Baptism is an arrow-pointing-down event, from God down to us, which is to say it is all God's doing. And we would want to add that it is God's gracious doing. This washing with water and God's Word truly forgives sins. The triune God puts his name on us and adopts us into his family.

As one of the sacraments, Baptism is the visible gospel. Salvation through Christ is proclaimed to all people in the gospel. In baptism, that salvation is proclaimed and applied to one person at a time. The person who has been baptized into Christ is able to say, "What the Lord has done through Christ for all people he has also most certainly done for me. I am baptized!"