, Paul says: “Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” And since the apostle Paul says that Jesus Christ is the foundation of the church, I am persuaded that no human institution, bearing a human name, including the institution that I had my affiliation with, viz., the Lutheran Church, could be the New Testament church.
“Lutheran” an Unscriptural Name
The second reason why we left the Lutheran Church was because it is unscriptural in its name. In Acts 26:28, 29, when Paul preached before Agrippa, Agrippa said: “Paul, almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.” Paul answered: “I would to God, that not only thou, but all men were even as I am except these bonds.” In other words, Paul wanted all men to be what he was; and what was he? A Christian. Peter, the one from whom we got our text tonight, declared in 1 Pet. 4:16: “If any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this name.” And I dare tell you that in Sunday school, and up until the time of confirmation for me (and had I prolonged my life in the Lutheran Church any longer), to every time I heard individuals called Christians, I could name a hundred times they were called Lutherans, or a proportion of 100 to 1. You never hear people in sectarianism talking about, “I am a Christian,” or “We are Christians.” But rather you hear, “I am a Lutheran.” or “I am a Baptist.” or “I am a Methodist.” “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.” Col. 3:17. And the name that individuals wore in New Testament time was Christian.
Scriptural Designations
The church itself, in a local sense, as a local body, the “called out,” was called the church. But with reference to whose church it was, it was called “the church of Christ.” Rom. 16:16. Paul said: “The churches of Christ salute you.” In Acts 20:28, he said: “Feed the church of the Lord which he purchased with his own blood.” And Jesus, confessed by Peter to be the Christ, the Son of the living God, said: “Upon this rock I will build MY church.” Hence, it is the church of Christ. It is not the church of Luther. It is not the church of any man, or any group of men, or any group of men and women, but it is the church of Jesus Christ. You know this is true; I say it without fear of contradiction. If tonight we would destroy the Lutheran Church, though it is not in our power to do that but some day every foreign plant which our Father has not planted shall be rooted up, for Jesus said: “Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up.” The way to do it, I believe with all my heart, would be to destroy the creed of the institution. If you would want forever to lose the name Lutheran in the religious world, you destroy the Lutheran Catechism. Because it is in this volume that you read the name Luther and the name Lutheran, and it is not in THIS VOLUME, the Bible. That is one of the things that perplexed us; we were continuously disturbed about that thing. Who is Luther? What is the name Lutheran? As we would search the sacred record, there was not anything there that would indicate the wearing of any name likened unto that. It was the name of Christ that needed to be honored. I dare to say it again: if you, tonight, would destroy Lutheranism, it would be by the destruction of the creed that bears the name, the name that is not in this volume here, the Bible.
Man-Made Creed of Lutheranism
The third reason why we left the Lutheran Church is because it walks by a man-made creed. So that you may not think I am misrepresenting Lutheranism, I brought with me a volume, presented to those in confirmation into the Lutheran Church, published by a Lutheran publishing house. The author of this book is Dr. Schramm, and it was published by a Lutheran book concern in Columbus, Ohio. The title of the book is “What Lutherans Believe,” and this is it, as it is stated on page 14: “We who are Lutherans prize our Catechism as one of the crown jewels of our church. It is a summary of heavenly truth presented in a most desirable manner. It is simple, yet profound. While it is adapted to the mind of the child, it also meets the needs of the mature Christian. Only eternity will reveal the service which this priceless book has rendered to the kingdom of God.” Now are you listening? Listen to this: “It is intended as a help to understand the Bible. It is a systematic arrangement of Bible teaching. Because these doctrines are presented in groups, they are easy to lay hold of. Thus, the work of the study is simplified.” And we read another statement from Dr. Schramm on page 14: “It is intended (that is, the Catechism) as a help to study and understand the Bible.” Friend of mine, I am persuaded to believe that when people—whether an individual who speaks as the voice for the church or the church speaking for itself—make a declaration like this which I have read tonight, viz., that a catechism has to be written to help people understand the Bible, it is an insult to God Almighty. Now, I’ll have to explain what I am explaining. I believe this, my friends, that God is the author of this volume. Not only God is the author of this volume, but God is the Creator of this, his creation, humanity, mankind. God made our minds, and he made the Book, the Testament, the Bible. I believe that God made a volume that we as people can understand. And for a group of people to get together in a council, or convention, or synod, and write a catechism to make the Bible plain is an insult to God Almighty.
