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Difference Between Lutheran and Baptist

Lutheran vs Baptist

The Christian community, though centered in salvation through Jesus Christ, has been divided into sub-sects, with some differences in their teachings, dogma and ceremonial celebrations. Two of the most commonly misconstrued sects would be the Lutheran and the Baptist Churches. As mentioned, both religions believe in and worship the same God, refer to the same Bible and hold communal gatherings to celebrate their faith. The principal dissimilarity is their dogmas and preaching/teaching methods. There are differences in their ceremonies, too, particularly in the manner in which Holy Communion is administered and the over-all formality of the worship service. The following comparison would affirm that Lutherans are more sacramentarian in theology and worship, while the Baptists are best described as experiential and commemorative.

The Lutheran Church or Lutheranism is founded on the theology of Martin Luther during the 16th century. Its initial purpose is to reform Christianity with the teaching of justification by grace through faith alone. They believe that humans are saved from their sins by God’s grace alone (Sola Gratia), through faith alone (Sola Fide). Orthodox Lutheran theology holds that God made the world, including humanity, perfect, holy and sinless. For Lutherans, original sin is the “chief sin, a root and fountainhead of all actual sins.’ By God’s grace, made known and effective in the person and work of Jesus Christ, a person is forgiven and given eternal salvation. Faith receives the gift of salvation rather than causes salvation. Lutherans also believe in the Holy Trinity, wherein the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son. As far as the Sacraments are concerned, they value these as means of grace working towards sanctification and justification. Baptism for Lutherans is a means of grace and the mode of application is not important, but is usually delivered by the sprinkling of water. There is no proper age for baptism and the only necessities for a valid baptism are “water and the Word.’ In Holy Communion, they believe that bread and wine actually are the body and blood of Christ. They are accustomed to using real wine instead of substitutes or just bread alone. In addition, their communal celebration strictly follows the order of Mass and is usually observed with many “rituals” and sung liturgies.

The Baptist Church, on the other hand, can be traced back to 1609 with the initiatives of English Separatist, John Smyth. One of the sect’s primary campaigns is to reject baptism of infants and instead, institute it only in believing adults. Salvation for Baptists is through faith alone and they recognize Scripture alone as the rule of faith and practice. Baptists believe that faith is a matter between God and the individual (religious freedom). To them it means the advocacy of absolute liberty of conscience. Their dogma could be summed up through an acrostic acronym of BAPTIST. B- Biblical authority, A- autonomy of the local church, P- priesthood of all believers, T- two ordinances: believer’s baptisms and the Lord’s Supper, I ‘“ individual soul liberty, S- separation of Church and State, and T- two offices of the church: pastor-elder and deacon. In contrast to Lutheran belief, Baptists view Baptism as a testimony of a preceding act of repentance and the acceptance of Christ as a personal Savior. It is administered by full immersion as symbolic of the total washing away of sins. Only persons of an age to decide this for themselves and make a personal decision can be considered saved, thus the term believer’s baptism. In Holy Communion, they regard the bread and wine only as a symbolic representation of the body and blood. Substitutes are therefore acceptable; grape juice instead of wine, for instance. Their worship services, however, are less formal and more interactive than that of Lutheran services.

1) Both Lutheran and Baptist churches believe in the same God, pertain to the same Bible and hold communal gatherings.

2) Lutherans believe in the teaching of justification by faith alone just like Baptists.

3) In contrast to Lutheran belief, Baptists view Baptism as a testimony of a preceding act of repentance and the acceptance of Christ as a personal Savior.

4) For Lutherans, there is no proper age to be baptized. For Baptists, the person has to be of age.

5) In Baptism, bread and wine are considered as symbolic representations of the body and blood. On the other hand, in Lutheran, these are known as the body and blood of Christ.

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57 Comments

  1. I am baptist and their is no required age to be baptised and if you’re no baptised it does not mean you’re not saved it just shows that you have been saved you don’t have to be baptised to be saved, but most of everything else is accurate.

    • What it means is that they don’t(at least typically) dp infant baptisms. Baptists have no age requirement except that you must be old enough to understand

    • If you believe in the phony trinity Lie! You are lost! Have you never read john14:1-7 john10:30 1 John:5:20-21 kjv he is antichrist that denith the Father and Son .
      And that is what the trinity does denies that the Father and Son are one!

