Johann Gerhard makes the promise of justification, along with its effective outworking in Christian life through sanctification, central to his treatment of baptism. Gerhard writes that God has been faithful to his promises of justification and redemption through the whole course of salvation history. Baptism is simply the covenantal promise of grace and justification as it has been manifested throughout the history of salvation. As his main n premise, Gerhard held that God is faithful to his promises of forgiveness and grace. Therefore, the promise of justification present in baptism runs through various types and rituals in the Old Testament. Ultimately, for Gerhard the sacrament of baptism manifests God’s faithfulness and willingness to forgive sinners for the sake of the blood of Jesus….
Gerhard mines the Old Testament for types of baptism. Those familiar with Gerhard will know that, like others in the period of Lutheran Orthodoxy, he is extremely fond of typological readings of Scripture.1 … [Christians today may find some of his typological interpretations unconvincing.] However, Gerhard finds more plausible prefigurations of the justifying and sanctifying properties of baptism in the texts of the Old Testament major prophets. God promised the prophet Isaiah that he would give water to the thirsty and pour out his life-giving Spirit (Isa. 44:3-4). He also promised that the resurrected Suffering Servant would “sprinkle many nations” (Isa. 52:15).2
Likewise, Gerhard sees typological prefigurations of baptism in the book of Ezekiel. God promised to “wash” the Israelites from their evil deeds (Ezek. 16:9, 36:25-26). He went on to promise of waters flowing from the eschatological Temple (Ezek. 47:1, v. 5, 8, 9).3 Gerhard’s typological reading of Scripture on this point is particularly compelling because New Testament authors characterize the justifying and sanctifying work baptism as a “cleansing” of sin (Eph. 5:26, Titus 3:5). In Ezekiel, the cleansing waters come forth from the eschatological Temple. There is a clear connection between this type and the New Testament’s identification of the Church itself as the eschatological Temple (1 Cor. 3:16-17, 6:19, 2 Cor. 6:16, Eph. 2:19-22, 1 Pt. 2:5). The “waters” of the Spirit’s justifying and sanctifying work flow from the Church. Thus, it makes sense to read these Old Testament passages as typological prefigurations, or even rectilinear prophesies, of baptism. Gerhard applies the same interpretive principle to other passages describing cleansing springs coming forth from the Temple or the city of God (Joel 3:18, Mic 7:19, Zech. 13:1).4
Ultimately, the importance of these early chapters lies in Gerhard’s interpretive connections. He links baptism to numerous Old Testament types that convey God’s faithfulness to his people by purifying them of sin. Like the Old Testament types, baptism is a visible word of cleansing unto salvation. As a visible word of promise, baptism is an effective word, that both justifies and sanctifies sinners. As such, the sacrament of baptism saves us from judgment and begins the process of our renovation as a new creation.
- See: Leonhard Goppelt, Typos: The Typological Interpretation of the Old Testament in the New (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1982). ↩︎
- Gerhard, A Comprehensive Explanation of Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, 16. ↩︎
- Gerhard, A Comprehensive Explanation of Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, 16. ↩︎
- Gerhard, A Comprehensive Explanation of Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, 17. ↩︎
Cover image from Christopher Powers, “Ezekiel 47:1 + John 19:34,” Full of Eyes, September 27, 2016, downloaded April 15, 2025, https://www.fullofeyes.com/ezekiel-471-john-1934/, [Patreon Account]. Other image from “And the River Will Grow,” Media Library, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, updated April 13, 2021, accessed December 22, 2025, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/2016-02-0004-and-the-river-will-grow?lang=eng.