All-Sufficiency of the Scriptures
Now, I’ll tell you another reason why I just can’t accept a statement like this, that we need a man-made creed to make the Bible plain. Listen to Paul in II Tim. 3:16, 17: “Every scripture given by inspiration of God, is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness: that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.” The Bible will furnish you completely unto every good work. I remember the language of Isaiah, Isa. 35:8: “And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for the redeemed, the wayfaring man, yea fools, shall not err therein.” Yet, I find folks saying, “We need a human creed, a catechism, to make God plain, so that we will be able to understand what God says.” There is just one thing wrong with that—it’s just not so. Listen to the language in 2 Cor. 2:17: “For we are not as the many, corrupting the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God, speak we in Christ.” And, if an individual speaks in Christ, he is going to have to speak according to the word of God, and not according to the catechism. John declared, “Whosoever goeth onward and abideth not in the teaching of Christ hath not God.” And then he said, “if you abide in the teaching, you have both the Father and the Son.” 2 Jno. 9. That’s another reason we left the Lutheran Church, because they walk by a man-made creed.
Ten Commandments Misapplied and Violated
The next reason why we left the Lutheran Church was because they misapply and violate the Ten Commandments. According to Article 21, in Questions and Answers of the Catechism, I read: “What is the moral law? Answer: The moral law is the law which sets forth our duties to God and man as briefly comprehended in the Ten Commandments.” Now the answer to question number 22, “What is the Moral Law?” “The moral law is the Ten Commandments and it is binding on all men.” Now to show you that that is exactly the position, Dr. Schramm says on page 17, in “What Lutherans Believe”: “It is a common thing to speak of this law as having been given by Moses on Mount Sinai some 35 centuries ago. As a matter of fact, the first giving of the law took place in the Garden of Eden. When God created our first parents, he wrote his law upon their hearts. It was not necessary for Adam to learn the Ten Commandments.” Dr. Schramm says, “Our first parents had the Ten Commandments.” They didn’t have to learn them because God wrote them on their hearts! I am persuaded, because of inspiration, that Adam never had the Ten Commandments; they were never given to Adam and I’ll tell you why, because Moses said he never had them. Deut. 5:2: “Jehovah God made a covenant with us in Horeb (speaking to the Israelites); he made not this covenant with our fathers but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.” Again, Ex. 20:1, 2: “I am Jehovah thy God who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” Then, beginning with the third verse, he gives them the Ten Commandments: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images…” And on and on and on.
Notice again, to whom were the Ten Commandments given? To those who were in the land of Egypt, to those who were in the house of bondage. Adam was never in the land of Egypt; he was never in the house of bondage. Noah was never there, Abraham was never there, Isaac was never there, Jacob was never there. It was not until the Israelites were brought out and made a nation that the Ten Commandment law was given. So Lutherans misapply the Ten Commandments, and say that it is for all men—meaning that we are to keep it. And that is what they taught us.
To teach that we are to keep the Ten Commandments today is a misapplication of the Ten Commandments. Listen to God’s prophet, Jer. 31:31: “Behold the days come saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not acording to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt.” God promised through the prophet Jeremiah that he would make a new covenant with his people. (The same language is found in Heb. 8:8). If he was to make a new one, how long was the old one to last? Listen to the language of Paul in Gal. 3:19: “What then was the law? It was added because of transgressions until the seed should come.” Hence, we know that the law was to last till the seed should come. Who is the seed, then? In the sixteenth verse of the same chapter of Galatians, Paul says, “Now unto Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed. He said not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to Thy seed, which is Christ.” Hence, the law was to last till the seed should come, but the seed was Christ. So, the law was to last until Christ came. When Jesus came, what did he say about the law? In Matt. 5:17, he said: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” Jesus said when he died on the cross, “It is finished.” And I am persuaded one thing he had in mind was the Old Law. Its purpose was accomplished, fulfilled, finished, because Col. 2:14, says: “Hav- ing blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and taking it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.” The Law, which included the Ten Commandments, was nailed to the cross. Hence, it is not for all peoples. The Ten Commandments were not observed by Adam and Eve in the beginning. They have been nailed to the cross, and we were given a covenant that was a better covenant, not a national testament, but an international testament. The Great Commission says, “Go teach all nations.”
