Friday, September 17, 2021

Johann Gerhard (1582-1637) on Old Testament Typological Evidence for Baptismal Regeneration

 

[Baptism is] A Flood, namely because the Flood [German: “sin-flood”], through which the world was punished in Ge. 6, 7, [and] 8, was a type of this Sacrament. For just as all sinful flesh on earth was annihilated in the Flood, and only godly Noah—along with a few others—was preserved in the ark, so also the sinful flesh in man is subdued and killed in holy Baptism. Conversely, in the inner new man is born and preserved to eternal life. . . .

 

Psa. 46:5 – Yet the city of God shall remain exquisitely cheerful with its foundation; there are the holy dwellings of the most High. (Within this City of God, the fountain of the Christian Church is also holy Baptism, through which we are washed from sin’s filth.)

 

Psa. 103:5 – Who makes your mouth happy, and you become young again like an eagle. (We become young again and obtain new strength through rebirth, so that we rise up like eagles, Isa. 40:31. But then, holy Baptism is the bath of rebirth and renewal, Tit. 3:5.)

 

Isa. 44:3-4 – Thus says the Lord: I will pour water upon the thirsty and streams upon the dry. I will pour My Spirit upon your seed and My blessing upon your descendants, so that they may grow like grass, like the willows in the water brooks. (In holy Baptism the Spirit of God is poured upon us, Tit. 3:5, which makes us fruitful for every good [work].)

 

Isa. 49:22 – They (the people) will bring your sons here, and carry your daughters upon their shoulders. (As with the Israelite children, this occurs in holy Baptism; the children are brought to Jesus through it, Mat. 19:13, Mark 10:13, Luke 18:15.)

 

Isa. 52:15 - My servant will sprinkle many Gentiles. (This sprinkling occurs also in holy Baptism through Christ’s blood because we are washed [clean] from sin through it.)

 

Isa. 61:10 – He (the Lord) has put on me garments of salvation and clothed me with the Robe of Righteousness (Gal. 3:27: For as many of you who are baptized, you have put on Christ).

 

Eze. 16:9 – I bathed you with water and washed away your blood. (Through the water of holy Baptism, we are washed [clean] of our blood-red guilt of sin, Eph. 5:26.)

 

Eze. 36:25-26 – I will sprinkle pure water over you, so that you become cleansed of all your uncleanness; And, I will give you a new heart and a new spirit, and take away from your flesh the stony heart and give you a heart of flesh (Baptism is a Bath of rebirth and renewal of the Holy Spirit, Tit. 3:5).

 

Eze. 47:1, 5, 8, 9 – a water flowed from under the threshold of the Temple. . . . The water was too high and a man could not touch the ground . . . When the water comes into the sea, the same will become healthy . . . Yes, wherever it streams flow, all that moves and lives in it will live . . . and all to whom this stream comes, shall become well and live. (Just as the angel came down from heaven to Bethesda’s pool in Jerusalem and stirred the water so that the first one to step in become healed from whatever epidemic plagued him, John 5:4, in the same way the living water, the Holy Spirit, John 7:38-39, sinks His power into the water of Baptism so that it serves us to our soul’s health and life. Rev. 4:6 – Before the throne there was a glassy sea like crystal. Chap. 2:1-2 – and he showed me a stream of living water, clear as crystal, which flowed from the throne of God and the Lamb, down the center of its narrow pathway.)

 

Joel 3:23 [sic, v. 18] – A spring will flow out of the house of the Lord, the stream of which will water the acacias (holy Baptism waters and brings to life dried-up souls).

 

Mic. 7:19 – The Lord will hurl all our sins into the depths of the ocean. (This sea-of-grace is holy Baptism, Rev. 4:6, into which all sins are thrown and sunk.)

 

Zec. 13:1 – At that time the house of David and the citizens of Jerusalem will have a free, open fountain against sin and uncleanness.

 

The types of holy Baptism are drawn over to holy Baptism in the New Testament partly by the Holy Spirit Himself. To some extent, one can conclude that they can appropriately be compared to holy Baptism under some circumstances, even though these very same types are not all immediately transparent and clear.

 

Gen. 7 describes the Flood [German: “Sin-flood”], through which all flesh on earth perished. It is a type o Baptism, as perceived from Psa. 29:10. . . . Gen. 8 reveals that Noah, along with a few others, was preserved in the ark during the time of the Flood. Also, [it reveals] how he let a raven fly out, which never returned; contrarily, a little dove returned to the box with an olive branch (v. 8). This is a type of holy Baptism.

 

(Johann Gerhard, A Comprehensive Explanation of Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper [1860; repr., Malone, Tex.: Repristination Press, 2014], 22, 25-27)

 

Further Reading


"Born of Water and of the Spirit": The Biblical Evidence for Baptismal Regeneration (2021) (if anyone wants a free PDF copy, drop me an email at ScripturalMormonismATgmailDOTcom)