      • Sometimes lack of information causes these statements. May I suggest prayer to The Father, being saved via Acknowledgement of The Only Begotten Sons death burial and resurrection and being led into all truth By The Holy Spirit (The Comforter)

        May God Bless and keep you

      • I’m Roman Apostolic Catholic not Protestant we are Catholic meaning Christian from the primative Church the only church found by Jesus. Trinity is three different person meaning 1st person “God Father Yahveh”, 2nd Jesus Christ the song, 3rd person or God of the holy trinity is “The Holy Spirit “.!! We’re holders of the original bible as well, the complete one because Baptist and Protestants bible are missing 7 books that is they are incomplete adulterous bibles

        • Your church was started by Peter, not Jesus, and your beliefs have been corrupted by popes throughout the centuries. Indulgences, purgatory, saying prayers to atone for your sins… disgusting. There is one way to God and that is through faith alone…there is nothing that you can do, it’s something already done for you.

          • You must be off your meds; bigot.

          • Peter was not the first pope catholicism didn’t start until 1054 1000 years after Peter died so many things are wrong with catholicism you don’t have to tell a man your sins of life you only have to tell God the Father go into your bedroom close the door and pray ask for forgiveness and believe your sins are forgiven no candles to pay for, no priest to tell no Saint to intercede no holy water no Latin to learn no smoke no kissing a ring or a hem they are not the father or eminence those are symbols and images of God the Holy Spirit is in us all find a dark corner of the house and pray for forgiveness the lord is with you always believe and be saved

        • Catholic Church is founded by pagans. They incorporated all the teachings from different religions.
          Please do a research. Pray to Jesus, Almighty God and ask the Holy Spirit for guidance so that you will know the truth.
          Read the Bible on your own and seek God.
          Jesus loves you so much He have His life for us.

        • False. I converted three years ago to Catholicism. The religion was created by a Roman empor who killed his wife and son. After reading, I had to repent for being associated with the devil’s church. The Catholic Church destroyed the children of God. Nothing in the bible matches the Catholic church. My education and daily prayers have freed me. However, I understand where you are coming from. Scare the member’s, keep the loyal. Satan is an interesting character.

      • You do not understand Trinitarian Theology. Please read the Athanasian Creed. You might want to have a dictionary on hand so you can understand the terms.

      • Lutherans believe in the Trinity. The Father is God . Jesus is God . The Holy Spirit is God. There is one God not three Gods. If you could find a copy of” The Athanasian Creed” that would be the most accurate statement of our Faith. It’s 40 verses long and exactly states out believe about the Trinity

      • 1 John 5:7 KJV

      • No it doesn’t! Read John 16:7-15 Counselor is capitalized. Spirit of truth-capitalized. He will not speak on his own but only what he hears from God vs. 13. He will bring glory to Jesus vs.14.

        • The oldest mss that we have do not contain capital letters, periods, commas or other kinds of punctuation. Those punctuation marks were added by translators…

      • Oneness doctrine and Trinitarian doctrine are two groups saying the same thing in very different ways. As a result, division ensues. As a believer in The One Triune God I was faced with explaining this theology to my children when they were small. They wondered how is there one God, but three? I gave them an analogy that was relatable to them personally.
        I explained that I am a daughter, a wife, and a mother and yet I am one person.
        So is God our Creator, The Savior/Son , and Holy Spirit and yet He is One God.
        He is Amazing! >

      • John 14:8-9 defend the position of the trinity!!! When Jesus is asked by Philip to “show us the father,” Jesus responded “do you not know me?” As in Jesus and the father are one.

      • This is old but no it does not . The trinity means three in one. It says the Father Son and Holy Spirit are one. Not 3 separate. (Baptist)

      • The Trinity does NOT deny the Father and Son. The Is and has been God the Father, God The Son, and God the Holy Spirit. That is why the Scripture says in John 10:30 “I and my Father are one” and when Jesus (Son) ascended to Heaven He told the disciple He would send not “a” comforter but “Another” Comforter meaning one just like Himself.
        Christ Earthly ministry was complete and therefore it was time for the 3rd person of the Godhead the Holy Spirit to do His work. The Trinity does not negate Scripture it is supported by Scripture. Another good example of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit being one is that of the first part of

        “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me:”
        Galatians 2:20 KJV

        How can Christ live in you? Scripture tells us that our bodies are the “Temple of the Holy Ghost”. If Christ lives in us it has to be done through the Holy Ghost, If God or the Father and Jesus Christ (Son) are One, that then shows us the 3rd person of the Godhead being the Holy Ghost thus the term “Trinity”. God is One manifested in 3 ways.