Specific Violation
Not only do they misapply, but they violate the Ten Commandments. Notice, Lutherans teach that you are to keep the Ten Commandments. But they have misapplied it when they teach people in this dispensation to keep them. But just assume that we are to keep the Ten Commandments. If they are to keep them, they violate the fourth commandment, because it says: “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” “Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord.” How many Lutherans today are keeping the seventh day? You will not find them doing it. And it can’t be a Christian Sabbath, changed from the seventh day to the first day of the week. But I insist, if the Lutheran people are going to keep the Ten Commandments, let’s see them keep them. I have more respect for Seventh-Day-Adventism than I do for Lutheranism. They insist that the law must be kept, the Ten Commandment law; and they are, at least, consistent in this point and are keeping the Sabbath. Lutherans are not keeping the Ten Commandments; they are misapplying them and violating them.
Infant Baptism and Sprinkling
The next reason why we left the Lutheran Church was because they teach infant baptism and sprinkling. According to Dr. Schramm on page 136: “We recognize any mode of baptism in which water is applied in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, whether it be by immersion, or pouring, or sprinkling.” Now, that’s exactly the position taken by Lutherans. They recognize any mode of baptism. This is the thing in paticular that disturbed my mother. Was she sure that she had done the right thing by her children in having them sprinkled? The Lutherans teach that you can have any one of the three modes of baptism, sprinkling, pouring or immersion. But listen, the first thing that worried us was the word “mode.” We just didn’t read the word “mode” in the Bible. There is no such thing, according to inspiration. The Bible doesn’t suggest, nor intimate, nor is there an inference, that there can be “modes” of baptism. Note the language of Paul in Eph. 4:4, 5: “There is one body and one Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all and through all.” Since Paul said, There is ONE, we became distressed, because the Lutheran Church was offering three.
When it came to infant baptism, this disturbed us, because we read Mk. 16:16: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” A baby eight days old is not old enough to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. But he has to be old enough to accept testimony, or reject testimony; and finally when he becomes old enough to accept testimony and becomes a believer, then Jesus says he can be baptized. Acts 2:38 disturbed us, because it says, “Repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins.” That baby has to be old enough to know that it is turning from sin, if it is a sinner. And we understand that a baby eight days old is not old enough to turn from sin. Acts 8:12 disturbed us, because it says, “When they believed Philip teaching the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized both men and women.” If, in all inspiration, there was to be a convenient place for infant baptism to be taught, there is where it ought to have been recorded. And it would read: “When they believed Philip teaching the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, men, women and infants.” The word “infants” should have been inserted, if the Book taught it, but it’s not there! It says, “both men and women.”
We had some trouble, so we came to Matt. 28:18-20. Jesus says, “All authority has been given unto me.” He then is the authority, has the authority in heaven and on earth. He said, “Go teach all nations, baptizing them.” Baptizing whom? The ones who have been taught. After they had been baptized, they were to be taught “to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” Infants are not old enough to receive instruction.
John 3:23 was another passage: “John baptized in Aenon, near to Salem, because there was much water there.” As long as we were in the Lutheran Church, they taught that you could have sprinkling, pouring or immersion, but we never one time saw a baptism by immersion. It was always applied by sprinkling.
Another thing that caused us to disbelieve in infant baptism was the statement of Rom. 6:4: “We were buried by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up through the glory of the Father, we also might walk in newness of life.” So baptism, described by Paul, is a burial.
