As however the ancients say that in case of necessity any Christian lay person can administer the sacrament of Baptism, so Luther says the same thing about absolution in case of necessity, where no priest is present.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Baptism is not only a sacrament of our union with Christ; it is also a sacrament of our communion as the body of Christ.
Luther was guilty of two great crimes - he struck the Pope in his crown, and the monks in their belly.
As priests uphold their people in prayer, so their people are to uphold them with prayer and love, for he cannot work without his people.
And there is a difference between the essence of a Sacrament and its use.
You can be committed to Church but not committed to Christ, but you cannot be committed to Christ and not committed to church.
The Reformers, therefore, as instruments in the hands of God, in delivering the Church from bondage to prelates, did not make it a tumultuous multitude, in which every man was a law to himself, free to believe, and free to do what he pleased.
The spiritual virtue of a sacrament is like light; although it passes among the impure, it is not polluted.
At the heart of the Protestant faith is the conviction that there is nothing we contribute to our salvation but our sin, no merit we bring but Christ's, and nothing necessary for justification except faith alone.
Jesus said, 'Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.' There are no exceptions. Baptism is a necessary ordinance.
The saving ordinance of baptism must be administered by one who has proper authority from God.