        Just as I am the head of a trinity in my home. I am Jake the Daddy to my children, Jake the Husband to my wife, and I am Jake the assistant Pastor at the church. I have 3 roles but I am the same person manifested in 3 different ways.

      • It says specifically verse John 10:30 that the father and son are one proving your point wrong

    • If you don’t know him you you don’t have eternal life! John14:1-7 john10:30 1 John:5:20-21 the trinity is a lie! And he is antichrist that denith the Father and Son. and that is what the trinity does denies that the Father and Son are one!

      • None of those scriptures talk about the trinity being a lie. Quite the contrary.

      • “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” – 1john 5:7 kjv

      • You’re quoting scripture that in which the Holy Sprit hasn’t been sent yet. Jesus is still alive in all of those verses you quoted. In John 14 if you read a little further you see how Christ promises to leave them a Helper (The Holy Spirit). To guide them and teach them. The trinity isn’t false at all. I think someone has confused you a bit. Read John 17 and chapters there after because you are just taking scripture and twisting it in a bad way.

    • What do you mean you don’t have to be baptized. You probably have not read the Book of ACTS where you can find the true plan of Salvation.

  2. “Baptists view Baptism as a testimony of a preceding act of repentance and the acceptance of Christ as a personal Savior. It is administered by full immersion as symbolic of the total washing away of sins.”

    It is administered by full immersion as an outward expression of faith, the first step of obedience after salvation, symbolizing the likeness of Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection as the believer dies to their old ways and rises again to live a life following Jesus Christ.

    Romans 6:3-4 “3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
    4Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

    – Independant Fundamental Baptist

    • Where does it say “symbolically” buried and raised? Baptism is not symbolic. God does something to us in Baptism. Jesus said unless a man be born of water and of spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Peter said repent and be baptisied…for the remission of sin. Etc etc.

      • So there’s no salvation without water baptism?

        In John3:5-16, ‘by water’ part means physical birth (embryonic fluid), of the (sinful) flesh, and of the (holy) spirit means through faith based belief (genuine repentance) that Jesus is the son of the living (Tribune) God. Remember to read the whole conversation Jesus is having there. He explains clearly what he means.

        It would suck to accept Christ’s saving grace but end up in hell because of a situation that prevents getting dunked and thus failing to receive his mercy.

    • Kelly, very clearly, thoroughly and ACCURATELY put.

  3. It bears to be said that all one has to do is believe in God and his Word. One cannot pick and choose what scriptures they like or take scripture out of context and pretend it says what they want.

    Believe in the Trinity because the Bible teaches us to. Believe in the totally inerrant Word of God. It is not through ritualistic acts that we are saved. We are saved by faith any the grace of God, our Father.

    Mencing words does not make one better than the other. The truth is laid out in God’s Word. Believe in God and believe in his Word.

  4. Thank you for this explanation. I was raised Baptist however for the past 20 years resided in an area where I attended a wonderful Bible-believing, Christ-following, Triune-God-revering church that did not refer to itself as any particular denomination yet it’s core beliefs lean toward the Baptist religion. Two years ago I moved to an area where a church any likeness to this church is a distance. I can enjoy my favorite church via internet however, God has commanded we worship among believers therefore I must find a church to attend. I am considering a local Lutheran church and while I am used to the casual style of the Baptist practice I think I can appreciate the ceremonial and formal style of the Lutheran religion with the foundation I have developed as a Baptist. We’ll see. In the end, God judges our heart and we are to believe and trust His Word and accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. We are not saved by our works or what religion we practice. Religion is ultimately man-made; relationship is God-made. That said, if we do not obediently engage with God’s Word (read, hear, obey) regularly, practice fellowship with with Jesus and His followers, our lives will not experience God’s best desire for us. Many blessings!

    • Religion is not man made. God instituted the Temple Worship system. Baptist today would claim that worship style is to “heady” and too Catholic and would reject it as a work of man. So sad.

  5. Iisting to BBNBI.org (awesome, btw..everyone should enroll…its free)
    Warren Wiersbe in his teaching about prayer points out in his second lecture “have you ever noticed it’s the women in the Bible that have the greatest faith.”
    Kelly, you flat out nailed it and so did the other women on this thread. Bobbie I don’t know if your a male or female but good follow up by you, too.