Infant Membership in the Room of Circumcision
But now I need to tell you the very reason they taught infant baptism. Dr. Schramm tells us on page 141 in his volume on “What Lutherans Believe”: “In the Old Testament, circumcision was the sacrament of initiation. It was administered to the boy babies when they were eight days of age. If God could make a covenant with a baby in the Old Testament, certainly he can and does the same things in this new dispensation. Accordingly, we conclude, that since baptism has taken the place of circumcision, babies should be baptized.” Now I want you to note with emphasis, this language: “If God could make a covenant with a baby in the Old Testament, certainly he can and does the same things in the New Dispensation.” I want to ask Dr. Schramm, or any of his cohorts tonight, Where is the chapter and verse for it? The thing that disturbed our immediate family was this: Dr. Schramm says that circumcision was aptly applied to the boy babies in the Old Testament and that baptism has taken the place of circumcision. We ran into some difficulties, because of the ten children in our family, six of them happened to be girls. Then to add injury to in- sult, the Lutheran preacher sprinkled my sisters as well as my brothers. And if infant baptism is to take the place of circumcision in the Old Testament, where is the authority for sprinkling girl babies? And that’s one reason why we left the Lutheran Church!
Total Depravity
Most of the denominational world tonight practices infant baptism. But why? Because, before the practice of infant baptism there came the cursed doctrine upon the earth that an infant was born totally depraved, that it was born in sin, having inherited it from its father or its mother. Sin is inherited? I remember a proverb that Israel was using and that God rebuked them for having. In Ezk. 18:1, 2, God says through his prophet: “You will have no more occasion to use this proverb in Israel any more.” What was the proverb they were using? It was the same that the Lutherans are using with reference to inherited sin. The Israelites were saying: “The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” God says that you will have no more occasion to use this proverb in Israel. How many of you have eaten sour grapes? Did you ever eat sour grapes and go home and find your children’s teeth set on edge? That’s not the way the grapes I ate did our family. But God says, mark it friend of mine, that you will have no more occasion to use this proverb in Israel. To capitalize on it, in the 20th verse of the same chapter, God declares: The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, nor shall the father bear the iniquity of the son. But the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.” That is plain enough for those tonight who are sincerely seeking the way to heaven.
If sin is inherited, does it come through the flesh? If it comes through the flesh, watch out! You make Jesus Christ a sinner because he was born of the flesh. Jno. 1:14 says, “The word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, as of the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Whatever was full of grace and truth was the word that became flesh. But in the 17th verse of the same chapter, he says: “The Law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” Jesus Christ was grace and truth, but grace and truth was that which became flesh. Since Jesus Christ became flesh, if sin comes through flesh, is handed down from parent to child, you of necessity make Jesus a sinner when you teach your doctrine of inherited sin. But if you say, “No, preacher, it comes through the spirit,” watch out, for I read in Heb. 12:9, where Paul says, “should we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?” God is the Father of our spirits. And if sin comes through the spirit, it makes God a sinner. And this is another reason why we left the Lutheran Church.
False Teaching About Lord’s Supper
We left the Lutheran Church because they misinformed us about the Lord’s Supper. Hear from the Lutheran Catechism, page 19: “What is the sacrament of the altar? Answer: It is the true body and blood of Jesus Christ, under the bread and wine, given unto us Christians to eat and drink as it was instituted by Christ himself.” Dr. Schramm will show you a little further on this thing. Isn’t this peculiar? They had to write the Catechism to explain the Bible, but then they had to have Dr. Schramm to write “What Lutherans Believe” to explain what the Catechism says. I don’t know if they are ever going to get explained what they are going to explain. But this is what Dr. Schramm says about the Lord’s Supper: “We Lutherans insist that both the bread and wine, and the body and blood of Christ be received by every communicant at the Lord’s Supper.” That is, with the bread and wine, you receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ. They tell you that the doctrine of consubstantiation is scriptural. It is a primitive hangover from Catholicism.
The Catholics teach transubstantiation, which means that when the bread has been blessed, it actually becomes his body, and when the cup has been blessed, it actually becomes his blood. Luther didn’t like that, so he, rather than say that it actually becomes the body and blood, said, “With and under the bread is the body, and with and under the cup is the blood.” And in the Lutheran Church to this day, there is a great division vision in the body of Lutheran people, some wanting to hold to the doctrine of transubstantiation while others are resorting to the doctrine of consubstantiation. Really, the only difference in the teaching of Catholicism and the teaching of Lutheranism is this: The Catholics come out and say that it is his body and his blood, but Lutherans say that with and under it is his body and blood. The Catholics say that it really is; the Lutherans say with and under. They make a sandwich out of it. Now listen, my friends, that’s amusing, but you can’t laugh the truth of this down.