  6. Michael,

    I am sorry but you are mistaken about the Trinity. The Trinity or Triune Godhead is not something new. If you have ever heard of the Nicene Creed that was written in 325 A.D. it was written in defense of the Trinity. Now 325 A.D. was long before any of the denominations started separating from the original Christian Church’s. The passages that you stated are just as agents your saying as it is for. “Believe in God, believe also in me”, “In my Father’s house”. If you were to look at Mark 1: 9-11, Matthew 3: 13-17, or Luke 3: 21-22 you would find the exact same message from three different points of view one of them being Jesus disciple Matthew that all speak of all three aspects of the Trinity. Jesus coming up out of the water after being baptized, sky’s torn apart and God’s Holy Spirit descending upon him, and God speaking all at the same time. You can try to deny the Trinity all you want but the truth of both the Bible and of history are there look it up.

    • In the beginning God created the heavens and earth. Get. 1:1
      The Hebrew word for God is Elohim which while use in the singular is in fact plural. This the first clue of a tribune God is in the first verse of Genesis.

  7. I find this all interesting,but all of this,like the ceremonies; the blood and body[cannibalism] came from paganism; which is not devil worship. It is the old “Christian” religion[neo-paginism]

  8. I read all this , i believe in the trinity , i am a born again Christian , God sent His son Jesus Christ to die for my sins and Jesus Christ gave me the Holly Spirit of God to teach me , remind me all trueths about God i am blessed i have been saved by grace and not works ,

  9. The enemy causes these quarrels among u. Be of one mind and one body. 1 Corinthians 1 start with verse 10 and move forward.. Christ is head we are the body, we are not the head…. I love you all in Christ…..

    • Thank you John
      I was thinking the same thing. If we believe in the grace of God, have faith, follow his commandments the best we can and repent when we fall short; every thing else is a work in process. GOD is still working on us. Let us pray and Love one another.

      • If you mean the two commandments of Jesus for Christianity (1John 3:23-24) then right. If you mean Obey the 10 Commandments, the Law, then you don’t understand that’s Israel’s old covenant, we have the new covenant.

    • Exactly right John. It’s upsetting at how the church has broken up and how many on this forum bicker with each other. We are servants of Christ before anything and we should act the part and speak to each other with respect and love. If it were possible, it would be good to understand all the mysteries of God and to help others see the what you believe is the truth. But what good would that do if it doesn’t cause us to act out God’s teachings with kindness. Some Christians are obsessed with details in their theology and arguing with others, but miss the huge log in their eye which is their inability to act as God’s servants.

  10. From a Lutheran perspective this article is mostly correct, there are, however, some incorrect assertions.

    Lutherans do not administer baptism by sprinkling. The most common mode of baptism is pouring (also known as affusion). Lutherans also administer baptism by immersion if practical, both for infants and adults. In fact most Lutheran baptisms I’ve witnessed have been by immersion. I’ve never witnessed or heard of any by sprinkling. Lutherans do however sprinkle baptismal water during worship, but it involves sprinkling the entire worshipping assembly as a sign of blessing and remembrance of baptism. This is usually done during the opening procession and most often during the Easter season. Many Lutherans are also of the habbit of blessing themselves with the water when they enter the worship space by placing their hand into the font and making the sign of the cross.

    The characterization of Lutheran theology of Holy Communion is close but not quite accurate. Lutherans affirm the sacramental union of the Body and Blood of Christ to the bread and the wine. We affirm that Jesus’s true body and blood and present in, with, and under the bread and wine, and that those who receive it partake of both bread and wine as well as body and blood. Lutherans definitely believe in the true presence of Christ, but hesitate to specify how the mystery takes place–and as such rejects both consubstantiation and transubstantiation.

    Probably the most surprising assertion is that Baptist worship is more interactive than Lutheran worship. The few times I’ve worshipped with Baptists it seemed there were very few ways to participate in the service other than singing songs or hymns. In contrast, every aspect of the Lutheran liturgy involves congregational participation, including hymns, songs, and canticles, as well as sung or spoken responses to nearly every aspect of service–dialogs, litanies, responses to the readings, singing the psalm, recitation of the creed, prayer responses, etc. I counted at least 30 places in the liturgy that include a spoken or sung response or participatory element for the congregation. In addition to that, Lutherans are also encouraged to engage their bodies in worship: bowing or genuflecting, making the sign of the cross, standing, kneeling, processing to the altar to receive Communion. Every aspect of Lutheran worship is interactive. In fact the word “liturgy” means the “work of the people.”