Though Jesus said in Matt. 26, Mk. 14, Lk. 22, and Paul stated in 1 Cor. 11 that “this is my body”, people just fail to understand the simplicity of the language of the Son of God as it is used in personification. If you can’t understand that, how are you going to understand John 10? Jesus said: “I am the door.” Did Jesus mean that he was made out of two-by-fours? I read John 15:1-6 where Jesus said: “I am the vine.” Are you going to take him literally? Do you believe that he meant that about this season of the year he was going to lose his leaf, be barren for the winter, then each spring leaf out again and bear fruit? You can understand that he used concrete things for persons. In other words, he personified the language, when he saw the cup, the fruit of the vine, and the unleavened bread and said, “This is my body; this is my blood.” We were misinformed with reference to the Lord’s Supper.
The Confessional Box
Next to the last reason why we left the Lutheran Church, we had to make a confession to the pastor. It, too, is a primitive hangover from Catholicism. Listen to the Catechism, page 18: “What is confession? Answer: Confession consists of two parts: the one is, that we confess our sins; the other, that we receive absolution or forgiveness through the pastor as of God himself, in no wise doubting, but believing that our sins are thus forgiven before God in heaven.” And three times during those long, long months while my mother was in the hospital, the preacher came and she made confession through him, as through God himself, believing that she received the absolution, or forgiveness, of her sins.
When we came into the marvelous light, we learned the truth on this subject from such passages as I Jno. 2:1, 2: “My little children, these things write I unto you that you sin not; but if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, even the pastor.” Is that what it says? Not at all! John says “we have an Advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ, who is the propitiation, not only for our sins, but also for the whole world.” Who is our Advocate? Who is our Intercessor? It is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We ceased that foolishness, then, of going to confession to the pastor, confessing to him and expecting to receive the forgiveness of sins as from God himself.
False Teaching About Conversion
Here is the last reason, and then we are through. We left the Lutheran Church because they did not teach the truth on conversion. They taught us conversion was “justification by faith only.” Listen to Dr. Schramm again: “The Lutheran Church has always, quite properly, given a great deal of prominence to this doctrine, viz., justification by faith only.” And he didn’t just state it mildly; he stated it in full. I dare tell you that this is right, that in the Lutheran Church they do give a great deal of prominence to the doctrine of “justification by faith only.” They teach, like they do in the Baptist Church, that as soon as you have mentally consented to the fact that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, by faith alone you become a child of the King. We left the Lutheran Church because that doctrine is not true.
It is not true because James says: “Ye see, then, how that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.” (Jas. 2:24). Then in the last verse of the second chapter, James says: “As the body apart from the spirit is dead, faith apart from works is dead also.” And listen to the language of Jesus, Matt. 7:21: “Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Jesus said that there is something that you need to do. Listen to Jesus as he spoke to Paul, when Paul asked him what he would have him do: “Arise and go into the city and there it will be told thee what thou must do.” Why didn’t Jesus say, “Why, Paul, you believe that I am the Christ the Son of God; why, bless your heart, you are saved; just go to preaching, that’s all you need to do.” Not at all! He said, “Go to the city and it will be told thee what thou MUST do.” And the last word that we use was the language of the revelator in Rev. 20:12: “The books were opened and another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged out of the things written in the books, according to their works.” Your works are going to have something to do with it, friend of mine.
From Darkness to Light
And just to show you more concretely, I read again for your benefit a verse we have used, to show the things we did when we came from darkness to light. True, we believed that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, but, in addition to that, we repented of our sins, for Lk. 13:3 says, “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” And having made the good confession, (Rom. 10:10) we were baptized for the remission of sins, to be saved, because Jesus said: “He that believes and is baptized shall be saved.” Mk. 16:16. We rejoiced, having come out from under creeds, out from under humanism, out from under everything that is foreign to the word of God, to stand upon the word of God and it alone. And I would beseech you tonight that you come out from under bondage into light. If you are a subject to the invitation, would you come? We rise and sing.