    • I’m sorry if this is offensive or something. I definitely don’t mean to be offensive, but would like to point out, were in the Bible did it say to bow or genuflect, make the sign of the cross, or kneel? I’m sorry I just was curious because I don’t remember anything in the Bible saying that you should do any of that. I thought it said that God doesn’t want you to bow down and kneel down to anything, including the cross. I was just curious, I’m really really sorry if it sounds mean as I have seen a few insults that are formatted like this and I can’t think of any other way to word it right now. I just wanted to know if I didn’t properly read a section of the Bible.

    • I am just looking at this because I have friends who are different forms of Christian religion and wanted to see the difference. It sounds like the lutheran and my religion, Catholicism, are every much alike. I am now going to look at another article to see the difference between the two. Thank you and God Bless you all!

      Also I was shocked to see all of these comments that were like jabs at each other and it was hard to read them. I agree with Grace and Tyler that we should not love each other any different.

  11. Why cant we be friends? The little differences mean nothing, love each other . Respect each other & their opinions even though you may not agree. is any man able to tell another what to believe in?

    • Tyler, that is so true and well put. At the end of the day we all believe what we believe. We are all people who were put here by whomever you choose to believe in. Who ever put us here frowns apon us arguing like this. We should all be friends no matter what our opinions may be. We are all belivers in something or way or another no matter what that may be, so let’s put our differences past us and love each other no matter what!

  12. I also think that every one should stop fighting. I learned that only God has the right to judge others for their sins. What right do we have to judge others and call others disgusting? We are all sinners and God views all sins the same. I don’t think we should call other churches disgusting. Jesus said to love our neighbors as ourselves and to also love our enemies. I never expected to see answers like this come from so called Christians and Catholics. This kind of reminds me of the adulteress who people were about to stone but Jesus said if anyone has not sinned in their entire life then they could stone her, but everyone had sinned before so they didn’t stone her. Likewise, although fighting against each other about faith is a smaller matter, it still is similar and if everyone is fighting and bickering like this, then I think we should all pray for them to be saved.
    Also, I go to a Baptist church, and for baptism, being fully submerged into the water represents death in sin, and rising out of the water means being reborn in Christ, in spirit, not in flesh, it means to be free from sin, although we still sin even though we are reborn through Christ, that is because of the desires of out physical body. Although our soul is free from sin, out physical selves are not. I just wanted to add that too just in case not everyone knew.
    I also think that everyone who is fighting about this and insulting others should stop and question their faith and see if they are leading the right life for God and pray for God to lead you to the right direction. Abraham is called the father of faith because of his unwavering faith for God. The journey was long. Abraham even sold out his wife to the kings of other countries twice so he could live, but in the end, he had so much faith in God that he was willing to kill his one and only legitimate son because he believed God would bring him back to life or something. Remember, the only way to improve your faith when you already believe in God or even if you don’t is to read the Bible and study it. If you still feel like an empty shell like I do sometimes, pray and study God’s word. I feel that whenever I question life and feel empty without purpose, as long as I study and read the Bible and pray, I feel so much better. Even if you are willing to sacrifice everyone around you to live, it’s never too late to cultivate a faith in God.
    Also, pardon me for writing such a long comment. 🙂
    Anyways, God is always there for you and until God is the first person/being you turn to when you are in trouble, no matter how small or big, you should pray and ask for a strong faith in God to God. I know it sounds weird, but back when I didn’t really have faith in God and Jesus and doubted them often, I would pray to God to help me believe in him. Eventually, God answered my prayers and now I don’t doubt God anymore. I desperately wanted to believe in God and be faithful to God. I don’t know why. I just know that I prayed desperately. God reveals himself and approaches you in many different ways, so yeah.
    I’m sorry, I don’t really have a point. At this point this is more like a sermon. Pardon me.
    I hope this comment didn’t cause your device to lag. 🙂

  13. Its all about having a relationship with Jesus Christ. And doing his will. The Great Commission which he showed me in a divine vision.

  14. You’re all mistaken on this I’m sorry to say. My daughter figured it out during prayer when she was three. She said, “I think God is a woman because women (are the givers of life)”. It’s not the father, the son or the Holy Spirit but the mother, the sister and the daughter, the givers of life, the voices of peace, the keepers of the home. Woman is God, God is a woman. Man is Satan, the wager of war, the agent of hate, the committer of deadly sin. The Bible knows this truth and hides it in the fiction of Eve’s original sin, but 5000 years of history is all you need to confirm what a three year old girl can figure out on her own.

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